Page 15 of Sheikh's Accidental Pregnancy

“I think it’s worth looking into,” Sara said. “I’ve looked at the geologists’ analyses and the engineers’ reports, and I—”

“We’ve been doing this for years,” Tariq interrupted. “What makes you think you know better than our teams?”

“You’ve been doing this for years, yes, but familiarity means you can miss something fresher eyes can see. It’s worth learning more about this field. The geological structures are unusual, but they’re also similar to some of the most productive oil fields around the world. Since there’s consensus that there’ssomeoil there, why not investigate? It might prove to be a good investment.”

“Or it might be a fruitless endeavor, and we would have wasted a lot of time and resources,” shot back Tariq.

Amir lifted his head from the file and looked back and forth between them. “I think I liked it better when you two were ignoring each other. Put together a prospectus, Sara, including a budget and timeline. We’ll go from there.”

“Don’t give her false hope,” Tariq shot out.

Sara bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to curse at him, demand the same respect he expected. Whatever had happened between them in that dressing room had to have been the result of some kind of temporary insanity. A hallucination. If she’d expected him to moderate his treatment of her after that, she’d been sorely deluded. If anything, he’d gotten worse.

“That’s fair, Amir. Thank you.” Sara bowed to him and left the room. Tariq narrowed his gaze. She’d deliberately used Amir’s name so she could make it obvious that she was ignoring Tariq. Two could play his game. She just wished she didn’t have to.

She felt Tariq’s eyes on her back until she turned the corner toward her own office. She was wearing one of the outfits he’d bought her—so that part, at least, she hadn’t hallucinated—and had dressed up the turquoise tunic a little bit with a silver chain belt at her hips, the extra length falling down over one thigh. She thought the slight cinching made her backside more defined under the loose fabric. She wondered if Tariq agreed.

Sara returned to her office and started researching El-Sultari. There was potential, and it was worth checking it out. Tariq would probably shut down the idea solely because it came from her. She really wanted to prove him wrong.

She wanted to visit the field, but she knew she could not do that herself. Amir would authorize it but would not let her go alone. She smiled at the thought of Malik. He was the perfect person to go with her. He was in charge of the oil fields, after all. And if she could win him over as an ally, Tariq would listen. With Malik’s help, she could prove Tariq wrong and wipe that stoic expression off his face.

12

It was finally Thursday, the last long day of the workweek. Sara needed this day to be over. She wasn’t used to working so late, and she was exhausted. She could not wait to start her weekend, kick back, and relax.

She had worked with Amir every night, and he’d laughed at how tired she got. He kept saying that she was too cute. Sara never understood how she was cute, but it didn’t bother her. Amir had a mysterious appointment out of the office tonight. Sara managed his schedule, and she didn’t know who he was meeting.

“You’re being secretive, Amir,” she said to him. He laughed and ruffled her hair, and she squirmed away from him. Sometimes she wondered if he saw her more as a pet than an assistant.

“I am not,” he replied.

“Then why do I not know about this appointment? And if it’s important, why aren’t I coming along?”

“You still have work to finish here,” Amir replied as he kept inching toward the door.

Sara put her hands on her hips and stared at him. “It’s a date, isn’t it?” she asked him.

“I shall see you on Sunday.” Amir smiled mischievously. Sara laughed and bid him farewell. She knew he was going on a date. He seemed to be quite the ladies’ man. She made a mental note to grill him about it on Sunday. She took the files she needed from his desk and locked his door before she headed back to her own office.

After what seemed like hours of work, Sara straightened up and could feel her neck and back cracking. She decided to take a walk. After sitting for so long, she needed to stretch and relax for a bit. The place was deserted—she’d never heard the office so silent—so she kicked off her shoes before standing. No point torturing her feet when there was no one around to see. She wished she were home or out with the twins. But she’d be on her way out in an hour if she could keep her focus for that long. She wanted to get her outline for that prospectus finished before she left.

Sara stretched her arms over her head and behind her back as she walked through the building. Then she did a few jumping jacks in the hallway. She didn’t even care what she looked like. That was one advantage of the Middle Eastern-style clothes she’d been wearing all week over her usual pencil skirt and blouse. It was so much more comfortable and easier to move in. Her long curly hair had come loose from its formal bun hours ago, and she’d used a hair elastic from her backpack for an emergency messy bun. Now she pulled that out and let her hair fall down her back.

She turned a corner and saw a light on in the conference room. The custodians would probably get it when they came in later, but she could switch it off now. She headed toward the conference room, finishing her impromptu stretches as she walked.

“Can I help you with something?” a deep voice said.

Sara squealed and turned around quickly. She sighed with relief when she saw Tariq leaning on the table reading some paperwork. Pages were spread out in front of him, as if he could read all of them at once. He was wearing gray slacks and a white shirt, and his suit jacket hung off the back of his chair. He’d loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top couple of buttons on his shirt, revealing his chest.

“You scared me,” she scolded.

“Do you need something?” he asked.

Sara shrugged. “I saw the light on and came to switch it off. I didn’t realize you were in here.”

Tariq stared at her, his gaze traveling from her loose hair, down her body to her feet. She shivered under his examination.

“Why are you barefoot?”

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