She tried to hold his gaze, but she knew the rising heat she could feel colouring her skin would give her away anyway. ‘No,’ she acknowledged with a shake of her head.
He nodded. ‘That is for the best.’
She blinked. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Jamalbad is in a lot of ways a modern Arab emirate. However, we come from a very traditional society where women are still prized for their…shall we say, “purity”? While you are in our country, we would expect you to behave with a certain modesty.’
‘You mean as opposed to jumping into bed with every man I meet?’
His cool golden gaze collided dispassionately with her own. ‘I wouldn’t have put it quite so coarsely myself.’
‘Yet you have no problem thinking it.’ She replaced her cup on her saucer. ‘Well, it may just surprise you to know that there are some women in Australia who don’t jump into bed with every guy they meet.’
‘That is encouraging news. And would you count yourself in their number?’
She stood up quickly, the metal legs of her chair scraping across the sandstone tiles of the pool surrounds.
‘What is this? Next you’ll asking for some kind of medical certificate or something.’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ he said, rising alongside her. ‘I think you’ve made your point. You see, the women of the palace are easily influenced by the lure of the western life, and, while I encourage their education in most respects, there are some practices I would prefer them not to adopt.’
‘Well, you have no fear on that count. They’re hardly likely to learn anything from me.’
His golden eyes glimmered in a way that sent vibrations dancing along her nerve-endings. Why did he look that way at her? Like a jungle cat sizing her up for the kill rather than someone who had to decide if she was morally upright enough to be invited to his country?
‘I expected you to be totally docile, but you surprise me with your anger. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are when you are angry?’
His words blindsided her. Nobody had called her beautiful—not since Evan—and she couldn’t believe what he’d said anyway. But the man opposite her was right about one thing—she was certainly angry. Morgan Fielding—who prided herself on staying cool under pressure—was cracking up. Something she’d never done even with Maverick, the boss with the worst reputation in the Gold Coast.
‘Well, then,’ she said, uncomfortable in the loud silence that followed, ‘given that I have such a fiery temper, I wonder if I have given you yet another reason not to be considered morally upright enough to accompany Nobilah to Jamalbad?’
She tried to toss the question off lightly, to head off the mounting tension filling the air between them, but his eyes just crinkled at the edges, their golden depths deepening like warm caramel.
‘On the contrary,’ he murmured, his voice deep and resonant. ‘You will be perfect.’
CHAPTER THREE
TEGAN eased the sleeping baby from her breast and offered her to her twin. ‘Would you like to burp her, seeing as you won’t have the chance again for a while? Maverick will be home in a couple of minutes, and I just want to finish the salad.’
‘Please,’ Morgan said, taking the infant and propping her gently over her shoulder as she swayed from side to side, rubbing the infant’s back.
After a frantic few hours helping Nobilah pack and arranging her own affairs, it was so restful to hold her new niece while standing looking out through the palms to the placid waters of the Gold Coast canal beyond. There was still plenty to organise, but Nobilah had insisted Morgan take some time to visit her sister and her family before she left. Very soon her sister’s husband, Maverick, would be home, and their conversation would not be so open. Right now it was worthwhile to be able to talk sister to sister.
Baby Ellie rewarded her ministrations with a very unladylike burp. She laughed as the infant briefly nuzzled her neck before settling back into a doze. ‘Oh, I’m going to miss you, little one,’ she said, pressing her lips to the baby’s head.
‘When will you be back?’ her sister asked from the spacious kitchen.
‘I’m not exactly sure. A few weeks, I guess.’
Tegan looked up sharply. ‘You mean you don’t know when you’re coming back? That you’re being whisked away to some tiny Arab emirate and you have no idea when you’re coming home?’
Morgan shrugged. ‘Sheikh Tajik didn’t say, but I guess it’s just until Fatima recovers enough to take over her duties again. I don’t expect it to be for more than a few weeks.’
Tegan opened the refrigerator, pulling out the salad dressing she’d prepared earlier.
‘So what’s he like, this Sheikh?’
Morgan took a deep breath, her lungs filled with the fresh scent of newborn baby, while her mind battled to get a grip on the confusing images and impressions of Sheikh Tajik. It was hard to mesh the images—the dutiful son who had taken over the leadership of his country after his father’s tragic death. The man who had bossed her mercilessly by the pool and told her everything was settled before she’d even had a chance to assimilate the news of her invitation to Jamalbad. The man who’d gazed into her soul with those golden eyes and left her strangely shaken…
‘I don’t know,’ she said at last. ‘I only met him today.’
‘So he’s not tall, dark and handsome, then?’
This time Morgan shook her head with no hesitation at all. ‘No,’ she said, ‘not exactly. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, and his hair is dark…’
‘But he’s not handsome?’
Morgan wavered. “Handsome” seemed too soft a word. He was strong-featured. With eyes that saw too much and revealed nothing that didn’t scare her. No, he wasn’t just handsome. He was beyond handsome.
He was disturbing.
A tremor moved through her and she clutched tiny Eleanor to her chest to disguise it. ‘Not exactly,’ she replied, wishing for a change of subject.
‘And is he married?’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘You tell me,’ responded Tegan with renewed interest as she arranged a couple of things on the table. ‘You’re the one who seems a bit affected by him.’
‘Forget it,’ Morgan lied. ‘It’s just that this is all a bit sudden. Besides, you know I’m not looking for a relationship.’
Tegan regarded her solemnly. ‘But you’re obviously desperate to have your own family.’
Morgan opened her mouth to defend herself, but Tegan was right there.
‘Just look at the way you are with Ellie! Don’t try telling me you’re not getting clucky.’
‘I love my niece. Isn’t that normal?’
‘It’s not normal to be pining over a failed relationship years after the event.’
‘I am not!’
Tegan gave her a searching look that left her sister in no doubt she disagreed. ‘Look at yourself, Morgan. You’ve buried yourself in your work for years, covering yourself up like a nun—just because that idiot Evan didn’t appreciate what he had.’
Morgan grunted. ‘Oh, he appreciated what he had, all right. Getting engaged to me meant he could protect his precious family from the truth about him. He used me, and I was so stupid I fell for it.’
Tegan