Protecting the Desert Princess(22)

                ‘Layla,’ Mikael called back, ‘could you really see checkmate?’

                Silence.

                ‘I want the truth—yes or no?’

                ‘No.’

                She started laughing and Mikael gave a wry smile. He’d add the extra twenty bloody minutes he’d spent staring at the board to her bill.

                ‘Go to sleep, Layla.’

                Finally she did as she was told and Mikael got on with his work, only pausing occasionally.

                The sound of her soft snoring was actually quite relaxing…





                                      CHAPTER SIX

                LAYLA AWOKE TO the gorgeous scent of Mikael.

                Or rather the gorgeous scent of Mikael’s shirt, and she lay there remembering him bathing her and how cross but kind he had been. There was a flurry low in her stomach as she remembered toppling into him and smiling up at him, telling him that she liked him.

                She still did.

                Yes, he was a commoner, but she only had six days now and Mikael, Layla decided, would be her romance for the week.

                Layla picked up the phone by the bed and ordered a thinly sliced apple, some mint tea and iced water and then padded out to the lounge, where Mikael was stretched out asleep on the sofa.

                He looked so different asleep, Layla thought as she stood over him.

                He appeared a lot less cross and he had shadows under his eyes like those Layla had had once had when she’d caught a cold. She looked at his chin. In all the photos she had seen he had been clean-shaven, but she loved his stubbly jaw.

                Layla’s eyes drifted from his face to his body, which was just as beautiful.

                His skin was pale and his flat nipples were the same dark red as his lips. She liked his flat stomach, and she blew out a guilty breath as she saw the snake of hair that led from his navel. She knew she should not be looking there and so moved her eyes back to his face instead. She watched him wake, his grey eyes frowning into hers. A look of concern darted across his face.

                ‘Good morning!’ Layla smiled down at him.

                ‘What time is it?’ Mikael asked with a horrible, panicked feeling that he might have overslept.

                ‘Sunrise!’ Layla smiled again and then turned when there was a knock at the door. Mikael watched as a trolley was wheeled in.

                ‘You’ve ordered breakfast?’

                ‘No, just something to cleanse my palate—my mouth is very dry.’

                ‘I bet it is,’ Mikael said, watching as she nibbled on her apple while walking over to the window.

                ‘It’s beautiful,’ Layla said, looking out at the Sydney skyline. The Opera House looked gold in the morning sun and the whole city was gleaming and beckoning. ‘I’m trying to think what to do today.’

                ‘I’ve already decided,’ Mikael said, picking up her glass of sparkling water and draining it. ‘You’re joining me at work.’ He’d decided that just before dozing off. ‘You can sit in the public gallery.’