The Sheikh's Secret

by Knight, Kylie

  “I appreciate you being nice enough to want to help, but really, this little shop is just perfect for me. It’s really all I need. I know I said that someday I’d like to get bigger and do more but I just don’t think this is a good idea.” Emily was frustrated with herself. She couldn’t believe that she’d even considered working with him, opening a business with him for even a fleeting moment.

  The offer was amazing and generous and almost impossible to turn down. But the fact of the matter was, how could she work with Abdul every day, run a business with him, when she felt so much for him? It wouldn’t work. She’d fall even harder for him and there would never be a way out.

  “This isn’t about generosity or being nice. This is about tasting your food every day recently and never being disappointed. It’s also about watching you make that flower the other night, the skill and precision that it took. This isn’t about friendship, it’s about business. It’s about an investment.”

  An investment. That sounded pretty cold and harsh. Didn’t he care at all? Hadn’t he felt anything at all when he’d kissed her? Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he had thought he would or was so swept up in the moment that he had kissed her. Or lonely! That must be it. Surely his fiancé living a plane ride away would make anyone lonely. Even with all of the justification, calling her an investment had stung.

  For a moment she was tempted to accept his offer purely out of spite. He wanted to give her money? Fine she’d take it. From his nonchalant attitude about his money he clearly had some to spend. But it felt wrong to do that. Wrong to do to Nora, her client, since for whatever reason he had he did kiss her, and wrong to do to herself. The more time she spent with him the more she’d fall in love with him and she knew it. So she held firm.

  “Thank you. But no.”

  It felt good to say no. In a weird way she felt like she was taking control of a situation that she felt powerless in. In a situation where she had fallen hard, much to her own dismay, for her client’s fiancé, she had felt like she was a spinning top with no way of stopping. Saying no to him, saying that she couldn’t take his money and wouldn’t partner with him made her feel strong again. Finally she had found the inner strength that she’d always had. It was the strength she’d had to open her own place, it was the strength she had to move forward in life when her parents had died, and now it was the strength to walk away from a man that she felt more for than any person she’d ever met.

  Foolish? Possibly. But she felt strong and independent.

  Arman clearly wasn’t used to hearing no and wasn’t going to take it easily. He pushed the papers back at her, grabbing her hand and making her take them. His gaze leveled hers and she wondered what he was thinking when he looked at her.

  “Please. Just think about it?” He turned and walked out her door again and she was left holding his offer in her hands.

  ****

  “How could you turn him down? Are you crazy?” Kara was in pure disbelief and had frozen herself in place, refusing to work until Emily gave her an explanation for what she believed was clearly a mistake.

  “No, I am not crazy. But how am I supposed to take his money? Sure he says he’s just an ‘investor’ in a good product. But how am I supposed to work with him every day? See him every day?”

  Kara was the only person who knew just how crazy Emily was over Abdul so Emily knew she had to understand just why she turned down his offer.

  “But it’s an amazing offer!” Kara had looked over the proposal that Arman had drawn up and had told her exactly what a great opportunity he was offering her. “Basically he is willing to put in all the money and is only taking a percent, not even half, of the profits of the second business. Do you know what a deal that is?”

  Emily knew that was true, she knew if she really wanted to start expanding that the opportunity Arman was offering her was going to be the best she would ever find.

  “But how can I work with him?”

  Kara finally chewed that one over for a second. It seemed that it finally dawned on her that it wasn’t the matter of pride or respect, it was the matter of her heart. But Emily could see the moment that it dawned on her that Kara had a solution to that as well.

  “I will work in the second business as the manager! That way any day to day dealings will go through me and I will relay messages to you. You will only have to talk to him when you absolutely have to. And eventually he will simply become a business partner who you never have to see and your feelings will go away. Plus it gives me a great job when I graduate next semester!”

  Emily sighed. She had to admit that her plan actually did seem to work pretty well. It would be a great opportunity for everyone and maybe after a while her feelings would go away. After all, maybe she wasn’t in love with Abdul, maybe it was simply a crush. An intense crush where she couldn’t stop thinking about him but a crush nonetheless. How could she turn down an offer that was going to be great for so many people? And she could finally see her dreams coming true?

  And even a little part of her had to admit that keeping Abdul in her life, in any way possible, was a plus. Maybe her feelings would go away, she was sure hoping they would especially if he was going to be a part of her future. A big part of it. In a woosh, her resistance to say no left her and she was left with only reasons to say yes.

  “OK,” she finally agreed. “I’ll call him and tell him I changed my mind. But I’m going to tell him that it’s you he will be working with, and myself only when necessary. That way I can keep some sort of sanity in this situation.”

  Kara leapt across the way and wrapped Emily in a hug of thanks. “Oh wow, this is so amazing! I get to keep working with you but I get to actually manage a business and I have a job after I graduate! This is literally a dream come true!”

