Page 26 of Hiding in the Sheik's Arms

Khal chuckled and stepped into her office, closing the door behind him. “I thought that we could sit and discuss whathappened earlier today over dinner, but since you aren’t hungry, we can do it here.”

“I’m hungry!” she gasped, straightening her shoulders as she eyed the closed door. Immediately, her body began to hum with anticipation and she couldn’t figure out how to stop it. Her attraction for Khal was overwhelming! Never before had her body reacted to any man like this. And she’d had several boyfriends during college. Not so many after college, because working for a senator required a great deal of her time. She’d justified delaying her romantic life by telling herself that she needed to focus on her career for a few years. Romance could happen later.

Well, it seemed that romance was rearing its impatient head right now, since every inch of her body yearned for just one more kiss.

And that terrified her.

“Talk to me, Tasha,” he urged, taking her hand and tucking it into his elbow. “We’ve fought the attraction between us for too long. It’s time that we get things out into the open.”

He was right, but everything she’d learned during her last job screamed at her to keep silent. Her ideas had been stolen or used against her and then she’d been beaten for hearing something she shouldn’t have heard.

“You’re a powerful man, Khal,” she said, purposely using his first name. She paused, frowning up at him as if daring him to take her to task, even though he’d encouraged her use of his first name earlier.

“True, but you have power as well.”

She emitted a snort of disbelief before she could stop herself. She flinched and waited, bracing for the slap. When allshe received was a lifted dark eyebrow, Tasha remembered to breathe again.

“What did you think was going to happen just then, Tasha?” he asked, stopping and Tasha realized that they were in the hallway. When had they left her office?

This man had skills, she told herself.

He was waiting for an answer and Tasha…was sick of cowering! “I thought that you were going to slap me,” she admitted quietly.

He reared back, then sighed, nodding his acceptance of the truth in her words. “I’d suspected something had happened to you before you came here.” He looked at her, patting her hand gently with his other hand. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

Tasha released the breath she’d been holding. “Thank you for not hitting me.”

“I willneverhit you, Tasha. No matter what arguments we have, I willneveruse physical violence against you.” He started walking again. “I’ve never even hit another man, if you want the full truth.”

“But you practice martial arts. I’ve seen you.”

“That’s different,” he replied, then heard an amused snort from his guards. He paused to glare over his shoulder at them and Tasha chuckled at their innocent expressions.

When he turned back, she smothered her smile and they proceeded down the hallway. They were heading towards the dining room, she realized and sighed with relief. She really was hungry.

“So, will you trust me enough to talk to me?”

Tasha considered that for a moment. “Perhaps,” she finished. Looking up at him, she said, “I can’t just flip a switch, Khal. What happened to me was…it was bad.”

“I remember the remnants of that black eye when you came to work here.”

They came to a stop again and she stared at him as shame washed over her.

“I suspected,” he explained. “I didn’tknowanything. Not until now. But the bruise on your arm, plus the fact that you only wore long sleeved shirts for several weeks, and there was a slight limp occasionally when you walked, made me wonder if something had happened to you. But that could have been anything,” he continued when he noted the shame in her eyes. “I often become badly bruised after a particularly difficult workout with Joran or Raj. They don’t hold back, like some of my men.” There was no snort this time, which told Tasha that his bodyguards didn’t put him through the full test of his skills when they battled on the mats together.

“So, what do you want to know?” she asked.

“Who beat you?” he asked as he led her to the dining table. He paused, pulling the chair out for her, then waited until she sat down before taking his own seat.

“What happened in the past doesn’t matter,” she told him, lifting her glass of ice water to her lips and taking a long swallow. When she set the glass back down, she carefully set it back on the indentation on the linen tablecloth. “I won’t ever let anyone do that to me again.” She lifted her eyes, staring into his to convey the absolute conviction in her eyes.

“I agree,” he told her and flipped his linen napkin out, draping it over his lap while holding her gaze. “And if you would grace me with the name of the man who hit you, then I wouldensure that the person, supposedly a man, properly understands the pain he inflicted on you. The understanding would be very personal.”

Tasha drew a line down the droplets of water clinging to her glass. “The man has too much power. You’d never even get close to him.”

“You’d be surprised at how easily it is to get close to someone when one is creative.” He nodded to the servants who immediately brought in two bowls of soup. After the servants left the room, he probed, “So, Senator King hit you? Or did he assign one of his minions to do it?” And he lifted the sterling silver spoon to his lips, tasting the soup and nodding approvingly. “This is delicious. It’s one of my favorites.”

Chapter 22

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