Page 23 of My Arabian Billionaire

ChapterSix

Harper had not spokenfor fifteen minutes now. Khalil didn’t mind, and while her silence had initially surprised him, he realized after a while that it was exactly like her to react like this. Although her temper tended to have a short fuse over the smallest of things, Harper was the opposite in the moments that mattered. He recalled a story about her once, the first time she had heard of her father’s injury and the possibility that he would never walk again. She had been silent for a long while, and then – while her father had been in the operating room for hours – she had started reading books. Started talking to doctors. Started asking about the funds that were available to soon-to-be-decommissioned soldiers like Howard.

When Howard had woken up, his daughter was by his side, and she had the answers to all the questions he could ever want toask.

Looking at her now, with her brows furrowed and her gaze darting to him once in a while, he knew she was thinking things through, considering and dismissing possibilities that did not fit his profile.

Was he insane? Was he joking? Why would he want to marryme?

Some questions she could answer herself, other questions –

He only had to wait until she asked them ofhim.

Meanwhile, he would simply enjoy looking his fill of her. She would be dynamite in a bikini, the sheikh thought with a frown. That was a good thing, but only if she wore the bikini in his presence alone. Everywhere else would be forbidden.

The thought had him shifting in his seat, the sheikh grimacing when he realized that imagining a bikini-clad Harper was enough to have his penis growing hard under his trousers.

“Sheikh?” It took a moment before the sheikh turned to face her, and she frowned, thinking he looked a little flushed. “Are youokay?”

“Of course.” Now was not the time to tell her he was thinking of fucking her. “You have made up yourmind?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” She would really thump him if he were serious aboutthat.

His smile was faintly apologetic. “I am rushing youthen.”

“No kidding.”

Her tone was extremely sarcastic, but her eyes showed faint panic. He was sorry for this, but not enough that it would dissuade him from his objective. She was what he wanted, and he would have her. It was only a matter of when. Studying her face, he asked slowly, “May I at least think you are not rejecting my proposal outright?”

“I should,” she muttered, “if I were smarter.”

The sheikh frowned. “Why do you say this? Would it be so bad to be married tome?”

“Will I be the only woman you’re marrying?”

Ah. So she was worried about that. “I respect the dictates of Islam, but I was also baptized Catholic.”

Oh!She had not known aboutthat.

“Also, to have more than one wife is not actually a requirement of Islam.”

“But it’s allowed,” she said darkly.

“In a nutshell, yes. But you need not worry about that. When I take you as mywife---”

“If you take me as your wife,” she corrected.

He ignored this. “It will only beyou.”

Oh. He sounded so serious, so matter-of-fact, and her heart swayed just a little. Could she really believe that this was happening?

“Do you have other concerns?”

“Just one.” And she asked baldly, “Whyme?”

“Because you are what my country and Ineed.”

Oh.

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