The Sheik's Reluctant Lover (15 page)

She ended the call and tried to hold back the tears.  She packed up the boxes then picked them both up as well as her purse.  She stormed out of the office with the dresses in her arms telling Lenora that she was going out for lunch.

She was driving out of the parking garage when his call came back so she pulled over and took the call.

“
W
hat’s wrong, beautiful?” he asked softly.

She squeezed her eyes closed as the humiliation washed over her.  “Why did you do this?” she asked, her voice sounding funny even to her ears. 

“Do what, love?”

She ignored the insincere endearment and focused on trying to see through the tears. 
“The dresses,
Rais
!
  Why did you buy me the dresses?”

“Ah,” he replied, finally understanding.  “I knew that you would be with me for the two events this weekend and I didn’t want you to have to worry about spending your money on dresses when you are helping me.  Was it so wrong to buy something beautiful for you?”

“Yes!” she stated emphatically. 

“I don’t understand, Rachel.  But let’s talk about it this weekend, okay?  I have to go to another meeting.”

“That’s fine but I’ll be wearing my own clothes.”

He paused slightly with her declaration. 
“I would love to see you in the dresses I sent you.  I picked them out myself.”

That hurt and she squeezed her eyes shut, uncaring that her mascara would probably be a mess after this conversation.  “I’m not for sale,
Rais
,” she said softly. 

“I never thought you were, Rachel.”

“You can’t buy me with expensive dresses.”

“I wasn’t trying to, honey.  I just thought you would look pretty in those and I wanted to do something nice for you.”  He paused to let that sink in before he said, “Could you look at it slightly different
ly
?  I was thinking about you and wanted to show you.  I chose those dresses out of several other options because I thought they were something you would like and would look lovely on you.”

Put that way, it didn’t sound so bad.  It was even a nice sentiment. 
“
Dammit
Rais
!”

He laughed softly.  “Does that mean you’re going to keep the dresses?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Well, that’s at least an improvement from sixty seconds ago,” he replied dryly. 

“You can’t do this kind of stuff.”

“Why not?
  It’s my money and I want to spend it on you.  What’s the problem?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 
“Because it’s just not fair.
  I can’t do anything along these lines and I feel….like I owe you now.”

“Don’t even think like that, Rachel. You don’t owe me anything.  I just wanted you to know that I think you’re as beautiful as the dresses. 
More so actually.”

She dropped her head on the steering wheel.  “You’re incorrigible.”

“I know.  So will you wear them this weekend?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because they cost too much.”

“Not for me,” he came back. 

She was silent for a long moment while she tried to come up with a response.  “
Rais
…” she started to say but he interrupted her.

“Rachel, let’s talk about this when I can see your face.  I would love to see you in those dresses, or more specifically, I would love to take you out of those dresses, slowly and with a great attention to detail.  But if you have something else you would like me to take off of you, I’m more than willing to compr
om
ise.”

She was about to contradict him before he ended in that manner.  It was so typical of him that she couldn’t help but laugh despite her frustration with his high handed manner.  “You’re incorrigible,” she came back.

“Yes, but you want me.”

She laughed again and wiped her eyes.  “I’m promising nothing.”

“Promise me that you’ll spend the weekend with me again.”

“No.  You deserve to wait and wonder after this stunt.”

“Why is giving you a nice dress or two a stunt?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes at his obtuseness.  “First of all, because you delivered those dresses to my office and now everyone is gossiping about me, probably assuming that I’m sleeping with a client.”

“You are sleeping wit
h
a client,” he came back.

“I have slept with a client, but that might not ever happen again.”

His laugh was
deep and sexy and she could just picture him leaning back against a big, leather chair like the one in his office at the main house, his feet propped up on his desk as he smiled that
handsome
smile of his that never failed to make her stomach quiver in anticipation.  “I’d like to see you try and resist me now that you know what an incredible lover I am.”

That comment caused her amusement to dissipate.  It reminded her that this man had a great deal of experience and she hated the thought of him with other women.  Especially the women she’d seen him
with in
the past because they all looked like her. 

“Let’s talk this weekend,” she said, all humor gone from her tone.

“That sounds ominous.  What just happened Rachel?” he asked, much more alert.

She sighed and shook her head.  “Like you said, it’s hard to talk when you’re thousands of miles away,” she replied.

He sighed as well.  “Okay.  I’ll get there as soon as I can.  But next weekend, we don’t have any events, right?”

“You haven’t scheduled anything,” she replied cautiously.  “Did you want something on the calendar?” She felt herself tensing, worried that she wouldn’t see him if he didn’t h
ave a social obligation here.  That didn’t sit well with her, even though she’d just been upset about him and the women he had been with in the past, and those he most likely would be
with in
the future. 

“I was thinking that maybe you could come out to visit me this time around.  I would love to show you my home.”

She laughed.  “You mean your palace?”

“Whatever you want to call it.
  I only occupy a portion of the building in which I work.  There’s more than a residence here.”

“But you’re the ruler so most of it is reserved for your personal use, isn’t it?”

He hesitated.  “Why don’t you come out next weekend and I can show you everything.”

She thought about it for a moment, biting her lip nervously.  “
Rais
…”

“Don’t say no.  Just think about it.  We’ll add it to the numerous other topics we need to discuss this weekend, okay?”

