“That’s because I have to build my business.” Heather was unlikely to fully understand Clem’s focus on work, no matter how many years they’d been friends. Clementine had met Heather their freshman year at Brown. Clem had been there on a scholarship, and that was the only reason she’d been able to attend at all. It had been a long shot for a foster kid from Pennsylvania, and it had been the most natural thing in the world for Heather. Now the two women were out in the world on their own, but Heather would always have a trust fund—and Clem would always work her ass off, knowing that the only safe bet in life was to depend on herself.
“You’ve built your business,” Heather said. “I saw the business cards.”
It was true—there were business cards. Nine of them, to be exact. But Clementine didn’t count on taking on all nine of those people as clients. They were seven years out of college, but Clementine was only eighteen months into owning her own business.
“You don’t have a card from the sheikh,” Heather pointed out.
Clem risked another glance at him. Howard had his claws in deep—she could see it from here. And as much as she loved Heather, who had never once treated her as lesser because she had gone to college on scholarship, she couldn’t support Howard’s business practices. He’d been welcoming enough in the distant way of other people’s dads who had other things to do, but she’d overheard him talking to enough people to know that his business was not geared toward responsibility, environmental or otherwise. And she was all about environmental stewardship.
The pieces of the puzzle came together in her mind. If Howard wanted a deal with the sheikh, then the sheikh himself might get entangled in policies that, Clem was sure, would not reflect well on his own business as time went on. People noticed those kinds of things. It was why her job existed, and why if she worked hard enough, she’d eventually be an incredible success.
“What are you planning right now?” Heather asked.
“Nothing,” Clem said.
“Bull.” Heather hooked her arm through Clem’s. “Let’s go say hi.”
“What? No. I’m not here to meet men.” And that man might turn me into a blabbering idiot, if I got too close.
“You are here to meet men. Businessmen. And the sheikh is one of the best businessmen here. Why else would my dad be so fixated on talking to him?” Heather tugged harder. “Come on. What if you landed a client? I’m sure Omirabad has tons of work for a brilliant woman like you.”
Another rush of heat surged to Clem’s cheeks. “I am brilliant,” she agreed. But she was also not like Heather. Heather was the kind of woman men were interested in. A woman with connections. A woman with money. Heather had batted off an army of men so far. Before she’d fixed her attention on the sheikh, she’d been approached three separate times at the bar alone.
She drained the rest of her drink in one gulp. “Fine. But let’s have one more drink first. Deal?”
Heather sighed. “Only if you don’t take an hour to drink this one.” She clapped her hands. “Time’s a-wastin’. Besides, you never know what might happen tonight.” She winked at Clem. “Could be amazing…and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
Grab your copy of The Sheikh’s Accidental Wife
Available November 14, 2019
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BLURB
Ancient law dictates that Sheikh Fatim Safar has to marry or be disinherited by his 30th birthday. Fatim isn’t worried—he married years earlier and had two children with his wife before she died. But there’s a catch: the law states he must be married at age 30. Two weeks from his 30th birthday, there’s no time to change it or fight it...it’s more expedient to marry.
Calla Clark is out to prove her parents wrong. Instead of marrying well like her mother wanted, Calla’s in the Middle East to prove her design prowess. And what better way to do that then becoming seamstress for the royal family and getting to drape fabric over the sexy Sheikh’s rock-hard body. She can’t act on her temptations, of course. She’s got goals to crush. Still, when she watches the way the Sheikh commands his tribe, and cares for his kids, she can’t help but feel an undeniable attraction.
Fatim has taken a liking to Calla, too. She’s smart, thoughtful, and good with his children. With his birthday right around the corner, Fatim offers her the position as his wife. It’s only temporary, and in return for marrying him and helping with his children, he’ll give her everything she needs for the upcoming Fashion Week. Calla agrees...so long as he helps keep her dream alive.
With so many differences between them, Fatim and Calla’s powerful pairing could raise the tribe up to modern heights, or send it to the bin like last season’s cast-offs.
Grab your copy of The Sheikh’s Wife Arrangement
(The Safar Sheikhs Book One, Book 1) from
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EXCERPT
Calla Clark tipped her head back to look up at the King of Amatbah. His crotch was technically in her face, and this wasn’t the first time. As the royal seamstress, she was often on her knees in front of King Fatim.
