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“I think so.” The sheikh’s voice was hoarse. Maybe he was a fool to believe Anisah was speaking the truth, but he did. Damn it to hell, but just this once, he wanted to take a fucking leap of trust and believe that he could make a woman love him for what he was and not what she thought he should be.
The sheikh’s gaze locked with hers. “Say it now then, anisdi. Say it now—-” His chest tightened as he watched her lips start to part, but before any word could come out, someone knocked thrice on the door, a bodyguard of the sheikh alerting them to the presence of incoming students.
Fuck!
“Anisah—-” He immediately reached for her, but the mood was completely ruined, and he cursed again when she jumped out of her reach.
“Not now,” she protested. “My students could come in any moment—-”
“But didn’t you say there are things we have to talk about?” he demanded.
“And didn’t you say we could talk about them in time?” she asked helplessly.
Tarif glared at her. “Just say the words, dammit.” He closed in on her, forcing her against the chalkboard. “Say it—-”
The doors flew open.
Fuck.
The sheikh and Anisah, albeit both looking a bit flushed, stood at the opposite sides of the room by the time her students came rushing in. It took them three seconds to realize that it was truly a flesh-and-blood Tarif Al-Atassi standing in front of them, and then the gasping and squealing began.
Clearing her throat, Anisah asked, “Before Sheikh Tarif leaves, would you like to have your photo taken with His Highness?”
Thirty or so young girls crowded around him in an instant, and the sheikh no longer had time to badger her as he was forced to smile for the cameras. By the time he managed to extricate himself from her students, Anisah had to swallow back a laugh. He looked like he had gone to war, with his badly rumpled blazer and his tie askew. She watched him touch his cheek with a grimace, and her eyes widened when she belatedly noticed the tiny bleeding scratch on his face. That was when she lost it, and she burst into peals of laughter.
“What’s so fucking funny?” Tarif demanded testily under his breath as he reached her.
“N-Now y-you k-know.” Laughter made her voice shaky and barely coherent. “H-How i-irresistible y-you are.”
And then the damn harpy doubled over and started laughing again. The sight was as infuriating as it was arousing, and the sheikh shook his head in exasperation, knowing that there was no way he could get a sensible word out of her now.
Anisah’s female students sighed when the sheikh gave them a courteous bow as he excused himself, and they all but swooned when the sheikh kissed their professor on the forehead before leaving the room.
Tarif’s phone vibrated inside his pocket just as he stepped inside his limousine.
Anisah: Sorry we didn’t get to talk, but...you may consider the words said.
Tarif’s good mood remained glaringly evident by the time he joined the other sheikhs in the security room, and his cousins grimaced at the sight of it.
“For fuck’s sake, Tarif. How long are you going to strut like a well-paid manwhore?” Khalil grumbled.
“As long as you and Malik did during your honeymoon,” Tarif replied easily as he took his seat at the table.
The other sheikhs shook their heads in shared disgust. It was truly no fun when Tarif didn’t rise to the bait like he usually did.
Looking around, Tarif asked, “Andy isn’t here yet?” The palace technician had been the one to request for the meeting, having acquired a new set of footage of the attack.
“He should be here any moment,” the kingdom’s army commander answered as he stood up to start handing out case folders to each sheikh.
“I believe Tarif’s the only one who hasn’t been briefed about this,” Rayyan murmured.
“No surprise there,” Malik drawled, “since he’s been too busy wearing his heart on his sleeve.”
The sheikhs waited for Tarif to blow up.
But Tarif’s broad shoulders only moved in an indolent shrug. “It wasn’t as if none of you knew where to find me if you had an urgent need for my services.”
The sheikhs groaned at his all-too-calm response, and Tarif shook his head. “Give it up, you bastards.” Turning his attention back to his case folder, Tarif asked, “Any important developments on the security front I should know about?”
