The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress Page 0,10

the desert and the brutal beauty of it, the amazing life that scurried throughout the desolate sands, it was time to move on.

She looked at the time and realized it was the early evening. Maybe she could use the palace kitchen tonight to make her dinner. She wouldn’t need a great deal of space, just a corner would work. The meal was pretty simple and cooking always calmed her down. She remembered several times when she and her mother would bake up a storm, the whole house smelled like cookies or garlic or whatever it was they decided to make that night. It might have been a bad test grade or a traffic ticket. It didn’t mater the issue, cooking and baking always soothed the soul.

She stepped out of her car and locked it, actually shaking her head that she was concerned with someone stealing her car when her life was in danger. She was in one hundred degree heat, she’d probably short changed a fruit vendor after pinging a bad guy with his apples and she had two murderous thugs on her trail. But don’t let anyone steal her precious car!

Walking through the employee entrance, she greeted all the guards by name, asking about their wives or children and laughing when they told her cute stories. As she walked by each check point, and heard about each new baby tooth or school grade, it gave her a sense that she was not only surrounded by security, but also by friends and that meant a great deal to her.

As she walked into the kitchen, she greeted one of the chefs nervously. “Excuse me, but would you mind terribly if I used a small bit of space?”

The assistant looked her up and down and smiled, “You’re the assistant to His Highness, correct?” she asked deferentially, appearing nervous to even ask the question as she bowed slightly, as if Hassan’s position seemed to transfer to his staff in some way.

Dana’s heart lifted. Perhaps there were some advantages to her new position after all. Besides being close to Hassan, that is. “Yes. I just started a while ago. I don’t know who has been doing it, but someone has been keeping me stocked with delicious foods recently. It’s been wonderful to look up in the early afternoon and find a delicious meal all ready for me.”

“We are all happy to help out whenever His Highness needs assistance,” the kind woman said. “We would be happy to make you anything you’d like,” she said and glanced at the bag of vegetables in Dana’s arms.

Dana shook her head, hugging her precious parcels closer as if they were the crown jewels. “Thank you so much for offering, but if it’s okay, I’d like to just find a corner and lose myself in the process. I don’t want to disturb anyone though. If you’re busy trying to get things ready for a big event,” she said, trying to think of who might be coming to the palace for dinner tonight, “I’ll stay out of your way.”

“There’s plenty of room,” the other woman said and led her to one of the tables in the corner, out of the way of the other palace food preparations. “There are utensils and knives over there,” she said, pointing to a large wall filled with various knives, “and the pots and pans are behind you. Any ingredients you might need can be found in the store rooms over to the left.”

Dana sighed with happiness as she pulled all of her vegetables out of her bag and sorted them in the order for chopping. She selected a frying pan, a knife and cutting board and went to work, humming the latest hit to herself as she worked. She felt good, she thought. Powerful even. The men had found her and she’d escaped with both men down. She almost laughed at the expression on the one man’s face right after she’d ducked and the two clowns had just about run into each other.

Okay, so they weren’t clowns. And the guns she’d seen under their jackets had been real and very deadly. If she’d been in a more isolated place, she had no doubt that she’d be dead by now. The men who had attacked her didn’t appear to be the kind who would hesitate to kill a person if given the opportunity. She had the impression that they would do whatever they needed to in order to get what they needed, which was why