The Sheikh's Irresistible Proposal

  she ate spicy foods. He loved listening to her breath when she fell asleep on the way back from shows. He loved the way her hand felt in his, her long slender fingers and smooth skin. And he loved the feel of her soft cheek underneath his lips.

  There was more, so much more to this complex, beautiful woman. It wasn’t one thing, it was everything. In fact, he was pretty sure he might be falling for her, and that thought scared the hell out of him. Sadiq had never felt this way about anyone before. He had never been in a serious relationship, and he was pretty sure he just wasn’t cut out for that kind of thing. That was just one of the reasons there was such a big rift between him and his family.

  Sadiq had learned that in order to protect himself, he would be safer to not get involved with anyone at all. That’s why he had earned the reputation for being a playboy. He hadn’t set out to be that way, he just didn’t want to commit to anyone. He didn’t feel like he could commit, and he was terrified of letting a woman down.

  With Hannah, though, it was different. Even though he knew he shouldn’t get involved, couldn’t get involved, he wanted desperately to tell her how he felt. He was finding it increasingly hard spending time around her, so much so that for the last few weeks of Hannah’s tour, he didn’t go to any of her shows at all. He didn’t like it one bit, but he knew that that was how it had to be.

  THIRTEEN

  After her conversation with Naasir, Hannah had come to understand the growing distance between her and Sadiq a little better. She knew that no matter what Sadiq was thinking or doing, she needed to protect herself, too. She had no intention of letting herself get hurt again. She had been down that road with Harvey and she didn’t want to go there again.

  Hannah was in her suite at the palace, picking out an outfit for one of her final performances, when Fatima entered her room.

  “Miss Green,” she said as she walked up to help her get into her gown.

  “Yes, Fatima?” she said.

  “We must get moving. It’s a long ride to get to your show. This one is across the other side of the country, remember?”

  Hannah looked at the clock on the wall and cursed under her breath. She had completely forgotten that they would be traveling nearly two hours to get to the club she was scheduled to perform at.

  “Of course, you’re right. I forgot. Give me just a minute and I’ll be ready.” She smiled warmly as Fatima left the room.

  Hannah looked in the mirror and ran her hands down her burgundy mermaid dress. “I might not have Chloe’s curves,” she said to herself. “But damn I make this dress look good.”

  “Yes, you do,” Sadiq’s voice floated to her from across the doorway.

  Hannah turned quickly and looked at Sadiq, embarrassed at what he had just overheard.

  “Sadiq! I didn’t know you were here? I mean, of course you’re here, it’s your house…palace, I mean.” She was stammering and she knew it. Why was she so nervous? She had seen him a hundred times before. He looked just like he always did: damn good and extremely handsome.

  Sadiq smiled, knowing he had her squirming. “I’ll be going to the show with you tonight, Hannah—if that’s okay with you, of course.”

  Hannah shook her head. Why was he asking her permission? “That’s fine. I mean, of course that’s fine. It’s your show. Well, I mean, it’s my show. That’s not true… it’s—”

  Sadiq walked over and took her hands in his. “Shh,” he said as he turned her around to face the mirror. He stood behind her and ran his hands up the back of her dress and under her hair. Hannah felt tiny electric shocks shoot through her body as his hands moved over her skin.

  She looked at him in the mirror, standing tall and muscular behind her petite frame, silently teasing her with his thick, luscious lips and musky scent. “May I?” he asked as he reached over and grabbed the necklace lying on the dressing table.

  Hannah nodded, unable to speak, paralyzed by his touch. She felt the heat rise in her stomach and move its way through her as he draped his arms across her chest and slid the necklace into place on her collarbone. He brought the chain around the back of her neck and expertly clasped it.

  Oh, how he wanted to put his arms around her, pull her in close, feel the full length of her body against his. But he had already gone too far. And she had let him. He closed his eyes and breathed her hair in once more before stepping back.

  “Ready?” he asked as he cleared his throat.

  “Yes, yeah,” Hannah said shakily. Oh God, how am I going to make a two-hour limo ride with this guy? She smiled at him quickly as he escorted her out the door and through the palace to the waiting car.

  Naasir smiled at Hannah as she approached him. “If you don’t mind me saying, Miss, you look especially lovely this evening.”

  Hannah just smiled. Usually she would come back with some quip like “Yes, Naasir, I do look lovely.” Not tonight, though. She was too shaken by how close she had just come to giving in to her emotions.

  Hannah and Sadiq made small talk as the car drove along through the desert landscape. They spoke about the few performances she had left, and how her experience had been in El-Shakanish, each of them doing their best to ignore how they were really feeling about Hannah’s imminent return to the States.

  That evening’s performance was taking place in a small town in eastern El-Shakanish, at an underground club known as The White Rabbit. As usual, the limo pulled up to the back door of the club and Hannah stepped out. She turned to say goodbye to Sadiq and was surprised to find him getting out behind her.

  “May I escort you in?” he asked as he placed his hand on the small of her back.

  Hannah didn’t know what to say as her feelings welled up inside of her. Words escaped her and all she could do was nod.

