Page 7 of Sheikh's Accidental Pregnancy

“No,” Tariq said. “I don’t need my world shaken. I like it stable and predictable.”

Amir finally rose. “Bullshit. I’m going to bring her with us when we go to the oil field. You’ll see. She’ll make the trip much more interesting.”

A few hours later, Tariq was sitting in the back of his SUV on his way home when he saw Sara walking along the sidewalk. Did she not have a car? He grimaced at the sight of her backpack. Everything about her was simply wrong. As she was walking, she tripped on something invisible—or her own feet—and nearly fell. She straightened her skirt and carried on. She was the most peculiar woman, Tariq thought, and he wondered why he was smiling.

7

Amir opened Sara’s office door and grinned at her. She was already at her desk working, and his abrupt presence startled her. She jumped in surprise.

“Come with me,” he said.

“Where are we going?” she asked and stood.

“To the oil field.”

“Really?”

“You don’t believe me?”

“The way you’re smiling worries me,” Sara said as she grabbed her backpack and walked around her desk.

“I enjoy going to the oil field. That’s all,” he said.

They took the elevator down to the underground executive parking garage, where a black SUV idled. Sara was glad she’d worn flats today. It would have been hard to walk in the field wearing high heels. A uniformed driver opened the front passenger door for Sara, and she thanked him and climbed inside. To her surprise, Tariq was already sitting in the back. Amir joined him.

“Good afternoon, sir,” Sara greeted Tariq. He barely glanced up at her but shot his brother a glare.

“She will be part of the project, Tariq. She might as well visit the oil field,” Amir stated. Sara just rolled her eyes and faced forward again as the car pulled away. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she caught Tariq looking at her. Not looking. Glowering.Who does he think he is?Yes, he was the Sheikh blah blah, but that didn’t give him the right to be so rude to her.

Tariq said something to Amir in Arabic, who answered with a quick shake of his head.

Sara was trying to learn Arabic, but she only knew a couple words, basic tourist stuff. She had no doubt they were talking about her. She tried to ignore them and looked outside. She loved the city. It was magnificent and nonsensical—steel and glass, lush greenery in the middle of the desert, riches provided by the oil all around them. She opened her window and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of wind against her face. She wanted to stick her hand out the window but refused to give Tariq more fuel for his disdain for her. She had to be professional.

The conversation continued behind her, and she tried to let it become background noise. She wanted to point out that speaking a language that part of the group didn’t understand was ruder than anything she’d done in Tariq’s presence. She couldn’t help being clumsy, but he could speak English perfectly well.

She kept her mouth shut and pretended not to notice when she heard her name. She also pretended not to notice when Tariq’s gaze kept coming back to her. She pulled her sunglasses out of her bag and put them on, then tucked the loose bits of her hair behind her ear. Maybe that was the real reason so many Middle Eastern women wore headscarves. They didn’t have to worry about their hair.

Amir said something and laughed. Tariq harrumphed in reply.

Amir leaned forward in his seat and spoke into Sara’s ear. “I told him I think you’re adorable.”

“I don’t think he agrees with you,” she said softly back, watching Tariq in the rearview mirror.

“No.” Amir laughed again. “I’m certain ‘adorable’ isn’t the word he would choose.”

By the time they left the city behind them, the car had settled into a strange, awkward silence, and Sara was sure she would soon have two holes in the back of her head from the intensity of Tariq’s stare.

8

The car rolled through a set of iron gates and parked. Sara quickly unbuckled her seat belt and opened her door. It felt so good to get out of the car after their long drive. She stretched and looked around with a wide grin on her face.

Her first oil field. Sara had wondered what an oil field actually looked like, but of course, there wasn’t much to see yet. Botros hadn’t even decided if this field was worth drilling. At the moment, the only things here were a portable office building and some random equipment. Amir came up next to her.

“You seem enthused,” he said.

“That obvious, huh?”

He laughed. “I was the opposite the first time I came to an oil field.” Amir gestured for her to walk with him while Tariq made a phone call.

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