Sheikh's Scandal(81)
Did he even realize he was still touching Liyah?
“Tahira’s country should be offering reparations along with the previously agreed-upon treaty, but her uncle’s current strategy is to lay blame for her defection at my door.”
Liyah had stubbornly kept her gaze on his chest, but she had to see what he was feeling about that. She raised her head, their gazes clashing immediately.
A volatile mix of emotions poured through her, needing the smallest spark to send them burning sky-high.
Longing. Love. Desire. Need. Pain. And worry.
Because he had major stress lines around his beautiful brown eyes.
Of its own volition, her hand lifted to smooth away those lines. “Sounds tense.”
“That’s one word for it. I have others that aren’t acceptable in mixed company.”
“Is it going to be okay?” Was he going to be all right?
“Yes, because there is no other option.”
“Are you going to marry someone from those other two countries?”
“No.”
“What about Tahira’s country. Maybe she’s got a sister? A cousin?”
He shook his head. “Right now the idea of a politically motivated match is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.”
“That makes sense.” Liyah did her best to ignore her heart’s leap at his pronouncement.
“So, with all of this to occupy my thoughts, you’d think there was no room for anything else.”
“You don’t have to make excuses for not seeing me. Your mother is kind, but she’s wrong. You don’t owe me anything.” Maybe if Liyah kept saying it, he’d realize she believed it.
No matter how much the truth hurt.
“I wasn’t trying to excuse myself. I was admitting that even with everything else on my mind right now, I cannot stop thinking about you, craving you.”
“You mean sex.” Disappointing, but not unexpected. And it wasn’t as if she’d say no. Surely he had to realize that.
“That’s definitely part of it, but I want to take you sightseeing.”
“You said—”
“A bunch of camel dung, because facing what I want doesn’t mean I get to have it.”
“You’re kind of complicated.”
“I’m an emir, complicated defines my life.”
“Is there something we could do that wouldn’t put us at risk for exposure?” She felt like a fugitive in witness protection asking, but as much as he was now disparaging his own arguments, he’d been right.
Having her recognized with him wouldn’t do him any favors. Not because she wasn’t good enough, but because—like he’d said before—she was just too different to fit in with his life.
She ignored the tiny voice that said she’d been fitting in pretty well with his family the past two days.