The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder (The Friendship Series) (2 page)

Nikki sat down in her chair, feeling like a fool but still not willing to relinquish the subject.  She’d seen something in his eyes!  It wasn’t just an issue with the light – there had definitely been something there. 

Was this man involved in Brianna’s disappearance?  Had he done something to her friend?  Perhaps that’s why her senses were spinning out of control…maybe her gut was telling her that this man was at the bottom of everything. 

Darn it, she wished she could talk to Rachel!  Rachel was the voice of reason; she could get Nikki to approach this more rationally.  But even as she thought this, the press conference was ending.  The reporters around her stood up and rushed the platform, eager to try and get one more question answered.  But the dark man ignored all of them.  He bent down to whisper something else in his aide’s ear – Nikki felt deep down inside of her that he was talking about her.  And then he disappeared.

As soon as he was gone, the air particles settled down.  The electric current that had stimulated her senses so dramatically slowed and she felt an almost crazy sense of let-down. 

Nikki glared at the now-empty platform, her mind reeling with all the horrible things that might be happening to her friend.  Brianna was too kind and gentle and she trusted everyone.  If she’d come across something that this man was doing wrong….

“Excuse me,” someone said from behind her.

Nikki swung around, her mind already in fight mode.  But when she realized it was just a kind-looking gentleman, she relaxed her shoulders and forced her lips to form a smile.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

The man bowed slightly.  “His Highness requested a private interview with you,” he explained.

Nikki stared at him, not sure what he was saying.  “Who in the world is “His Highness”?” she asked, blinking as if the man were slightly insane.

The look Nikki received in return was almost humorous.  The stranger’s eyes widened and his mouth just about fell open.  He gestured oddly behind him in the general direction of the platform.  “His Highness,” he repeated as if the words themselves should explain everything. 

Nikki glanced back to where he was gesturing, trying to connect the dots in the odd, if short, conversation.  “You mean….” She gestured, not exactly sure how to address the sheik.  She didn’t think “jerk” or “arrogant man” would go over very well with someone who looked like little more than a servant. 

The man in front of her nodded weakly and Nikki suppressed a shiver.  “Why does he want to talk to me?” she asked nervously, feeling her stomach quake at the possibility.  And more importantly, she mentally chided herself, why was she standing here chatting about the issue?  This was her opportunity to confront him, see if he would reveal anything else.  But the aide simply stood there, staring at her blankly as if to indicate that no one questioned “His Highness’” motives.

“I’m guessing questions are not allowed,” she responded.  With a sigh, and more than a small dose of trepidation, she waved her hand.  “Lead on.  If His Majesty,” she replied sarcastically, “wants a private chat, I’m all for it.”  Maybe she could follow up on her question about the markets, throw him off his game and then go in for the big question – where Brianna was!

The man led her through another ballroom that contained only very serious looking men in dark suits and sunglasses – each with a wire coming out of the back of his collar and connecting to his ear.  One of them murmured something into what was probably a hidden microphone because the doors opened as she approached. 

When the doors closed behind her, she realized she was alone in the room.  Well, not quite alone.  The man of the hour was at the other end of what appeared to be a very elegant conference room. 

She stood at one end of the too-quiet room, staring at the man with growing trepidation.  But she refused to let him see how terrified she was of him. 

Nazar looked at the vivacious brunette with the rich, brown hair and vibrant blue eyes, startled by the impact her slight frame had on him.  He’d never experienced such a powerful gut reaction to a mere woman before.  He was irritated by how distracting she’d been during the press conference.  “You’re quite beautiful,” he said finally, realizing that he’d just been staring at her, although he wasn’t sure how long that had been going on. 

Nikki squirmed under his gaze.  “And you’re very arrogant.”  As soon as she said those words, she wished she could have pulled them back.  Taunting the man was no way to get information, she reprimanded herself.  She thought about Brianna and how her friend would be sweet-talking this man already.  Bri could wrap anyone around her little finger with just a word or a smile.  Rachel was just as good, but she used logic and perseverance, whittling down someone’s argument into logical, small parts and showing them how her ideas were superior. 

