Wanted: A Baby by the Sheikh(7)
“It’s what I’ve worked for my whole adult life. And I always get what I want in the end.”
She cocked her head to one side. “Is that right?”
“Absolutely.” He steepled his fingers. “Including a continued working relationship with the Aussies which will be extremely profitable for both of us. As I said, I’m the best in the field. That’s why Amelia and Mark still want to work with us.”
“And yet their names don’t appear on the guest list.”
“They’re not coming. We decided it would be better if we weren’t seen to be working too closely together. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
“Anyway, you need to focus on tweaking the new designs. This launch is too important to mess up. The designs have to be the best. There can be nothing else in the world to match them, nothing else like them. The team has been doing a good job, but there’s something subtle lacking.”
She raised an elegant eyebrow and desire ignited from nowhere. It was the first thing that he had noticed about her. That cool elegance, that aloofness, that raised eyebrow instead of words. It had got him every time and apparently it still did.
“Here.” He pushed the laptop closer toward her. “These are the pieces we have so far.”
She brought the laptop even closer and frowned as she focused on the images. He watched her eyes move from one piece to another. Then she looked up at him. “They’re good, very good even, but there’s something missing.”
“Go on.”
“They need a central piece to bring the designs into focus, to make them Kielo designs.”
He nodded.
“But we have the necklace your grandfather had made—the original Kielo piece. We can use that as the focal point for the collection.”
She looked away suddenly, through the wide expanse of sheer floor to ceiling glass windows to the central city and the harbor, dotted with islands, beyond. But before he could ask her what the matter was she’d turned back.
“Anyway, this interview. Aarne tells me it’s with Vogue?”
“Yes, the editor will be here any minute.”
“Milla, the editor-in-chief? Impressive. And… don’t tell me, you want us to appear the perfect loving couple.”
He stared at her impassively, hating her sarcastic tone. Hating the fact that she didn’t love him and was at no pains to hide it. “No. Not loving. I don’t wish you to appear anything other than you are.”
“That just leaves ‘perfect’ then?”
“Yes. Perfect and a couple, representing the glamorous image capable of persuading people to buy our diamonds and our jewelry.”
“Easy.” She glanced out the window as two cars drew up. “Looks like she’s arrived. Tell me, Daidan, what were you going to do if I didn’t return? Without me, how were you going to brand the campaign?”
He leaned against the desk. “I’d considered selling the jewelry arm and concentrating on mining diamonds.”
She shrugged. “I’m surprised you didn’t. Why is that?”
He hesitated. He’d often thought about it, but was unwilling to sever the final connection with Taina. “It made commercial sense to hold on to it in the short term. And besides, I hired a model to become the face of the company.” Taina narrowed her eyes, hiding her thoughts. He smiled. “Yes, she had everything… except the family connection. That was the clincher. Pedigree makes such a difference.” He couldn’t resist the small jibe.
“You hired a model?”
“Yes. She’s beautiful. And a very easy person to work with.”
“I’m sure,” she ground out, and he smiled at her irritation. “You’ve been connected with just about every eligible, and not eligible, woman in Finland… and overseas.”
He smiled. Let her think what she liked. It didn’t suit his purposes yet for her to know the truth—that there hadn’t been any other woman for him since he’d met her.
“I’ve paid the model off. We don’t need her now because we have you, instead.”
“Only if you keep your end of the bargain.”
“Of course. Tonight suit you?” For the first time he saw her blanch. “Come on, you didn’t think I’d submit to the indignity of providing you with a vial of sperm, did you?”
She shook her head.
“And yet… you hadn’t pictured us sleeping together? Tell me, habibti, how exactly did you imagine I’d father our child?”
She licked her lips and it did things to him that it really shouldn’t have.
“I’d thought…”