Sheikh’s Fiancée (5 page)

Karim lowered his face to hers. “We have to seal it with a kiss.”

Chapter Five

Any protest Alice might have made flew right out of her head as Karim pressed his lips against hers. His mouth was warm and soft as it moved over hers in gentle strokes, stirring the heat within her belly until it rose up into her chest, making her short of breath again.

The barriers Alice had steadily built up over the past few months fell away as Karim tightened his grip on her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, closing her eyes to savor the sensation of his lips on hers. It felt good to have his arms wrapped around her, to feel his heartbeat thudding beneath his chest, just as strong and fierce as hers. His spicy, masculine scent filled her senses, and she opened her mouth, wanting more of him…

Karim pulled back, gently settling her back down on the bench. His eyes twinkled in his dark face, their golden light strikingly similar to that of the setting sun behind him. Had it already gotten so late? How long had they been sitting out here talking?

“I think that was more than enough to seal the deal,” he said softly, rising from the bench. Alice stared up at him wordlessly as he smiled down at her. “I will leave you to your thoughts for now, and come to you to tomorrow to discuss wedding preparations. Good evening.”

He walked away then, and Alice watched him go, his shiny black shoes kicking up tiny puffs of dust as he walked. He disappeared through the double doors leading back into the palace, and with him gone, she could almost imagine she hadn’t just accepted a proposal of marriage.

Almost.

When she was sure he was gone to wherever he intended to go, she rose to her feet, then numbly walked back inside and through the halls toward Sheridan’s room, which was just across the hall from her own. She’d tell her best friend all about it, and Sheridan could decide whether to slap some sense into her or pat her on the back for doing a good deed.

Not thinking, she pushed the door open, then froze at the sight of Sheridan and Kahlid sprawled on the couch. The sheikh was on top of her best friend, his blazer discarded on the floor somewhere, his hands tangled in her long blonde hair as he kissed her deeply, grinding his hips between her legs…

“Shit!” Alice snapped out of it as she realized she was staring at her best friend making out with her husband. “I’m sorry, I should have knocked—”

“Alice!” Sheridan sat up immediately, shoving her husband to the side – not that she needed to as Kahlid jumped hastily away from her. Luckily the two of them were still wearing clothes, Kahlid dressed in a pair of slacks and a now-rumpled green button-down shirt, and Sheridan still in her yoga pants and tank top. “Holy crap, I totally forgot about you. Kahlid came by, and I—”

“I don’t really think you have to explain,” Kahlid said dryly. He brushed a hand through his wavy dark hair, then settled onto the couch next to Sheridan, draping an arm over his wife’s shoulders. “I have a feeling Alice gets the picture.”

“I do.” Alice cleared her throat, feeling ridiculously uncomfortable. It wasn’t as if she were a prude – she’d walked in on her fair share of people making out, and also doing a lot more than making out – but Kahlid looked so much like Karim, and watching him bump and grind against her best friend with his tongue shoved down her throat got her all hot and bothered. “Should I come back another time?”

“Hell no.” Sheridan scowled. “I want to know what Karim had to talk to you about that was so important he kicked me out of my own garden.” She jabbed a finger toward one of the low, cushy chairs. “Sit.”

Kahlid’s dark eyebrows shot up as Alice obeyed, settling down in the comfortable white and wicker chair. “Karim wanted to talk to you alone? What about?”

Alice figured she might as well just come out with it. “He asked me to marry him.”

“What?” Sheridan shrieked.

“Marry you?” Kahlid’s brows furrowed. “But isn’t he marrying Azisa?”

“He was, but she broke up with him this morning,” Sheridan answered before Alice could. Her eyes narrowed on Alice. “Why’s he trying to replace her with you, and so soon? Have you two been having an ongoing affair I don’t know about?”

“No!” Alice said hotly, her cheeks flushing. It was damned ironic that her best friend would accuse her of the one thing she’d
wanted
to do, but refused to give into.

“I know why,” Kahlid said heavily. “It’s about the inheritance.”

“Inheritance?” Sheridan echoed. “What inheritance?”

