The Sheik's Angry Bride (14 page)

Barry shook his head as he watched Luna take off her boots, placing them carefully by the kitchen doorway.  “You’re just not realistic about how business works, Luna.  I mean, why would the guy give us another chance?’

Luna was trying very hard not to lose patience with Barry’s doom and gloom attitude, but it was growing tiresome.  The man really was a worry-wart.  Things worked out.  They always worked out!  She was living proof that things worked out when goodness and kindness prevailed.  “Why wouldn’t he?  He’s a businessman, right?”

“That is correct,” a deep voice said from the kitchen doorway. 

Luna spun around, a smile of greeting on her face.  Which immediately froze when she caught sight of the man.  He wasn’t so much as standing in her doorway as overwhelming that limited space with his enormous size!  She’d never seen a man as large and muscular as this man.  Or as overtly terrifying either! 

“Oh wow!” she whispered, taking in the tall, gorgeous man with shoulders that stretched across the expanse of the doorway.  He actually had to duck as he walked into the room so that his head wouldn’t smack into the top.  And those eyes!  Goodness, she looked up into those eyes and felt her heart beat faster.  They were dark and mysterious and something just shot right through her.  She could lose herself in those eyes, she thought. 

Something nudged her arm but she didn’t think anything of it, too amazed at the male specimen walking closer to her.  But when Barry nudged her harder, she swung around to glare at him.  Barry, in turn, looked at her pointedly.

Guests!   “Oh!  Right!” she gasped and snapped back to attention.  “Right.  Welcome!” she gushed.  “I’m Luna Montgomery and welcome to the Moonside Inn,” she told him.  “Do you have reservations?”  She gasped, “Oh, no!  I hope you have reservations because otherwise, I might have to…” she shook her head.  “No.  I’m sure that everyone won’t show up.  We’ll figure something out.”

“We have reservations,” the man standing in front of her said smoothly. 

Dassar looked down at the blond woman and thought she was even more lovely in person.  He hadn’t thought that reality could live up to that picture of her smiling into the sunshine, but he had been wrong.  This woman with her bright, blue eyes and platinum hair, she was simply beautiful.  Her cheeks were the perfect color of a pink rose, a color which was only enhanced when she realized she’d been staring at him. 

“Yes.  Right!” she said again, receiving yet another nudge from Barry.  “Stop that,” she whispered furiously and stepped out of Barry’s range so he couldn’t nudge her again.  “Anyway,” she said, smiling up at the man.  He really was amazingly attractive.  That thin nose didn’t detract from his looks in any way, she thought.  And his hard jawline only made him look tougher in some way.  Not at all like a male model. In fact, those pretty boys couldn’t even come close to this man’s raw, masculine appeal.  Yes, they could take lessons from this man on how to appear manly. 

“Luna!”

Luna jumped and turned to glare at Barry once again. “What?” she hissed. 

“Stop staring,” he admonished openly, the jealousy he was feeling hard to hide. Even Barry knew that he couldn’t compare to this behemoth in the masculinity department, so he was eager for his Lovely Luna to get down to business so that the man would get out of her kitchen. 

“I wasn’t…” she looked up at the man, then blushed as she noticed he was still standing there, waiting for her to greet him correctly.  “Oh.  Well, so I am,” she said out loud.  “Anyway, yes…right.  You have reservations.”  She wiped her hands on her jeans, wishing she was wearing something prettier, nicer, to greet this man.  Or at least shoes, she thought and padded in her socks.  She’d taken her boots off by the kitchen doorway, not wanting to track mud through her nice, clean kitchen.  “This way,” she told him and tried to slip past him.  But he was too big and she had to halt, her eyes glancing up at him once again.  “I can’t get by,” she whispered, her pulse pounding in her chest as her knees started to wobble.  And it was all this man’s fault! 

Dassar looked down at the lovely woman, amusement shining out of his eyes.  She was delightful, he thought.  So innocent and naïve.  Every thought was right there in her eyes and those blushes gave away her emotions too easily.  No, this was not a good idea, he told himself.  So why was he shifting slightly, giving her room to move into the receiving area of the inn? 

