The Sheik's Pregnant Lover Page 0,22
friend, but also too perceptive. “Mindy, there isn’t anyone.”
“Good! Then you won’t mind meeting Tom. Tomorrow is Friday so you have no excuse to avoid a date since you can sleep in on Saturday. Jonas and Tom will meet us at the Willard Hotel around the corner which I think is convenient for the guys as well. It’s suitable, elegant and a block away from the subway which will make it easy for you to get home after you meet this fantastic guy, but hopefully you’ll want to stay out and party with us. So there’s no way you can back out.”
Sidra thought hard, trying to come up with some way to avoid going on this blind date. They were never good, always awkward and she normally avoided them like the plague.
When Sidra still tried to figure out how to say no, Mindy nodded her head and crossed her arms over her stomach. “I get it,” Mindy said with a knowing look. “You’re still pining over the guy from England. I can understand and I’m…”
“Fine!” Sidra capitulated. She desperately didn’t want the office gossip to be about how she’d found her soul mate in England and was now too upset to see anyone else. She hated being fodder for any kind of gossip, much less the pity of her peers. “What time?”
Mindy jumped up, clapping her hands with excitement. “Great! I’ll stop by tonight before closing!”
She rushed out of Sidra’s office before her friend could figure out another excuse, almost skipping down the hallway. Sidra thought about calling her back and canceling, genuinely not wanting to go out and see anyone tonight, but it was Friday evening and she was tired of spending her nights waiting by the phone for a certain horse trainer to call her.
If only he hadn’t said he would call! She pulled her latest designs out from under a stack of vendor submissions and tried to focus on her work. But she couldn’t get the note out of her mind. Those words were vicious and evil she thought as she spun her chair around so she was facing her drafting table. She had to finish these plans quickly if she was going out with Mindy tonight and she was so behind it was ridiculous.
Because she was so angry and frustrated about the evening’s plans plus Rashid’s continued silence, she went a bit crazy with her thoughts on her current client’s living room and dining room combination. As she stared at the end result several hours later, she wasn’t sure if she could submit this to the client. It wasn’t nearly as conservative as she thought the client might want but it was definitely unique.
“Time to go!” Mindy sing-songed as she swept into Sidra’s office, plucking her coat off the back of Sidra’s door and bringing it to her. “No more work for today. It’s time to have a little fun.”
Sidra took the coat and started to come up with an excuse for the night but Mindy saw the look and raised her hand. “Don’t even go there. You’re coming, Tom and Jonas are already at the bar and you’re going to have a good time. He’s handsome, a lawyer and interesting so give it up and let’s go,” she said and pushed Sidra’s purse into her arms with a grin.
Sidra sighed and nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.”
They walked the block and a half to the Willard hotel chatting about the clients they’d dealt with during the week. Or more specifically, Mindy chatted, Sidra listened. Mindy didn’t appear to notice Sidra’s silence and just kept talking and walking as if nothing were wrong.
Mindy walked right up to a very handsome man and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as if she hadn’t seen him for years. Sidra stood behind her, awkwardly watching and wishing she were anywhere else but here. When Mindy finally pulled herself away from the man, she turned with a wide smile to Sidra and made the introductions. “Sidra, this is my boyfriend, Jonas.” Turning to the man behind Jonas, she said, “And this is Tom, the gorgeous and wildly successful lawyer who is going to marry you and take you away from all the tedium of dealing with our obnoxious, demanding clients.”
Sidra laughed self-consciously and shook Tom’s hand, wondering about Mindy’s introduction. Personally, Sidra enjoyed dealing with the various clients, although there was always one or two that were a bit irritating and demanding. The rest were genuinely nice people who just