Looking down, she shook her head and gave herself a strong, mental shake.  When she looked up again, he was standing right in front of her and she gasped at how tall he was, and how…overwhelmingly male! 

“What are you doing?” she stammered, taking an involuntary step backwards, needing more space between their bodies.  His closeness caused….weird sensations to flutter all around inside of her. 

“I wanted to go over your question.”  His hand moved, touching her cheek, grazing her skin and sending shivers everywhere.  “The expression on your lovely face told me that you weren’t completely satisfied with my response.”

She grabbed his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, but her grip didn’t have any strength to it.  “You sidestepped my question completely.”

He smiled slightly, obviously enjoying the challenge.  “Why don’t you ask it again?”

“Why did you try to avoid answering it while we were in a group of people?” she challenged and felt stronger with the look of approval in his dark gaze.  She just wished she wasn’t getting a crick in her neck from looking up at that approval. 

“Because anything I say about markets is analyzed to death.  I have to be very careful about what I say.  And even about the things I don’t say.  Anything could be taken to mean something else, something unintentional.”

Nikki frowned, realizing that what he said was probably true.  The head of the Federal Reserve spoke in such ambiguous language that, most of the time, she had absolutely no clue what he was telling the rest of the world.  Sometimes she got it.  And sometimes Rachel would explain it over a round of martinis.  It still might not make sense, but at least they had fun trying to figure it out.  “I guess I need a few drinks to interpret your response then,” she said and tried to step backwards.  But the door was behind her and she couldn’t move, felt trapped by both his body and his heat. 

“I would be delighted to buy you a drink.”

Nikki’s heart thundered with those words.  “Um…no!  I mean…Uh…”

His hand reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.  “You don’t want to have a drink with me?”

Nikki immediately shook her head.  “No.  I don’t.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you’re….” she was going to say a criminal, but Brianna’s admonishing gaze popped into her head.  “You’re royalty.  I don’t really get along very well with royalty.”  What a crock, she thought and almost laughed at the idea of Rachel rolling her eyes at that bit of logic. 

“I’m just a man who would like to get to know you better.  And a drink sounds like a good idea.”  He started to move away, taking her hand in his.  It was the same arm which she’d been holding, proving that she hadn’t been keeping him away.  He’d merely been pretending, which caused even more trembling.  “Come.  We’ll enjoy a glass of wine in my suite.  And you can ask me about any market that interest you.”

Nikki took several steps, not sure what had just happened.  She’d been about to call the man a criminal and now she was having a drink in his suite? 

“No!” she cried out, digging her heels in to stop their forward momentum. 

He turned back and came closer, looking down into her eyes once again.  “What’s wrong?” he asked gently, amusement shining out of his eyes. 

“I can’t have a drink with you!  Especially not in your private suite!” she gasped out.

“Why not?”

She searched her mind, knowing there was a reason, but for the life of her, it wasn’t coming to her very quickly.  “Because…”

He chuckled, enjoying the flustered look in her eyes.  “Because you’re attracted to me and we might not stop at a single drink?”

She was so startled for a moment that she simply stared at him.  Then what he was telling her struck her and she started trembling even harder, shaking her head with the logic in his mind.  “That’s a huge leap you just took.  Do your other women jump from a drink to your bed so easily?” she asked, still chuckling at the possibility. 

He shifted ever so slightly and all of the amusement in his eyes completely died.  “Yes,” he stated emphatically.  “Are you saying that you’re not interested in my bed?”

Nikki swallowed as she looked up once again into those black eyes.  “Um…No!” she whispered.  But the idea of him and a bed were more enticing than she cared to admit.  “I’m not attracted to you.”

His hand reached up, still holding her hand in his.  His grip shifted ever so slightly so that the pad of his thumb was on her wrist.  “I think you are lying to me.”  He paused, noting that her pulse actually picked up even more speed.  “And possibly to yourself as well.”

