Someone intended to dress a princess.
A shaykhah, she amended.
What on earth was she going to do?
Her computer trilled, the sound of a call coming through. Before she’d come to Bezakistan, she’d made sure her sister knew how to use her computer to call her. Or it could be one of the James brothers calling to point out that she was seriously screwing up their business. And the country’s. So many people depending on her.
She’d never imagined that her vagina had the power to destabilize a whole country.
With grim resolve, she sat down in front of her computer and clicked the button that connected the call.
Her sister’s face filled the screen, her blue eyes wide. “Oh my god, Piper. You’re on TV. Like everywhere. Seriously. You’re on the Today show.”
Heat flashed through her system. “Tell me they’re not showing my backside.”
Mindy got the same look on her face she used to get right before she lied to Piper about her report card. “Not at all.”
Piper felt tears cloud her eyes again. She seemed to have a never-ending supply of them today.
“Piper, it’s okay. They totally did that thing where they blurred out that part of the screen. And the rest of you looked hot. That was some serious sex hair, big sister. So don’t worry. No one has seen your privates. Wait. Do you ever get on YouTube?”
“No.”
“Then no one has seen you,” Mindy assured her.
“Oh my god.” She’d done some stupid things in her time, gotten into some dumb situations, but this took the cake. “Does everyone in town know?”
She hadn’t been back to her small town in over a year. She’d been very happy to be able to visit Mindy in Lubbock instead of having to go back to that place where she’d been judged for her every move. Her college years had been one long tightrope because the old biddies of the town had been like hawks watching her every move, waiting for the moment when they had a reason to take her sister away. It had been a sick game for them.
Mindy’s grin filled the screen. “Well, the townsfolk here have figured out a couple of things. One, that you’re marrying godless heathens who apparently take you three at a time.”
“Oh my god.” Her sister shouldn’t know that.
Mindy was utterly nonplussed. “Two, said godless heathens are totally gorgeous and kind of rule the world because they have all that money. My friends back home say it’s a standoff. Half the town wants to ask for a loan and the other half thinks you’re going straight to hell, but even that half is sure you’re heading there first class.”
Piper let her head find the desk.
“Sis? Why are you so upset? In those pictures, you look so happy that you’re glowing. I’m thrilled for you. Hell, I’m kind of thrilled for me.”
Piper sniffled, looking up at the computer. “Why?”
Her sister was leaning in, a soft smile on her face. In the background, Piper could see a display of red and black Texas Tech logos on the wall. “Because I was told today that my tuition and books and room and board have been paid for the rest of my time in school, Piper. You did that, right? No more freaking out every six months. No more working at the pizza place for grocery money. I can really do this. I can be a doctor.”
Now tears filled her eyes, but for something other than self-loathing. “I didn’t. I’m sure it was Rafe.”
She’d talked to Rafe about her sister. She’d opened up and let him know how worried she always was.
Mindy shook her head. “They told me the man who signed the check was named Talib al Mussad. He’s the sheikh, right? I just thought you strong-armed him into doing it. Except you didn’t use your arm. You used that part of you that is absolutely not all over YouTube.”
She laughed. There was nothing else to do. “At least tell me I didn’t look wretched.”
“Like I said, you looked hot. Although I have to admit, I really didn’t look at you once the hottie walked out without his shirt on. And then the second one. And the third one. Holy crapballs, Pipe! You hit the jackpot. Those men are superhot, and I saw the way they looked at you. I am totally jealous, and tell me I’m getting to come to the royal wedding thingee.”
She’d missed the wedding thingee, but then so had Piper. Although according to everything she’d read this morning, it hadn’t been a wedding, more like a promise to marry. “Sweetie, I don’t know that I’m marrying them.”
Mindy’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? You landed in a country where no one blinks an eye that you’re marrying three hot billionaires.”