Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
In full view of their audience, the sheikh placed a finger on her lips, and the crowd ‘oohed’ while she could only stare up at him in stunned disbelief.
“Voila,” Tarif said with a wicked grin. “I’ve shut you up by doing something decidedly sexist.”
OH!
“Happy now, my sweet?”
Yes. No. Oh, she had no idea what to think. What he had done was admittedly sexist in a way, but if that were so, why was it that her toes had curled anew and her heart was racing like mad?
It was just so confusing, and she could only breathe a sigh of relief when the sheikh finally released her lips. But then she felt him place a proprietary hand on the small of her back, and her alarmingly sensitive body shot straight up like an arrow. Their sides brushed against each other as they started walking, and she almost shuddered.
Oh dear heavens, what was wrong with her?
The sheikh bent his head towards her, murmuring, “If it’s any consolation, you did very well for your first public outing.”
Anisah glanced up at the sheikh in bemusement as he steered them towards the university’s front doors. “First public outing?” she echoed blankly. “What do you mean by that?”
“All I’m saying, anisdi,” Tarif murmured smoothly, “is that things will die down eventually.”
“I don’t think this one will.” Anisah’s tone was fatalistic. “They’ll always remember me as the most promiscuous professor – why are you laughing?”
“Because of how unbelievably innocent you are,” the sheikh answered with an amused shake of his head. “What they’ll remember you for is the fact that you’re the only woman who hasn’t let me get past second base.”
Anisah only stared at him. “You have to be kidding, sheikh.” But the sheikh simply stared back at her, and her jaw dropped. “Are you seriously telling me you always have sex on your first date?” she sputtered.
“Of course not. I do have standards, anisdi.”
She tossed the sheikh a suspicious look, asking, “And that means?”
“It means,” he drawled, “I’m saying you’re right about the fucking part, but I’m a lot more selective on who I take out on a date.”
He...what?
Before Anisah could even wrap her head around the sheikh’s revelation, the guards, acting on the sheikh’s command, had already thrown the doors open and a throng of paparazzi immediately started shouting questions while their fingers pressed nonstop on the shutter buttons of their cameras.
Click! Click! Click!
The sound was strangely deafening, and Anisah couldn’t help but raise a hand to shield her face as a sense of claustrophobia swept over her. She knew she was being silly, but knowing what they were thinking while looking at her, talking to her – it made her feel foolishly vulnerable, and Anisah couldn’t even make herself protest when the sheikh drew her close to him in a gesture as possessive as it was sheltering.
The sheikh’s personal guards appeared soon after, clearing a path through the crowd of reporters, and the sheikh pulled her closer to him as he led the way to his waiting limousine.
Anisah only allowed herself to resume breathing the moment the chauffeur shut the passenger door. The limousine started to move, and her body gradually relaxed as the noise of the news-hungry paparazzi faded.
Turning to the sheikh, she said, “Khalis alshukr, alshaykh.” My sincere thanks, sheikh. It was the most formal and deepest expression of gratitude in their language, and her voice, albeit awkward and halting, was filled with grudging sincerity. This might just be a temporary reprieve from having to face the music, but she also knew it was extra time she wouldn’t have been able to buy for herself without the sheikh’s help.
“It is my honor to be of service, my sweet.”
“I hope you know...” She bit her lip hard. “I didn’t...”
“To let them know about us?”
She winced. “I swear by my honor, Your Highness, I would never have—-” The sheikh lifted his hand in a halting gesture, and she stopped speaking.
“You’ll be pleased to know the idea didn’t even occur to me.”
“It did not?
“I’d be an idiot to do so,” Tarif said dryly, “considering how much you’ve tried to resist me in the past months.” It was unfortunately true, and the sheikh was half-amused, half-exasperated by the smile of relief Anisah sent his way.
This woman was truly bad for his ego, the sheikh mused. And yet for some reason, he wanted her even more because of that. He wanted her more than any other woman actually, which was why he was determined not to let this scandal take her away from him.
“Sheikh?”
“Nem?”
“The palace will question me about this, won’t they?”
“It is standard procedure to do so, yes.” He studied her countenance. “Are you worried?”
Her shoulders lifted in an awkward shrug. “I just don’t know if I can make myself talk about...us.”
“If you refuse to talk about us, then what do you plan on saying?”