She hesitated because he hadn’t moved enough.  And he should be a gentleman and give her more space, but he wanted to feel her softness just once before he left.  She smelled good, he realized as she squeezed by him in the close confines of the kitchen doorway.  She smelled like fresh air and…lemons. 

Luna tried very hard not to touch this man, but it was impossible not to feel the hard power under her fingers as she slipped by him, her hands automatically shifting out to balance herself as she moved past him.  “If you’ll follow me, I’ll get…” she looked around, startled by the large group of men standing in her receiving area.  They all wore serious expressions, all were dressed in dark suits, although none looked as perfectly tailored as the tall man’s suit, but they all looked very…manly. 

“Right, I’ll just get everyone checked in.  You’re under one reservation?” she asked, not sure what was going on.  She was getting a dangerous vibe and wasn’t sure what to make of it.  Normally she trusted her instincts even though they’d led her astray on some occasions. 

But in this instance, with the tall, sexy man right behind her, she was too flustered to listen to her instincts.  She was actually too flustered to hold the pen she tried to pick up, but she finally managed to wrap her fingers around the pen, only to realize that she needed to check everyone in through the computer on the front desk.  Dropping the pen, she pressed several buttons.  It took her a few painful moments because her fingers had suddenly turned into all thumbs and she’d double hit one key and completely missed the key she was aiming for.  It was all terribly embarrassing since normally, she was quite efficient.  It was only because the enormous man was crowding her, standing so closely behind her that she could actually feel the heat of his body through the sweatshirt she was wearing.  And she had absolutely no idea how to politely ask him to move away. 

She pulled up the information for this weekend’s guest reservations.  “Um…Mr. Smith?” she asked, looking up. 

A short, chubby man with merry eyes and a ready smile stepped forward.  “That would be all of us.  I made the reservation under that name to protect our identities.” 

Luna blinked, not sure what to make of that statement.  “Okay.  Well, I can keep a secret,” she told the man.  “Did you want to…” she thought quickly.  Then smiled.  “I’m sorry, but this is a bit clandestine.  Normally people who want to hide their identities are trying to…” she looked around, about to make a teasing joke about how people come to hotels under the name “Smith” in order to have affairs.  But as she took in the stern, intimidating expressions on each of the men’s faces, she thought better of it.  “Never mind,” she told the man.  Pressing a few more buttons.  “I just need a credit card to cover incidentals,” she told him.  “And you’ve booked all ten rooms, is that correct?”

“That’s correct,” the man said, handing her a credit card under the name John Smith. 

Luna looked at the card, immediately becoming suspicious.  But she rang the card through and, sure enough, it came up as clear.  Since all of the rooms had been paid for in advance, she wasn’t sure what to say.  “Okay then, here are the keys,” she said, looking around.  “Do you know who will be staying in each of the rooms?”

“We’ll sort it out,” he said.  “Which is the best room?” he asked. 

Luna blinked, berating herself for not pointing that out before she’d handed the man all of the keys.  Her only excuse was that she was too flustered with the gorgeous guy behind her. She could feel his eyes on her, suspected that he knew she was wearing her Bugs Bunny underwear and wished she’d worn her black lace.  But those things itched and Bugs was more fun. 

Ugh!  Concentrate, she told herself. 

Her fingers shook as she pulled the appropriate key out of the stack.  “This is the King’s room,” she explained.  “It has a beautiful four poster bed, a fireplace and a separate sitting room.  It’s really lovely.”  She went on to explain the other rooms and their advantages and locations before the man bowed and stepped back.

“You have been very helpful.”

She smiled gratefully.  Breathing a sigh of relief that the check in process was finally over.  “Dinner will be served starting at six o’clock across the street.  There is a bar over to your left if you’d like drinks or coffee, tea, hot chocolate,” she finished that one, feeling silly for saying that.  These men definitely didn’t drink hot chocolate.  And she was pretty sure that none would enjoy the marshmallows that she kept on hand for anyone who really did like hot chocolate.  She might be the only one in the room right now who would partake of that particular treat. 

