Page 27 of The Sheik's Pretend Fiancee
Not a trap, he realized.
Looking at Angela, she was clutching a large, leather tote bag in an odd way with another blush staining her cheeks. What the hell was going on?
Playing along, he offered Angela his arm. “I’d be honored to take you on a tour.”
Angela smiled and tried to set her bag down. “I’d love a tour, but I won’t need this,” she said, trying to set it onto the floor beside one of the upholstered chairs.
All three women nearly jumped up, her mother reaching out to push the straps back onto her daughter’s shoulder. “You never know!” she asserted firmly. “A woman needs to be prepared for anything.”
This seemed suspicious, but Tiro wouldn’t question why a woman might need a purse. Not when they were acting so…strange.
Besides, he couldn’t wait to get Angela alone. He wanted to kiss her and see if the magic was still there.
So, he quickly led her from the room, breathing more easily once they were out in the hallway. True, they were still surrounded by bodyguards. And yeah, he was aware of Aziz’s scowl of disapproval. But Tiro ignored all of it, entirely focused on being alone with Angela.
“What’s going on?” he asked, leaning down slightly as he led her down the hallway.
“Um…it’s…nothing,” Angela replied, biting her lip as she looked around. Tiro knew she was only pretending to be interested in the hallway. So,what was going through her mind? And why was sheclutchingher bag like that?
“In here,” he told her, leading her into a small room that was rarely used. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever been in this room before. Looking around, he was startled by the small size, but the décor was cozy enough. There was room for two chairs, a small table, and big windows that let in the sunshine.
“So, what’s going on?”
Chapter 18
Angela stared up at Tiro, not sure what to say. There was no chance she would admit her bag currently containedtwo large boxes of condoms as well as sex toys! Some of which she wasn’t even sure how to use!
“Nothing!” she gasped and took a step back. Unfortunately, the room was small enough that there was no way to escape. Although, thinking about escape, Angela doubted that she’d ever be able to escape this man. He was just too…everything.
“Angela, why are you acting so strangely? We’re here. We’re alone now. Finally.” He moved closer, reaching out tostroke her cheek lightly. “We need to be honest with each other.”
“We…do?”
“Yes.Honesty helps both of us understand what the other is thinking.” Heeyed her leather bag, still clutched to her chest.“For instance, right now, I am thinking that there is something in your bag that you don’t want me to know about.” He paused, seeing the panic increase in her eyes.“Is that true? Is there something in there that you’re embarrassed about?”
Angela suspected that he assumed she might be hiding tampons or pads, or something along those lines. Never would he thinkshe was hiding condoms! Ribbed and colored condoms,to be exact. Well, also the normal kind too. But she’d never tried the ribbed kind. She’d had sex twice in her life and both times, it had been…meh. And both times, the man had used a condom, although he’d complained about the inconvenience of the protection. Because of her aunts’ and her mother’s admonitions over the years, Angela had insisted. She’d heard too many stories about how Laith, Rafi, and even herself arrived in this world to ignore the protection a condom offered.
Angela licked her lips, her heart pounding against her ribs. “Tiro, normally, I’m great at using words to convince people to shift their actions or their opinions in one direction or another.”
She paused and he moved closer, resting his hands on her hips. “I agree. I’ve watched videos of you speaking in front of an audience. Your ability to sway people’s opinionsis impressive.”
For some reason, his touch blocked her next words. It took monumental effort to continue.
“Right.Well, here’s the thing.” She stared into his dark eyes, trying to remember what “the thing” was.
“Angela?” he prompted.
She lost her ability to focus. He was so close and smelled so good. Plus, she wanted to dump her bag onto the floor and pull him closer. Angela wanted to feel every part of him against her skin. She wanted to know him, to truly understand what it was like to feel Tiro in the most primal way. It wasn’t about sex…and yet, it was all about sex.
“What’s in the bag, Angela?” he asked, his voice husky.
“Stuff,” she blurted, then cringed at how vague that one word was.
“What kind of stuff?”
“Condoms,” she whispered, her lips numb as her body trembled, waiting, wishing for him to kiss her. To do something to ease this desire aching deep inside of her.
But at her answer, Tiro pulled back, startled by her answer. “You havecondomsin your bag?” he demanded, his voice huskier than moments before.
