Page 22 of The Sheikh's Fake Bride Scheme

He spoke up on her behalf. “It’s no great rush, Mother,” he said. “We’ll have a royal wedding eventually. I know how important that is to you and Father. But since wearealready married, there’s no reason to hurry things along.”

“People will find out you’re married if you wait too long,” his mother fretted.

“That’s all right,” Kareem’s father spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him. “It’s all right if people know,” he repeated. “They’re young, and they fell in love with one another. It happens. Looked at in a certain light, it’s very romantic, and I think the people of Qalmar will appreciate that. And they’ll appreciate that this young woman, who knows so little of our customs, was willing to come all the way back here and seal her vows in the Qalmese way.”

He looked at Keira, a penetrating stare, and Kareem heard the implied mandate.Youmustdo it our way if you want to make it all right that you rushed this marriage.

Keira nodded. “Of course,” she said. “Honoring Qalmese customs is very important to me. I’m happy to respect your marriage traditions.”

She glanced at Kareem, whose heart swelled with sudden affection for her.

And then he remembered —she’s only saying that because she knows she’ll never have to follow through.

CHAPTER 10

KAREEM

“This will be your suite while you’re here,” Kareem told Keira, opening the double doors that led to his best guest accommodations.

She let out a gasp. “All of this? Are you sure? I don’t need this much, Kareem. I would be fine with a single room.”

“I don’t have a single room,” he said. “Not unless you want to go and stay in the servants’ quarters.”

“There are servants’ quarters?”

“They have to live somewhere, don’t they? Thereisspace there, if that’s what you’d like, since I let a lot of the staff go after moving in. But I don’t think it would be a very good idea. If anyone found out you were living in that part of the house while we’re allegedly married to each other, it would raise questions we don’t want to have to answer.”

“No, no,” Keira agreed, walking around the room. She let her fingers come to rest on the marble vanity, on the thick velvet curtains, on the gossamer canopy over the bed. “This room is…it’s perfect. I’m very happy with it. I’m a little surprised, that’s all. But it’s good.”

“You’ll be comfortable here?”

She turned to face him. “I shouldn’t be surprised, should I? You did tell me that I would be coming to live in a manor. I should have known it would be this nice. But I can’t help it. I’ve never lived in such an upscale place before.”

“You’ll have a maid assigned to you while you’re here, and if you need anything, she’ll be able to get it for you.” He indicated the call button on the wall. “Just press that button and she’ll come to see to your needs.”

Keira rocked from one foot to the other. “I don’t think I’ll ever use that,” she confided. “I can’t imagine summoning a servant to wait on me. I would feel so awkward about it.”

“Remember that your maid is being paid to do a job,” Kareem advised her. “It’s really no different from allowing a waiter to tend to your needs in a restaurant. And remember, too, that you are currently in a country that is entirely unfamiliar to you. You don’t know our customs. You don’t know anything about the ways of Qalmar, so youaregoing to need help. You should take advantage of the resources at your disposal, even if they do feel somewhat uncomfortable at first.”

“You’re right,” Keira agreed. “This has just all been so much so fast.”

“I’ll leave you alone to unpack, if you’d like. And I know you’d like to get some rest.”

“Actually, I don’t think I would,” Keira confessed.

Kareem turned back to her, eyebrows raised. “You’re not tired? I thought you would surely be exhausted after our trip.”

“I’d have thought that too, but with all the excitement today, I just don’t think I could sleep,” Keira confessed.

“Would you like to come with me to my office? I was going to go over some of my ideas for the racing event. I had intended to share them with you tomorrow, after you’d gotten some sleep, but if you’re really feeling alert, we could do it now.”

“I think I’d like that,” Keira said. “I did think I would want sleep, but now that we’re here… I don’t know. I think I’d like to work, strange as it seems.”

“Well, by all means.” Kareem’s heart fluttered with excitement. He had also anticipated that Keira would need some time to herself, and he had resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to wait to show her his ideas. The fact that she wanted to see them right away after all had him churning with excitement.

He led her from the suite and down the hall to the room that served as both his office and his library. Her eyes went wide all over again as they stepped inside. “You have so many books!”

“You’re welcome to borrow any of them as long as you’re here.”

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