Carla Cassidy - Promised to a Sheikh

It was just after noon and the sun overhead was bright and beat warmly on his broad shoulders, but he noticed only how it played in her hair, teasing out impish tones of red and gold in the dark brown strands.

“Rashad will wait here with the car where there is a phone,” he said to her, then frowned apologetically. “I’m afraid that my negotiations are at a crisis stage and I cannot be away from a phone for too long.”

Elizabeth nodded and smiled at Omar’s aide. “Rashad, if you or the others get thirsty or anything, please feel free to go into the cottage and help yourself.” The “others” were the driver of the car and two bodyguards.

Rashad gave a formal bow. “Your hospitality is most appreciated, but I will be fine here.”

“Shall we begin the tour?” Omar asked as he took her hand in his. He smiled at her. “Although I would be just as content to stand here and look at you all day long. You look like a piece of sunshine.”

He was granted one of her beautiful smiles. “Thank you,” she replied.

It was true. Wearing yellow slacks and a matching blouse, she looked beautifully vibrant. The bright color emphasized the richness of her dark hair, and the cut of the clothes complemented her shapeliness.

“I don’t wear yellow very often,” she explained as they began walking away from her cottage.

“You should. It becomes you. I’ll see to it that you have a dozen outfits in that color when we are married.”

Her eyes seemed to flirt with him as she cast him a sideways glance. “You’re very sure of yourself, considering the fact that I haven’t agreed to marry you yet.”

“Ah, but you will.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “I will see to it that you find me utterly irresistible. There are women in Gaspar that find me so.”

She eyed him again, her eyes twinkling. “Perhaps they have lower standards than I do.”

He laughed, delighted that she could not only meet his wit, but challenge it, as well. “Then, for you, I will simply try harder.”

As they walked toward the outbuildings in the distance, Elizabeth shot a quick glance behind them. “Do they go everywhere that you do?” she asked.

He knew she was speaking of the bodyguards who followed behind them at a discreet distance. “I am only without them when I am in my private quarters in Gaspar. That is one of the things you would have to become accustomed to as my wife—the presence of guards in your life.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure life in Gaspar would be far different from life here in Texas.” She pulled her hand from his in order to open a gate that led to a pasture.

As they walked through the lush green grass dotted with wildflowers, she shared with him some of the history of the ranch.

He listened with interest as she explained to him about Big Bill Carson and J. P. Wainwright, who had met on a cattle-buying trip in 1898 and become good friends. In 1923 the two families had founded the Lone Star Country Club.

When the large herd of cattle came into view, Omar was surprised at how knowledgeable she was about the breeding, buying and selling process.

While he found the conversation interesting, far more fascinating to him were the expressions on her lovely face as she spoke. She had a face made for storytelling, expressive and animated. It was easy for him to imagine her entertaining their children with stories of her days in the faraway land of Texas.

“I’ll bet you were a wonderful teacher,” he said, as they paused to rest for a few minutes in the shade of a small grove of trees.

“Why do you say that?” She leaned with her back against a tree trunk.

Omar stood directly in front of her and braced himself with a hand on the trunk next to her head. “Your face lights up when you speak of things you care about. You must have generated a lot of enthusiasm among your students.”

“I liked teaching.” Shadows momentarily doused the light in her eyes.

He fought the impulse to reach out and stroke the shiny length of her hair. Instead he eyed her curiously. “You never told me why you decided to take some time off from your teaching position.”

A frown creased her delicate forehead, and she gazed off into the distance. When she finally looked at him once again, the shadows in her eyes were deeper, darker.

“It was three days before the end of the school year,” she finally said. “The bell had just rung for the end of the last class of the day, and the students were all leaving the building. I was gathering up my things, also getting ready to head home, when Donny Albright burst into my room.”

She paused, and once again looked off into the distance. “And who is Donny Albright?” Omar asked.

She sighed, a deep, tremulous sigh that made Omar want to sweep her up into his arms and hold her against his chest. At the moment she looked achingly vulnerable.

“He was a senior, a troubled young man. But until that day none of us realized just how troubled he was.” She reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Anyway, when he came into the room, he was distraught, crying and yelling so that I couldn’t understand what was wrong. I finally managed to get out of him that he’d failed his math class and wasn’t going to graduate.”

She pushed herself away from the tree trunk and gestured to Omar that she wanted to walk once again. He grabbed one of her hands, surprised to find it bone cold and trembling slightly. “What happened?”

“Donny wanted me to speak to Mr. McNair, his math teacher. He wanted me to get McNair to change his final grade. When I told Donny I couldn’t do that, he pulled out a gun. He held me at gunpoint for three hours before I finally talked him into giving up to the police, who by then had surrounded the building.”

