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“Yes, I know. You think love should be no part of it. Just do me a favor.” She lifted her gaze. “When you choose your wife, choose from your heart. Not the advice of your tourist board.”
Omar looked at her, then his hand suddenly tightened on hers. “Come with me.”
“With you?”
“To Samarqara. I want you there. As one of the five.”
Beth nearly staggered back from shock. “You—you do?”
“Yes.”
“But I’m all wrong to be your queen!”
His dark eyes were grim. “I know.”
“Then why?”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I need you.”
He needed her?
Beth’s whole body, her whole being, trembled from the inside out as she felt the warmth of his breath against her skin, the brief hot caress of his lips against her hand.
That was all it took—a kiss on the hand. An old-fashioned, chaste gesture. And she felt the world shake as emotion and desire whirled around her like a tornado, leaving her stunned.
“Say you’ll come,” he commanded.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He straightened, releasing her. For a moment, she swayed, looking up at him, still lost in the storm.
“You’re an extraordinary woman, Dr. Farraday,” he said huskily, cupping her cheek. Then he turned and left.
Beth watched as he disappeared down the hall. A dazed smile lifted her lips.
Then her smile dropped. If he was actually considering the possibility of making Beth his wife...
Oh, no.
Her heart twisted. It meant she had no choice now but to tell him the truth. And Edith would just have to give back the money. So be it. Beth couldn’t lie to him anymore. She couldn’t risk hurting him—
“So he didn’t even kiss you.” The voice was a sneer. Turning, she saw Sia Lane standing behind her in the hallway, still in her exercise clothes, her beautiful face incredulous.
Beth wished she would go away. “He kissed my hand...”
“Your hand?” The movie star snorted. “He’s a sheikh. A billionaire king. If he’s only kissing your hand, it’s pretty clear what he thinks of you, isn’t it?” She looked over Beth contemptuously. “And who can blame him?”
Pain filled her heart. “Why would you say...”
“I heard you’re the only girl he took out to see Paris. Big deal.” Coming closer, Sia whispered with vicious satisfaction, “We spent our date in my bedroom. In my bed.”
Beth felt sucker punched. “I don’t believe you.”
She shrugged. “Believe me or not. Men always want me. You and I both know who was born to rule. And who was not.” Looking Beth up and down scornfully, the movie star turned on her expensive running shoes, tilting her skinny hip. Gripping her small towel and water bottle like weapons, she said pleasantly, “See you in Samarqara.”
Numbly, Beth went back to her own bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Just a moment before, she’d been half in love with him, just because he’d kissed her hand. Because he’d looked into her eyes. Because he’d made Beth feel, for one night, like she was truly extraordinary.
