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“It’s a phobia. They’re not rational.” She shrugged. “So, where should we start filming?”
Relief washed over him. Not only was she taking pity on him and his reaction to the spider, but the day wouldn’t be a total loss after all. He exhaled slowly then pulled out his phone and brought up his GPS maps. “I thought we’d begin here, in the main grotto, then move on to this lake where the blind fish live, then perhaps if there’s time we can view the desert from atop the entrance. It’s quite breathtaking at sunset.”
She looked up at him and smiled and his whole world brightened, the fear banished. “Sounds perfect. We can start whenever you’re ready.”
8
The next morning, Laura spent a few hours going over all her photos and video clips from the day before. Walking through the underground tunnels and caves with Raheem had been educational, to say the least. He knew so much about the landscape and the native species of his home and his pride in both were obvious. If she’d ever doubted his sincerity before, she didn’t any longer.
But his reaction to that spider had been something else.
When she’d pressed him about it later, on the way back to the palace, he’d explained how his brothers had forced him to watch a movie back when he was a kid and it had given rise to his intense fear of spiders. Seemed pretty outlandish, but then again, she’d never really trusted again after her mother had died and her father had tried to control every aspect of her life. So, yeah. Who was she to judge?
A knock at the door jarred her back to the present. Laura got up and walked over to answer. A white-robed servant stood on the other side, bowing low while holding out a silver tray with a white box on it.
“Is this for me?” she asked.
The servant nodded and Laura took the box, frowning as the servant hurried away again before she could thank him. She closed the door then wandered back to the bed, staring down at the box. She held it up to her ear and it wasn’t ticking. Always a good sign. There were no markings on it to indicate who it was from or what was inside.
Slowly, she removed the lid and found a new, top-of-the-line Apple watch inside. She’d always wanted one, but couldn’t afford it. Beneath it was a small hand-written note.
From Raheem. For scaring off my foes.
Laura laughed. Okay, sure. She’d chased away the big bad spider, but honestly. This watch had to cost over a thousand dollars. There weren’t big enough bugs to chase for that. At least she didn’t think there were. If so, she didn’t want to see them.
She slipped on her shoes and checked her reflection in the mirror before putting the watch back in its box and heading downstairs with it. Raheem was being far too generous and she couldn’t accept it for doing nothing. The fact he was paying her an outrageous amount to film the natural beauty of his country was already more than enough.
Once she reached the foyer, though, she had no idea which direction to take to find him. This place was huge, with so many halls and passages it was easy to get lost. She stood for a moment and heard the distant sound of voices echoing from the left, so she decided to start there.
Her wandering paid off and she found Raheem discussing something with his brothers in Arabic. She understood basic words, but nothing beyond that. She waited discreetly outside the door until they finished, then caught Raheem on his way out.
“Hey,” she said, tucking a stray auburn curl behind her ear. “Um, thank you so much for the watch, but I can’t accept it.”
He looked down at the box in her palm then back up to her. “Why not?”
“Because it’s too expensive. Seriously. All I did was chase away a spider. No big deal.”
“It was a very big deal to me.” He gave her a curt bow. “Please. Take it. I want you to have it.”
“Really. I can’t.” She tried to hand the box back to him, but he walked away. Laura rushed to catch up with his longer strides. “Here.”
“I won’t take it.” He gave her a side glance. “Did you ever stop to think that it’s in my best interest to make sure you don’t end up lost in the desert again? I’m paying you an exorbitant amount to film my homeland. I wish to see a return on my investment. That won’t happen if you end up dead of heat stroke on the side of a remote sand dune.”
“Oh, well.” She balked. “I didn’t think about it like that. But still. It costs too much.”
“What price do you put on your safety, Laura?” He stopped and raised a brow at her. “There may be times during this assignment where I can’t accompany you to a location. My country is not known to be overly dangerous, but it would give me peace of mind to know that you are taken care of. Besides, it will be one less thing I have to worry about. Do this. For me.”
He’d stopped short of commanding her to take the watch, but the implication was there in the rigid set of his broad shoulders and the imperious glint in his eyes. Laura forced herself to take a breath, calm down, reassess. It really was a lovely watch and she had been planning on getting herself one someday. And the last thing she wanted to do was insult the
man who’d be paying her salary so she could live debt-free for once. Hell, with the amount he was paying her, she could live debt-free for the next decade, if she was smart about her spending.
“Fine,” she said at last.
“Fine.” Raheem turned on his heel and continued onward, leaving Laura to catch up once again. “Are you busy right now?” he asked.
“Uh, no.” Other than chasing you around. “Why?”
“How would you like to accompany me to see my brother’s newest five-star luxury monstrosity?”
