Page 47 of The Sheikh's Fake Bride Scheme

And as he turned it over in his mind, he realized that he knew exactly why that was.

He couldn’t leave. Not without at least mentioning the one person who had made all this possible. Without her, it wouldn’t be happening at all. He would never have had the courage to do this on his own.

So Kareem cleared his throat and continued.

“Before I step down and leave you to enjoy today’s program,” he said, “I need to mention someone who wasn’t able to be here today, but who was absolutely instrumental in organizing this event — Keira Harding. Those of you who have followed this sport for a while may know her.”

He thought of mentioning that fans might be familiar with her brother or her father, but he decided against it. Keira was noteworthy in her own right. He wouldn’t speak about her as if what mattered was who she was related to. What made her worthy of notice was who she herself was.

“Keira Harding has been a presence on the racing scene for many years,” he said. “She’s been behind the scenes of many prestigious events. If this isn’t your first motorsports cup, you’ve probably crossed paths with her before, whether you realize it or not. Though she couldn’t attend this function, I want to be sure everyone knows that this would not be happening without her — that she was involved in every phase of the planning and deserves the credit. I was privileged to work with her in putting the Qalmar Cup together.”

He hesitated. There was more to say, but did he want to say it?

Then again — could he keep it to himself?

“She’s a remarkable woman,” he murmured, aware that speaking under his breath like this in front of the assembled crowd was strange. They would think something was wrong with him.

Maybe something was.

He cleared his throat. “She was a remarkable woman,” he said again. “I was proud to call her my friend and my partner. And though I never intended to say these words — I found myself falling in love with her.”

The stadium seemed to fall silent.

Kareem was sure he had startled everyone present with his confession. After all, he was a member of the royal family, and here he was confessing his love for a commoner — a foreigner — a woman many of them didn’t even know. Locals would know that he had been married to her, but they would also know that she had left the country under mysterious circumstances, and that there was rumored to be a divorce in the works.

He should not have made a statement without the approval of the crown.

But he couldn’t help himself.

“I fell in love with Keira Harding,” he repeated. “I love her to this day. And I wish she was here to celebrate this moment with me, because without her by my side, nothing about this race feels quite right.”

He stepped away from the microphone and surveyed the crowd, hoping he hadn’t made a fool of himself — but ultimately, not really caring if he had.

CHAPTER 22

KEIRA

Keira sat perfectly still in the crowd, the words washing over her, almost unable to believe what she was hearing.

He loves me?

She hadn’t dreamed it. His letter hadn’t implied anything of the kind. She had expected — atmost— an apology for his behavior. She had thought he would tell her that he knew he had been wrong not to fight for her to stay, and that was the reason he had called her back. She’d assumed the question would be whether or not to forgive him, and whether there was any path for collaboration moving forward.

Allie nudged her. “You need to go down there,” she hissed.

“I can’t!”

“The man is pouring his heart out, Keira. Are you really going to leave him hanging? You have to go down there and tell him how you feel. You know you love him too!”

“I’m not going to do it in front of all these people, Allie!”

“Of course you are. How else would such an epic love story end? If you don’t get down there now, I will never let you hear the end of it.Go.”

Keira knew her friend was right. She also knew that she had no excuse. She knew this stadium inside out. She knew exactly how to get from where she was sitting to the stage in the center of the track. The only question was, would she be able to get there before Kareem left? If he walked off the stage, who knew how long it would be before they were able to find each other?

She found herself wishing, as she hurried out of her seat and up the steps that led to the mezzanine, that she had simply taken him up on his offer to fly her out on his own plane. If she had, she would already be with him now — not to mention the fact that she would have saved herself a good deal of money on the plane tickets.

The trouble was, she had been too proud. She hadn’t wanted to allow herself to be dependent on him for anything given what had already transpired between the two of them. The idea of allowing him to have control over her arrival and departure had been intolerable. It would be much better to simply buy her own ticket and fly out independently.

---