Page 6 of The Sheikh’s Christmas Baby

“Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered.

Closing her eyes, she pressed her fingers to her temples in an effort to come up with some new ideas for saving the farm. The bell sounded over the door of the lodge, and her eyes flew open. Who the hell was coming in this early?

The bundled-up figure dragged in two duffel bags and dropped them on the floor. Pulling his hood back, he ran his hand through his hair and dusted off the light layer of mist. She got a good look at his face and felt her blood freeze.

“Hello, Kristy.”

4

Amillion things swirled around in her head.

Looking at him, he didn’t seem to have changed much; he was still as handsome as the day she met him. Possibly more so. Was that even possible? The laughter that used to be evident in his eyes was gone and for a moment, Kristy wished she could see it again. If only to commit it to memory.

She suddenly worried that he’d somehow figured out that Arella was his daughter and had come to take her away. That was followed by all the horrible things that she wanted to say to him. Finally, she settled on being professional.

“Sheikh Shadid, right? It’s been a while.” She was proud of how even she kept her tone as she walked behind the desk. “How can I help you?”

He eyed her cautiously. “You look good.”

“You must really have money to burn if you flew out all this way to see how I looked,” she said with a frown.

“I didn’t. I actually wanted to see if you had any vacancies. I’m looking to try my hand at the Iditarod race again, so I’ll need a room and a team.”

Lodging. Dog rentals. As desperately as she wanted to kick him out and tell him never to return, all she could think about were the repairs that the farm needed. She still had a fence to mend plus feed to buy for next month. His money would help with all of it, but why did it have to be him of all people? Forced to think of the farm and her daughter before her own pride or peace of mind, she made her decision.

He could stay, but that didn’t mean that she had to be nice to him.

“Let me check,” she said briskly as she opened her book. Pretending that she was rearranging some things, she finally nodded. “I think that’ll work. Will you be leaving right after the race?”

He stared at her for a long minute before nodding. She quickly wrote out the information card and slid it his way. Turning her back to him, her hand hovered over the keys.

“Deposit is fifty percent of the total bill. It’s non-refundable. You’ll receive a final bill when you leave. Here is the pamphlet of information on dog rentals to look over.”

She’d automatically put him in the same room as last time because it was the biggest and had a gorgeous view, but for some reason, she had trouble giving him the key. She imagined him in the same bed where he’d first made love to her.

“Kristy?” he asked in a soft voice.

Snatching the key off the hook, she reached over and grabbed the credit card from his hand. “You’ll be in the same room as before. Do you have any questions?” she asked tersely as she swiped his card.

“Just one,” he said intensely. “What happened when I left?”

“What do you mean?” She tried to blink innocently at him. “Dad retired two years ago. He’s living in warmer climates these days. I’m in charge now.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Setting her jaw, she glared at him. “What do you think happened?” she asked coldly. “Life went on. Here is your key. Do you need help with your luggage?”

“Kristy…”

“You’re quite early, but breakfast will be ready in about two hours. We’ll be serving lunch between noon and one. Dinner will be between six and seven.”

“Kristy…”

“When you’re ready to take a look at the dogs, please let me know. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with our selection. Henry is my dog handler. He will be in at eight, and he can answer any questions you may have about them.”

He clamped his mouth shut, and she could see the anger in his face, but she held her ground.

When she’d found out that she was pregnant, she’d done everything she could to contact Kashif. She wrote him letters begging to speak to him, and she even tried to fly out to see him. She heard nothing in return, and her request for a visa was denied by the palace. Finally, in one last ditch effort, she wrote him a letter telling him that she was pregnant.

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