  Emily hugged her back. She was excited, it was hard not to be when she knew that she was about to embark on a dream that she’d had for so long. Who knew? Maybe this could be bigger than expected. Maybe they could even franchise the bakery. She knew she should slow down in her thoughts but it was hard to stop a train once it was on the tracks. The only thing she had to hope was that Abdul hadn’t changed his mind yet.

  The entire rest of the day she spent making flowers for Nora’s approval. It took some time but after that first one it became easier to make the perfect little roses. The process became faster and more often she was creating more perfect roses than she was messing them up. But once her fingers grew tired and the place was clean, Emily knew she couldn’t stall the phone call anymore. It was true that she could have simply waited until the next day when he and Nora would come into the bakery, but she thought maybe the conversation was better had without Nora. There was no guarantee that she even knew about the offer he’d made Emily.

  Abdul picked up his cell on the second ring. She never had actually had to call him before and only had his number as a precaution incase anything went wrong with his orders that he called in. But she had of course saved it to her phone and she wondered if he was surprised to see her number light up his phone.

  “Emily! I’m surprised to hear from you. Is everything ok?” His deep voice always sent waves of emotion through her body. She shook her head clear, that was something she was going to have to get over.

  “Hi Abdul. Is this a bad time for you?” She had no idea why immediately she went to a negative place, wondering she was bothering him, but it had popped out before she had a chance to stop it.

  It could have been her imagination but she thought she could hear him smile through the phone when he answered her. “Not at all. This is a pleasant surprise.”

  She blew out a deep breath and decided to dive right into the purpose of her call.

  “Abdul I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and Kara and I have gone over everything and I think I would like to take you up on your offer to open a second business with me.” Her heart was racing with anticipation of his answer. When a moment passed and she didn’t get one she quickly followed up her words, feeling like
a fool for calling him. “That is if you still want to. If you’ve rethought it I totally understand and don’t blame you at all. In fact it’s probably a silly business move for you anyway…”

  Her ramblings were cut off but the calm and affectionate way he said her name.

  “Emily, I couldn’t be more excited that you want to do this with me. This is an excellent decision and I can’t wait to get started with you. Thank you for changing your mind.”

  Relief flooded through her. She knew she’d been nervous but she hadn’t realized how tight her muscles had been strung until he had given her that answer. Suddenly her body turned to jelly and she slumped into a chair. There was no turning back now, she’d made the decision and she was going to go into business with Abdul. The man she’d secretly kissed, the man she was secretly in love with, and the man who was getting married.

  Chapter 10

  Abdul felt it was amazing to hear Emily’s voice on the other end of the phone when she called to tell him that she wanted to open her bakery with him as her partner. Granted it did put a slight damper on the whole thing when she made the clear distinction that she was going to be leaving the day to day operations to Kara so he wouldn’t be dealing with Emily much herself, but it did feel good to know at the very least he didn’t have to say goodbye to her yet.

  When Nora arrived from her flight, Abdul was feeling in a fantastic mood. She however was not feeling as happy.

  “God that plane ride really couldn’t have been more of a nightmare. Babies crying constantly, the cost of Wi-Fi to watch a bad movie, and sitting so close to people you can barely breathe.”

  Abdul grabbed her hand out of a reflex and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  “I’ll be so happy when I can stop taking these ridiculous rides to see you every couple of weekends.”

  Abdul agreed with her. Life would be a lot easier once she was in one place with him. In fact, that was probably the reason he enjoyed his time with Emily so much. He could admit that he did feel lonely when he was alone and he enjoyed the company and conversation that Emily gave him. That was probably his attraction anyway. He probably felt so much for her to compensate for being lonely. Once Nora was there he’d have no reason to feel so lonely and would be able to easily transition to only being her friend and business partner, nothing more.

  “Yes, when you’re here things will be much easier.”

  Nora stopped in her tracks.

  “Here?” She looked up at him puzzled. “What do you mean here’? After the wedding we’re going back home. You have responsibilities as a sheikh to your family and that is where we are going to raise our family.”

  Suddenly Abdul’s whole world tilted on an axis. Leave the states? He hadn’t even considered something like that. As far as he was concerned his life was in Florida and that’s where he planned to stay. He didn’t much care for his title of royalty and would rather enjoy just living a good life in the sunshine state. He hadn’t any idea that she had been thinking about going back to their parents. It had seemed that she was just as happy in Florida as she was. Why hadn’t they discussed this? Panic swept through him as he thought about everything he’d have to give up after he got married. Gently he tried to argue the topic

  “I don’t really think I want to leave Florida. I didn’t know you really did either since we’re both successful and happy here. Why don’t we just live here for a while after the wedding and see how we feel?”

  That was as gently as he could put it. Part of him knew that he should probably have been tougher on the matter, but it came down to the simple fact that he hated arguing with Nora. Strong willed and strong headed, she became very frustrating for him to deal with when she had her mind set. Sure enough she waved her hand in the air, dismissing his idea as if it were nothing.

