AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s better,” he told her approvingly.
“Better?” she echoed in confusion.
“Anger’s brought back color to your cheeks.”
Oh. Her toes curled, and her voice was awkward and stilted as she said, “I’m sorry.” There he went again, giving her another taste of the forbidden, and it was getting worryingly addictive. “I appreciate your help, sheikh. I really do—-”
The sheikh raised a brow. “There’s a but, isn’t there?”
“But you mustn’t forget your promise—-” She paused then added in a rush, “You need to be a little less nice because I’m feeling more than a little troubled, and the thought of falling in love with you is enough to make me throw up and—-”
In full view of their audience, the sheikh placed a finger on her lips, and the crowd ‘oohed’ while she could only stare up at him in stunned disbelief.
“Voila,” Tarif said with a wicked grin. “I’ve shut you up by doing something decidedly sexist.”
OH!
“Happy now, my sweet?”
Yes. No. Oh, she had no idea what to think. What he had done was admittedly sexist in a way, but if that were so, why was it that her toes had curled anew and her heart was racing like mad?
It was just so confusing, and she could only breathe a sigh of relief when the sheikh finally released her lips. But then she felt him place a proprietary hand on the small of her back, and her alarmingly sensitive body shot straight up like an arrow. Their sides brushed against each other as they started walking, and she almost shuddered.
Oh dear heavens, what was wrong with her?
The sheikh bent his head towards her, murmuring, “If it’s any consolation, you did very well for your first public outing.”
Anisah glanced up at the sheikh in bemusement as he steered them towards the university’s front doors. “First public outing?” she echoed blankly. “What do you mean by that?”
“All I’m saying, anisdi,” Tarif murmured smoothly, “is that things will die down eventually.”
“I don’t think this one will.” Anisah’s tone was fatalistic. “They’ll always remember me as the most promiscuous professor – why are you laughing?”
“Because of how unbelievably innocent you are,” the sheikh answered with an amused shake of his head. “What they’ll remember you for is the fact that you’re the only woman who hasn’t let me get past second base.”
Anisah only stared at him. “You have to be kidding, sheikh.” But the sheikh simply stared back at her, and her jaw dropped. “Are you seriously telling me you always have sex on your first date?” she sputtered.
“Of course not. I do have standards, anisdi.”
She tossed the sheikh a suspicious look, asking, “And that means?”
“It means,” he drawled, “I’m saying you’re right about the fucking part, but I’m a lot more selective on who I take out on a date.”
He...what?
Before Anisah could even wrap her head around the sheikh’s revelation, the guards, acting on the sheikh’s command, had already thrown the doors open and a throng of paparazzi immediately started shouting questions while their fingers pressed nonstop on the shutter buttons of their cameras.
Click! Click! Click!
The sound was strangely deafening, and Anisah couldn’t help but raise a hand to shield her face as a sense of claustrophobia swept over her. She knew she was being silly, but knowing what they were thinking while looking at her, talking to her – it made her feel foolishly vulnerable, and Anisah couldn’t even make herself protest when the sheikh drew her close to him in a gesture as possessive as it was sheltering.
The sheikh’s personal guards appeared soon after, clearing a path through the crowd of reporters, and the sheikh pulled her closer to him as he led the way to his waiting limousine.
Anisah only allowed herself to resume breathing the moment the chauffeur shut the passenger door. The limousine started to move, and her body gradually relaxed as the noise of the news-hungry paparazzi faded.
Turning to the sheikh, she said, “Khalis alshukr, alshaykh.” My sincere thanks, sheikh. It was the most formal and deepest expression of gratitude in their language, and her voice, albeit awkward and halting, was filled with grudging sincerity. This might just be a temporary reprieve from having to face the music, but she also knew it was extra time she wouldn’t have been able to buy for herself without the sheikh’s help.
“It is my honor to be of service, my sweet.”
