Page 10 of Hiding in the Sheik's Arms

Tasha tried not to laugh at the imagery of these three, large, overly protective men beating up a small boy on the playground.

“She’s sixteen,” Khal interjected. “We’ll have other big brother issues to deal with. But our first priority is to make sure she feels welcome and get to know her.”

“Agreed,” Raj said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s do this!”

“Your Highness!” a frazzled-looking man rushed into Tasha’s office. He looked at the two other brothers, not sure how to handle the ruler, the crown prince, and the younger prince, all in the same room. It wasn’t common for the brothers to be together.

“My apologies, Your Highnesses!” the man gasped and performed a perfunctory bow. “I just…,” he looked around, glanced at Khal, then at the other two men and swallowed painfully. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he finally blurted out, pulling himself together enough and jerking his robe back into place.

Tasha took pity on the poor man. She understood how intimidating these three men could be. “Minister Hozan, do you have some information?”

The man’s eyes finally focused as he took a deep breath and started again. “There has been an explosion at a utility plant in the Dishan district, Your Highness.”

“A bomb?” Khal demanded, immediately shifting from “brother” mode into “ruler” mode.

The older man shrugged. “We don’t know yet, Your Highness. It could have been a malicious incident, or it could have been an accident. The explosion happened less than five minutes ago. I got the news and rushed to update you. I knew that you’d want to hear about this immediately.”

Khal hid his frustration behind a clenched jaw. He looked over at Joran and Raj. “Could you convey my greeting to our sister? Tell her…?” he started, only to hesitate, frustration lacing his voice now. “I don’t want her to hear about this incident. I don’t want her to be scared of Lativa on her first day in our country.”

Raj held up his hand. “We got it covered. Go do your thing and we’ll greet Marianna for you. We can all have dinner tonight, as a family.”

Khal hesitated again, but in the end, everyone knew that he needed to take care of the explosion incident. If the explosion was a bomb, if it was a terrorist threat, Khal would need to react quickly. And he’d need minute by minute information to decide how to react. If the explosion was simply an accident, then he’d need to know about injuries and organize help for the victims and their families.

Either way, the explosion was going to completely disrupt his schedule for the day, and most likely his night as well.

Tasha shifted slightly, drawing Khal’s attention back to her. “I’ll shift everything on your schedule today, Your Highness.”

He looked at her with an unexpected expression and, for some reason, she felt a happy, warm glow flush over her. That wasn’t admiration, she told herself. Khal simply respected her flexibility. That was all. Nothing more.

Tasha watched him walk away, unable to keep her eyes from admiring his broad, powerful shoulders. She might have sighed a bit as well, but….

That’s when she remembered the two other abnormally large men still standing in her office. “Your Highnesses!” she gasped, straightening and praying that her cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt. “Do…do you need something else from me? Is there some way I can help either of you?” she asked, looking down at her tablet.

There was a long silence, and Tasha finally looked up only to find Joran and Raj smiling down at her with identical expressions.

“What?” she asked, feeling as if she should explain. But what could she say? She had the hots for her boss? Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. First of all, it was beyond cliché. And secondly, she didn’t want to be part of the man’s fan club. Even the press was talking about the hordes of ladies around the globe who lusted after Sheik Khal. Tasha had never been one to participate in group sports.

Chapter 7

Joran watched the pretty woman, intrigued by her reactions. He’d just returned from a secret mission with his team that had lasted several weeks. He and his team had infiltrated an enemy camp located across the border from Lativa in Uftar. He’d gleaned a great deal of useful intelligence, but no one but his team could ever know how much he participated in these missions. Joran knew well that his big brother would “ground” him in the palace if Khal ever found out how often Joran put his life in danger.

But…he didn’t care. Joran couldn’t stand the thought of being stuck in the palace, listening to boring meetings and ridiculous committee suggestions, discussing surveys, and evaluating data. He just couldn’t fathom being stifled, he thought.

Plus, his efforts had given him time to woo a pretty little village lady. She’d been so cute and furious the first time they’d met. Of course, she’d thought he’d been stealing her chicken eggs. He hadn’t bothered to disabuse her of that notion, because the truth might have pissed her off even more.

“I think she’s arrived,” Raj said, interrupting a nice memory of the way that little lady’s fists clenched when she was truly angry. She’d been adorable!

“Who?” Joran asked, blinking as he pushed the woman’s fierce expression from his mind.

“Our newly discovered half-sister?” Raj reminded him, a look of amusement on his face. “Isn’t that the reason you and I came back to the palace?”

“Right!” Joran sighed and looked around. His big brother’s pretty assistant was scowling at them now. Surely, Tasha couldn’t read his mind.

Could she?

The thought had him rushing out of her office before he could think it through, Raj at his heels. There was something about Tasha, a touch of mystery, a silence, or…maybe he just hadn’t taken the time to get to know her. Whatever it was, Joran didn’t have time to figure her out just now. He had to meet and soothe a very sad, very lonely little sister.

A sister. Joran liked the idea of having a sister. Yeah, she was only a half-sister, but that didn’t really matter. And why had Tamia, that bitchy ex-wife of their father, kept the little girl a secret? What had been her plan?

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