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She swallowed and turned away from him, thinking for a few moments. Could she dare go with him?
He was an almost complete stranger, but there had been something about the way they had made a connection since their meeting in the garden. They talked to one another as if they'd known each other for longer than twenty-four hours.
And she'd seen plenty of evidence of the decency of his character in the way he'd treated her last night. There had been a respect in the way he'd behaved toward her.
But, then, Rashid's words drifted into her mind. He had said that Ahmed had a reputation with women. That he had a dangerous side to him.
Perhaps Ahmed had merely been putting on a good show for her. Had she been fooled? But, could she trust Rashid's description, especially when it was so clearly at odds with what she'd witnessed herself.
And, lastly, Ahmed had come all the way out here. He must have been driven by some impulse to have done that. Maybe he did want the best for her. Perhaps he did want to make sure she was safe.
If she went to his encampment, she might find out something about him that she could use to retrieve the situation into which last night's misunderstanding had thrown her.
Gemma glanced at Ahmed and saw that he was patiently awaiting her response.
She walked toward him, and saw the way he watched her, his glance flickering down her entire body as she moved.
He looked like he was trying desperately to contain his approval, the stirrings of his hunger for her. She felt something warm inside her as she saw the way he was looking at her.
She wasn't a complete fool. She'd seen the way men looked at her before. Especially in recent times when her fame had made her such a focus of attention. She knew men found her attractive, and that was fine.
But, she wondered if she could really trust this man, this near stranger. She'd done crazier things in her life than accept an invitation like the one he'd just made to her.
Maybe there would be something interesting in spending a day or two with this mysterious, attractive sheikh. It wasn't every day that a girl had a chance to do something like this, she told herself.
For a moment she paused, hardly believing what she was about to do. But there had been times in her life when she'd had to take a step into the unknown, and this looked like another one of those.
She took in a deep breath and narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay," she announced. "I'll go with you."
His eyes widened. He looked pleased.
"On one condition," she added abruptly.
His eyes narrowed and she was sure she saw a hint of concern there. "What is that?"
She cocked her head to one side. "You say you'll give me the privacy I need."
He nodded. "Of course."
"Then, if I stay in your encampment for a day or two, you'll agree to leave me to myself for however long I want."
He smiled, and seemed to suppress a laugh. "You make it sound like I'm making you my prisoner."
She didn't find that comment one bit funny, and she gave him a stern look to make sure he knew it.
"You know that's not what I meant."
He touched a hand to his chest, a natural gesture of deference she'd seen many people make since she'd arrived in Qazhar. "You will be my honored guest, Gemma. You have my word."
Was he being sincere? Gemma asked herself one last time if he could be trusted. She gazed into his eyes, searching, as before, for any sign of him lying. But, just like before, she couldn't find anything which would give him away, or suggest that he had any other desire than to be courteous and generous to her.
Maybe he was just trying to be the genuine article, she thought. A sheikh who was a man of honor. A man of integrity.
Back home, that would have seemed like a novelty, something scarcely to be believed. But somehow, out here, in this vast wilderness, so far from everything that she was used to, his promise seemed genuine, something she could trust.
"Is that enough?" she snapped.
The second she'd said that, she realized she'd misjudged the moment. His gaze was suddenly stern. "My word is sacred to me," he declared. "I have not been known to break a single promise I have made."
