She braced herself for the magic of his touch and the intensity of her response. But even as he eased into place, she heard someone in the garage. A voice, then a burst of male laughter. She stiffened.
Qadir straightened. He immediately pulled off his suit jacket and covered her, then moved to the door, closed and locked it.
All that only took a second, but it was enough for her rational mind to wake up and be horrified by what had almost happened.
Qadir was her boss. They had a deal and that didn’t include sex. Just as confusing was the fact that she’d never been the kind of woman who threw herself into bed with any guy who came along. There’d only ever been Jon and it had taken them three years of dating to finally go all the way.
Of course they’d been young and both virgins. Qadir was a man of the world. Which explained his actions, but what about hers? It was one thing to enjoy a man’s kiss—it was another to get so swept away that she’d nearly done it in her office in the garage, in the middle of the day.
“Maggie?”
She looked at him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I won’t apologize.”
He hadn’t done anything wrong except take what was offered. “I don’t expect you to.”
“Would it help if you threw something?”
That made her smile. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel angry. Just confused. I don’t usually do this sort of thing.”
“There is a powerful attraction between us.”
“I got that.”
He picked up her bra and T-shirt. After handing them to her, he turned his back. She set his jacket over a chair and quickly dressed. When she’d pulled on the coveralls, she said, “Doing anything … you know, intimate, would mess things up.”
He faced her again. “I agree.”
“I work for you.”
He nodded. “Better to keep things business only.”
“Yeah.”
They were both saying the right words, so why did she have the feeling that neither of them believed them?
“You are all right?” he asked.
“Fine. Weirded out, but fine.” She gave him a little push. “Go back to your office and do princely things. I’ll be ready at seven.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he told her and left.
Maggie watched him go. When she was alone, she sank into the chair and tried to figure out how much trouble she’d just gotten herself into.
Could she and Qadir put this behind them and pretend it had never happened?
Without meaning to, she closed her eyes and remembered how it felt to have his mouth on her breasts. Talk about amazing.
“It’s just chemistry,” she told herself. “Nothing more.”
It couldn’t be. She was here for a job and that was all. In six months their fake relationship would end and she would go home, much richer for the experience.
The trick was to not get personally involved. But for the first time she wondered if that was going to be harder than she’d ever imagined.
“Tell me about the woman,” Kateb said as he shrugged out of his robes and tossed them over a chair in Qadir’s suite.
Qadir poured them each a Scotch and handed his brother a glass. “What woman?”
Kateb raised his eyebrows. “Word of your involvement had even reached me in the desert, so there must be a woman.”
They settled on the oversize sofas in the main living area. Qadir raised his glass in a toast to his brother. “It is good to have you back. You stay away too long.”
“I find no pleasure in the city. I belong in the desert.” Kateb took a sip of his drink. “But you have not answered my question.”
“Her name is Maggie Collins. She’s restoring the Rolls.”
Kateb’s expression gave nothing away. “And?”
“And she’s beautiful, funny, down-to-earth.”
“You say all the right things. What aren’t you telling me, brother?”
Qadir grinned. “That it’s a game. I’m paying her to pretend to be my girlfriend. In a few weeks, we’ll get engaged. Then this will all be too much for her and she’ll return home. Heartbroken, I won’t be able to consider any of our father’s offers for perhaps as long as a year.”
Kateb nodded slowly. “An impressive plan.”
“You wish you’d thought of it yourself.”
“The idea has merit, although living in the desert as I do, I am well out of the king’s reach.”
“Lucky you.”
Kateb took another drink. “You do realize the game may have consequences.”
Qadir thought about his encounter with Maggie that morning, in the garage. If those were the consequences his brother was talking about, he would welcome them.
She had been all sweet fire in his arms. Her body yielding, her moans telling him she was as aroused as he had been.
“I am not concerned,” Qadir told him. “I know what I’m doing.”
“As you wish.”
“Are you here to discuss the nomination?” Qadir asked.
Kateb shrugged. “I am not sure there is anything to discuss.”
“They will name you and then what? Our father will not be pleased.”
“I have never been able to please him.”
“If you accept, you face him as an equal.”
Kateb smiled. “The king will not see things that way.”
Years ago, Qadir and his brothers had been sent into the desert, as was tradition. Young royal sons were taught the old ways, living with the nomads who roamed the deserts of the area. Qadir had endured the time but Kateb had loved it. As soon as he had finished university, he had chosen to make his home in the desert.
Tradition stated that every twenty-five years a new leader was nominated. As Kateb had become one of them, he was expected to be named.
But he was already an heir to Mukhtar’s throne. Not the first in line, but still close to being king. For Kateb to accept the nomination of the desert people meant abdicating his rights to the El Deharian throne.
“What do you want?” Qadir asked.
“To stay where I belong. I am unlikely to be king here. Walking away from what will never be mine is not a hardship.”
But if it was so easy, wouldn’t Kateb have already made the decision?
“Apparently the kind of flowers matter,” Kayleen said with a sigh. “There are rules.”
“Ignore the rules,” Prince As’ad told her. “You are to be my bride. Do what makes you happy.”
“So imperious,” Kayleen said, although she smiled at her fiancé. “It’s easy for him to tell me to break the rules, but he doesn’t have to face the wedding planner.” She leaned toward Maggie, her eyes wide. “Do you know the president of the United States has been invited? I nearly passed out when they told me. Fortunately he can’t come. They’ll send someone else, which is great. I couldn’t help fainting if I knew the president was there.”
As’ad touched