Sheikh's Scandal(7)

                “I wanted to make sure you and the emir’s other female traveling companions have found your accommodations acceptable.”

                “Very much so.” The older woman stepped back and indicated Liyah should enter her room. “Please, come in.”

                “I do not want to take you from your duties.”

                “Not at all. You must share a cup of tea with me.”

                With no polite way to decline, and frankly not inclined to do so, Liyah followed the other woman to the small sofa on the other side of the deluxe room. As much as it might bother her, Liyah could not deny her fascination with the emir.

                At least, not to herself.

                The Middle Eastern tea service Liyah had purchased on behalf of the hotel—along with the ones for the sheikh and his fiancée’s suites—sat in the center of the oval coffee table.

                Miz Abdullah-Hasiba poured the fragrant hot drink from the copper-and-glass pot into the short, narrow matching cups with no handles. “This is a treat.”

                “Yes?”

                The housekeeper nodded with a smile. “Oh, yes. We do not travel with glassware as it is too easily broken.”

                “Naturally.” Liyah waited for the housekeeper to take a sip before following suit, enjoying the sweetened warm beverage and the bittersweet memories it evoked.

                Her mom had insisted on beginning and ending each day with a cup of mint tea augmented by a touch of honey.

                “Nevertheless, the Chatsfield is the first hotel on the emir’s current European travel itinerary to have thought to provide the traditional tea service.”

                “They will only be found in your room, the emir’s suite and that of his fiancée, I’m afraid.”

                The older woman smiled. “Your grasp of our culture is commendable. Most hotel staff would have put the tea set in the room for the emir’s secretary.”

                Liyah did not shrug off the praise, but neither did she acknowledge it. She was more aware of the Zeena Sahran culture than the average Brit or American, but anyone observant would have taken note that the housekeeper had been booked in the most deluxe room beside the emir’s fiancée’s suite.

                “His secretary is actually junior office staff, I believe,” Liyah observed.

                “She is. The emir follows the old ways. By necessity, his personal administrative assistant is Duwad, a male.”

                “Because your emir cannot work late hours in his suite with a woman, married or otherwise,” Liyah guessed.

                “Precisely.”

                “So, this is a business trip?” Very little had been said in the media about the nature of the emir’s current travel plans.

                “For the most part. Melech Falah insisted Emir Sayed enjoy a final European tour as it were before taking on the mantle of full leadership of our country.”

                “The king intends to abdicate the throne to his son?” She’d read speculation to that effect, but nothing concrete.

                “One might consider that a possible course of events after the royal wedding.”