by Erin Snihur
Tilting her head slightly, Teresa curiously asked, “Why do you care? I mean, I appreciate what you did in the club the other night, but we hardly know each other, other than our first names.”
Amoz sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Why shouldn’t I care, Teresa? This issue is quite common in our society and despicably so. I care about people and frankly, my friend’s wife was abused by someone she trusted and, when I found out, it took a few of us to keep her husband from killing her abuser. If I have the power to stop someone from hurting you or anyone, I will do whatever I can to stop it.”
Teresa laughed softly and shook her head before continuing on the path. “Those are some pretty words, Amoz, but again, we hardly know one another.”
“Then let's change that,” Amoz said, his words final as he jogged to where she was walking so that he could keep up with her. “How long are you staying in Elish?”
Amoz already knew everything he could about her after gleaning some information from the front desk. Teresa would only be gracing Elish for a week and a half more until she had to fly back to America.
Why was he so concerned?
Because she was the first woman in almost a year to get your pulse pounding in a way that feels like something different and more, an inner voice hissed at him, but Amoz promptly pushed it aside to listen to Teresa as she bit her bottom lip before answering.
“We arrived three days ago, so about 11 days,” Teresa answered and then protested, “But, I’m here with my sister, Samantha, I can’t abandon her. Besides, Amoz, you're being very sweet and kind for wanting to make me feel comfortable in getting to know you, but I’m just not in that place where I’m even interested in being in a relationship with another man.”
Amoz nodded and held up his hand for her to stop walking and smiled softly. “So, friends then. You're here in my beautiful land and I can show both you and your sister the beauty Elish has to offer. My friend, Tariq, can join us, he’s visiting the resort as well.”
Teresa stared at Amoz for what seemed like an hour, but really was only a few minutes. Staring into his soft brown eyes reminded her of what Samantha had said only this morning when they’d fought over the card.
I just want you to live a little crazy for once in your life, Samantha’s words echoed in her mind. It was only for a few more days. A week at most. Once Amoz realized he wasn’t getting anywhere with Teresa, he would move on.
You don’t want that, a voice hissed in her mind.
Teresa shook herself to focus on the matters at hand. She forced herself to smile up at Amoz in what she hoped wasn’t a grimace.
Teresa nodded. “Okay. You can be our unofficial tour guide of Elish. Though, I hope you know that just because you are showing us around there won’t be any funny business.”
Amoz grinned, his rugged eyes and beard growth reminding Teresa of a pirate from one of her favorite romance novels. “Is that a challenge?”
Teresa rolled her eyes, “I knew I was right when I saw you that first day by the pool. Your ego is much bigger than your…”
Teresa had never flirted with another man other than Gerry before. She’d always felt awkward doing it back home and never comfortable enough with any other man.
Now, with Amoz, she found her voice trailing off and her eyes sliding down over his chest and to his lower area where she could see the faint outline of a hardening cock beneath his swim trunks.
Grinning in delight when she raised her gaze away from Amoz’ area to his pale eyes, she merely shrugged and continued along the path. She never stopped, not even when Amoz yelled in protest, and she merely giggled in delight and ran down the path.
Catch me if you can, my sexy pirate.
6
“So, the sexist pig from the night before is really taking us out to dinner to one of the restaurants on the resort?” Samantha asked for what must have been the fifth time already since Teresa returned to her room to apologize to her sister.
Both sisters sat out on their room’s terrace, sipping on their fruity cocktails as they watched the sun beginning to set in the distance. Their view overlooking the white sandy beaches were breathtaking enough without the orangish orb sinking beneath the horizon.
“Yes,” Teresa answered and rolled her eyes when her sister continued.
“And this is the same man who sent you flowers and apparently stalked you around the resort resulting in you both running around the resort, playing some game of tag or something?” Samantha asked again.
Sighing, Teresa stared down at her drink, her straw between two fingers as she slowly spun it around the glass. “It wasn’t like that. I may have flirted a little bit with him and said something that he deemed necessary for the chase.”
