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“Of course. The desert is a harsh environment. But our native animals have adapted and sometimes even thrived as long as mankind stays clear.”
Holly pressed a hand to her mouth. It was all starting to make so much sense now. Hamid not only loved the desert, he loved the creatures in it too. Little wonder he knew what animals visited the oasis and when. There was a purpose for his escape to the sandy wilderness. That it wasn’t just for his own sanity made him even more charismatic in her eyes.
“So you have proof then that there are still Arabian leopards in the wild?”
Hamid smiled and nodded, then swept a hand toward the blank wall behind him, where a projector proceeded to light up a photo of the one and same big cat that Holly had snapped near the oasis. “I was lucky enough to procure an amazing photographer who took this shot and many, many more.”
He paused, his gaze moving around the room for dramatic effect. His audience appeared to hang onto his every word. He smiled magnanimously. “That same photographer will be showcasing an exhibition of her work, here inside my palace, very soon.”
Holly’s stomach bottomed out while she trembled between desperate hope and bitter denial. Why hadn’t he run this idea past her first? Did he think she needed his name to make her famous?
Was he damn well right?
The news generated a babble of excited mutterings and as Hamid’s gaze moved back towards her, every stare of every reporter in the room landed on her, the apparent star-in-the-making.
Hamid smiled encouragement, then stood as he announced, “And here is the photographer herself. Everyone, I’d like you to meet Holly Petersen.”
She was nothing short of a deer in headlights. Made worse when she realized Aisha had slipped out of the room, leaving her to fend for herself. No doubt the sister of a sheikh didn’t want any bad publicity while she was in a harem outfit.
Too bad Holly’s outfit was even more revealing. She only hoped the wrap concealed more than it exposed because, right then, she had no one but herself to rely on. But then she’d grown up being self-sufficient. She’d had no choice.
Fake it till you make it.
Holly managed to paste on a confident smile as she sashayed farther into the room, feeling half-naked with so many eyes on her. “Thank you Sheikh Hamid, you are too kind.”
Hamid winked. “And you are far too modest.”
She couldn’t think about her daring harem outfit. It was enough that she brazened her way through this confrontation without leaving her name and profession in tatters by a bunch of overzealous reporters.
One of them with a big, bulbous nose and black-peppered-with-gray beard pushed a microphone close to her face. “Can you tell us about the upcoming exhibition? What photos will you showcase? Will those same photos be available to purchase?”
She cleared her throat. “I’ve taken hundreds of wildlife photos, the best of which will be available to buy. I’ve also taken some very impressive photos of Sheikh Hamid. He is quite the photogenic subject.”
A female reporter stepped forward, her dove-gray hijab perfectly in place. “Are they available for purchase, too?”
Holly looked at Hamid, sensing his scowl even though he smiled and said, “Those ones will be…negotiable.”
“Out of my price range then, clearly,” the female reporter said with a dramatic little sigh. She looked Holly up and down, a feral gleam in her dark brown eyes. “So tell us,Holly,is what you have on now also what you’d wear while photographing animals in the desert?”
Holly glanced down at her thin, silk wrap. It was a little too translucent for her liking. “Of course not. Most of the time I wore one of Hamid’s thobes. I found them particularly comfortable while lying on the sand.”
Hamid smirked at her little tidbit of information, as though pleased by her honesty. The reporters went ballistic.
A young man pushed past the female reporter and asked in an excited, nasally voice, “Are you and Sheikh Hamid dating?”
Holly’s throat closed.Holy shit.This wasn’t going well. She didn’t even know if what she had with Hamidwasa relationship. She bit her bottom lip, her mind coming up blank.
She sensed Hamid behind her even before he stepped close and put a proprietary arm around her waist, lending her strength. Yet seeing his eyes shining with tenderness as he looked down at her sent her knees weak and her pulse surging.
“There is probably little use in hiding the truth any longer, little flame.” He tore his gaze away from her and back to their spellbound audience. “Holly and Iareexclusive.”
Chapter Thirteen
Holly was used to being the photographer, not the one in front of the camera. Lights flashed and fizzed even as Hamid led her from the room and said, “This interview is over.”
The young reporter almost stumbled into them in his eagerness to get in the last word. “Sheikh Hamid, when is this exhibition?”
Holly frowned. Shouldn’t the reporter be asking her that question since she was the one supposedly holding the exhibition?
