Commanded by the Sheikh. Кейт Хьюит

of us wanted to make the negotiations public.’

      ‘Even so.’

      He smiled, laid a hand over hers, and Olivia had to fight the urge to yank her hand away. She’d been numb for so long, she hadn’t thought she had any feelings or desires left for Aziz to stir up inside her. Yet he had. So easily, he had. ‘Just dinner, Olivia. And then you can leave in the morning.’

      She shook her head again, feeling as if she’d been caught in a riptide. She was being carried away from everything she’d known and wanted, everything safe, so quickly. She couldn’t fight against it.

      And yet she was honest enough to admit she was tempted—tempted to enjoy this fleeting time with Aziz, to let herself fall just a little bit under his spell. Just for a night. Then she’d go back to her little life.

      ‘You need to eat, Olivia,’ he murmured.

      ‘I could have a sandwich in my room.’

      ‘Fine, then I’ll join you. Of course, then the staff might really gossip.’

      She pulled her hand from his. ‘You’re impossible.’

      He smiled and inclined his head. ‘Thank you.’

      ‘It wasn’t,’ she informed him tartly, ‘A compliment.’

      His smile just widened. ‘I know.’

      What point was there in resisting? Olivia wondered. Aziz would wear her down eventually with his tireless charm that masked a far more steely sense of purpose. She hadn’t realised that before, hadn’t seen how determined he could be, but then they’d never been at cross purposes before. And were they even now?

      You are tempted...

      Tempted to enjoy one evening with a beautiful man. Tempted to access those deadened parts of herself and feel like a beautiful, desirable woman, even if it was just pretend.

      ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll have dinner with you. But I leave first thing in the morning.’

      She gazed at him in challenge and Aziz just smiled blandly. ‘Of course,’ he answered, and with a creeping sense of foreboding Olivia wondered if she dared to take him at his word—or if she even wanted to.