Page 33 of The Sheikh's Temporary Girlfriend

“Why?” he growled. “What made you leave?”’

“I explained—“

“You explained nothing!” he interjected

She swallowed hard. “Please don’t do this.”

“Do what? Demand the truth?”

“It’s taken you six weeks to decide you want more from me than the note?”

“It’s taken me that long to organize everything that I wanted done before I brought you back.”

“Back?” she asked weakly, her senses reeling as hope built inside, then shattered all over again when she realized it was an impossibility. Maram would release the information she’d so far withheld about Amber’s family, information that would cripple Basam’s leadership. “I-I can’t go back.”

His jaw tightened along with his shoulders. “Tell me you’d happily watch me turn away and walk out of your life forever. If so I’ll leave right now and you’ll never see me again.”

“That’s blackmail,” she gritted.

“And yet that was why you ran away in the first place, was it not?”

He knew.

She blinked, her stomach pitching. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Amber.”

Her mouth dropped open. He’d rarely used her real name.Whatever. She couldn’t sit on the sand for a second longer, not while he towered over her like some avenging angel. She pushed to her feet and still felt insignificant. She tilted up her chin and said, “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth would be good.”

He wanted the truth…then he’d get it!

“The truth is you deserve someone better, someone without a history who could ruin your relationship with your people. The truth is I can’t leave my family or the ocean. My life is here! I can’t give it up.”

There, she’d said it. He didn’t need to know she’d give up absolutely everything for him, just as long as she was able to visit her family regularly.

“Not for anyone,” she added, lying right through her teeth.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

He cocked his head to the side. “What if you found out your brother has secretly been gambling again?”

She swayed, the man in front of her becoming as indistinct as the sound of the waves and a seagull squawking somewhere in the distance. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying,” he said quietly. “I haven’t ever lied to you.”

She lowered her lashes to hide her eyes as she pushed back tears. “What do you want from me?

“Come home with me, complete the four days of your contract and I’ll make sure Zach gets the help he needs. Counseling. Hypnosis. Alternative medicine. Even drug therapy, if it’s needed.” His eyes glinted. “And you get to keep that extra hundred-thousand in your bank.”

She looked back up. “Why?” she asked, her voice cracking. “I thought you’d hate me now.”

He shook his head. “I could never hate you, sunshine.” He grimaced. “I’ve reserved that for the woman who conspired against us and left you with little choice but to leave.”

So he reallydidknow everything then. Her shoulders sagged and she studied the sand. How many billions of grains must there be just where they stood? More importantly, how had this charismatic sheikh returned for her when everyday men hadn’t bothered to stick around long enough to care about her inner beauty? Her eyes burned as she looked back up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want your apology,” he stated roughly, reaching out to cup her chin with one hand and lifting her gaze to meet his. “I want you.”

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