Authors: Sophia Lynn
"First, if you dropped five thousand dollars on someone without expecting anything, you are either an idiot or a liar," she said. "Second, you may want to keep in mind that what you see is not necessarily what you get."
To her irritation, he didn't look the least bit abashed.
"So educate me," he said easily. "Tell me what I was really seeing."
"You were seeing a woman who was trying to set up a deal with a vendor who has things that her employers might want. My job is to get the best deal possible, and when some big lunkhead with more money than sense shows up to overpay people for extravagant gifts for me, that sort of defeats the purpose. If word gets around, I'm going to be paying a fifty percent markup at least on everything. If I'm lucky. If I haven't managed to make this entire place a wash for my business at all."
He waved his hand indolently, waving away her concern as if it was nothing more than a passing indulgence.
"Feh, I don't know where you have browsed in the past, but the Great Marketplace of Alamun is greater than the rest put together. It is far too big to be worried about that."
"Oh really?" she asked, her voice syrup sweet. "And exactly what do you know about all of this? What's your expertise in antiquities? What's your experience as a buyer?"
He looked at her with a kind of amused tolerance that could drive her mad. Part of it, she thought, was that it was hard not to notice what an exceptionally handsome man he was. The attraction she felt for him was veined with frustration and irritation, which somehow made their encounter even more charged.
"I know enough," he drawled. "And more than that, I know women."
She stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Oh? Do tell."
"When I walked up to the vendor, I saw two women, one older and one younger. The older one had a great fondness for the younger one, and the younger one, well, she was quite beautiful, but alone."
A part of her fluttered to be called beautiful, but she stomped on that impulse hard. "Go on," she said, her voice acid sweet.
"She wanted the best for you, and part of that best, as a woman operating alone? Was to have a man show interest in you."
Berry couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Oh right, because the highest thing that a woman can hope for is to find a man."
"That's not what I said," he replied with a grin. "In Alamun, a woman is known by the admiration she commands. A man does not own a woman, but instead, a man worships a woman."
"All right, that's a new one," she admitted. "Are you saying that you were interested in worshiping me?"
"Well, worship might be something reserved for a wife, someone who holds that place in your life," he said with a startling amount of earnestness. "You? Perhaps I was looking to pay court to you."
"That's getting awfully ahead of yourself," Berry said, and she wondered why she was giving this man this much time. She tried to tell herself that he was little better than the construction workers who had hooted at her along the streets, but the more time she spent talking to him, the more she sat with him and listened to his words, the more drawn to him she felt.
He laughed at her, nodding in apology. "So it is far too soon for me to offer you my hand and to whisk you away from all this?" he asked.
Almost against her will, she found herself laughing. "Yeah, I think so," she said. "Because after all, you were the one who just ruined that deal for me. I'm going to be grumpy for a while."
"Ah, I see. Then something more humble. Perhaps you would allow me to take you to dinner. There is an excellent Greek place here, and if there is a better apology than good hummus, I don't know it …"For a moment, Berry was tempted. She didn't know why. If someone had told her that this was going to happen to her, she would have said that her natural reaction would have been to stride off in self-righteous fury. However, as she was sitting on a bench chatting with a man who she was beginning to find remarkably charming, a lot of that simply went out of her head.
Reluctantly, she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, not interested," she said.
"Well, perhaps I can make up my offense in a more direct way …"
"And what would that be?"
In a matter of a moment, his gaze changed. He went from teasing her to something much hotter, much more intimate. He allowed her to see him scan her closely, his eyes running up and down her slender body. Suddenly, without him saying a word or touching her at all, he made her feel completely naked.
"I have an apartment close by," he said, his voice hushed. "It's a lovely place, with a view of the skyline, and there is a large soft bed. Perhaps I would not worship you, but there is a type of appreciation that I would be happy to show you …"
"Appreciation?" she said, barely aware of what she was saying. She felt as if the day had become suddenly much warmer, as if she were hypnotized by this man, all without seeing his eyes.
"Yes. I would remove each and every piece of your clothing. I would want to run my hands along that fair skin of yours. I would want to run my mouth over your curves until I had come to the secret spring at the center of you, and oh, pretty woman, I would make you cry out as if there was honey on your tongue …"
She pulled back with a jerk, her face flushing with heat not because she was offended but because it all simply sounded too good. She was a professional on the job, and the last thing that she could afford to do was to simply wander off into the arms of a man like this.
"I don't think so," she said crisply, standing up. "And I am leaving now, and you are not going to follow me."
He tilted his head to one side. "And how do you figure that? I am a free man, and I can go where I like."
"Easy," Berry said briskly. "One thing I believe is that you are terribly proud. If a lady asks you for a thing, you will obey, because it would hurt your pride not to. So right now, I am asking you not to follow me."
For a moment, it looked as if he was going to protests, but then he laughed slightly, shaking his head. "Oh, you truly are a gem," he said with admiration. "And it only makes me want you more. All right then. You have asked, and I will obey. May my obedience bring you a great deal of comfort tonight when you are at home in your bed, beautiful girl."
She had a feeling that she would be thinking about him a lot, but she shook it out of her head. She was working in Alamun, and she could not afford to have a fling with a local, even if he was impressively handsome.
"And may you learn that there are situations where you don't need to interfere," she said briskly, and as he laughed, she made her exit.
Berry dodged through the crowd, not stopping to look back until she knew that she was well away from where they were sitting. When she turned around and didn't see the man with whom she had been having such a strange conversation, she felt both relieved and slightly regretful. No matter what else she could say about him, he was charismatic in a way that she simply didn't see often.
