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Xavier shook his head The Sheikh's aide seemed to have a curiously ambivalent attitude towards him At times they were at ease together, yet at others there was tension and once—just once—Xavier had looked up and been surprised to see a look almost of jealousy there Did he resent another man's growing closeness with the Sheikh? he wondered After years of being his sole and trusted aide?
'No, I don't talk to Malik,' he said flatly
'Then why not talk to me?' asked Laura, as she climbed into the back of their four-wheel drive and Xavier got in beside her, before the car moved away in a cloud of desert dust.
'Why should I do that?'
'Well, I'm a good listener I'm impartial—and I'm honest enough to tell you what I think rather than what you want to hear—which in your case is no bad thing '
'Are you quite possibly perfect in everyway'?' he asked, in a voice which was silkily sardonic.
When they'd first arrived here Laura might have viewed this question as making fun of her But she had altered—was altering—she could feel it happening even now She had stood firm in her resolve not to be a compliant bedfellow that he would soon tire of, and had regained her self-respect by managing to resist his breathtaking allure.
Friendship you had to work harder at than sexual chemistry—but she felt they were getting there.
But it was much bigger than just what she had got out of the experience Laura had been looking outwards, as well as inwards. She could see the chase of conflicting emotions in Xavier's eyes, and suddenly found that she wanted to help him come to terms with what was happening to him.
'Quite possibly completely perfect,' she agreed, half turning in her seat to look at him 'Tell me if you want. Don't if you don't'
Her neck was like a graceful arc, down which the rope of dark red hair fell like plaited silk.
What did he have to lose? In the absence of much more distracting pursuits I can see no alternative to talking,' he said 'Yet are you bound by professional confidence, Laura—or will you be contracting my story to the highest-bidding journalist on our return to the West?'
She shook her head and sighed in mock despair 'You have such a low view of other people '
It is based on experience,' he observed 'Women selling stories about my prowess as a lover, Business rivals describing me as unscrupulous '
'You probably are a bit unscrupulous, though, aren't you?'
He stared at her for a long moment, and then unexpectedly began to laugh 'Ah, but you are outrageous, cherie' he murmured admiringly
The compliment warmed her more than it should have done—and Laura forced a prim smile If you don't want women to sell their story, you should get to know them properly before you have sex with them'
He slanted her a look 'Like I did with you, you mean?'
Laura blushed 'That was cheap '
He nodded 'Yes, it was,' he agreed—because what he had shared with Laura felt anything but cheap
The colour began to fade from her cheeks If you're worried about confidentiality—I would never break the confidence of a friend '
Was it because of her job that he found himself wanting to talk to her? Yet he had dated lawyers before without feeling the need to bare his soul, hadn't he? But you have never found yourself in a situation quite like this one And hadn't talking been the precursor to that incredible night he had spent with her?
He felt free with her Free to be able to put his thoughts into words and not have them stored in an emotional bank to be used against him It was like allowing yourself to swim naked in the sea after years of being restricted by a tight rubber wetsuit
It's weird,' he said thoughtfully It's just the little things that make you realise.The Sheikh is left-handed, and so am I He never watches television but he devours non-fiction, and so do I He is shru
nken now by age, but his eyes '
He had seen a photo of the Sheikh in his glorious youth—strong and indommitable—taken long before he had met his mother But seeing the man in the flesh, even shrivelled flesh, was profoundly different—for in that virile face.
Xavier had caught a glimpse of himself, a merging of past and present which was a whole new and slightly shattering experience.
'His eyes are the same as yours?' guessed Laura.
'Yes,' he said simply 'Exactly the same.
Laura suspected that on one level Xavier knew that traits such as left-handedness and eye-colour were inherited—but some things went beyond mere science It was the human connection which was the important one here—the missing link in his life which had now been joined up.