She released her lip and stared up at the roof of her car.  This was a painfully complicated relationship.  “Okay.  I’ll see you Friday.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay.  I lo….” She started to say something, then stopped herself, shocked at what she was about to say.  “See you soon.”  She pressed the end button quickly, not sure if he’d caught her comment.  She stared at her phone, wanting to text him and tell him that she hadn’t been about to say ‘love’ but she didn’t want to get into that. 

A moment later, she received a text from him.  All it said was, ‘Back at you’.  What did that mean?  What was coming back to her?  Was he teasing her about her almost ‘
love
’ comment or just about seeing her soon? 

Her head fell back against the head rest again and she took a deep, calming breath. 

Back up in her office, she sat down behind her desk and stared at all of her sticky notes.  How was she supposed to focus when she knew she had sixteen thousand dollars worth of clothes in her car?  She didn’t have time to drive to her apartment and be back in time. 

She looked around, feeling as if the office were different somehow.  Was it just because of her phone call with
Rais
?  Had his voice completely altered her perception of her reality? 

She wasn’t sure, but she had things to do, vendors to schedule and confirm.  She didn’t have time to dwell on her life right now. 

“I hear someone has had a very interesting morning,” Derrick commented as he strolled into her office. He looked around and noticed the small space with the older chairs.  “Dear, since you have our biggest client, it seems as if you should also have a bigger office.”

Rachel swallowed uncomfortably.  She didn’t feel as if she’d earned this promotion since she’d known
Rais
all her life.  “I think I should be honest with you. 
Rais
is a personal friend of my father’s,” she confessed.  “That’s why I have these parties.”

Derrick waited another moment,
then
shrugged. 
“And?”

Rachel leaned forward, confused by his calm demeanor.  “And, I haven’t earned a bigger office, Derrick.  I’m not as experienced and I feel as if I’ve cheated.”

He laughed and shook his head.  “Dear, this business is all about making connections.  Don’t worry at all that you had a connection through your father.  How do you think I started this business?”  Rachel had no idea actually so he continued on.  “I did all of my mother’s parties.  When her friends saw how nice everything looked, they asked me to do their parties.  So in effect, you’re doing almost exactly what I did.  Go with it, flaunt it, honey!”

Rachel still felt awkward.
  “I suppose,” she said non-
comm
i
t
tally
.  “Anyway, everything seems to be going well for Friday’s party.  This one is bigger but everything seems to be in place.”

“And you’re using my caterer this time?” he asked, his eyes admonishing her because he knew that she hadn’t used his personal pr
eference for last week’s event.

She took a deep breath before replying, “Actually, I’m going with the same caterer.  She’s a personal friend of mine from college and even
Rais
complimented her on the food.  She has a very creative mind and you won’t believe what she has planned for this weekend.”  She handed him the menu and waited anxiously as he read through
the details, her shoulders dropping with relief when his eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

“That sounds heavenly!  What’s her name?  And can I use her for other parties?” he asked.

Rachel laughed with relief at his approval. 
“Absolutely!
  I’ve already given her the dates for my current set of events so I have her booked, but I’m sure she’d love your business as well.”

Derrick smiled and nodded his head. 
“Now….about these dresses that arrived today.”
 

Rachel’s shoulders went right back to tensing again, wary of where this conversation might go now.  “Yes….the dresses.”

“Spill it, dear.”

“
Rais
sent them,” she admitted, relieved to have it out in the open, but still concerned about what the dresses might imply.

“And why did he send dresses that cost so much?”

She bit her lip and looked across her desk warily.  “Because he thought I would look pretty in them and he didn’t want me to be embarrassed by the others who would be attending.”

Derrick absorbed that explanation with narrowed eyes, nodding his head.  After several moments of silence
he asked, “Is there anything I should be concerned about?” he asked carefully.

Rachel thought about how to answer that.  “Possibly,” she admitted.  “But I can’t be sure.”  In her mind, she knew she was treading on dangerous ground but she wasn’t sure how to explain to her boss that she was sleeping with a client.  It wasn’t against the rules, but in her mind, it didn’t seem like it was a very ethical place to be either. 

“Reading between the lines, I’m guessing you mean that you’re in an intimate relationship with the man, correct?”

“Yes,” she said honestly

“And you understand the tenuous position you’re in?”

“More than you know.”

He sighed and nodded his head several times, going over the issue in his mind.  Finally, he looked up at her.  “Here’s how this will work.  If you continue this relationship and it doesn’t impact the business or your performance, then I know nothing about this issue.”

Rachel was astonished.  She was sure she’d be fired about now.  “Why would you make an exception like this for me?” she asked as he stood up and started to walk out of her office. 

He turned around and looked down at her. 
“Because you’re not like the others, dear.
  If anyone else on my staff were sleeping with a client, it would most likely be because they were mercenary and trying to seal the deal on future business.  That’s just tacky,” he explained with disdain.  “It also means they aren’t very good at their job because they needed to add incent
ives that aren’t on our special
ties list, shall we say?”  He took a moment to laugh at his own joke.  “But in your case, if you’re sleeping with the guy, you’re in love with him so it’s not
tacky,
it’s very sweet and romantic.  And I sincerely hope that things go well for you.”  He was almost out the door when he stopped and turned back to her.  “Just let me know as far in advance as possible if you’re going to leave the firm for any reason, okay?  You’re a very good coordinator and
it will be hard to replace you.
”