Oh, he's gone and you can tell the truth now,
she chided herself.
The truth was that he was one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. There was something about him that captured her attention, and when she thought about his smile, something inside her felt like it had melted.
The truth was she hadn't had a boyfriend in a very long time. Between first school and then work, there had been precious little time for love in her life.
The truth was she was attracted to him, and she wished that she wasn't.
Relax,
she told herself.
You're probably never going to see him again, and that's just fine. Calm down.
That worked, sort of, even as it sent a stab of regret through her. She did want to see him again, but right now, she had work to do. With a sigh, she tightened her grip on her bag and started walking along the aisles, her eyes quickly locating anything that might have promise. It was like marketplaces the world over, and most of what was available was simply junk, but here and there were treasures that she knew would send her boss over the moon.
She did not think of the handsome man she had sat with. Or at least, Berry told herself that she wasn't thinking of him.
CHAPTER TWO
"I can't believe that I have to wear this dress," Berry muttered, and her boss, Michael Farnsworth, shot her a raised eyebrow.
"Surely you didn't expect to be able to come to this party in one of your deplorable rags?" he said archly, and she shot him an irritated look.
"Honestly, I wasn't sure why I was going to be at this party at all," she retorted. "I'm your treasure hunter, remember? I'm really not one for big public functions."
Farnsworth smiled at her with a distinct lack of sympathy. "Right now, treasure hunter or not, you are the only one in my employ that I can force to go to this event with me. Consider yourself lucky, I'm not asking for the dress back."
The dress in question was not something that Berry expected to wear—ever. It was a stunning sky blue number with a long beaded sheath and jeweled straps. Unlike other fancy dresses she had tentatively tried on in the past, it clung to her slim figure, rather than bagging unattractively at the bust and making her look as if she were a child wearing her mother's formal wear.
"I still don't see why you couldn't just get your wife to come with you," she said with a sigh.
"Well, I don't pay her, for one thing, and these things are deadly dull until they're not. And now look alive, things are getting started."
They had been milling around in the public area of the hall, but now the staff was guiding everyone towards the tables surrounding the stage. For a moment, Berry had a pang of sympathy for one of the ushers, who was trying to guide a guest who did not care for their seating arrangements. Despite her position at Farnsworth and her currently fancy outfit, she was much more at home with the staff than she was with the guests.
The topic of the evening was an ultramodern mall that was being built at the center of Alamun. It had been a hot topic of debate for the past few years; some felt that it would be the perfect injection of money and elegance to the emirate, while others saw it as an eyesore and an affront to the same.
Farnsworth, who had spent a great deal of his career working in the Middle East, was heavily invested in making the idea take off, and he refused to miss a single meeting where it was discussed.
He guided her to their table, which they shared with some Saudi and some Swiss investors. There were a few tedious speeches, and then a murmur swept the crowd.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Supposedly, the Sheikh is going to be here," he replied. "Both sides have been courting him for some time, but so far, he has shown neither side any favor at all. Hopefully, someone changes his mind for him tonight."
"And now, presenting Sheikh Rasul ibn Ahmed Sardan, to address the distinguished company …"
The name was certainly familiar enough. Alamun was one of the richest emirates of the UAE, and most of it was due to the fierce independence of the royal family. The Sardan Dynasty were known for being iconoclasts who knew very well how to keep their wealth for their people, and the most recent Sheikh Rasul was known to be good at it.
What Berry hadn't expected was to recognize the Sheikh's face as well. He had been wearing sunglasses at the time, but she thought his lips and jaw looked surprisingly familiar. When he spoke, she froze, because now there could be no doubt. The last time she had heard that voice, it was speaking to her about worship and things that certainly could not be mentioned in polite company.
Now it was talking to her about the future and the past, and the need to pay honor to both, and she felt as if the world were falling out from underneath her.
"How soon can I get out of here?" she asked Farnsworth, her voice low.
He never even looked at her, keeping his eyes and his smile focused on the speaker at the podium.
"Unless you have literally broken a leg, I expect you to stay for at least three hours," he said through gritted teeth. "There is a meet and mingle after dinner and by the love of God, I will not be seen without an escort."
Berry swore softly under her breath, but there was really no arguing with the man who signed her checks. Instead, she listened as best she could to the speech the Sheikh gave, which was surprisingly forward thinking, and clapped with the rest.
It'll be fine
, Berry thought to herself.
There is absolutely no reason to get freaked out or upset. Chances are that had been a stunningly normal day for him. He probably doesn't remember me at all, and God knows I look different enough …
She told herself that often enough that she started to believe it, and when a waiter poured her some champagne for a toast, she felt even better. There was no way the Sheikh was going to come speak to her anyway. Her boss was the one who held all the cards, she was just a pretty piece of arm candy, even if the job was as dumb as hell.
After the speeches dinner was served, which was amazing, and after that, Berry realized that her boss was wrong. It wasn't a meet and greet; instead the floor was cleared for some dancing.
Berry and Farnsworth toured the group for a short time, but when he got involved in speaking with some men who were heading up the mall proposal, she felt comfortable doing a bit of wandering on her own. She wondered how solid that deadline was and whether there was any getting out of it any time soon. After all, it looked like Farnsworth had things fairly well in hand.
Berry was just congratulating herself on getting out of a potentially risky situation with a fairly small amount of fuss when she heard a soft laugh that was absolutely far too unfamiliar.
"So when it comes to worshipers, do you prefer them old and rich?" he asked, a slight bit of acid in his voice.
Berry spun around to find Rasul standing behind her. In his tuxedo, he looked even handsomer than he had at the souk. This time, though, his smile was definitely a little less friendly.