Page 9 of The Sheikh's Temporary Girlfriend

“Yes.” He smiled indulgently. “But don’t stress, sunshine. I have all the amenities you could ever want there.”

“Does that include a beach?”

“Wedohave all the sand you could ever want.”

His amusement didn’t stop a sudden longing to breathe in crisp salty air while standing on the pristine sandy shore of the Pacific Ocean, watching the ceaseless waves roll in and crash into white foam, while the seagulls wheeled in the breeze above the glistening deep-blue water.

Her hands clenched to her sides. It’d been one day and she was already craving the wet sand between her toes and the hot sun on her bikini-clad body. How was she going to feel shrouded in the abayas she had no doubt would be provided for her?

Then Basam put his hand on her thigh, the electric surge that charged through her somehow dissolving all her doubts. “I’m certain these seven days won’t leave you disappointed.”

Not if he had anything to do with it. He didn’t have to say the words. She could all but hear them hanging in the air between them.

“I’m counting on it,” she said softly.

Their vehicle cleared a bit of a rise, enabling her to see ahead to a huge, white palace. Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t expected it to be so…magnificent! It was like a small city in itself, with a wall enclosing the many domes and spheres along with its outbuildings.

If he noticed her shock he didn’t comment. Instead he said huskily, “I’m counting on it too, sunshine.”

Chapter Four

Amber couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed as she walked hand-in-hand with Basam past his guards, one pair who were stationed at the entrance of his palace and another pair at the front of his private wing, where he appeared to enjoy relative seclusion inside his suite of rooms.

If the whole palace was beautiful with its mosaic floors in bold diamond patterns and glittering chandeliers that hung from domed ceilings, then Basam’s suite of rooms were sumptuous.

He opened double doors to a sitting room, no doubt where visitors were kept from the rest of his suite when needed. She followed him through an arched doorway into a hallway, where another door opened into a lounge room with big comfortable chairs facing a big screen television. A gleaming, mahogany bar took up a corner of the room, and at the opposite end a dining room showcased a round marble table with damask-covered chairs.

She did a slow turn. “My whole apartment would fit into this room.”

He sent her an assessing look and acknowledged, “There are benefits to being rich.”

She arched a brow and said wryly, “I wouldn’t know.”

He nodded toward a set of double doors set back into another hallway. “Our bedroom is through there.”

Our bedroom.

She swallowed past a suddenly dry throat, her imagination once again taking her to places she didn’t want to go.Shouldn’twant to go. He’d only asked her to play this role because she was desperate for money. She wouldnotbe desperate for him. She wouldn’t self-sabotage and be just another weak-willed, panting woman ready to throw away all self-respect just to be with him.

Her feet sank into the thick cream carpet of their bedroom, where a canopied, four-poster bed took center stage. Embroidered, champagne-colored curtains framed large tinted windows that looked out to a garden courtyard, a sitting area with more damask covered chairs taking advantage of the views outside.

As servants brought in their luggage and unpacked it all into a huge walk-in closet, Basam showed her the rest of the suite, which included an intimate cinema to watch the latest blockbusters.

Her eyes bulged as they walked into the next room, this one long and rectangular. “You have your own indoor lap pool in the middle of the desert?”

He smiled at her awed disbelief. “Believe me, it’s one indulgence I couldn’t live without. I swim laps most days when I’m home.”

“Stress relief?” she asked.

He nodded. “It also keeps me fit and my mind sharp.”

“Most guys have a home gym for that.”

“I have one of those too. Feel free to use it or the pool whenever we’re not busy with social engagements.”

His reminder of why exactly she was here took away a little of the shine. But then she had to remember how many other girls would pinch themselves just to be here in such luxurious surroundings, a palace no less, while pretending to be a hot sheikh’s girlfriend.

She might live each day like it was a holiday by residing in the tropics and working at the beach, surfing and swimming in sparkling blue ocean water…but when had she actually taken a trip to some other exotic location? The last holiday she’d taken had been to Sydney to visit a friend. Her lips curled. And she and her friend had spent most of their time at Bondi Beach.

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