Alice sat back in her chair as Kahlid explained to Sheridan about the sum of money and land Karim stood to inherit of he married a bride before the end of the year, thankful that there was someone else to explain it. Truth was, her head was still spinning a little from the whole ordeal.

“Holy cow,” Sheridan said when Kahlid was finished. “That’s crazy. So you’re really marrying Karim just so he can get this inheritance?” Her blue gaze slanted toward Alice again.

“Yep.” Alice shifted in her seat beneath Sheridan’s narrowed eyes. “I’m being a good Samaritan, I guess.”

“Are you sure about this, though?” Sheridan persisted. “I mean, I know how you feel about getting into relationships with guys who—”

“Sheri, it’s fine,” Alice interrupted before Sheridan started blabbing about Jason. She didn’t really feel like sharing that part of her past with Kahlid, even if he was like family now. “It’s really not a big deal. Karim has already agreed to release me from the marriage in a year’s time if it turns out we can’t make a go of it.”

Sheridan’s eyebrows shot up. “You do realize he can’t make that into an actual legal agreement, right? If he decides he wants to keep you, you’re going to have to wage a legal battle with him. And that could be messy.”

“Sheridan,” Kahlid admonished, placing a hand on his wife’s knee as Alice’s heart plummeted into her stomach. “My brother is an honorable man, and he wouldn’t do such a thing to Alice, especially not after she bestowed such a huge favor on him. The real question here is whether or not Alice is comfortable with the idea of being married to someone for only a year.” He turned his shrewd, dark gaze on Alice. “Is that something you’re all right with?”

Alice hesitated for the briefest of moments. “I don’t see why not. I’ll move out here, continue to work for Armani, and if at the end of the year things don’t work out, I’ll just ask to be relocated. No harm, no foul.” Her heart settled again as she said it out loud. Really, when she put it like that, it didn’t sound so bad, right?

“Oh, that’s right!” Sheridan bounced in her seat. “You’re going to move to Dubai if you get married to Karim! Never mind, I’m totally for it. When can we get you guys hitched? I’m sure I can call the mosque and have them send a
madhun
over tomorrow—”

“Whoa there,” Alice said with a laugh. “Just because I’m doing this as a favor doesn’t mean that I don’t still want a nice wedding. Who can say that I might not end up being married to Karim for the rest of my life? This is a big decision, and it still deserves to be commemorated.”

“Oh all right.” Sheridan sighed, slumping back into the cushions. “But I still get to be the maid of honor and help you plan everything, right?”

“Of course.” Alice grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter Six

Three weeks later

By the time Alice slammed the door to her bedroom suite shut behind her, she had a pounding stress headache and was in desperate need of alcohol. Tossing her purse on the couch, she crossed the room and crouched down by the liquor cabinet to pull out a bottle of wine and a glass.

She poured herself a healthy amount, then drained the glass in one go and leaned her forehead against the wall, the glass dangling limply from her fingers as the liquid burned down her throat and eased some of the ache pounding at the base of her skull. Briefly, she considered pouring herself another glass. But it would be bad form for her to show up at the rehearsal dinner with alcohol on her breath in a country where public alcohol consumption was illegal. Especially considering they were getting married in a mosque.

Alice dragged another deep breath in through her nostrils, then pulled herself together. She returned the bottle and glass to the cabinet, then went into the huge, marble bathroom just off her bedroom so she could draw herself a bath. While the tub filled, she pulled out her rehearsal dinner dress from her walk-in closet and laid it across the mattress of her four-poster bed, then collected the matching shoes and jewelry and laid them out as well.

Jesus, but she
really
didn’t want to go to this thing.

Misery tugged at Alice’s mind as she lowered herself into the bathtub, immersing herself in the fragrant water up to her chin. She tilted her head back so that the base of her skull was submerged in the water, hoping that the heat from the tub would relax the knotted muscles in her neck and shoulders. It wasn’t so much the rehearsal dinner itself that was bugging her. It was the collective mess that came along with getting married, an ongoing list of activities that had started three weeks ago when she’d agreed to marry Karim and which felt like they would never end.

