AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Four
It took a while for Brenda to feel comfortable asking Sheikh Rahal what he wanted when they sat down to dinner. At first, she was confused that the address he’d given her was for a trendy Italian place near London Bridge when she assumed he would want to go to the nearby Mediterranean café. Then again, she hated going anywhere for a burger and fries in England because it never tasted like home. Brenda figured he wouldn’t want to settle for anything less than the home-cooked meals of his native Zomelia.
Still, she smiled politely and nodded at the right moments as they made small talk over the salad and appetizer. Now that his lobster ravioli and her fettuccine alfredo were on the table, Brenda knew that she couldn’t keep skating the issue. They had to discuss whatever was actually on Jamsheed’s mind.
“You said this was a date, Sheikh Rahal.”
He frowned, some light dimming from his golden eyes. “I did, and do you not trust my word, my phoenix?”
She sighed and dug into her food. “I know what you said, but I was nervous even getting dressed. It’s so hard to believe.”
He smirked and gestured with his right hand to the ambience of the restaurant around them. “Do you not feel this is enough? I could have gotten a reservation at one of the premiere restaurants in the city, shut the whole place down except for us, but you were already so nervous. I didn’t know if a grand gesture would help or hurt.”
“I think my head’s still spinning,” she admitted, trying to enjoy things like Anne suggested, desperately wanting to be the perfect Cinderella. Yet, she’d lived through the father of her child walking out on her, and now the lawsuit from Hell. She learned long ago to be wary and cynical. It was the only way to live. “You said you’d explain more about all of this: the dinner, wanting a relationship with me, and your father. How is he by the way?”
Jamsheed’s jaw tightened and he set his fork down to rub ferociously at the back of his neck. “No change. He’s stable in his coma, and the royal doctor was encouraged that he hadn’t suffered any subsequent strokes. To be honest, with the life-saving technology I can afford for him, he could be in that state for years. I hope to Allah he can recover. It’s why I have to fly home soon. Zomelia will need an acting sheikh, and I have a talented team of executives to serve here in London for the company. I just… I hate it so much.”
She nodded and reached out, placing her hand over his on the table. “I didn’t move to England until one of my sisters died. Dana had ovarian cancer and it just came on so much faster than we thought. I mean, she’d been sick, but she was the kind of person who always had to tough things out, always thought that she couldn’t make a big deal out of pain. By the time she broke down and saw a specialist, she had a year left.”
“I’m sorry.”
Brenda nodded and squeezed his hand. “The point is that I’d never even been out of my home state in my life. My daughter, Haley, was just starting college, and that gave me the courage to leave the country, to stop being quite as trapped as I was.” Not that I’m exactly a daredevil now...
“I’m still sorry.”
“Of course, but sometimes when our loved ones are sick, we go where we’re needed and it also clarifies things for us. You have nothing to be sorry about for going back home to Zomelia. You’re right. The company will survive, and I’m sure that the maids for your penthouse here— Anne and I—will find something else as well.”
“I want you to come with me to Zomelia. I’m not kidding about wanting you.”
“You mean to date me?” she asked, her voice going hoarse.
“Among other things. Maybe you’re right and there’s more clarity in my life. Maybe it’s just easier to see what I’ve been missing when I’ve been fooling around so much. I’m in my early forties now. I’m not a kid anymore, and I need to work harder to live up to my father’s reputation and the path he set for me. Besides, I get so tired sometimes of the emptiness.”
“I don’t know if I can just move to Zomelia,” she said, yanking back her hand and trying to ignore the way Jamsheed’s posture went rigid as she did so. “I have something huge going on with my daughter right now, and I’m going to be searching for a new job in London as it is or probably moving back home.”
“That’s why I want this. I realize that all of this is so inopportune. But I admit that I have started to care about you since you came to work for me, and that maybe the way you brushed things off with me a couple days ago, your funny resolve in the face of an awkward situation, helped me crystalize why I like you.”
She gulped, feeling her cheeks flush. “It’s all happening so fast.”
“Or maybe some of these things were inevitable and were sped up by my leaving. If you come with me to Zomelia, not as my maid but as my girlfriend, then I’ll help you.”
“I’m not for sale.”
“I still want you to come with me, and I know that you can’t because you have to care for your daughter. Tell me what is wrong. Is she ill as well?” His voice was like velvet; that smooth exotic accent mixed with the clipped British intonation.
She almost melted at that, at the intense amber of his gaze, of how she was his whole world in that instant. Still, she wasn’t sure what she should say. Would she sound like a materialistic jerk if she dug for the help that she needed? Money wasn’t why she liked Jamsheed. God, the man was gorgeous, brilliant, charming and funny. If he were nothing more than a baker, she’d still have a massive crush on him. But she had no idea how to deal with the ambassador’s lawyer’s or the lawsuit building against both she and Haley. She needed help, and maybe Anne was right. At least for once, she needed to close her eyes and leap, to take a chance.
“No, she’s not sick. She was at fault in a car accident where no one was seriously injured, but she was drinking and that’s opened us up to a lawsuit I can’t afford.”
Jamsheed nodded, his eyes still regarding her earnestly. “Let me take care of it. You come with me to Zomelia, and I’ll help put your mind at ease. It’s only fair. Have any lawyers in the case direct all communications with my staff. It’s no bother.”
Brenda stilled, her nature still defaulting to question everything. “But why? I’m not anyone. I’m not a princess or a celebrity or even a model.”
He sighed. “I agree that I’ve dated…”
“‘Dated’ may be a generous term.”
“...Okay, I’ve dallied with so many of those. But do you know what?”
