Page 4 of The Sheikh’s Christmas Baby

“And stroke your ego?” she laughed. “You don’t need it.”

“I don’t?” he reached over and started tickling her. “Tell me!”

Shrieking with laughter, she struggled half-heartedly to get away from him, but he was soon on top of her. Clasping her wrists in his hands, he lifted them above her head. “Tell me,” he commanded again.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you,” she said softly. “You should have confidence in yourself. I’ve seen you with the people in the town. You’re kind and attentive. Even though you don’t know them, you listen to them and ask after their families. You’re an alpha male, but you care about those under you. You’re brilliant and driven.”

“Alpha?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Did you just compare me to your dogs?”

“Only a couple of them.” Kristy smiled as she teased him. He slid his hands under her shirt, but he no longer tickled her. Instead, his touch was slow and scorching.

“Kristy,” he whispered. “Do you have any idea how I feel about you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “No. How do you feel about me?”

Stroking her bare skin below her breast, he stared at her, and she saw the strange anguish on his face. Afraid that he might say something that she couldn’t bear to hear, she tugged her arms free and framed his face. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I don’t even know how to begin to tell you. Let me show you. Please,” he pleaded.

“Show me.” She raised her head and kissed him. The feel of his lips on hers was familiar, but things were different now. There was something new in the way that he kissed her. In the way that he touched her.

It felt like love. She desperately wanted it to be love. She wanted to know that she wasn’t the only one losing her heart in this relationship.

* * *

For three whole weeks, he was hers. But the day of the race, she went to greet him at the dog runs only to find that someone else waited for her. He was clearly Middle Eastern, like Kashif, but there was nothing gentle in his eyes.

“Are you Kristy Cohen?” the man growled.

“I am,” she said hotly. “You’re not a guest here, and you’re trespassing.”

“Prince Kashif has returned home. It is in your best interest not to get in touch with him.”

“He’s missing the race?” she asked in surprise. “Is everything okay? He was so looking forward to the Iditarod.”

“This is what he does,” the man said with a cruel smile. “He takes a few weeks and pretends to be someone new. He enjoys a woman, and when he tires of them, he leaves.”

Kristy felt sick to her stomach as she stared at him. “What?” she whispered. “No, you’re wrong. He was here for the race. He told me.”

“Surely, you’re old enough to know that men will lie to get what they want. Clearly, you were good in bed, or he wouldn’t have stuck around so long.”

“How dare you!”

“We will not speak of this again. Contact him, and I promise that you’ll lose everything, including this precious…farm.” The man looked around in disgust.

Kristy tried to stand tall until the man was out of sight. Then, she did something that she hadn’t done in a long time.

She broke down into tears.

Pretending to be sick, she stayed in her bedroom for days. Her father begged her to come out and see a doctor, and when she finally emerged, he’d simply hugged her and told her that no man was ever worth her tears. She was too strong for that.

So Kristy stiffened her resolve. She threw herself back into her work, and she tried not to think of him again.

Months later, that proved to be harder than she could have ever imagined.

3

Four years later

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