Taking a deep breath, she fought to keep her voice positive even though she’d very much like to duck under the front desk and wait until the big guy behind her had decided to move away and torment his next victim with his brooding x-ray vision.  “Breakfast will be served tomorrow morning from seven until eleven and there are cookies and scones for an afternoon treat.”  She smiled brightly, feeling better now that she was on firmer territory.  Who didn’t like cookies and scones?  Everyone loved them! 

She brightened her smile, trying to appear professional and polite, despite her wobbly knees.  “And if there is anything that you need, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

The men disappeared, some going upstairs swiftly, others moving towards the back of the inn and several more moved outside.  She saw the outside men fan out and it looked suspiciously like they were looking for criminals.  In her yard?  The worst they might find was Dorothy, her lazy hound dog or Lucifer, the cat that came and went whenever he wanted food.  This was a small town with only a few people living and working here.  If one were to drive a couple of miles down the road, they would come to a bigger commercial area filled with all of the big box stores.  But this town was small and they worked hard to keep it that way.  There was an old-time feel to the shops that were enhanced by their location close to the various historical sites around the area. 

It took less than three minutes for the room to clear out, but Luna knew that the man who had never been far from her mind was still behind her.  Still staring at her butt.  Darn it, she should have worn the black lace no matter how itchy they were. 

“How long are you going to ignore me?” the man asked, amusement apparent in his deep voice. 

Luna sighed and turned around, her hands clutching the front desk behind her for support.  “I’m sorry.  I wasn’t trying to be rude.  It’s just that…” she wasn’t sure what to say.  “You are the sexiest thing that has ever crossed my path” just didn’t seem like such a sophisticated thing to utter.  This man looked like he ate monsters for breakfast, he was just that tough looking. 

“Have a drink with me,” he commanded and took her hand, leading her into the small sitting room.  At one end of the room was a wooden bar, but it was closed since it was only eleven o’clock in the morning.  But there was a coffee and tea service sitting out and she walked over to it, pouring him a cup of coffee.  “How do you take it?” she asked, setting the delicate cup and saucer down on the tray table because the cup was clattering from her nervousness. 

“You’re nervous,” he said and took the coffee urn, pouring her a cup and handing it to her.  “Why?” he asked when they were both sitting down. 

Luna didn’t have the heart to tell him that she didn’t drink coffee.  She’d always found the taste too harsh.  Bitter almost.  So she set the cup on the small table beside her chair and rested her hands in her lap.  “I’m sorry,” she replied. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.  It isn’t like I haven’t had men in the house before,” she said, then stopped, looking across the small expanse at him, shocked at what she’d just said.  “I mean…of course I haven’t
been
with a man in the house…” her eyes closed and she shook her head.  “I mean…” she wasn’t sure what she meant any longer and when his laughter hit her, she just stopped talking. 

When his laughter died down, he looked at her with amusement still shining through his dark eyes.  “I suspect that I know what you mean, but I’m glad to hear that you don’t normally carry on with men who stay at this beautiful inn.  There must be ample opportunities for you to socialize though.”

Luna breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he was letting her off the hook even though she was flubbing her lame attempt at sophisticated conversation.  She simply wasn’t a sophisticated kind of woman.  She was just down to earth, what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of person.  “No.  Not really.  The inn takes up a great deal of my time.”

Dassar couldn’t believe that this woman, with her silver hair and her bright, eager eyes with the slanting, cat-like glance, hadn’t been propositioned by numerous men over the years.  She was too beautiful, too enticing.  “But the other guests who come to stay overnight, surely some have been interested.”

She shook her head.  “No.  This is an out of the way location.  Anyone coming here is staying for a romantic getaway with their significant other,” she smiled.  “So the men are mostly taken.”

“Good to know.  And what about your boyfriend?” he asked, probing mercilessly but unconcerned with how he was perceived.  This was to be his wife, his queen and he wanted to know more about her.  Everything was telling him that she wouldn’t work out, that he should turn and walk away.  He needed a woman who could be strong under pressure, who would be able to handle herself with him.  He knew that he wasn’t the easiest man to live with.  But his wife would have to be faithful.