apologize for the rush, ma’am, but His Highness has been asking about you for the past thirty minutes. We’re scheduled to take off but if you’re not upstairs and in a seat where he can see you, then he will delay our departure. That will throw off several meetings that are all tightly scheduled for the day and could cause several international issues.”
Sidra snapped out of her stupefaction and shook her head. “Well, I wouldn’t want to be the cause of any international issues. Lead the way,” she said, but her voice was almost a whisper. She was terrified of seeing Rashid again. But because of Debra’s warning yesterday, she couldn’t turn back. The only course was to go forward and figure out how to deal with a cheating, heartless bastard of a man.
Be professional, she told herself as she carefully took each step to the upper deck. She might have been emotionally invested in their short relationship, but Rashid had had other ideas. She had to put that behind her and move forward. This was a wonderful opportunity and she needed to grab the bull by the horns and do a bang up job of decorating this man’s home. She could create an environment for him that he’d love! She just had to be professional about everything.
She followed the gopher Rashid had sent to hunt her down, hearing the plane’s engines rev up outside and she climbed the stairs with knees that were barely able to hold her weight.
The upper deck was filled with people sitting at a conference room table but as soon as she arrived, Rashid nodded and the whole area was vacated within moments. She stood there staring at Rashid, her eyes taking in his magnificent form in an immaculate suit and red, silk tie.
Rashid looked her up and down, noting the dark circles and the loose clothing. She hadn’t been eating or sleeping, he thought. That indicated she was miserable about something so at least he was in good company. Good! He didn’t like her being miserable, but at least it showed that she felt something for him and was just as miserable as he had been since they’d departed.
He should feel better knowing that she was upset about something but in reality, he felt angry and wanted to take her into his arms and make it all better for her. He wanted to protect her and tell her that everything would be okay, and he would make it okay. And then he would lift her into his arms and make love to her until neither one of them could move again.
“Coffee?” he asked, ignoring all the things he wanted to say to her. Primarily to demand who the bastard was that she’d been talking to last Friday night. Did she love him? Was their time in England just a weekend fling that she’d already dismissed in her mind?
Sidra looked over at the table filled with various breakfast materials but the thought of food turned her stomach. “No thank you.”
Another beautiful woman appeared in a doorway and cleared her throat. “Your Highness, we’re ready to take off. The pilot is waiting on your permission.”
Rashid nodded, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Sidra. He indicated she should find a chair and fasten her seat belt. He did the same, but inside, he was fuming that anyone else had dared to touch this lovely, forlorn looking woman.
Sidra walked through the conference room to the chairs set against one of the walls. They appeared to be the only ones with seat belts so she’d have to sit next to the man. With as much dignity as she could come up with, she took her seat, but pointed her knees and shoulders away from the man buckling his seat belt next to her.
He lifted a phone and said something, then quickly hung up. A moment later, the enormous plane moved down the runway and a few minutes after that, they were airborne. Sidra didn’t have a problem with flying, but she was still stunned by the fact that Rashid wasn’t her lowly born horse trainer but was really a king. Or a sheik or something like that. He was not ‘hers’ either.
“How have you been?” Rashid asked, breaking the silence.
Sidra jumped at the sound of his deep voice, but then got herself under control. “I’ve been fine. Thank you very much. And you?” Professional, she reminded herself. She could do this, just one moment at a time.
He