Page 5 of The Sheikh and the Single Mom

A few more minutes of research made Nina increasingly glad that she hadn’t shown Rashad her hand. Apart from his huge success, he was known for his ruthlessness. He was willing to undercut companies, manipulate the market, poach employees and customers — anything to achieve dominance. Clearly, whatever deal he wanted to offer her wasn’t one she should take.

Although, perhaps he didn’t want to offer her a deal at all. Perhaps all he wanted was to find out as much as he could about her company so that he could beat her in the market. In that case, he would probably try to sabotage Nina’s company whether she met him on the yacht or not.

Nina tapped her finger against the edge of her computer, her thoughts swirling. With a few more keystrokes, she pulled up an image of one of Rashad’s yachts — apparently he had three, each one larger and more lavish than the last. It had been years since Nina had taken a proper vacation. Single motherhood and business ownership meant that she was on the run every minute of the day, with little time to relax.

Perhaps it would be possible to solve more than one of her problems at once. If Nina went to meet Rashad on his yacht, she could gain information about his plans. If he made her an offer for her company, she could politely turn him down to his face — it was the principled thing to do. If he tried to plumb her for information about her company, she could do the same to him and achieve a better understanding of his plans. That way, if he came after her company later, she’d be ready.

And either way, whether he had a business deal or competition in mind, Nina could enjoy an afternoon of sailing on a yacht that probably cost ten times as much as her childhood home.

Nina sent a quick text to Amanda, asking if she could come back for the day on Saturday. She felt a moment’s guilt at leaving her children on the weekend, a time she usually reserved for them, but shook it off. Dealing with Rashad would help her company survive, which would help her provide for the twins. Anyway, she wouldn’t be gone more than a few hours.

To Nina’s surprise, Amanda texted back right away, confirming that she’d be available to watch the kids. Nina thanked her before putting her phone away again and turning her gaze back to her laptop. Rashad’s handsome face grinned at her from the screen, looking self-assured and confident. Nina shook her head.

After a few more minutes of scrolling through articles about Rashad Al-Zayed, Nina closed her laptop and set it on her bedside table. Turning off the lights, she lay back and pulled the covers up. As she drifted off to sleep, an image of Rashad, leaning against the bar and looking at her as though he could see right through her, played in Nina’s mind. She’d need all her wits about her this weekend.

CHAPTER 3

RASHAD

Rashad poured himself a cup of strong coffee and opened his laptop. It was after eleven at night, but he was still used to the Al-Soubi time zone, where it was morning now. Plus, he had work to do, and he couldn’t afford to waste too much time on little luxuries like sleep. A few clicks later, he’d joined a video call with Abdul and Amira, who both looked put-together and very awake.

“Rashad.” Amira leaned forward, folding her fingers together. “I wasn’t sure we’d hear from you tonight.”

“I figured I would give you a quick update.”

“That’s very much appreciated.” Abdul tapped a few keys, likely opening a document to take notes. Of Rashad’s two business partners, Abdul was the more meticulous and concerned with records. “Did you meet Nina Kendrick?”

“I did. We spoke briefly at the event, as planned.”

“What were you able to find out from her?” Amira asked.

“Not much, not yet. She’s fairly closed off and seemed suspicious of my intentions — which makes her smart. We barely discussed her business, but I was able to talk to several of her investors and one of her employees at the event. She’s business-savvy, but kindhearted — she wants to help people. That should be a good foothold.”

“Do you foresee any issues getting her out of the market?” Abdul asked.

Rashad hesitated. An image of Nina, leaning forward with a knowing smile as she told him that she wasn’t interested in further discussions, flickered through his mind. She’d been even more lovely in person than in her online pictures. Smarter, too. It was clearer than ever that she’d be a worthy opponent — but Rashad had squared off against worthy opponents before, and he’d always emerged victorious.

“No. It shouldn’t be a problem. I just need to formulate the best strategy — a buyout, direct competition, a hostile takeover — we’ll see. I should know more after I’ve had the chance to talk to her, which should be soon. I offered her a meeting this weekend.”

“And she accepted?”

Rashad smiled, a slow smile. “Not yet, but she will.” He always got what he wanted in the end. Despite Nina’s noncommittal attitude at the event, he knew she’d agree to the meeting — a smart businessperson always agreed to a meeting in order to learn as much as possible about a potential rival. Nina was nothing if not a smart businessperson.

“Excellent. Keep us updated.”

“Of course.” Rashad hung up the call and sat back, reaching for his cup of coffee. To his surprise, he felt a little guilty about how cavalierly he’d told his partners that he could get Nina out of the market. Perhaps it was because she was beautiful, or perhaps it was because all evidence pointed to the fact that she was kind-hearted and cared deeply about others. It didn’t matter either way. Rashad would never allow himself to grow soft, not when it would mean losing his chance to dominate the US market.

Even if Rashad had wanted to go easy on Nina, Abdul and Amira would have pulled him back. They had their money and their reputations in this game just as much as Rashad did, and they would have stopped him from making a mistake. He was lucky to have them.

Rashad pulled up a spreadsheet of numbers from Health Trackr’s sales in Germany to date. It was a blatant attempt to distract himself from thoughts of Nina Kendrick, and it worked — seeing sales skyrocket in the new market was further proof that Rashad’s strategies did what they were supposed to. Nina and Heartbeat were just obstacles to success, the same way that Medtech Nord had been in Germany, the same way that Well-Track had been in Australia. In a few weeks, he wouldn’t have to think of Nina Kendrick, her evaluating blue eyes, and her flattering blue dress that accentuated her feminine curves, anymore.

Rashad directed his attention to a pile of emails that had come in during the evening. The last was from Nina.

Mr. Al-Zayed,

Thank you for your generous invitation to a meeting this weekend. I’ll come by tomorrow around eleven.

Best regards,

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