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He smiled at the few giggles she released on the way to the car. His smile morphed into a scowl when she waved the driver away and tossed her bags in the car. “Let the man do his job, Shala.”
She smiled up at the older man. “We all deserve a break sometime and it’s not like I’ll break a nail.” While she talked, Shala lifted her bags into the trunk. By the time Zadir caught up to her, she had already slid into the open door and settled into her seat. “Took you long enough, slow poke.”
His lips curled into a lazy half-smile and he slid closer to her until his shoulder butted up against hers. “Maybe I just wanted to let you choose your seat so I could make sure I got the one right next to you.”
Her brow wrinkled. “But we’re the only two…oh. You really are incorrigible, Zadir.” She laughed and released a wistful sigh. “Some things never change, do they?”
“I haven’t changed, that’s what you’re saying?”
She bumped his shoulder. “Not in the ways that matter, I suppose. You’re still an outrageous flirt with a wicked sense of humor. You still make me smile even when I don’t want to.”
The tension seeped out of his body at her words. He was glad someone could see the good in him. That wasn’t strictly true, Sabrina also saw past his shallow surface to the man he really was. Zadir smiled at Shala, happy he’d ended up with her as his babysitter. “Why wouldn’t you want to smile? You have such a sexy smile Shala, its full bodied and contagious.”
He heard the gasp she tried to hide and smiled. She glared at him. “Your sexy bag of tricks won’t work on me Zadir.”
“Why not?” He reached for her, letting just one finger slide down her temple to her jaw and down her neck, stopping just before the small space between her cleavage.
“Because I don’t want to lose my job over one night in bed.” She brushed his hand away with a frustrated wave.
“So what you’re saying is if your job wasn’t in jeopardy, we could sleep together?”
The car came to a stop and she hopped out before the driver had killed the engine. “No Zadir. I’m saying that risking my job for a one night stand isn’t something I’m interested in. At all.”
Okay he was confused. This is what he missed about his time in America. The girls were straightforward, making it easy for him to figure out who was free for a few nights of fun and who was looking for forever. “What?”
At the top of the steps that led into the jet she turned to him. “I’m not interested in a one night stand, Zadir. Whether or not my job is at risk. Got it?”
He nodded and smiled as she turned her back. Maybe that accident really had knocked some sense into him because he wasn’t terrified of more than one night or few nights. He had a feeling he’d need at least a month in Shala’s bed before he needed a change. “Oh I got it.” He brushed by her at the top of the steps and stepped onto the royal jet in all its overwrought luxury. “And Shala?”
She sighed, biting back a smile. “Yes?”
“Challenge accepted.”
Two
Paris. Shala was in Paris! Well, she was in a small airport just outside the city waiting to get off the plane. But still…Paris! When she was at University she had dreams of living in Paris and living a bohemian lifestyle as she fought for her art. Only she’d discovered she had no skills in any form of art, other than the art of making even the worst thing sound a lot less bad. So she’d put Paris on her vacation bucket list and hoped she’d find time in the future to scratch a few places off that list.
“You know, you don’t have to try and see the entire city from here. We’ll be here for a few days and you’ll get a chance to see it up close.”
Shala closed her eyes as his breath fanned over her neck, his deep voice reverberating down to her toes. Don’t let him affect you. “I’m just taking it all in, Zadir.” She stood when the extremely tall Frenchman boarded the plane and greeted him in French. She spoke for several minutes, flashed their passports and bid the man au Revoir. “Come on, let’s go.”
Zadir stood a few feet away, blown away. “You’re fluent in French and English?”
“Yes, a few others as well. Is that so surprising?”
“No, it’s amazing.”
Her whiskey brown eyes flared in appreciation before a wide smile spread across her face. “Thank you.” She was glad someone other than her bosses at Alzari Holdings appreciated her skills. Her parents cautioned her to downplay it if she wanted to land a decent man.
Zadir slung a friendly arm around her shoulders. “Come on Shala, let’s get out of here and see some of Paris before we have to get to work.”
Shala stepped out of his grasp, remembering she was here as an employee of Alzari Holdings, not on vacation with her boyfriend. “Actually,” she pulled out her hot pink tablet, “we have a meet and greet at The Crown Jewel in two hours.”
Zadir looked at his watch and then into the distance. “It’ll take us an hour just to get into the city proper.”
Shala knew it had been a mistake to touch him the moment her hand landed on his shoulder. “That gives you an hour to shower, relax and get dressed, Zadir. We’re staying at the resort so we won’t have far to travel.” She rolled her eyes at him, a smile curving the corners of her lips upward. He knew very well they were staying at the Parisian Emerald. It was one of five of The Crown Jewels luxury resort locations. And the reason for this visit. Zadir wanted to add it to the Alzari portfolio.
“I know that, I just meant we’ll be tied up with them for hours and I wanted to show you some of the city tonight.”