“Well, what did you say?” Samantha asks.
Shaking her head, Teresa turns her gaze from her glass to the horizon. “Not going to tell you. Anyway, he and his friend, Tariq, are going to take us to that fancy five-star restaurant you were drooling about when we first checked in and they gave us that tour of the resort.”
Samantha scoffed, “I wasn’t the only one drooling. You and food go together like this...” She held up her fingers entwined in a knotted gesture and laughed when Teresa snorted at the sight.
“Well, I’m glad you are getting out and doing something reckless for a change,” Samantha said softly.
Sighing in frustration at the thought of her sister bringing this up again, Teresa leveled her with a look. “There is nothing wrong with being cautious. I dove head first into a relationship with Gerry and I came away with more than a few scrapes. Amoz just wants to be friends and show us Elish. There’s nothing more going on.”
Rolling her eyes at Teresa, Samantha snorted sarcastically. “Right. So, when he eventually caught you outside our building after your game of chase, he wasn’t staring at you like he wanted to drag you off into his cave and do sexually wonderful things to you.”
Choking on her drink, Teresa coughed harshly before standing to full height, wanting to escape this conversation. “No, he wasn’t!”
Samantha rolled her eyes again. “I was there. You could feel the sexual tension between you two. If I didn’t know you very well, I would have thought you both had just been rolling around in the grass doing it gopher style.”
Groaning at her sister’s vulgar language, Teresa palmed her face with her free hand. “How are you the older one? Aren’t you supposed to be the mature responsible sibling?”
Shrugging, Samantha leaned back in her chair. “Just lucky, I guess. Now, forget about all your doubts, but if you want to make that man grovel for a smidgen of your attention, you need to look fierce tonight.”
“I don’t want him to grovel,” Teresa protested as Samantha stood and darted inside the room, scanning Teresa’s hung up clothes in the closet.
“Trust me, you do. That way, the ball is in your court. With Gerry, the ball was never in your court. He always took advantage of your sweet nature. Not tonight. Tonight, you are in charge,” Samantha called out as she took another sip of her cocktail.
“If that was the case, then I would be the one deciding what to wear and how to act tonight,” Teresa pouted and leaned against the balcony door jamb as she watched her sister sift through her dresses.
Looking over her shoulder, Samantha winked. “I’m the oldest, remember? Heed my wisdom, young one!”
“Explain to me again why I have to come with you on this date?” Tariq asked loudly from Amoz’ suite balcony.
Amoz stood before his bedroom mirror, fixing the collar of his blazer and dress shirt underneath. Scanning the mirror and meeting Tariq’s eyes briefly, Amoz inwardly rolled his eyes as his friend took another sip from his whiskey glass.
“I need tonight to go well and the only way Teresa will feel comfortable with me is if her sister is there. So, her sister needed a date. Here you are,” Amoz recalls again as he fiddles with the top button of his dress shirt, trying to decide if he should button it or leave it open
as a more casual look.
“Why do you need me? I can remember when we were attending boarding school you conquered the Smith twins both separately and at the same time,” Tariq called out, laughing to himself.
Grimacing, Amoz turned away from the mirror and strode out on the balcony, leveling Tariq with a hard look. “Don’t mention any sordid details of my past at dinner and don’t mention the whole royalty thing. For either of us. We’re just two friends who are on vacation.”
Tariq choked on his drink and sputtered as Amoz grimaced and stalked back into the room.
Following hot on his heels, Tariq cried out, “How the hell do you plan on hiding the fact that you're the freaking Sheik of Elish? How can I hide that fact, anyway? Don’t you think these women know the truth? Why else would they agree to go out to dinner with us?”
“They don’t know anything about Elish other than the basics. That’s why they are visiting. Teresa mentioned something about falling in love with Arabian culture as a child and wanting to visit the Arabian Coast for some time. Her sister just joined her, probably to keep an eye on her. Teresa’s been through something awful and clearly deserves to have the best vacation possible,” Amoz muttered as he slid his sterling silver watch on his wrist.
