AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 2
Why in the hell was Sadiq letting that little scrap of a woman get to him? He didn’t know her any better than any of the other women on the island but somehow she was the one to affect him. To get to him. Hell his body had been interested from the moment she started babbling nervously. She was cute but not beautiful with long thick chocolate chair that hung down the middle of her back and glittering green eyes that constantly held a challenge. Damn but she was tiny, probably barely over five feet. She was little more than a fairy next to his six-foot four frame. Her body was toned though which said she wasn’t a stranger to physical activity and she had just enough curves to warrant a second glance. And a third. Yet she’d ignored me yesterday at the waterfalls. He smiled, finding that intriguing because the only woman who ever ignored him was his younger sister Nisha. Even his mother still doted on him.
And that brought home just how much of an ass he’d been to the woman yesterday. So he’d woken up this morning with the idea of apologizing to her. Maybe he would offer to share a drink or a meal if she continued to not annoy him. As soon as I find her I will. Sadiq hoped she would reappear over breakfast but she hadn’t so he ate quickly and went for his morning walk on the beach. It was a ritual he started the first morning he woke up in Fiji to clear his head and ruminate over his future. There was so much to think about, the coming year would be one of change for him. He would leave behind academic pursuits and focus on politics and policy, diplomacy and of course, breeding. He would be expected to produce an heir along with several spares, if for no other reason than to keep attempts to steal the crown to a minimum.
As luck would have it he spotted her coming out of the sea just as he finished his walk. She looked up and the moment recognition dawned, a scowl appeared on her pretty face.
I guess I deserve that.Still he’d trained his entire life to lead a nation. One diminutive woman with emerald eyes wasn’t a problem. “Good morning Abby.”
She glared at him but quickly schooled her features into an emotionless stare. “Morning,” she grumbled, moving past him toward a neat stack of clothes and a towel. She bent to pick up a towel.
He stifled a groan at the sight of her heart shaped backside bent over drying her hair. “I owe you an apology for yesterday. I’m not normally so rude but three women in a row had interrupted my breakfast with crass sexual offerings and over inflated breasts. I assumed you were the fourth and I apologize for my horrible behavior.” He stood straight, hands shoved in the pocket of his board shorts, eyes concealed behind a pair of designer sunglasses Nisha had insisted he buy, and waited for some type of response.
She stayed bent over for a long time, leaving him plenty of time to take in long legs lightly browned from time spent outdoors but mostly at the curve her ass. An image flashed in his mind of his hands grabbing that ass as he thrusted into her hot, wet body. Then she stood abruptly and stared up at him for a long time, looking for something he assumed, but had no idea what. “Alright. Apology accepted.”
His scowl deepened at her easy acceptance. “That’s it?” Surely she would make him pay by literally making him pay for an expensive dinner, or a shopping spree?
She nodded, a smile ghosting the edges of her mouth. “Sure, why not? All you did was bruise my ego. No need to hold a grudge.” Then she unleashed the full power of her smile and Sadiq had to make a point of swallowing because suddenly his throat was dry and all the blood in his body was convening behind his zipper.
Was it only this morning he thought she was merely cute? Pretty? He must’ve been an idiot because she was beautiful. Striking even, especially when she smiled and it lit up her whole face. “Well I’m glad to hear that. I’m Sadiq,” he extended his hand to her, which she accepted. A jolt of electricity and heat tore through him, but instead of dropping her hand he held on tighter resisting her efforts to break their connection. The widening of those almond shaped green eyes told him she’d felt it too.
“Nice to meet you Sadiq. I’m still Abby.” He still held her hand but she seemed unaware. “That accent, it’s not quite British but very…fancy. Are you from Fiji?”
He shook his head, impressed with her ear. “Very good, but no. I am from a small island nation between Greece and Turkey.”
Her green eyes went wide and he immediately regretted being so specific. His country wasn’t well known but he found that fortune hunters of all intelligence levels had heard of it. The idiots, the schemers and the manipulators, he found, could easily pinpoint every monarchy on the globe. They were all up on geography when it came to the royal families. “Kaza’ah? No kidding? Wow what a small world!”
He rolled his eyes derisively. “Oh yeah, why is that?”
The spell had been broken with his words or maybe his careless actions. Abby extracted her hand and took a step back. When she spoke again, her tone was back to the ‘polite stranger’ setting. “Because I spent a semester there so I could research my thesis on the environmental and behavioral impact of over-fishing on reproduction and sex changes in Mediterranean fish.” Arms crossed she bit back a smile. “Assumptions again Sadiq?”
“Sorry,” he answered, feeling his skin heat with embarrassment. “Let me make it up to you.”
She laughed and it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “Now that you know I have no designs on you or your wealth and power,” she winked to take the sting off her mocking, “you want to take me out? Perhaps you need a different type of scientist?”
Her words sank in and he barked out a laugh, then wonder of wonders he doubled over in a fit of laughter. “Not exactly but you are, by far, the most interesting person I’ve met since I got here.”
“You mean it?”
“That you’re interesting? Yes.”
She shook her head, went tendrils sticking to her face and chest enticingly. “No, that you want to make it up to me?” He nodded and her smile spread. “Good. I have just the thing. Meet me in the lobby in an hour.”
He frowned. “I’m staying in a bungalow behind the resort.”
Abby smiled. “Me too, but I haven’t decided if you’re charming weird or creepy weird. So, the lobby, yeah?” She turned and walked away without an answer and Sadiq continued to laugh.
He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had stood up to him and made him laugh. Abby had already proven to be a different creature than he was used to dealing with. She told him what to do, had a confidence that didn’t seem to come from her good looks or obvious sex appeal, but where? She appeared to genuinely have no interest in him, which was a shame.
Because suddenly, Sadiq was very interested.
***
What on earth was I thinking?Abby asked herself that question at least ten times between leaving Sadiq standing on the beach in shock and leaving her bungalow to meet him in the lobby. She wasn’t the forward type even though, as an educator, she was used to telling people what to do. Instructing them and leading them. When it came to men though, her default setting was to let them take the lead. She couldn’t say why that was really when her own mother was a take the reigns kind of woman, owning her own recruitment firm in Boulder and running her household like a superhero. It was yet another mystery she was determined to solve before the season was over. Was she just a passive person by nature or was she desperate to be loved and therefore willing to bend over backwards to get it?
She assumed that was just who she was but the long hours spent in her own company had her rethinking that bit of conventional wisdom. Maybe she’d just changed during her time with Charles because he preferred to initiate sex, plan their dates and even their vacations. But now that she was alone again, maybe it was time to figure which role Abby preferred.
So far she preferred take charge Abby. Then again there was something about Sadiq that inspired confidence in her. There was something about him, period. He was too gorgeous and that jolt of electricity when they’d shaken hands had been alarming, yet she hadn’t felt afraid or wary. And I’m wearing my red bikini under this getup! Even though she’d bought several bikinis for this vacation to keep things fresh with Charles, Abby found she felt better about herself, more confident in them whether men looked or not. Finally she understood Shelly’s obsession with expensive, sexy lingerie. Note to self, get more sexy lingerie when you get home.