  Sadiq smiled, glad he was able to touch her again. His body yearned to feel hers, her hands, her neck, her skin. Even being able to touch her through her gown was enough. He just needed something. He knew being around her was dangerous, but he couldn’t help himself. His only fear was that she didn’t feel the same way. She hadn’t said a word indicating that she had feelings for him. He just had to wait and see.

  FOURTEEN

  Hannah’s performance at The White Rabbit ran over by an hour and Sadiq stayed for the whole thing. At the end, as Hannah came off to a roar of whoops and cheers, he walked to the stage and escorted her back to the limo.

  “That was wonderful, Hannah! Probably your best show yet,” he said, meaning every word of it. She had sounded different that night, more soulful, like she was singing more from her heart than she ever had before.

  Hannah thanked him and sat back in her seat. She felt like it was her best performance yet, too. And she knew why. She had been a bundle of emotion and nerves when she’d got on stage. She was feeling so many things that she couldn’t describe; the only way to express them was through song. When she’d started singing, all of her fears, worries, and anger had spilled out through the music.

  “I think we might be best staying in town for the night since it’s such a long ride back,” Sadiq said.

  After several hours traveling and performing, Hannah was spent, and readily agreed to his suggestion.

  They drove around for a while looking for a decent place to stay, but could only find a small, basic hotel on the outskirts of town. Naasir pulled up to the main entrance and went in to ask about rooms, returning a moment later with a tight look on his face.

  “Sir, they have only one room available. Shall I keep driving?”

  Sadiq looked at Hannah. She thought about it a moment. She was so tired, all she wanted to do was get into a cool, air-conditioned room and fall asleep.

  “No, it’s fine. We’ll let Hannah have the room,” Sadiq said.

  “No, don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “I’m sure there’s two beds. Why don’t you come up and you can sleep in there too?” For a moment, Hannah hoped the room only had one bed and that Sadiq would be forced to share with her. Stop it, she said to h
erself. You’re too tired to be entertaining those kinds of thoughts.

  “But where will Naasir sleep?” she asked.

  “He sleeps in the car. I think he enjoys the peace and quiet in the back of limo once in a while.” Sadiq smiled at Naasir as he opened the door and they got out.

  A few minutes later, Hannah and Sadiq entered the hotel room. Hannah was a little disappointed that it was nothing like the luxurious accommodations she had been enjoying for the previous six weeks, but it didn’t seem to bother Sadiq. Hannah supposed that having grown up with the finest things, slumming it was probably an adventure for him.

  They walked in and closed the door behind them. Sadiq flipped on the light, and that’s when they saw it. The room only had one bed. Hannah wondered if her wish had come true. She turned to Sadiq and was about to tell him he could share with her when she noticed he was already at the sofa, moving pillows around.

  “Perfect,” he said. “I’ll sleep right here. Will the bed be okay for you?”

  Hannah smiled weakly, feeling a twinge of disappointment. “Yes, it’ll be fine,” she said. She threw her bag on the bed as Sadiq fiddled with the air conditioner.

  Hannah walked into the bathroom to change into her causal clothes. She heard Sadiq saying things to the air conditioner and then heard a loud rumble as a burst of cold air flooded the bathroom.

  When she emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, she found Sadiq standing by the window with his shirt open. She almost dropped her washbag when she saw the ripples of muscles on his stomach and his dark, broad chest.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, noticing the bewildered expression on her face.

  “Um, no, um, I mean, what’s up with the window?” she asked, quickly darting to the bed and averting her gaze. Oh my, he looks even better without his shirt.

  “The damn thing isn’t working. I called the office but they don’t have a maintenance person on call tonight. We’ll just have to sleep with the window open.”

  “Okay,” Hannah said, unable and unwilling to look at him again for fear that she might just throw herself at him. Instead, she tossed her washbag on the chair next to the bed and slipped under the covers. She turned the light out and listened as Sadiq washed up. When he came out, the bathroom light lit up his broad outline as he stood in the doorway, and Hannah wondered again if he would walk to the sofa or over to the bed, and her.

  A moment later, he flipped the light off and walked over to the sofa. She heard him sit down on the cushions and then finally settle down.

  “Goodnight, Hannah,” he said softly.

  “Goodnight,” she said, unable to say his name out loud.

  Hannah lay there, trying to sleep but unable to keep her eyes closed. She could hear Sadiq’s breathing from across the room and wondered what he was thinking. Maybe he was thinking about her. Maybe he was wondering if he should join her in the bed. Maybe…

  “Is it really hot in here?” Sadiq asked.

  Hannah grinned. “Yes, I thought it was just me.”

  Sadiq smiled to himself; she was hot, all right. He sat up and scratched his head, trying to think. He looked out of the window and saw the palm trees moving slightly in the streetlight.

  “Hey, what do you say we go up on the roof? It will be cooler up there. I can bring the blankets and we can sleep on the rooftop.”

  Hannah smiled. She sat up and looked at Sadiq’s dark figure.

  “Why not?” she said.

  ***

  A few minutes later, Sadiq and Hannah were up on the rooftop, sprawled out on a pile of blankets under a canopy of stars.

  “This is much better,” Sadiq said, pulling the sheet around himself. “I can actually breathe up here.”

  “Yeah,” Hannah agreed. “And the stars are amazing.”