She’d visited lawyers, signed papers, sat in immigration offices, rotated through countless phone calls with managers and bosses to work out the logistics of relocation. She’d made a trip back to New York to sell what she didn’t want and pack up what she did, and she was still gnawing on what was left of her nails while waiting for two of the boxes to arrive. She’d attended dress fittings, picked out flowers and decorations, poured over catering menus.

And today, she’d visited her new offices here in Dubai, finally completing the transition.

It was final. Even if she didn’t marry Karim, she was officially relocated to Dubai now. There was no changing this, not for at least a year, unless she wanted to go hunt for a different employer. And even though her job was stressful at times, she loved Armani and had no plans on leaving if she didn’t have to.

She just wished she could have some downtime, to sit around and do absolutely nothing except stare off into space and reflect on the earth-shattering changes happening in her life. But everything was so hectic these past few weeks that she barely had time to look where she was going, never mind looking back.

Her phone buzzed, an alarm reminding her that she was going to have to leave soon. Sighing, she dragged herself out of the tub and dried off, then wrapped her hair in a microfiber towel and padded out into the bedroom naked. She put on her bra and underwear, then slipped on the
abaya
she’d selected for the evening – a deep blue garment with silver beading and long, sheer sleeves that flowed down to graze the edges of her skirt. The accompanying stilettos were not so much for fashion as they were a necessity – no one would really see them, but without them she would be tripping over her hem all night.

She’d just finished putting on her makeup when Sheridan knocked on her door.

“You ready?” she asked, leaning against the doorjamb. She was dressed in a dark purple
abaya
, her blonde hair done up in in a pile of ringlets atop her head and covered with a gauzy scarf of the same color.

“Yeah. Let me just get my scarf.” Alice stepped back from the door and hurried back to her room to get the garment, which she placed over her head and wrapped around her neck for modesty, the same way Sheridan had hers.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Sheridan asked, searching her face as Alice turned toward her. “You look exhausted.”

Alice wanted nothing more than to collapse on the couch right then and there, or maybe into Sheridan’s arms, but she simply smiled. “I just had a long day at the office. I’ll be fine after I get some food into me.”

“Okay.” Sheridan wrapped an arm around Alice’s shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. “Just let me know if you need anything, okay? Getting married can be pretty stressful. I have reason to know.”

Alice laughed. “Yeah, I remember when you burst into tears because the caterers delivered the wrong flowers. Was that really only five months ago?”

“Yes, you stinker, and thanks for bringing it up.” Sheridan tweaked Alice’s nose as though she were a child, and Alice swatted her hand away. “I can tell you’re still your usual troublemaking self, so I’ll stop worrying now.”

And with that, Sheridan dragged her out the door and to the rehearsal.

***

The rehearsal had gone well enough, Karim mused as they settled down at the long, rectangular table at the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Alice had looked stunning in her
abaya
, and even though she was not wearing the outfit she would be married in, Karim had still been struck by the way she’d looked as she walked down the aisle toward him, escorted by Kahlid, as she had no parents to do the honors. Every step, every word, every smile had been perfect.

“Maybe you were too focused on making it perfect, and not focused enough on making it right.”

He blinked as Alice’s voice echoed in his head, and glanced over at her across the table, where she was seated. She hadn’t spoken the words – she was staring down at her empty plate as the others seated themselves. Her brilliant red hair swung forward, obscuring her face, so he couldn’t see her expression, but he suddenly had the feeling she wasn’t happy.

But why wouldn’t she be happy? It wasn’t as if he’d done anything to displease her, had he? He’d let her take full direction of the wedding, had acquiesced to every wish and demand. And the rehearsal had gone off without a hitch. What did she have to be upset about?

Everyone else got seated, and soon the waiter came to take their orders. They’d chosen a restaurant at one of Dubai’s most exclusive hotels, located right along the coast. It was a huge, open space, completely surrounded on three sides by glass walls and offering a gorgeous view of the ocean. The ceiling and the carpeted floors were both designed to mimic the ocean waves that rippled and flashed beyond the windows, creating an effect that was intended to dazzle. The wait staff was impeccably dressed and mannered, greeting them respectfully without cowering – they were used to dealing with the wealthy and the powerful, who came to this hotel regularly for their stay.