Seduced by the Sheik (The Raminar Family #1)- Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,8
then shifted, crossing her legs and pulling a notebook out of her bag.
When she bent like that, his eyes automatically watched and he caught a glimpse of…shadows! Damn it, he hated that conservative shirt. It wasn’t as if it hid anything. The material cupped her full breasts, showing him exactly what he was missing.
“As I was saying, these questions are important and I promise not to reveal any of this information outside of the palace. Your privacy is very important to me.”
She clicked her pen and looked down, the overhead light setting off sparks of light in her soft, blond hair. “So, do these girls have any other siblings?”
“No.”
She wrote something on her notebook, then looked up at him. “And their age?”
“Five.”
She blinked and wrote his answer down.
“Any other family members here?”
“My two younger brothers and my sister all live here at the palace as well.”
He watched as she gave him another of those pretty blinks, then her lips curled up into a smile. Instantly, his body tightened all over again.
Tilting her head, he watched as a wisp of blond hair shifted with her movement. “Did one of your brothers meet me at the airport yesterday?” she asked.
He shrugged, not sure where this was heading. “Yes. Gaelen did. He’s eighteen months younger than I am and Minister of Defense here in Izara. Why?”
She laughed softly and the sound soothed over his temper, easing it ever so slightly.
When she looked up at him, those startling blue eyes had hidden depths of amusement. “I got off the plane yesterday and…by the way, thank you for the flight. I might have been exhausted and out of sorts yesterday, but the flight on that lovely plane was truly wonderful.”
“My pleasure. We wanted you here quickly and flying you on a private plane was the fastest way.”
She nodded, then looked down at that notebook again while his eyes moved over her sparkling hair, wondering how long it was. He remembered it spread out over the pillow last night when he’d gone to her suite to talk to her, but because it had been behind her, he wasn’t sure if it went just to her shoulders or if the beautiful tresses fell down her back.
“How did the girls’ parents pass away?”
That question pulled his mind back to the present and he gritted his teeth against the fury that still boiled right under the surface.
“My sister married an…” he stopped before he added “asshole” to that explanation. “A man that enjoyed adventure. They were speeding through the Italian Alps and my brother-in-law lost control of his car. Their car ran into a cliff. My sister and her husband died on impact.”
The compassion in those blue eyes did something to him. Her heart-shaped face was lovely, but those eyes…! There was just something about them that eased the anger slightly and he absorbed it. The tension in his shoulders relaxed, although the anger still simmered.
“That’s horrible,” she replied. “Not just for your nieces, but for you and your whole family.”
Her words startled him. The press had been so absorbed in talking about how his nieces were handling the death of their parents, no one had ever stopped to wonder how he was dealing with the loss of his sister. Or how his siblings were handling their grief. No one had asked, so it was actually easier for them to maintain their stoic expressions.
“Thank you,” he replied, then cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He was both soothed and discomfited by her perceptive gaze. “What else?”
She looked down at her paper. “Well, I have many other questions, but perhaps it would be best if I met your nieces now. I’m sure that I’ll have many more questions later.”
He nodded, but didn’t rise from his desk. He needed a moment.
That had been a mistake.
Those blue eyes seemed to notice everything. Her head tilted slightly, her lips pressed together and she paused for a long moment. “If you don’t mind me asking, how are you doing?”
Those full lips weren’t tight with disapproval. And her eyes didn’t contain the pity that he hated so much. Instead, he saw only curiosity.
“I’m fine,” he replied automatically.
Her eyes dropped to his hands and Amit realized that he’d curled his fingers into such a tight fist that he’d broken the pencil in half.
“I see,” she replied, but didn’t say anymore.
Tossing the pencil onto his desk, Amit stood up abruptly. “I’ll take you to the nursery now,” and he walked towards the door to his