“Oh my god, you’re in love with this woman! For the love of the gods, has everyone gone insane? First Khalid with Amelia, then Malik with Samara and now you!” Tariq yelled loudly.
“I’m not in love with her, Tariq. I like her and she’s beautiful. This is the first woman I’ve been attracted to in a long time and I won’t have you messing it up. Now are you with me or not?” Leveling his friend with his most serious Sheik stare, Amoz waited.
His friend was silent for a while as they stared each other down. It was clear Tariq was in disbelief about this turn of events, but Amoz was determined that this night go off without a hitch.
“Fine!” Tariq grumbled finally and downed the last of his whiskey. “You owe me for this one.”
“Teresa’s sister is beautiful and smart, you’ll have fun,” Amoz grinned and patted his friend on the shoulder.
“They’re Americans,” Tariq protested.
Laughing, Amoz shook his head. “Careful. One of these days a pretty American is going to catch your eye and you’ll regret that statement.”
Shoving Amoz aside, Tariq stood before his mirror and straightened his blazer, “Never. Unless I meet a woman, who can best me both physically and mentally, I will never settle down.”
Amoz rolled his eyes heavenward and sent a prayer to Allah, Make it so.
7
Teresa pulled down the hem of the tight, maroon cocktail dress Samantha had demanded she wear for dinner tonight. Sliding her hands down the soft material, Teresa cringed. Her ass must look huge in this dress. Coupled with the silver, high heeled shoes, Teresa worried she might make a complete fool out of herself.
“Stop playing with it. You look amazing. I saw the way Amoz looked at you in your maroon colored dress at the club and he’s sure to lose his tongue when he sees you tonight,” Samantha ordered at her side.
Clutching her hands to her sides, Teresa turned to face her sister away from the entrance of the restaurant. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can. Be brave, be you. He already likes you enough to go to this much trouble, let the dress do the rest!” Samantha crooned and fiddled with her own sapphire dress by pulling up the front to give her cleavage a little boost.
Rolling her eyes at her sister’s provocative show, Teresa scanned the area. Amoz was nowhere in sight. Maybe it had all been a trick? Boys back home had always liked playing pranks on Teresa when she’d been younger. Maybe things were the same way in Elish.
Before Teresa could protest again and demand they return to their room with their tails between their legs, two tall, familiar looking men strode out of the restaurant. Amoz smiled at her and swept out a hand to introduce his grey eyed friend.
“Teresa, Samantha, this one of my best friends, Tariq,” Amoz said and the grey eyed man, Tariq, nodded, his charming grin spreading across his face as he stepped closer to take Teresa’s hand. Placing a kiss on the top before reaching out to take her sister’s hand, Tariq winked at her sister who blushed and giggled in response.
“A pleasure to be invited to dine with you beautiful ladies,” Tariq murmured against Samantha’s hand.
Rolling his eyes, Amoz playfully pushes Tariq away. “Ignore him. He’s a hopeless flirt.”
Mockingly shocked, Tariq held a hand to his chest. “Cut to the quick, Amoz.”
Ignoring his friend, Amoz held out his arm for Teresa and Tariq did the same for Samantha.
“They have our table all set up and I hope you don’t mind, but I already ordered some authentic Arabian food,” Amoz said softly, keeping his pale brown eyes firmly on Teresa’s.
Samantha spoke up then, her cheery voice taking with her Amoz’ gaze, “Sounds perfect. Teresa and I were hoping to take a cab into the city or one of the smaller towns to experience the local food.”
Tariq offered, “Amoz and I can take you. Allow us to be your tour guides. Amoz himself grew up here while I grew up in the neighboring Arabian country, Hattan, but they are not so different when it comes to food.”
Once they were seated in a private section of the restaurant, Teresa finally noticed they were the only group in this section.
Leaning close to Amoz, who sat at her side while Samantha and Tariq flirted over something silly, Teresa whispered, “How were you able to reserve an entire section of the dining room for our dinner on such short notice?”