“Hrmmghhgm,” she mumbled from around the pins jutting out of her mouth.
“Come again?” He didn’t look down at her as he scrolled on his phone. This was so routine for him he probably didn’t even care that a twenty-something woman of child-bearing age was in the classic, submissive pose, eye-level with the royal jewels. But for Calla, it was all she could think about every time they met to tailor his outfits. She’d tailored countless men’s slacks, caftans, and robes—enough that she no longer had feeling in her thumbs from sticking herself so often with pins. But Fatim threw her decade of professional experience out the window.
She ripped the pins out of her mouth and sat back on her heels. “Could you, uh…” She hated correcting the king. Or anyone from his family. Really anyone. “Stand up straighter?”
Fatim sniffed and straightened his posture. His dark chocolate eyes swept her way, and for a moment their gazes locked. Electricity snapped through her. It always did when she looked at this man, or thought too much about him, or got within a ten-foot radius.
“Thank you,” she said, returning to the seam she worked on. Today’s project was a new pair of traditional linen pants—not her own design yet, but soon. Calla had the king’s measurements, but many of the fabrics she worked with in the Amatbah tribal kingdom were slippery, diaphanous, and billowy. These slacks were no exception.
As she returned to her task, the door to the sitting room clanged open. Footsteps stormed their way, and before Calla could turn around to see who it was, Fatim spoke.
“Nasser,” Fatim said with a sigh. The king’s younger brother, the youngest of the three. Calla had only been working at the palace for a handful of weeks, but she’d come to learn the quirks of the three brothers very quickly. Fatim had been exasperated with Nasser of late.
“Don’t start with the tone.” Nassar let a disgusted groan. “Always the tone, with you.”
Calla rolled her lips inward, fiddling with a seam that didn’t need fiddled. Really, she could have been done already. But she loved these quiet visits with the king—even better if she got the scoop on some drama. As the palace’s newest employee, she wanted to gobble up everything. To establish herself as the royal seamstress, sure, but her path didn’t end there. The goal posts stood much further away than that. Calla aimed for the esteemed position of royal designer, which would hopefully lead her to the ultimate goal within the next five years: showing her designs at the world-famous Amatbah Fashion Week for the first time in her life.
She just had to keep her head down, work hard, and do an amazing job. And don’t let the king’s naughty area distract you.
“I have no tone,” Fatim said. And it was true. He sounded quite monotonous when he spoke. As if he’d already heard and dealt with it all in his stint as Amatbah’s youngest king. “You’re the one flinging yourself around like a petulant child.”
Nasser scoffed, headi
ng for the far wall. A round window overlooked part of the royal gardens. He scowled out at the scene.
“What’s the issue?” Fatim asked.
“Nothing,” Nasser spat. Calla glanced up at Fatim, almost wishing he would glance her way just then so they could share the yeah, right look. But she wasn’t part of this family. She was just an outsider, peering in.
“I don’t believe that.” Fatim pocketed his phone, twisting a little to look at his brother. “You broke up with Alana two weeks ago. I thought you’d be over it by now.”
Nasser grumbled something.
“You need distraction,” Fatim went on, sounding bored. “And trust me, I can give you plenty.”
Nasser huffed in response but didn’t disagree.
“I have a slew of projects coming up that I could use help on,” Fatim said. Calla tugged at his pants, wishing that just once she could catch a glimpse of the body beneath. Last week, she’d seen him in his undershirt as he switched from old caftan to new, and she just about tipped over. This was the result of so much time spent in the handsome man’s nether regions. It had rendered her incapable of thinking about anything else. “Charities that need the royal touch. Military shows that could use a family member in attendance. Or how about the routine inner-city visits?”
“No, no, and no,” Nasser said, tugging at the front of his hair. Fatim’s mouth turned downward. Calla licked her lips, going over a seam for the third time.
“Then what is the plan? Continue partying like a playboy after your break-up?” Fatim scoffed, his voice finally breaking out of its monotone. “It can’t go on forever. And I can only give you so many perfectly valid ideas.”