Nikki shook her head and tried to pull her hand away, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish her arm just yet.  “Where’s my friend?” she cried out, using her only defense which was a blurted-out offense.  “Where’s Brianna?  Did you take her?  Are you holding her prisoner somewhere?”

Nazar looked down into the soft, blue eyes of this woman and something inside of him shifted ever so slightly.  “Who is this Brianna you speak of?” he asked gently, his thumb no longer taking her pulse but instead, running along the tender skin of her wrist.  “She is obviously a friend, but tell me more.”

Nikki shook her head.  “She’s disappeared and the only lead I have is you.  You’re too powerful,” she said, hating the quiver in her voice.  “You can do just about anything you want with impunity.  I know rich and influential people like you don’t care about the little guy, but Brianna is different.  She’s my friend and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

Nazar liked the sound of her voice.  It was strong, feminine and lilting even while she accused him of kidnapping her friend.  “This person, she is special to you?”

“Very!” Nikki replied urgently.  “Do you have her?  Have you hurt her?”

A door to the opposite end of the conference room opened up and another dark suited man stepped in.  Nazar saw the look and knew he had to step out.  Everything inside of him was telling him to stay, to find out more about this fascinating woman.  But he couldn’t ignore the silent message.  “I’ll be back and we’ll discuss your friend, among many other topics,” he commanded.  A moment later, he disappeared through the door.

Nikki stared at the doorway, wondering if he actually expected her to remain here, waiting for him.  Was he nuts? 

She looked around, deciding that the other door was a better option.  She definitely didn’t want to be found here when the man decided to return.  He had some sort of power over her that confused her.  Coming here had been a mistake, she told herself firmly.  She had to leave before she lost herself, and still didn’t find Bri.

Rushing through the same door in which she’d entered, she almost ran down the scary looking man that was standing sentry.  She’d seen him as she’d entered, why hadn’t she expected him to be there when she went back out? 

At this point, she didn’t care.  She gave what she hoped was a casual smile, pretending that everything was okay and she wasn’t trembling so badly that her knees were about to give out on her, and then pulled her canvas bag over her shoulder as she hurried out the next door.  She didn’t stop for anything else until she reached her car.  Diving into the driver’s seat, she took deep, cleansing breaths, trying to get her head back on straight.  This was not who she was!  She was the cool one!  She was the brave one!  She was the one who barreled around, pushing Rachel and Bri to do things they didn’t think they wanted to do, challenging the status quo, pushing the limits! 

So why was she sitting in her car in a dark parking garage waiting for her body to calm down enough so her hands weren’t shaking?  She was too nervous to even drive! 

“This is ridiculous,” she told herself sternly.  “Get a grip, get home and figure out what happened to Bri!” 

It still took her several minutes before she was able to press the button to start her car.  And even then, it was difficult to focus on the road because she kept thinking about the man’s touch.  She almost ran a red light because she was too focused on the memory of his dark, sensuous eyes.  She didn’t like this.  She didn’t like being out of control, of giving a man power over her.  She had to re-think her options and come up with a better solution.  Bri’s life might depend on it.

Chapter 2

Glancing around her bedroom, she walked back and forth at the foot of her bed, unaware of the cotton shorts and loose, cotton shirt she was wearing for bed.  Unaware of her cold feet as they traversed the hardwood floors.  And she had to keep forcing her mind back to the problem and not dwell on the image of the man and his dark looks.  Or the way his hand touched her so gently, but with authority. 

She didn’t like that.  She liked men who listened to her and followed her instructions.  She wasn’t one who easily followed anyone’s commands.  And if she did, she didn’t do it well.  Or willingly. 

Nikki squared her shoulders, determined to get more information.  She had no idea how to do that, but she wasn’t going to stand around and let Brianna be hurt.  The police wouldn’t do anything, so it was up to her to figure this out.  Brianna had always been there for Nikki and Rachel when they’d been kids.  The woman had the biggest heart, the best shoulder to cry on and a gentle sense of humor that could break through the dreariest of days or the harshest comments from their peers.  And there had been a lot of those during middle and high school.