Page 18 of The Sheikh's Temporary Girlfriend

Her heart kicked into double beats as realization hit her and she paused before she did a full turn. A long, green racetrack took up a large circumference below her, grandstands and grassy viewing areas flowing around it, along with buildings for corporate seating, restaurants and sports betting.

Five or six horses were being led out into the parade area, where punters craned their necks to take a good, hard look at what they deemed was the next winning steed.

Her vision blurred. Zach was here getting his fix. He wasn’t worried about the debts he owed; not right now. He wanted the rush of winning that gambling gave him. He wanted to swim in the cash he imagined he’d secure.

Rage filled. How dare he! She’d trusted him! She’d sacrificed a week of her life to pay for debts he owed while erecting a wall over her heart so that she wouldn’t fall for the damn sheikh. She’d done everything to ensure her brother wouldn’t lose his wife, his daughter!

“Zach, no!” she screamed.

Every single head in the crowd turned her way except her brother’s.

She woke with a sharp inhalation, sitting up in bed with her breathing choppy and her chest heaving. There was enough light from under the bathroom door to reveal she was no longer in bed alone.

She cranked her head around slowly, allowing her vision to slowly filter in the long length of Basam under the covers as he lay in bed with her, his hands behind his head, his eyes open and alert.

Her voice came out as a croak. “You’re awake.”

He nodded. “Yes. You were deep asleep when I came to bed. Not that you were exactly having a restful slumber.”

Her mouth dried. “Oh?”

His eyes held hers, and even in the dim room his gaze was assessing. “Who is Zach?”

“What does it matter?” she asked wearily.

“It matters a lot,” he said softly, but with such undertones of intent it took everything she had not to flinch. He was like a starved dog with a meaty bone, and she was the bone that no one else was allowed near.

Not because he had feelings for her, far from it. His possessive nature stemmed from the fact he’d paid her for seven days, a role that required her complete devotion…to him.

She closed her eyes briefly, but it didn’t stop the pain of betrayal from crowding in on her. “Zach is my brother,” she said.

Basam touched her spine with one hand, then stroked up and down. But it didn’t ease her tension, if anything his touch escalated it. She was a live wire stretched to breaking point and he was the weight fraying it faster.

“Tell me about him,” Basam said gently. “What did he do to make you sound so distraught?”

She pushed the heel of her hand against her brow, wishing she could just fall back to sleep and pretend the dream never happened, along with this conversation. Pretend that her past was just that—her past. But being in denial hadn’t helped Zach and it certainly wasn’t helping her.

“Zach was nineteen and I was seventeen—five years ago now—when we lost both our parents in a car crash.” Basam continued stroking up and down her spine, but he didn’t interrupt, just waited patiently for her to continue. Her breath shuddered out. “At that time we had no one but each other, except although Zach did his best to fill the void of our parents’ death, he never got over his grief.”

She didn’t realize she was crying until she touched her face and it was wet, like she’d opened up floodgates and didn’t know how to shut them again. Perhaps neither of them had yet gotten over it. She cleared her throat. “Zach was always searching for escape. One day he went with a friend to the races and placed a small bet with big odds.”

“I’m guessing he won?” Basam asked.

“Yes, unfortunately, he did. He won a few thousand. I-I think that was just the beginning of his addiction to gambling and to feeling good. Gambling was what filled the void, even if for a short time.”

“Has your brother gotten his gambling under control now?”

She huffed out a breath. “I wish I could say yes, but no, he hasn’t. Despite all his best intentions he can’t seem to overcome it.”

She bowed her head, wishing things were different, better. If Zach couldn’t get a hold of his gambling problem, his wife and daughter would leave him, whether his debts were paid off or not. Amber didn’t want to think about what he might do without them in his life.

“You mentioned at the time having no one else but each other. Is there someone in your life now?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

He didn’t need to know that the few men she’d been with had been absolute duds in the bedroom and she hadn’t cared to repeat the experience. She had a feeling being with Basam sexually would ruin any future relationships as no other man would compare. Even more reason not to become intimate with him.

“Good,” he said starkly. “I’d hate for any newspapers to uncover a boyfriend I didn’t know about while you’re meant to be with me.”

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