“Good,” she said to him. “From that poem, write a small essay, no more than a page. Analyse the register, dialect and personification used in the poem.”
Amare looked from Kim back to the poem, as he opened and closed his mouth, unsure what to say. Kim offered a warm smile. “You can do it,” she told him. Even though the work was advanced for his age, in the short time she had been working with him, he had far surpassed her expectations as he blew through the requirements for his upcoming exams.
While she took her job seriously, Sheik Sharqi was a formidable man and she did not want to end up on his bad side as she hoped to obtain a reference from him. The fact that all his sons were brilliant and Amare was excelling academically made her job much easier, but it didn’t take the pressure off her.
“I will try,” he said dubiously as he set the poem back down in front of him and stared at it.
Seeing movement down below, Kim turned to see a maid approach Karim with refreshments. Handing him a fresh towel and a bottle of water, Kim watched as he twisted the cap off and tilted the bottle up to take a long drink. Stepping back to avoid being seen as he looked up toward her balcony, she openly stared at him, hoping that he couldn’t see her.
A soft voice had her turning her head as she watched the maid attempt to flirt with him while he remained oblivious. After a quiet comment from him, she quickly bowed and headed back into the house with what looked to be dejection on her face.
Kim watched as he tilted the remaining water onto his head and chest before reaching for the towel. With slow precision, he rubbed the towel across his torso as Kim covered her mouth. What she wouldn’t give to be the one rubbing his body with a towel, perhaps after they had passionate sex in the shower, slowly drying his body off. Her lips following the path laid by her fingers as she rubbed the water from his sexy body.
Turning his back toward her, she bit her lip as he twisted his torso and continued to wipe the sweat off. From where she was standing, he was perfect in every way as he bent down to wipe the sweat from his legs. Tossing the towel aside, he stretched his arms up, twisting his body again. Tilting back, he looked up at Kim and winked at her as she gasped in surprise.
How long had he known that she was watching, again? she wondered as she quickly stepped back away from the window.
Chapter Three
As Kim turned from the window, she found Amare staring at her with amusement on his face. “Checking out my brother?” he asked her with a cheeky grin on his face. Coughing loudly, Kim reached for her iced tea and pretended to sooth her throat as she fought to keep the blush from creeping up her face.
“I was not,” she lied. She could not believe that Amare had caught her as her blush took over and her cheeks flamed red from embarrassment. Amare rocked his head back and started laughing at her as she narrowed her gaze at him. She was already embarrassed enough, he did not need to laugh so hard at her.
“Kim, you were definitely watching him, do not deny it,” he teased.
“I was not. I was just staring into space.” As if that made any sense but it was the only excuse, she could come up with, as she was not very good at lying. Amare still laughed at her. It was obvious that he did not believe her.
“It is alright. Most women often look at my brother lasciviously,” he said. Kim’s jaw hung open before she narrowed her eyes at him.
Crossing her arms, she tapped her foot as she attempted to give him a stern stare. “I was not looking at him lasciviously!” she told him. “However, that was an excellent use of one of your vocabulary words,” she added drolly as he snickered in response.
“Honestly, I would be surprised if you didn’t find him attractive.” Amare leaned back in his leather white chair and folded his arms over his chest as he continued to smirk. “In case you haven’t noticed, every female he’s around seems to flirt with him.”
“He’s okay,” Kim said vaguely, before sipping more of her iced tea, which was rapidly becoming tepid in her hot hands. She did not particularly want to discuss how attractive Karim was with his youngest brother. She took a bite out of her besbousa and chewed it slowly. She loved the taste of the honey as the sweetness exploded in her mouth with each bite. One of the best things about living in the Sharqi residence was the great food.
“My brother is a particular man,” Amare told her as he sighed. Kim swallowed before speaking.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked him.
“For starters, he does not believe in love.” Kim’s eyes widened.
“What?” Who did not believe in love? That did not make any sense.