Page 10 of The Sheikh's Fake Fiancée

Oh, dear Lord. She resisted pressing a hand to her churning stomach.

“Don’t stress, I’ve got your back, okay?”

She nodded. He’d had her back through the worst of the gossiping and backstabbing in regards to her tryst with Tabari, she didn’t doubt for a second he’d have her back now with this fake engagement that would benefit them both.

Kain squeezed her hand lightly, then leaned forward and asked the driver, “You have something for me, Masood?”

Masood nodded, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. “Of course, Sheikh Kain. Your senior advisor procured the very thing you requested.” He withdrew a small velvet box from the console of the car and handed it to Kain.

He smiled, satisfaction brimming from him. “Excellent.” He turned to Zania. “We can hardly be engaged if I didn’t manage to procure a ring for you.” He snapped open the lid. “What do you think?”

Her breath caught at the light pink, oval diamond that was set in a pave of smaller diamonds on a rose gold band. “It’s exquisite,” she breathed.

He took out the ring and slid it on her finger. “A perfect fit,” he murmured with an even wider smile. “I should have known—when it comes to you, everything is perfect.”

Her face heated. He might be the only one to think that, everyone else she knew looked at her as though she was the most imperfect person to have ever lived. “Now you’re just being nice.”

“Maybe you bring out the best in me.”

She looked out the window, where a group of heavily bearded nomads in dusty thobes and with long sticks in their leathery hands were pushing a herd of goats forward. The bleating animals looked surprisingly healthy and well-fed, and clearly found enough forage in the desert to eat.

She turned back to him, her pulse fluttering. “I hope your people feel the same way about me.”

“I’m counting on it, shortcake.”

She swallowed hard. What if they really did find her lacking? What if rumors already abounded thanks to her slandered name?

“Stop overthinking things,” he murmured gently. “You know all that turmoil in your head won’t change a thing.”

He was right. What would be would be. She’d face it head-on as needed and not beforehand.

The drive from the marina to the city seemed to take no time at all, with solid ocher buildings, a few of them old enough to be crumbling, giving way to modern chrome and glass sky scrapers and apartment blocks.

The road had long since turned into three lanes, as smooth as butter beneath the SUV tires. It meant traffic wasn’t congested, with vehicles flowing freely. The wealth in his country was obvious. Luxury sports cars and high end vehicles gleamed under the sun as far ahead on the road as she could see.

She was so absorbed in staring out her side window, taking her fill of the exclusive boutiques—the same establishments she’d once dreamed of being able to shop at on her own, without trailing behind Aisha with her limitless funds—with its many affluent customers, she didn’t at first hear Kain swear under his breath. It wasn’t until he glanced behind them with tight lips that she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“See that motorbike behind us?”

She turned around, taking in the motorcycle rider with his pillion passenger who were weaving in and out of the traffic and quickly gaining on them. “Yes.”

“It’s the paparazzi. They want pictures of us.”

She blinked. “And that’s a problem?” At his frown, she added, “Why don’t we give them what they want, while proving to your people we really are in love?”

“What do you have in mind?”

When the traffic lights ahead turned red, she pressed a button on the passenger door, the back window then sliding down. It wasn’t until their car slowed to a stop and the motorcycle pulled up next to them, the pillion passenger raising his camera, that she said huskily, “Kiss me.”

Chapter Seven

Kain couldn’t have been more shocked had she slipped a hand inside his pants and began to stroke him. But he couldn’t deny the spark of admiration for her quick thinking, or the wildfire of need that crashed through him and made his cock harder than steel.

He turned to her and clasped her face, his head lowering until his lips merged with hers and electricity enveloped them. The kiss was tentative at first, then quickly escalated to something much more. Deep, intense, passionate.

Click. Click. Click.

The camera shutter barely infiltrated his mind, he was too caught up in the moment. Zania’s lips were plush, soft and plump, her breath minty and fresh. When she lifted her hands and threaded her fingers through his hair, he was lost to her.

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