Protecting the Desert Princess(13)

                ‘No,’ Mikael said. ‘First we need to discuss my retainer.’

                ‘Retainer?’

                ‘I’m very expensive,’ Mikael said.

                ‘Oh, you want payment up-front?’

                ‘Absolutely.’

                ‘I have this.’

                Mikael was a master at keeping his face impassive—poker would have been a lucrative hobby if he’d so chosen—but even he was struggling as, from her tunic, Layla took out a stone that looked more like a paperweight and placed it on the desk between them.

                ‘It is called Opium,’ Layla explained. ‘It is a rare black ruby that was gifted to me by the King of Bishram on my birth, so I would expect it to be worth quite a bit.’

                Mikael said nothing at first. He just stared at the stone that was almost as beautiful as its owner and thought of her walking the streets with that in her pocket. After a long stretch of silence he picked it up and decided to put it in his safe for now, then he sat back at his desk and looked at her. ‘What exactly are you hoping to achieve this week?’

                ‘There are things that I would like to do before I marry.’

                ‘Such as?’

                ‘They are not your concern. All I want is a week of freedom from my duties and a week away from my family.’

                ‘To do what?’ Mikael persisted. ‘If I’m to ring your brother then I need to know what you intend to get up to.’

                ‘I would like to dance,’ Layla said. ‘It is forbidden in Ishla. And I would like to try an Irish coffee….’

                ‘There are other drinks.’ Mikael smirked.

                ‘My brother mentioned Irish coffee once, many years ago. I thought it sounded nice that the cream stays at the top.’

                ‘What else?’

                Layla looked across the table at Mikael. For the first time in her life she felt a little… Layla tried to decide how she felt. Intimidated? She wasn’t sure if that was the right word, but it had never entered her head that Mikael might say no to her request. More than that, though, the effect of his smile had unsettled her stomach in a way she did not understand.

                Certainly she wasn’t about to tell him all the adventures she was seeking—though her eyes did fall to his mouth, which she had briefly imagined upon hers, but then she met again the cool of his gaze. ‘I don’t know you well enough to tell you,’ Layla said.

                ‘How long have you been planning this?’

                ‘For quite some time,’ Layla admitted.

                ‘Would your family have guessed that you were going to escape?’

                ‘No.’ Immediately she shook her head.

                ‘‘You’re sure of that.’

                ‘Very sure,’ she said. ‘I learnt a very long time ago that I get in trouble if I tell anyone my thoughts.’

                ‘You can be honest here,’ Mikael said, and Layla gave a hesitant nod—though her eyes said that she doubted it.