Page 13 of Sheikh's Accidental Pregnancy

Sara had to go and speak to him now. Maybe the floor would open up and swallow her into a pit as she took the few steps between their tables.

It didn’t.

“Good afternoon, Sheikh Tariq,” Sara said and bowed to him. She turned her attention to the woman and smiled. “Good afternoon, ma’am.”

The woman returned her smile. “Good afternoon, dear.”

Tariq cleared his throat. “Sara, may I present my grandmother, Sheikha Fiddah Botros. When she realized we are acquainted, she wished to meet you.”

“I’m honored, Sheikha. How coincidental that we ended up in the same restaurant.”

“Hmm,” Tariq murmured. “You may return to your friends now. I’m sure they’re tired of waiting for you.”

“My apologies, dear. My grandson lacks tact,” the woman said before Sara could retort with something about their previous wait being all his fault. It was probably just as well.

Tariq’s grandmother extended her hand. “How do you know my grandson?”

“I am Amir’s assistant,” Sara said.

“Oh, you’re his new assistant. Marvelous! I wanted to meet you. Amir sings your praises and says you’re catching on quickly. I expect it’s because you’re an engineer, which his previous assistants were not. I never thought they served him adequately.”

“I like to think he was looking for brains before beauty this time,” Sara quipped.

Tariq’s head snapped up, and Sara could feel his eyes burning into her.

“I think he found the complete package in you, Sara.” The older woman smiled at her.

Sara blushed and ducked her head. “Well, he’s an excellent boss, so I hope he’s satisfied with my performance.”

“I’m sure my grandmother doesn’t care to hear about your working relationship with my brother,” Tariq said.

“Better my relationship with Amir than my relationship with you,” Sara said without thinking.

The muscles in his jaw worked, and the knuckles of his hand around his water glass went white. Sara bowed to Fiddah and spared Tariq the obligation of answering her.

“It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can have a proper conversation one day. I’ll leave you to enjoy your lunch,” Sara said.

She caught her foot on the leg of a chair on her way back to her own table. So much for a dignified retreat.

10

“She’s adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He watched her go, watched the sway of her hips and the way her new clothes added an element of mystery to her body, the way they swirled and shifted around her. He turned back to his grandmother.

“Amir keeps saying that, but I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. “She is infuriating.”And sexy. And delicious. And aggravating.

Fiddah laughed. “Maybe that’s just as well. You don’t like adorable.”

He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “Just what are you implying, Grandmother?”

She just smiled and patted his hand. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She blushed while he spoke to her, which only made him grumpier. He only wanted to make one woman blush, and it wasn’t this silly girl. The memory of Sara’s pink face in the boutique less than an hour ago had him growing warm himself.

“So when do you plan to marry?” his grandmother asked as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at her. She couldn’t possibly thinkSarawould be a good match for him. Could she?

“What brought this on?” He would play dumb, force her to say the words rather than hint.

“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you, but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you even notice women.”

“I noticed,” he said. “I just chose not to acknowledge it to save us both the embarrassment.” He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it didn’t faze him anymore. The waitress returned with their drinks. Tariq watched her. She noticed him looking at her, and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow and waited for her to leave before continuing the conversation with his grandmother.

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