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“I hope you know...” She bit her lip hard. “I didn’t...”
“To let them know about us?”
She winced. “I swear by my honor, Your Highness, I would never have—-” The sheikh lifted his hand in a halting gesture, and she stopped speaking.
“You’ll be pleased to know the idea didn’t even occur to me.”
“It did not?
“I’d be an idiot to do so,” Tarif said dryly, “considering how much you’ve tried to resist me in the past months.” It was unfortunately true, and the sheikh was half-amused, half-exasperated by the smile of relief Anisah sent his way.
This woman was truly bad for his ego, the sheikh mused. And yet for some reason, he wanted her even more because of that. He wanted her more than any other woman actually, which was why he was determined not to let this scandal take her away from him.
“Sheikh?”
“Nem?”
“The palace will question me about this, won’t they?”
“It is standard procedure to do so, yes.” He studied her countenance. “Are you worried?”
Her shoulders lifted in an awkward shrug. “I just don’t know if I can make myself talk about...us.”
“If you refuse to talk about us, then what do you plan on saying?”
“I’m thinking I shouldn’t say anything at all. I mean, I have other options—-”
“And one of it would be?”
“Kill myself,” she answered promptly.
“Aside from the fact that’s a terribly melodramatic alternative, anisdi, is that also your way of saying you’d rather take your own life than live in a world where everyone knows I got as far as second base with you?” When she pretended to think about it, the sheikh drawled, “At least spare a bit of my pride and lie if you must, anisdi.”
“Umm...”
“On second thought, let’s not discuss that.”
Anisah coughed to cover her smile. She knew she should be taking this more seriously, but right now she simply wanted to pretend there was nothing to worry about. She wanted to pretend that this was just one of those times they were fighting and dancing at the same time –
And when Anisah looked up at the sheikh, she saw in the dark, indulgent light in his eyes that he knew exactly what she wanted – and what she wanted, he would give.
If you want to pretend, then that’s what we’ll do, his gaze promised her, and her toes curled involuntarily.
The sheikh reached for her hand after, and she inhaled sharply at the way his fingers tightened around hers. The real world can wait, the strength in his grip assured her. And if it didn’t want to, I will make it do so.
Oh, curse this man for being so good at making her feel safe and protected.
The sheikh tipped her chin up at her continued silence. “Anything wrong?”
“Umm...” For one second, she seriously considered telling the sheikh that his unexpected chivalry was making her feel ridiculously weak-kneed about him.
“Tory?”
The moment passed, and she mentally shook her head. The sheikh was arrogant as he was already. If she told him how he was making her feel now, he’d be completely unbearable.
Seeing that the sheikh was still waiting for her answer, she cleared her throat, saying, “I was just thinking about my Plan B, Your Highness.”
“I’m all ears, anisdi.”
