Page 9 of Prince of Her Heart
That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
The second Tabitha had left her hometown behind, she’d realized she’d been settling.Especially once she started working forhim.
Ramzi El Sandir was disciplined to the edge of madness.He hated broccoli as much as she did, woke up at dawn to throw himself into punishing weight sessions, and ruled with both mercy and muscle.He carried the weight of a country on his shoulders—and never flinched.
She admired him.Respected him.And, if she were being honest with herself, wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anyone in her life.
But feelings like that had no place in a professional setting.
Unfortunately, Ramzi had a way of reading people.Of slicing through pretense with a glance.She’d seen him do it in meetings—negotiations that should’ve gone sideways instead turned in his favor with a single pause, a perfectly timed silence, or a subtle shift in posture.
He was terrifyingly good at reading the room.
Which meant he probably knew exactly what she’d been thinking just now.
Her breath caught.She looked up.His eyes were still on her.
Dark.Focused.Knowing.
She glanced down quickly, trying to collect herself.“Sorry,” she said, her voice barely audible.She looked at the files in her hands, trying to remember what she’d been working on before Tilda hijacked her day.
“I’m not,” he replied.
Her heart thudded against her ribs as she looked up at him.For a moment, the world fell away.The silence between them buzzed with a low, electric hum—tense and charged with something that felt dangerously close to longing.
Was his voice huskier than before?Were his eyes smoldering with a question he wasn’t asking?
Before she could decipher the moment, Ramzi’s tone shifted.
“And yes, in answer to your question—Mark signed the papers.I now have controlling interest in Bondras Corp and all of the patents that go with it.”
Tabitha blinked, his words echoing in her head.She stood still, stunned, until the meaning finally landed.A wide, proud grin broke across her face.
Just like that, the awkward moment evaporated.That strange, pulsing awareness—surely just in her imagination—was gone.
Ramzi was back to business.
Still, it took her a heartbeat to catch up.She shook herself free from the dizzy warmth of her own ridiculous thoughts.Business.That was all this was.It had always been business.
“That’s… great,” she said, keeping her voice even.“Amazing, actually.”
She lowered her gaze, forcing herself to focus.This was her job—her career—not a daydream.
Lifting the files she’d prepared, she cleared her throat.“You mentioned an issue with paints fading in the desert sun.I found a company doing some fascinating work with–”
“Tabitha.”
She paused.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stand.Heard the quiet rustle of fabric as he moved around the desk.
Her grip on the file folder tightened.She hugged it to her chest like armor, bracing for the impact of his nearness.
“Yes?”she managed, lifting her eyes.
And there he was.Towering.Calm.Focused.
Dangerous.