Horror shot through Omar, and he halted in his tracks, drew her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn’t imagine the terror she must have gone through.

She leaned into his embrace, as if gathering strength from his arms. The clean scent of her hair filled his senses, and he tried not to focus on the evocative sensation of her warm breasts pressed against his chest.

“You must have been terrified,” he murmured as he ran a hand up and down her slender back.

She sighed once again, then stepped back from him, and they continued to walk. “It’s funny, I wasn’t frightened while it was all happening. I never believed Donny would actually shoot me. What I worried about more was Donny getting hurt by the police.”

The fact that she had been concerned for the boy impressed Omar. “If that had happened to you in Gaspar, I would have thrown the boy into a dungeon.”

“Do you have dungeons in Gaspar?” she asked.

“No, but I would build one specifically for people who threatened the safety of what belongs to me, for people who would attempt to harm you.”

Her eyes brightened, and she smiled at him. “While I don’t necessarily approve of the method, I appreciate the sentiment.” Her smile fell away. “Besides, Donny didn’t need a dungeon. He needed help. We learned later that both his parents were severe alcoholics and that Donny had spent the previous two years raising his three younger sisters. He was frantic about his diploma because he was certain without it he wouldn’t be able to get a good job, and he was trying to save up enough money to take his sisters and leave his parents.”

“A sad affair,” he replied. “However, I can understand why you were reluctant to return to the school.”

“Actually, I returned the next day and finished out the school year and thought I was fine.” Again the shadows appeared in her eyes.

“But you weren’t fine.”

She shook her head, dark strands flying on either side of her heart-shaped face. “I think for a couple of days I was kind of in shock, then I started having nightmares about the whole thing. The nightmares don’t come as often anymore, just occasionally. But I made the decision that I didn’t want to go back this year.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m sure the idea of entering that building again must be difficult.”

“That isn’t why I decided not to go back.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Then, why?”

She waited until they had left the pasture and she’d carefully locked the gate behind them before she replied.

“I think that whole incident with Donny made me realize just how short life is, that it can be taken away from you in the snap of a finger. I just decided I wanted to take some time off and enjoy life to the fullest.”

“Ah, so what you seek is a confirmation of life,” he observed.

“Yes, something like that,” she agreed.

He grinned at her teasingly. “They say the best way of doing that is to make love.”

Her cheeks warmed with sweet color. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You have never made love?” he asked incredulously.

She raised her chin. “Well, it certainly hasn’t been from lack of opportunity,” she exclaimed defensively.

“I wouldn’t have dreamed anything to the contrary,” he replied with amusement. “I just assumed in this day and age that you had enjoyed an intimate relationship before.”

They had almost reached the cottage, where his car was parked out front. “I guess I’m more old-fashioned than I pretend. Besides, I simply haven’t met the right man,” she said.

Omar pulled her into his arms once again, enjoying the way her eyes flared in surprise. “You have met him now, Elizabeth. I will be the man who will introduce you to the pleasures of making love.”

“Omar…”

Whatever she was about to say was drowned out by Rashad yelling his name and holding up the phone. Omar frowned, torn between his desire to spend more time with Elizabeth and the duty that called him yet again.

“I must take that,” he said. “Rashad would not have called me if it wasn’t an important call.”

She nodded, and he hurried to where Rashad stood and took the cell phone. The call required Omar to return to his hotel room, where he had the paperwork required to deal with the problem. He hung up the phone and went back to where Elizabeth waited.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “I’m afraid I must return to the hotel room to attend to some business.”

“Of course, I understand,” she said, but he thought he saw a whisper of disappointment in her eyes. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Dine with me tonight?”

“I’d love to,” she replied.

“Good, then I will send the car for you around seven.”

“I’ll be ready.”

How he wanted to gather her back into his arms and taste the sweetness of her lips. But he knew now was not the time or the place.

“She is perfect,” he said to Rashad moments later, when they were driving back to the hotel. “She is perfect, just like I knew she would be. I have made a wise and good choice.”

He stared out the window, thinking of the woman he’d just left, then looked back at Rashad. “She is intelligent and sensitive and has a compassion inside her that will make her valuable not only to me as a man, but to my country as my queen.”

“And it doesn’t hurt that she is not hard to look at,” Rashad said slyly.

Omar grinned at his assistant and friend. “No, that certainly doesn’t hurt.”

He redirected his gaze out the window, his thoughts once again filled with Elizabeth. He liked her even more than he’d thought he would. He’d known from her letters that there were many things he admired, but he hadn’t expected to enjoy her company quite as much as he did.