The Sheikh's Baby Scandal(17)

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

Usually he cared for no one else’s opinion, yet he was starting to covet hers.

‘It sounds a lot like the other one.’

It was possibly the most offensive thing she could have said, and yet her honesty made him smile.

‘That’s why I call them brothers.’

‘Can’t they just be siblings?’ Felicia asked. ‘Could this one not be a girl?’

He thought for a moment and, as terrible an assistant as she was, Felicia gave him pause.

Perhaps he could consider a gentler version of the other hotel. The Dubai skyline was ultra-modern, and there were some stunning architectural feats. From tall rigid towers to soft golden buildings in feminine curves. Perhaps it was time to try something different.

‘See over there...?’ He pointed. ‘That was my first design. Well, along with Hussain.’

‘Now, that’s definitely a he!’ Felicia said, because it was a huge phallic tower, rising into the sky.

‘You’re getting the idea.’ Kedah smiled. ‘It was my first serious project. Well, my second. I had designed a building for my home, but it was vetoed.’

‘Is that a modified version of it?’ Felicia asked.

‘No. That design could never have worked here. There was a mural and...’ He shook his head. ‘I worked on this with Hussain. He is from my homeland, and studied architecture with my father, but his hands are tied there too...’ Kedah halted.

‘In what way?’

He thought for a moment and realised there was no harm in telling her, and as they chatted they walked away from the car and towards the water’s edge.

‘There are so many regulations back home. No window can overlook the royal beach...no building can be as high as the palace...’

‘I’m sure you could work your way around them.’

They had toyed with each other and, yes, occasionally they had flirted, and of course Kedah had wondered what it would be like to know Felicia in the bedroom.

Now with one sentence she had changed things.

It was as if she had a little jewelled sword in her hand and had sliced straight through the chains that kept anybody from entering his heart.

She was the very first person who had not immediately derided his vision for his homeland.

Here was someone who did not instantly reject nor dismiss his ideas.

Even Hussain, to whom he had entrusted his visions, constantly told Kedah that he dreamed too big for his home.

‘It’s complicated, Felicia.’

‘Life is.’

‘We should get back,’ he said, and he took her elbow to guide her back towards the car.

‘What time are we meeting the surveyor?’

‘Two,’ Kedah said, and his voice was suddenly brusque. ‘Though I won’t need you there. Go back to the hotel and use some of the facilities.’

‘You’re giving me the afternoon off?’ Felicia frowned. ‘Why?’

‘I can be nice.’

‘I never said you couldn’t.’ She gave him a little nudge.

It was just that—a playful nudge. But Felicia did not play like that and neither did Kedah.

It was a tease—a touch that would have gone unnoticed had they been more familiar.

Yet they were not familiar.

They just happened to ache to be.

And so instead of walking they stood there, on an empty man-made island. His driver was some distance away, endlessly on his phone, and as the hot wind whipped at one of her loose curls Kedah resisted tucking it behind her ear.

‘Will you tell me something, Felicia?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Do you flirt with all your clients?’

‘I don’t flirt.’

‘I disagree.’

He was rather too direct.

‘While I accept,’ Kedah continued, ‘that you don’t tip up your face or bat your lashes—in fact you don’t invoke any of the more usual tactics—you do flirt. And I just wondered if it was the same with all your...clients?’

She heard the implication. ‘You make me sound like a whore.’

‘Please forgive me for any offence caused—absolutely none was meant. I am just curious as to what you are here for. I employed you as my PA and yet you don’t seem to want that job.’

‘I’m tired of the games, Kedah, and I’m tired that even after eight weeks you still don’t trust me with the truth.’

‘Okay—here it is. I believe the Accession Council will meet soon, and that there will be turbulent times ahead as my suitability for the role of Crown Prince is called into question.’

‘I know all that,’ Felicia said. ‘So where do I fit in?’

‘I need someone who knows the business—someone who, when it all kicks off—’