Page 16 of The Sheikh's Fake Bride Scheme

“There aren’t pictures of you anymore?”

“There are, but it isn’t the same. Usually something has to happen. I’ve been named Qalmar’s Sexiest Bachelor a couple of times, and there’s usually a big burst of pictures around that.”

“You’re Qalmar’s Sexiest Bachelor?” Keira stared at him.

Kareem laughed. “Is that so unbelievable? I know I’m not as handsome as the American men you’re used to.” He winked so she would know he was teasing. American men were no competition. They drank cheap beers and laughed far too loudly, and most of them had no idea how you ought to treat a woman. The idea of being intimidated by an American man was laughable to Kareem.

Keira blushed. “That’s not— I wasn’t saying you weren’t handsome.”

So she thought hewashandsome? That was interesting. “Go on.”

“I only meant that it’s an impressive title to have,” she said.

“Well, it’s not as impressive as it probably sounds to you. Qalmar is a small country, and I’m a public figure. It isn’t like they’re going to name some random person nobody has ever heard of as Qalmar’s sexiest bachelor. It’s got to be someone they can leak some juicy gossip about and sell photos of on magazine covers. It has to be someone the people are going to recognize.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Keira agreed. “This wedding is going to put you back in the limelight.”

“It will, but less so than usual, I think,” Kareem said.

“Really? You think being Qalmar’s Sexiest Bachelor is going to be more interesting to the people of your country than the fact that you got married?”

“No, don’t misunderstand me — they’re going to be over the moon about the fact that I’m married. It’s the juiciest thing to hit Qalmar in years. But it isn’t me they’re going to be interested in, Keira. It’s you. You’re the one the paparazzi will be chasing. You’re the one everyone’s going to want to know about.”

“Oh,” Keira said, her eyes widening. “I never thought about that.”

“Truly, you didn’t? You never realized that the people of Qalmar would want to know about their new sheikha?”

“Well, it makes sense now that you say it,” Keira said. “But no, I didn’t think about it. I guess I just thought… I don’t know. I paid attention to things like impressing your father. I wasn’t concerned with what it would mean to the rest of the country that we were married.”

“But you’ll be all right,” Kareem said, a prickle of nervousness making its way through the calm he had maintained effortlessly so far during this process. He had been counting on this fact. “You know what it’s like to be a public figure, so none of this is going to be new to you.”

“I’m hardly a public figure,” Keira countered. “Not in the way you mean it. Look at what you told me about being named your nation’s sexiest bachelor. Nothing like that would ever happen to me.”

“I can’t see why not,” Kareem said. “You’re very attractive, Keira.”

It was true. He had thought so from the moment he’d met her. She had an athletic build, leading him to believe that she must spend a lot of time running or going to the gym — but then again, maybe it was just the intensity of the job she did. He’d shadowed her for a single day and it had left him feeling exhausted. He could only imagine what it must be like to have such days on a regular basis, and for the first time, he had gained a true appreciation for the ease and comfort in which he lived his own life. Hehadto go to the palace gym if he wanted to bulk up, because his everyday life didn’t give him opportunities to exert himself.

Keira’s fit frame was offset by delicious curves, and though Kareem knew it was a little inappropriate, he’d found himself repeatedly checking her out when she wasn’t looking. He wasn’t sure whether the fact that she was his wife now made it more or less acceptable for him to stare at her butt when she walked away from him. It wasn’t as if theirs was a conventional marriage, and he had the idea that she probably wouldn’t like it if she knew he was doing that.

Then again, maybe she would. She was wearingverytight jeans, after all.

Now she raked her hands through her auburn curls, arranging them into some semblance of order. The attempt made Kareem smile. He hadn’t known her long, but he had spent enough time with her to know how quickly her hair would fall back into a disorderly state. He enjoyed it. It was a part of her charm.

“I can’t walk right off a plane and meet the king,” she told him. “I was counting on having a chance to go shopping first. I need something to wear.”

“You didn’t bring a dress?”

“Not ameet the kingdress, Kareem!”

“You don’t have to go to any trouble,” he told her. “Wear whatever you have. You can change on the plane.”

“Oh my God. Your father is going to completely disapprove of me.”

“Yes, he is.” Kareem smiled. “But you could show up wearing the most expensive Qalmese fashion on the market and that would still be true. He’s not going to disapprove because of anything you do, Keira. It’s going to happen because he doesn’t approve ofme,and so any woman I marry is automatically going to be unworthy in his eyes. You need to let yourself stop worrying about that. There isn’t anything you can do to impress him. That’s not what this meeting is for. We just need him to know who you are — to understand who’s moving into the estate and for what reason. Then he won’t have any questions about it, and he’ll leave us alone to go about our business.”

Keira sighed and knit her fingers together. “I don’t like this.”

“Take it easy. It’s going to be completely fine, I promise.”

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