Amoz leaned forward and winked at her. “I have my ways.”
“Uh-huh, just like you had your ways of finding out where our room was so you could send those flowers?” Teresa asked as she took a sip from her water glass, her eyes never leaving Amoz’ heated gaze.
Amoz’ grin widened. “I could never reveal all my secrets. Especially on our first date.”
Teresa’s insides warmed and she blushed, staring down at the table cloth as she mumbled, “This isn’t our first date. It isn’t a date at all, remember? Just friends.”
“We’ll see,” was all Amoz said before an approaching waiter interrupted and greeted their foursome.
After detailing the wine listing to which Teresa was hardly an expert in, the waiter departed, stating their first course would be arriving shortly.
Teresa had never been gifted in small talk. She’d only been on a few dates before Gerry and after Gerry she hadn’t been ready to date. What did one ask in this type of situation?
As if sensing her sister’s confusion, Samantha piped up, her eyes bright and her smile cheerful, “So, Tariq, Amoz, what do you do for work?”
Tariq took the lead and Teresa couldn’t help but try to avoid Amoz’ gaze as he stared at her, while Tariq spoke of a few corporations he was invested in and a few charities he ran back in his home country of Hattan.
When Samantha began asking more questions, Teresa leaned in close to Amoz. “I’m sorry for being rude to you tonight, this is lovely.”
Leaning in closer to her as well, Amoz whispered back, “You were right though. This is not our first date. If it was, my friend and your sister would not be here.”
Laughing at his joke, Teresa felt herself beginning to grow comfortable with Amoz’ teasing and before she knew it, the first course had been served, taken away and they were onto their main course.
The main course, a soup like substance, sat in a large bowl with a ladle in the center of the table.
“It looks like a bowl of gravy with green things mixed in,” Samantha grimaced as she and Teresa both inspected the bowl’s contents.
Off to the side on a warm plate was warm naan bread cut into medium sized triangles. Good-naturedly, the two men laughed at Samantha’s comparison.
“It is called foul meddamas. Don’t let the name fool you,” Amoz murmured. “It is very hearty and good for your bones. Here, let me show you how we eat it
here in Elish.”
With practiced ease, Amoz carefully filled his own empty bowl full of the brown soup and took a few pieces of warm naan bread for his side plate. Expertly, Amoz took a piece of naan bread and, with his own spoon, scooped the hot beans and veggies onto the top. Folding the naan bread like a burrito, Teresa half expected the sexy man to bite into it. Instead, he held it up to her lips.
“Bite,” Amoz ordered, his pale brown eyes boring a hole through hers.
Shivering, Teresa felt herself moving and lips opening without even a second thought. Biting down into the warm bread, Teresa’s eyes widened as the rich flavor exploded in her mouth.
Moaning in delight, Teresa chewed and swallowed before laughing aloud as she covered her mouth and turned her gaze to her sister who watched amused. “I can taste the lemon and fava beans! Try some, Sam.”
Turning back to Amoz, who was now finishing the naan bread she’d only taken a bite out of, Teresa blushed at the thought of sharing food with such a man.
“Thank you,” Teresa whispered to him and Amoz politely inclined his head before gesturing to her to take more.
The night continued in a blur of laughter, wine and tantalizing food. Before she knew it, the food was gone and they were now walking around the resort. In the tropical trees and entangled in the low bushes were twinkling lights. While she saw a few people passing them on the cobbled stone pathway, the resort was relatively quiet. At some point, Amoz’ hand met hers and she didn’t pull away when he held it while her sister and Tariq walked ahead, arguing over politics.
“I had an enjoyable time tonight,” Amoz murmured when Tariq and Samantha were a few feet away.
Smiling, Teresa nodded. “I did too.”
“I didn’t want to say it in front of your sister, I know how nervous you are, but you look beautiful tonight,” Amoz said, pulling her to a stop so that Tariq and Samantha disappeared around a corner up ahead.