  “No, we need to go back home. That’s simply the way it needs to be.”

  Once he was dismissed he couldn’t find a way to argue with her. When she made her mind up on something that was usually it. There was no wiggle room for discussions or even a debate. That would be that. He would need to move back home where his life as a sheikh was all that mattered to anyone. But what could he do? In a few short months she was going to be his wife and honoring her was going to be his duty. If she wanted to raise her children around their parents and family then what argument could he make against it?

  Abdul couldn’t help the dark cloud that followed him during Nora’s visit. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake, one that made him feel moody and frustrated. Nora didn’t seem to notice a bit which was just fine for him, he didn’t want to talk about what was bugging him. He wanted to just silently brood about it, frustrated that he felt trapped even more than he had before. But Nora just kept plugging away at the wedding plans, making phone calls and appointments with everyone that was involved in the wedding. Abdul begged off going to almost every appointment that she demanded. He kept telling her that he had to work or had other things to take care of. When she pouted he reminded her that she had sprung the visit on him. When she continued to pout about not getting her way, he stroked her ego by telling her that she could take care of it all on her own. That made her feel better, that and the fact that she had his account numbers memorized.

  The only appointment he made sure to go to was the one to Emily’s bakery.

  “You’ve been busy for every appointment I’ve had so far, why can you come to this one?” A hint of suspicion twinged her voice and he knew he had to come up with a good enough reason to appease her.

  “This one has cupcakes, delicious cupcakes, and you know how I feel about getting fed.” He wrapped his arm around her and hope she believed his response.

  “Well I just hope you’re not eating too many of those cupcake while I’m gone. You’re starting to feel a little puffy.” She gave a little laugh to let him know she was joking. But he couldn’t help that her comment stung just a bit, even if he knew eating Emily’s bakery goods every day for weeks probably had made him a little puffy. But every morsel of her mouthwatering food had been worth it.

  Immediately something struck his mind and he had no idea why he hadn’t thought of it before. He should have been worrying about it ever since Nora had made her big announcement about going across the world. He had just agreed to a large business venture with Emily. Of course the money he was about to put into it was hardly a drop in a hat for him but to Emily this deal was about to change her whole life. He couldn’t walk away from that, he’d refuse to. He would have to tell Nora that he wasn’t leaving, and that was final.

  Chapter 11

  Emily was in a whirl of panic knowing that Nora and Abdul were coming into the shop but for completely different reasons. In Nora’s case she was terrified that she would fail to impress her with everything she’d been practicing for the wedding. As far as the nerves toward Abdul were concerned, that was due to it being the first time since they’d made the business deal that she was going to see him. It was the first time she was going to see her crush and know that she had no choice but to block him from her mind. She hadn’t exactly done that before because she figured that a crush on an engaged client was no big deal. See him a few times, he gets married, then she wouldn’t have to think about him again.

  Unfortunately that crush had turned to love and she was now in a deal where he would be a big part of her entire future. She couldn’t help that part of her still thought she was crazy for agreeing to his proposal, but she also knew that a bigger part of her was incredibly excited. Her dreams were coming true and despite what her feelings were for him, it was incredibly flattering that he felt her baked goods were good enough for him to invest in. That in itself was something to be excited about. But that made it even more important that she impress Nora so that she would feel confident in Abdul’s business venture. After all, she was going to be his wife so it was important that she agree with what he was doing.

  Busy in the kitchen she hadn’t realized the time had gone by so quickly until the bell abov
e the door chimed and she heard the quick clip of heels on the tiled floor.

  “Hello,” she heard Nora callout.

  Her tone was nothing but business and Emily felt the nerves settle deeper into her stomach.

  “Please have a seat,” Emily called back to her. “I’ll be bringing everything out in just a minute.” Emily rearranged her display tray for the fifth time and made sure everything looked perfectly appealing. It was known that it was the eyes that determined how good food would be. If something looked like a mess then it wouldn’t taste nearly as good. She knew Nora wouldn’t be tasting the roses at all, but she would be tasting the mini cake and frosting and the bit of decorating she had done on it would be a small sample of the work for the wedding so Nora needed to approve.

  Carrying the tray out to the tables in front, she rounded the corner the moment Abdul stepped into the bakery. For a moment her heart forgot how to beat. It was amazing the effect he had on her that he could take over her heart so quickly and fiercely, as if he was meant to be there. He smiled his easy going smile, one she’d grown so accustomed to seeing but one that always took her breath away, and stepped inside.

  “Hello Emily, it’s really nice to see you again.” His voice vibrated through her and she realized that she’d been starved to hear him. He could have said anything in that moment and she would have felt her insides turn to jelly.

  “Hi Abdul, thanks for coming in,” she said. It was funny to her, how much she really meant that. That she was thankful that he had come in, she was thankful that she was able to see him.