Page 11 of The Sheik's Kiss

The man immediately nodded and walked out of the area. But before Jim could leave, the sheik said, “She’ll also have a full breakfast with me, Jim.”

Jim nodded his acknowledgement of the command and left the area without another word.

“Actually, the coffee will be enough.”

“You will eat.”

Mandy’s eyebrow lifted at his autocratic tone. “I will?”

She watched as his mouth curled into a half-smile. “You will. It’s a long, tedious flight and I don’t want you passing out from lack of nutrition.”

She sighed and adjusted into her seat, locking the seatbelt. “You’re being a bit dictatorial, don’t you think?”

“More than you realize,” he replied and connected his seatbelt as well. “But you’ll get used to it.”

“I’m not sure that I will,” Mandy replied. “One of the benefits of running my own company is that I don’t have to take orders from anyone.”

“Except your clients.”

“Yes, I take orders from clients, when they ask politely.”

He grinned and Mandy had to fight not to react. The man was certainly charming.

“Will you please have breakfast with me, Ms. Sullivan?”

She refused to be charmed, but knew that being polite would cost her nothing. “I would be honored to enjoy breakfast with you, Your Highness.”

“Please, we’ll be working closely with each other over the next few weeks. Call me Zahir, just as you did while we were at your house.”

“I was wrong to speak to you so informally before,” she admitted, having done a bit of online research over the past few days. “I don’t think that it would be appropriate for me to use your first name, Your Highness.”

“Two days ago, you commanded me to use your first name. Now you are determined to call me ‘Your Highness’ which means that I would be required to continue calling you Ms. Sullivan?”

She shrugged and tilted her head slightly. “That seems like a safer path forward, Your Highness.”

He chuckled and she clasped her hands together in her lap. He reached behind his chair and picked up a stack of files. “These are the first batch of candidates for your investigation,” he explained. “As I’d mentioned, along with your expertise, I’ve also hired a professional match maker to help with this project. Ms. Raven Markley is a psychologist who specializes in behavioral analysis and interview techniques.”

Mandy took the files, flipping through them briefly before looking back up at him. “That sounds interesting. I didn’t know that there were people who made a career in helping people find matches,” she commented, settling the files onto her lap. “But I suppose that makes sense.”

“Many people in my world use professional matchmakers. We don’t have the time to date. Because of security issues, casual dating isn’t really an option for me either.”

Mandy looked up at him after that explanation. It sounded so…hard. “You’ve never…dated?” she asked, surprised.

“I’ve been on dates with women,” he replied in a bland tone of voice.

She eyed him carefully, noticing the tightness around his eyes. There was a story behind that statement. But she didn’t know him well enough to ask about it.

“That sounds lonely, but I’m sure that your life has pros and cons, just like anyone else.”

“True,” he replied. “Will you explain your process for hunting down someone’s financial secrets?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied, more than willing to explain how she discovers someone’s secrets. Mandy shifted in the leather seat, eager now that they were discussing business. “I suspect that my investigation process is similar to any other kind of detective work. I start with a person’s social media. By looking through their online personalities, I can find out more than people realize. A bank account is only one layer of a person’s financial life. When I start to understand what the person spends their money on, then I can develop a multi-dimensional understanding of their lives. I don’t have to spy on them. Not when most people put their whole lives online for anyone to see.”

“That sounds fascinating,” he replied. He nodded when Jim came in with a rolling tray of food. He set a pot of coffee on the table, then the plates. A moment later, the whole table was rolled towards them.

“Jim’s coffee is excellent,” Zahir explained as Jim poured the brew into a delicate porcelain cup. “Unlike most airlines, my chef is excellent.”

Mandy’s coffee cup froze halfway to her mouth. She stared at him. “You have a chef on your plane?” she asked, startled by the news.

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