She finally gave up on trying to work and logged into her own laptop, running a search on the man in question. For some crazy reason, it hurt her to look at the pictures of the beautiful, spirited woman on his arm. It occurred to her that Sheik Hassam didn’t appear very happy, but how could he not be with that kind of lively wife to lighten his days and electrify his nights? She continued to scan through the pictures, torturing herself. Except for their wedding picture, he was never looking down at his wife with any sort of affection. He was always staring straight ahead, as if he were irritated about something.
Thinking back to her introduction to the man in her brother’s office, he hadn’t had much expression on his features this morning. Well, that had been a short meeting, she told herself. It might have felt like a long time to her, but it had probably only been a few minutes.
With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling and trying to figure out what was going on with her. Okay, so she’d had a strong reaction to the man, but that didn’t mean anything. She was the complete opposite of his previous wife, so she needed to banish him from her mind.
A sudden thought occurred to her and she jerked upright. Dinner! She’d agreed to fill in for Mia at dinner tonight! She couldn’t have dinner with that man! She just couldn’t do it! She couldn’t sit across the table from him and make idle conversation, to talk about mundane issues, knowing that she’d never measure up!
And then something else struck her. Was her brother’s request simply an appeal for help? Or was he doing a bit of matchmaking? Ramzi wasn’t really the kind of man who would even think about something like that, but then again, he’d changed significantly after marrying Mia. Rais and Turk had changed after finding their wives as well. They were kinder now, more observant.
Shantra groaned as she realized that her brother was most likely trying to set her up with a man he thought was a good match. And theoretically, Sheik Hassam was the perfect man for her. Or the other way around, she was a princess and a perfect match for the man.
But in all other ways, it would be a horrible match.
She’d simply have to disabuse her brother about the possibility. It wouldn’t work. Not in any way.
Chapter 2
Shantra dressed carefully for dinner that evening. She wanted to look nice and was ridiculously concerned with her appearance. Although even after all of her primping, she didn’t want to give the man the wrong impression. She was simply having dinner tonight with the man to help her brother. Nothing more. This was not a set-up.
In fact, she should talk to Ramzi and make sure that he knew that.
Glancing at her clock, she realized that she was already running late. If she hadn’t spent so much time changing clothes, she might have the time to visit her brother before dinner.
Ugh! Now she was late, she was almost hyperventilating at the idea of meeting the man and she was…good grief, she was tingling all over in anticipation.
Bad idea!
She stood outside the living room where the family and important guests gathered before dinner for drinks. She shook her hands, trying to calm herself down.
“You’re being silly,” she told herself, then wished she’d worn something other than the black sheath dress in silk satin. She looked too…desperate, she thought. She should have worn the green dress. The green would have looked more conservative, maybe a little bit less like she was trying. Smoothing the black material down over her hips, she half turned around, ready to hurry back to her apartment to change. But she couldn’t do that! She was already late and her makeup would have to change!
Darn it! Why had she chosen this dress? It was all wrong! The man would think…he would think she was trying to impress him. And that definitely wasn’t the case tonight!
No, she’d just have to be late, she thought. She’d have to run back and change into the green dress. Five minutes! She wouldn’t change her makeup, she’d just switch dresses. And shoes! Yes, she’d have to change shoes as well because these shoes didn’t go well with the green dress.
“You look lovely,” a deep voice said from behind her.
Shantra spun around then looked up into the eyes of the very man she’d been wishing to avoid.
Pressing her palms against the wood of the door, she looked up at him, startled by his presence and hoping he couldn’t see how nervous she was.
Goodness, he looked magnificent, she thought. His broad shoulders and those dark eyes made her heart speed up and her stomach flip over several times. Her hand flew to her stomach, trying to stop the crazy fluttering, but it wasn’t working too well.