The heat in Fatim’s voice sent a thrill through her, even though she shouldn’t be enjoying this family dispute so much. Still, it was hard to pull herself away. She wanted to know more about this side of Fatim—what he was like when angry. Damn near everything about him fascinated her. Working on his wardrobe was one of the highlights of her job.
She missed Nasser’s response, only felt the shift as Fatim pulled away from her. She tilted her head up to look at him and found him staring directly at her.
“What do you think?” Fatim asked.
Calla blinked a few times. He couldn’t possibly be talking to her. “Excuse me?”
“What do you think my lovesick brother should do to get his mind off his ex?” Fatim’s lips curled up on one side, and Calla realized with a jolt that she would never tire of looking at his face. Not even if she worked here for the next century.
“Um,” she began, furrowing her brow, trying to recall the past few weeks of clandestine eavesdropping and general research. “Well, Your Highness, I think you had a great idea with the charities needing a royal touch.” She swallowed, wracking her brain. “It seems like whatever connections Nasser has been making out and about could potentially be used for increasing donations to the charities.”
Nasser smirked. “From taking shots to giving to charities.”
“Perfect headline,” Calla cracked.
Fatim nodded slowly, turning to his brother. “Satisfied?”
Nasser didn’t give a definite answer, but his lack of a response was overshadowed by the doors bursting open again. Fatim’s nanny scurried through, dragging each of his two children by their wrists. She didn’t look pleased.
“King Fatim,” the nanny began.
“Excuse me, Fatim, we need to speak.” A man strode into the room behind the nanny and children, wearing the common burnt orange and sienna caftan of the tribe. He clutched folders at his side and hurried past Fatim’s children.
“You let your father speak in peace,” the nanny hissed to the children in a low voice as the newcomer approached the king. Calla got to her feet, the sudden flurry of activity signaling that she needed to wrap this up. The nanny yanked at Fatim’s daughter’s hand, causing the girl to stumble forward. “Did you hear me?”
Fatim’s dark gaze swept toward the nanny.
“Your Highness,” the man insisted, crowding toward him. “This is an urgent legal matter.”
Fatim raised a hand to silence the man, his gaze laser-focused on his children. “Ms. Rosa.” That was the nanny. The harried woman glanced up at the king. “You may leave. Consider yourself terminated. You may not speak to or handle my children in that fashion. Goodbye.”
The nanny gaped for a moment, but when Fatim added a second stern, “Goodbye” she stumbled out of the room. Calla gathered her scattered items as confusion took over the room.
“Papa, can we get ice cream?” His son, unfazed by the dismissal of his nanny, skipped up to Fatim.
“Sir, I really need to speak with you in private,” the lawyer continued.
“Papa, is that woman coming back?” his daughter asked, looking toward the door the nanny had rushed out of. “I didn’t like her very much.”
“She won’t be coming back, peanut,” Fatim murmured, that monotonous quality back in his voice. She liked to imagine it was the King Tone—probably what he had to employ to keep his shit together. Fatim asked the lawyer, “Yaret, can we speak later?”
“Sir—” Yaret began.
“I can watch your children,” Calla blurted, straightening suddenly from stashing pins, scissors, and thread in her toolkit. Her heart raced, though she didn’t know why. She crossed paths with them enough in the palace, and they seemed like sweet angels. This couldn’t be so hard. “While you, you know, do your thing.”
Fatim studied her a moment, then his gaze slid to his kids.
“Is she our new nanny?” His daughter asked.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Fatim’s umber gaze sizzled on her. She offered a bright smile to the kids.
“Of course not. I can spare a few hours. Why don’t you just take your time and then find us out in the gardens when you’re ready?”
Fatim nodded slowly, as though he didn’t quite believe the offer. Calla swept toward the kids, brought herself to their eye level, and said, “For now—do you two want to go play on the swings?”
Their excited shrieking was all the answer she needed. She took their hands in hers and guided them out of the king’s sitting room. She’d come back later for her toolkit—just one more excuse to run into the king later.
As she headed out of the room, she couldn’t tell if the tingling on her ass was her imagination or the king’s gaze burning a hole through her.
Grab your copy of The Sheikh’s Wife Arrangement (The Star Sheikhs Series, Book 1) from
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The Sheikh’s Convenient Bride: Omirabad Sheikhs Book One Page 12
