The Sheik's Mysterious Mistress Page 0,5

struck again by how tall the man was. “I’ll try very hard to do a good job.”

“Even though you don’t like me.”

She blushed and glanced down. “Okay, so maybe I don’t really know you and I admitted that it isn’t you that I disagree with but some of your policies.” She grimaced and shook her head again. “And maybe I’m just too tired to realize that this is one of those moments when I really shouldn’t speak out loud because I’m too tired and worn out and I’ll probably say something I shouldn’t. I apologize Your Highness. I was out of line.”

He smiled, watching the soft pink blush stain her porcelain cheeks. “I’d like to hear what you disagree with besides burning fossil fuels. We’ll discuss those and other topics another time. You look exhausted from today’s efforts but I’m impressed that you finished an entire week’s worth of work in one day. Just goes to show that Omar was right in selecting you for the role,” he said and chuckled at her grimace as he started walking out the door.

When her phone rang again, she glanced at the number and frowned, pressing the “ignore” button. It was the same number as before.

She looked up nervously and stuffed her phone into her purse.

“Boyfriend wondering why you are so late in coming home?” Hassan asked.

Dana shook her head. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said and stood up.

“Why not?”

She stepped around her desk, pretending to be busy looking for something in her purse. “I was just promoted and my boss is a slave driver,” she joked.

He didn’t laugh. “You’re a beautiful woman. I can’t believe that a man hasn’t captured your attention.”

Another blush, she really wished she could stop doing that. If it were anyone else other than this man with his dark, mysterious eyes, she might be able to brush off the questions. But this man made her nervous, which made her mind clumsy. “Oh, I’ve dated in the past.”

“Just not anyone special right now?” Hassan was both intellectually and personally intrigued that some man hadn’t already snatched up a woman with Dana’s spirit and beauty, not to mention her intelligence and integrity.

“No. Definitely not,” she replied, thinking of all the men who were chasing her, unfortunately not for the reason she wanted. “I’d better get home. You start work pretty early each morning.”

Hassan watched her leave, his eyes appreciating her slender waist and cute bottom once again. There was just something about her bothered him. He could tell she was hiding something, although what that was, he had no idea. He wasn’t concerned that she was doing something illegal or unethical. In order to work in the palace, all employees had to go through a rigorous background check so if there was a criminal or even questionable past, she never would have been considered for employment, much less allowed to enter the palace grounds.

Shrugging away the mystery for now, he called the front gate. “Make sure Dana Miller is escorted home safely,” he said. Then as an afterthought, “She might not like the interference so make sure she’s unaware of the escort.”

He had no idea why he’d done that. Employees and guests left the palace late all the time and he never ordered an escort for any of them. Why he’d chosen to do that for his new assistant was yet another mystery he was too tired to figure out at the moment.

Chapter 2

Her cell phone rang once again and this time she was too distracted by the chaos of the morning to be cautious. Instead of checking the number first, she reached for it automatically. “Hello,” she said and grabbed the next contract for review, slapping it onto the center of her desk.

“You’re a hard woman to find,” a masculine voice whispered in her ear. “Where have you been, little girl?”

Dana’s fingers froze and she dropped the highlighter she’d been gripping. Her hand clenched the cell phone and her lips tried to form a reply, but she was too frightened.

“So are you going to tell me where you’re hiding? Or am I going to have to do this the hard way? The more I have to wait, the worse it’s going to be for you, dearie.”

Dana snapped the phone closed and tossed it onto her desk, pushing away from her desk and staring at the phone as if it were poisonous.

“Dana?” Hassan asked as he was walking out of his office. Since she’d been promoted, her office was