Page 5 of The Sheikh's Temporary Girlfriend

He nodded. “Yes. You get to keep them after our seven days end.”

The room did a slow spin. They had to cost a small fortune, probably more than the sum she’d requested that would delete her brother’s bills once and for all. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I am.” He stood and stepped behind her. “I don’t make jokes when it comes to my future,” he said softly, decisively.

With her frizzy hair already in a bun, he had no difficulty putting the choker around her throat. A hot shiver spiraled through her at the touch of his hand on her flesh, and her hands shook a little as she put in the earrings.

He stepped back. “Perfect,” he mused huskily.

If only the next seven days would be this simple. But she had a sneaking suspicion her time with the sheikh would be a whole lot more complicated.

His stare gleamed. “Everyone will know these are a gift from me.”

She nodded. Of course they would. She certainly couldn’t afford jewels of any kind, and these were worth a fortune. The sheikh wanted everyone to believe their relationship was serious from the get-go.

She withheld a sigh. She was living every girl’s fantasy, never mind that it was under false pretenses.

With the paperwork signed and the expensive gift around her neck and in her lobes, Basam glanced at her one small suitcase near her bedroom door. “That is all you’re taking?”

“I travel light,” she hedged. He didn’t need to know her clothes were mostly shorts and singlets, with jeweled flip-flops her favorite accessory.

“I’ll arrange to get anything else you might need,” he said as he crossed the room in a couple of strides and grabbed her undersized suitcase with big hands.

She stepped outside, a seagull squawking as it floated overhead on the briny sea breeze. She climbed into the back seat with the sheikh, thankful that no one appeared to be out and about at this early hour of the morning. Most of the guests would be hungover and sleeping in after the unlimited booze from the night before.

But she didn’t doubt the rumors would be in full force by the end of the day.

Not even ten minutes later she climbed out of the SUV and into a waiting helicopter that flew them to the mainland airport, and within walking distance to the sheikh’s private jet. After traversing the tarmac and climbing the steps, she gawped openly at the stunning leather seats and spaciousness of the lounge and bar area.

“There is a bedroom in the back if you’re tired,” he informed her.

Her chest tightened and her mind ran rampant.Damn it!Why did she think such sexual thoughts around the sheikh? Yes, he was as sexy as hell, but she’d known a lot of too-handsome men in her day.

That not one of them had his kind of charisma was beside the point, wasn’t it?

A pretty brunette air hostess walked toward them. “Sheikh Basam, would you or your guest like a drink or something to eat while the pilot prepares for takeoff?”

“A fruit snack and something non-alcoholic,” he glanced at Amber and added, “for my girlfriend Amber, and myself.”

If the air hostess was shocked she didn’t let on, she was coolly professional and kept any thoughts about his latest girlfriend to herself. Basam obviously paid her well.

Amber’s heart did a dull thud in her chest. Perhaps the sheikh should have asked the brunette to be his girlfriend for the next seven days?

She shook off the thought. Basam had chosen her and she refused to question his logic any further. It was enough that all her brother’s financial woes would soon be behind him—behind them both since his financial concerns had become hers. She’d do her best to simply enjoy the ride while she was on it.

The snack turned out to be the sweetest strawberries Amber might ever had eaten, along with swirls of fresh cream and shaved dark chocolate served in a tall glass with a spoon. Once finished, she sipped on a glass of fizzy grape juice, an amazing concoction that undoubtedly cost a truckload.

Basam moved closer, then clasped her hand and lifted it to his mouth. She stared as he kissed her knuckles, electricity dancing through her nerve endings while butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

She blinked and he smiled and murmured, “I thought we’d better start practicing our great love for one another or no one will believe our attraction is real.”

Great love?People like him didn’t find great love with people like her. She cleared her throat, almost too weak to snatch her hand from his hold. “I have faith in my acting abilities.”

His smile turned into a wide grin. “I’m counting on it, sunshine.”

“Sunshine?”

He nodded. “A man should have a pet name for his sweetheart, don’t you think?”

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