She settled back into the chair with an appearance of relaxation, but her insides were zipping with adrenalin. “I’m twenty four.”
His nod was slow and deliberate. “I had thought you to be younger.”
How many times had she heard that? “Why?”
His eyes sparkled with an emotion she couldn’t decipher. Amusement? Mockery? Cynicism? “Are you seeking a compliment?”
“No.” She smiled softly and shook her head. “I didn’t take your comment as flattery so much as an observation.”
“It was intended as both,” he promised with concentration.
She chose to ignore the tingle of interest that his words sparked. She was no fool; getting involved with a man like this would be stupidity and career suicide rolled into one deliciously tempting packet.
“And you?” She pushed, endeavouring to change the subject onto safer ground.
“Yes?” He ran a hand over his stubbled chin and Olivia couldn’t help but be distracted by the gesture. Her eyes followed his fingers, then lingered on his mouth.
“You’re young, and yet you have a role that is demanding and unique.”
“Tell me, Olivia Henderson, what it is you know of the demands that are on me?”
She wouldn’t be intimidated by him. Though it was patently obvious he was employing a cold tone of voice in order to dissuade her line of questioning, Olivia was not so easily put off. After all, he’d invited her to entertain him. How could that be anything other than a two way street?
“You’re next in line to one of the most powerful royal families in the world.”
He placed his tea down and stood, walking slowly to the enormous windows and staring down at the strip beneath. What Olivia didn’t say were the questions that peppered her mind.
The same questions that had been printed in the tabloids several months earlier, when Sultan Faisal of Dashan had enacted a law that bypassed his older son Ra’if as heir to the throne, and put the honour onto the shoulders of Zamir instead. Olivia was no expert in international politics, but she’d done a background check of Sheikh Zamir before undertaking this assignment. And there it had been. Headlines that spoke of a dramatic family rift and a sibling rivalry that had resulted in the ousting of the natural born heir.
“True.” It was a single word, spoken so long after her statement that she’d almost forgotten what she’d asked of him. “You know, I suppose, that I was not born to carry this title.”
His shoulders were broad and his waist tapered. Beneath the clothes he wore, she could see that he was firmly muscled and innately powerful. She swallowed and looked away. The zing of attraction was unwelcome.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Zamir didn’t visibly react and Olivia understood. It was a difficult conversation for him. “I am not close to my brother, as you are your sisters.”
She dipped her head forward as a concession. “Sibling relationships can be difficult.”
He spun around and studied her thoughtfully. “Yes. Some more than others.” He moved back towards her and sat down once more. “You said you are close to your sisters, though.”
“Yes.” Her smile was laced with irony. “But that’s not always been the case.”
“Do you have a lover, Olivia?”
Her eyes flew wide in her startled face and her breath caught in her throat. She coughed and spluttered, then lifted a hand to cover her mouth, all the while her big green eyes accosted him for his impertinent question.
“That is seriously not your business,” she said, finally, when able to speak.
“No. You are paying me to facilitate your life; not to reveal the finer details of mine.”
“Are you so ashamed of this man that you will not discuss him?”
Her eyes sparked with a heated emotion; and Zamir was charged with an answering emotion.
“Nothing about my personal life has anything to do with you.”
“I asked because you will not be seeing him for the time I am here. I wondered how he might cope.”
She stood up and began to place the teacups back on the tray, her mouth set in a resolute slash.
“Leave it.” His words were softly spoken but firm as cement. “That is not your job.”
“Nor is making you tea or sitting with you and being interrogated about my personal life,” she remarked waspishly.
And Zamir found himself having to hide a smile despite his frustrations. “You surprise me.”
“Yeah? Really? You haven’t met many women who tell you to butt out?”
“No,” he agreed with a soft laugh. And it was a dangerous sound, because it sent something off in her gut. A vibration of desire that she recognised and would have, in an alternate universe, have loved to indulge. He stood and curled his hands around the tray. “I told you to leave this.”
Olivia ignored the pounding of her heart; the flushing of her pulse and the burning in her abdomen. She released the tray and took a step backwards. “I trust you’ve been entertained sufficiently for this evening?”
He considered asking her to stay.
He considered telling her to stay.
But he did not.
She was right.
The sombre thoughts of Ra’if were no longer forefront in his mind. She had done what he’d needed. He placed the tray back down and fixed her with a stare that was far from an ending. “You may go, for now.”
THE SHEIKH’S CONVENIENT MISTRESS is available exclusively through Amazon and is available to read for free via Kindle Unlimited in participating countries.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clare Connelly grew up in a small country town in Australia. Surrounded by rainforests, and rickety old timber houses, magic was thick in the air, and stories and storytelling were a huge part of her childhood.
From early on in life, Clare realised her favourite books were romance stories, and read voraciously. Anything from Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, to Mills & Boon and (more recently) 50 Shades, Clare is a romance devotee. She first turned her hand to penning a novel at fifteen (if memory serves, it was something about a glamorous fashion model who fell foul of a high-end designer. Sparks flew, clothes flew faster, and love was born.)
Clare has a small family and a bungalow near the sea. When she isn't chasing after energetic little toddlers, or wiping fingerprints off furniture, she's writing, thinking about writing, or wishing she were writing.
Clare loves connecting with her readers. Head to www.clareconnelly.co.uk to sign up to her newsletter, or join her official facebook page.
BOOKS BY CLARE CONNELLY
Marrying Her Enemy
The Velasco Lovechild
The Sultan’s Reluctant Princess
The Sultan’s Virgin Bride
The Sheikh’s Arranged Marriage
In the Hands of the Sheikh
One Night with the Sheikh
The Sheikh’s Virgin Hostage
To the Highest Bidder
The Greek Tycoon’s Forbidden Affair
Bought by the Sheikh
The Billionaire’s Christmas Revenge
Tempted by the Billionaire
The Tycoon’s Christmas Captive
His Loving Deception
A Second Chance at Love
The Sheikh’s Christmas Mistress
Love in the Fast Lane
The Medici Mistress
The Tycoon’s Virgin Mistress
All She Wants for Christmas
The Italian Billionaire’s Betrayal
A Bed of Broken Promises
Raising the Soldier’s Son
Bartered to the Sheikh
Betrayed by the CEO
The Greek’s Marriage Revenge
The Sheikh’s Convenient Mistress
The Brazilian’s Forgotten Lover
Bound to the Sheikh
The P
rincess’s Forbidden Lover
The Sheikh’s Secret Baby
Warming the Sheikh’s Bed
The Terms of Their Affair
COMPENDIUMS
Desert Rulers
Billionaire Bad Boys
Desert Kings
Happily Ever After
Casacelli Brides
Mediterranean Tycoons
The Hendersons
The Darling Buds of May