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He pushed a hand over his face and muttered, “I don’t have time for this. I need to be someplace else.” He looked at his sister and gritted, “Get changed.” His stare lingered on Holly. “I’ll see you both at dinner.”
Holly nodded, and he seemed satisfied with that. He stalked off in his thobe, his dark plaits bouncing with every jerky step.
“Wow,” Aisha murmured. “You must have really made an impression on him. He looked livid! He never reacts like that unless he cares.” She smiled conspiratorially. “Are you also the reason he hasn’t been drinking? It’s been nice to see him sober.”
Holly managed a smile in return. “He’s been trying his best not to drink after learning I lived with a violent alcoholic father.”
“So hedoescare about you.” Her eyes sparkled, her mind apparently focused on the positive. “It’s nice to know there is hope for him yet.” She did a twirl, one hand holding out her gauzy material. “This isn’t the only harem outfit that was left behind. Do you want to try some on?”
Holly smiled. “Do you think your brother would like seeing me in one of them?”
“Is the sky blue?” Aisha enquired sweetly. “That you’re not his sister means you can wear whatever the hell you want.” Her eyes tightened fractionally. “You are so lucky.”
Holly managed to smile. “I am,” she conceded. “As much as I adore your brother, freedom means everything to me.”
Aisha blinked, her full lips twisting. “So many women would give up everything, including their freedom, just to be with him. You must be as strong as an oak resisting his charms compared to all those reeds bending to his every whim.”
“An oak?” Holly snorted with laughter. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Aisha giggled. “You really are different, aren’t you?”
Holly nodded. “I sure hope so.”
Chapter Twelve
Holly looked in the mirror, feeling almost alien in the emerald harem outfit that fit her body perfectly, the color highlighting her unbound, red-gold hair and her sun-kissed skin. The diamond bodice flashed and twinkled under the lights, emphasizing the deep V of her cleavage. That the dress was all but backless, except for a strip across her ass, left her feeling risqué and excited.
Aisha touched the ends of Holly’s hair. “So soft and gorgeous. The color reminds me of the desert.Huh.No wonder my brother is so hot for you.” She waggled her fingers in front of her face like a fan. “If I didn’t like men so much I might want you too.”
Holly smiled. “For someone so stunning you sure know how to flatter.”
“I’m only being truthful.”
Holly’s cheek tinged with pink. “Thank you. I wish I could say I take after my mother. But it’s my father who had the red hair. Unfortunately he also had the red-hot temper to go along with it.”
Aisha’s lips thinned. “Your father sounds like an asshole. Luckily you only inherited the color of his hair.” She threw a long, silken wrap around Holly’s barely there outfit, then grabbed hold of Holly’s nearest hand. “Come, let’s go surprise my brother.”
Holly picked up her camera with a laugh, and followed Aisha through half-a-dozen corridors where paintings and sculptures beckoned along the way, along with priceless vases and colorful urns.
She took little notice of where they were going until Aisha opened a door and they stepped inside an interview room, where Hamid sat behind a desk while speaking to reporters and journalists.
Holly paused inside the doorway, her eyes glued to the man who made her pulse race and her throat dry. That he was freshly shaven and in a western suit, but with his overlong hair still plaited, somehow made her want him more. If he was her fantasy brought to life in his thobe, he was a double shot of deliciousness in the dark gray suit that clung to his hardness, a white dress shirt contrasting against his dark-golden skin.
She leaned close to Aisha. “Seems like he’s a little busy right now,” she whispered.
“He’ll be done soon enough,” Aisha promised with a little smirk. “Come on.”
Hamid chose that moment to lift his eyes, his stare widening as he caught sight of Holly. His lips curled and his eyes flashed at seeing her outfit, and Holly felt a stirring deep inside, an answering sexual need she just barely repressed.
“Oh my,” Aisha murmured. “And he hasn’t even seen your outfit properly yet.”
One of the reporters lifted a hand, and Hamid nodded vaguely at him while not once looking away from Holly.
“So whatareyou doing exactly to help save Imbranak’s wildlife from extinction?”
Hamid finally unlocked his stare from Holly to focus on the reporter. “As I said, I have men in the desert recording any sightings and observing the activity of the animals in the territory. Those same men are also tasked to protect the wildlife from humans who might hunt or kill them.”
“So your desert wildlife charity continues to save many of these animals?”
