SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance (101 page)

Relief flooded through her. She knew she’d been nervous but she hadn’t realized how tight her muscles had been strung until he had given her that answer. Suddenly her body turned to jelly and she slumped into a chair. There was no turning back now, she’d made the decision and she was going to go into business with Abdul. The man she’d secretly kissed, the man she was secretly in love with, and the man who was getting married.

Abdul felt it was amazing to hear Emily’s voice on the other end of the phone when she called to tell him that she wanted to open her bakery with him as her partner. Granted it did put a slight damper on the whole thing when she made the clear distinction that she was going to be leaving the day to day operations to Kara so he wouldn’t be dealing with Emily much herself, but it did feel good to know at the very least he didn’t have to say goodbye to her yet.

When Nora arrived from her flight, Abdul was feeling in a fantastic mood. She however was not feeling as happy.

“God that plane ride really couldn’t have been more of a nightmare. Babies crying constantly, the cost of Wi-Fi to watch a bad movie, and sitting so close to people you can barely breathe.”

Abdul grabbed her hand out of a reflex and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’ll be so happy when I can stop taking these ridiculous rides to see you every couple of weekends.”

Abdul agreed with her. Life would be a lot easier once she was in one place with him. In fact, that was probably the reason he enjoyed his time with Emily so much. He could admit that he did feel lonely when he was alone and he enjoyed the company and conversation that Emily gave him. That was probably his attraction anyway. He probably felt so much for her to compensate for being lonely. Once Nora was there he’d have no reason to feel so lonely and would be able to easily transition to only being her friend and business partner, nothing more.

“Yes, when you’re here things will be much easier.”

Nora stopped in her tracks.

“Here?” She looked up at him puzzled. “What do you mean here’? After the wedding we’re going back home. You have responsibilities as a sheikh to your family and that is where we are going to raise our family.”

Suddenly Abdul’s whole world tilted on an axis. Leave the states? He hadn’t even considered something like that. As far as he was concerned his life was in Florida and that’s where he planned to stay. He didn’t much care for his title of royalty and would rather enjoy just living a good life in the sunshine state. He hadn’t any idea that she had been thinking about going back to their parents. It had seemed that she was just as happy in Florida as she was. Why hadn’t they discussed this? Panic swept through him as he thought about everything he’d have to give up after he got married. Gently he tried to argue the topic

“I don’t really think I want to leave Florida. I didn’t know you really did either since we’re both successful and happy here. Why don’t we just live here for a while after the wedding and see how we feel?”

That was as gently as he could put it. Part of him knew that he should probably have been tougher on the matter, but it came down to the simple fact that he hated arguing with Nora. Strong willed and strong headed, she became very frustrating for him to deal with when she had her mind set. Sure enough she waved her hand in the air, dismissing his idea as if it were nothing.

“No, we need to go back home. That’s simply the way it needs to be.”

Once he was dismissed he couldn’t find a way to argue with her. When she made her mind up on something that was usually it. There was no wiggle room for discussions or even a debate. That would be that. He would need to move back home where his life as a sheikh was all that mattered to anyone. But what could he do? In a few short months she was going to be his wife and honoring her was going to be his duty. If she wanted to raise her children around their parents and family then what argument could he make against it?

Abdul couldn’t help the dark cloud that followed him during Nora’s visit. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake, one that made him feel moody and frustrated. Nora didn’t seem to notice a bit which was just fine for him, he didn’t want to talk about what was bugging him. He wanted to just silently brood about it, frustrated that he felt trapped even more than he had before. But Nora just kept plugging away at the wedding plans, making phone calls and appointments with everyone that was involved in the wedding. Abdul begged off going to almost every appointment that she demanded. He kept telling her that he had to work or had other things to take care of. When she pouted he reminded her that she had sprung the visit on him. When she continued to pout about not getting her way, he stroked her ego by telling her that she could take care of it all on her own. That made her feel better, that and the fact that she had his account numbers memorized.

The only appointment he made sure to go to was the one to Emily’s bakery.

“You’ve been busy for every appointment I’ve had so far, why can you come to this one?” A hint of suspicion twinged her voice and he knew he had to come up with a good enough reason to appease her.

“This one has cupcakes, delicious cupcakes, and you know how I feel about getting fed.” He wrapped his arm around her and hope she believed his response.

“Well I just hope you’re not eating too many of those cupcake while I’m gone. You’re starting to feel a little puffy.” She gave a little laugh to let him know she was joking. But he couldn’t help that her comment stung just a bit, even if he knew eating Emily’s bakery goods every day for weeks probably had made him a little puffy. But every morsel of her mouthwatering food had been worth it.

Immediately something struck his mind and he had no idea why he hadn’t thought of it before. He should have been worrying about it ever since Nora had made her big announcement about going across the world. He had just agreed to a large business venture with Emily. Of course the money he was about to put into it was hardly a drop in a hat for him but to Emily this deal was about to change her whole life. He couldn’t walk away from that, he’d refuse to. He would have to tell Nora that he wasn’t leaving, and that was final.

Emily was in a whirl of panic knowing that Nora and Abdul were coming into the shop but for completely different reasons. In Nora’s case she was terrified that she would fail to impress her with everything she’d been practicing for the wedding. As far as the nerves toward Abdul were concerned, that was due to it being the first time since they’d made the business deal that she was going to see him. It was the first time she was going to see her crush and know that she had no choice but to block him from her mind. She hadn’t exactly done that before because she figured that a crush on an engaged client was no big deal. See him a few times, he gets married, then she wouldn’t have to think about him again.

Unfortunately that crush had turned to love and she was now in a deal where he would be a big part of her entire future. She couldn’t help that part of her still thought she was crazy for agreeing to his proposal, but she also knew that a bigger part of her was incredibly excited. Her dreams were coming true and despite what her feelings were for him, it was incredibly flattering that he felt her baked goods were good enough for him to invest in. That in itself was something to be excited about. But that made it even more important that she impress Nora so that she would feel confident in Abdul’s business venture. After all, she was going to be his wife so it was important that she agree with what he was doing.

Busy in the kitchen she hadn’t realized the time had gone by so quickly until the bell above the door chimed and she heard the quick clip of heels on the tiled floor.

“Hello,” she heard Nora callout.

Her tone was nothing but business and Emily felt the nerves settle deeper into her stomach.

“Please have a seat,” Emily called back to her. “I’ll be bringing everything out in just a minute.” Emily rearranged her display tray for the fifth time and made sure everything looked perfectly appealing. It was known that it was the eyes that determined how good food would be. If something looked like a mess then it wouldn’t taste nearly as good. She knew Nora wouldn’t be tasting the roses at all, but she would be tasting the mini cake and frosting and the bit of decorating she had done on it would be a small sample of the work for the wedding so Nora needed to approve.

Carrying the tray out to the tables in front, she rounded the corner the moment Abdul stepped into the bakery. For a moment her heart forgot how to beat. It was amazing the effect he had on her that he could take over her heart so quickly and fiercely, as if he was meant to be there. He smiled his easy going smile, one she’d grown so accustomed to seeing but one that always took her breath away, and stepped inside.

“Hello Emily, it’s really nice to see you again.” His voice vibrated through her and she realized that she’d been starved to hear him. He could have said anything in that moment and she would have felt her insides turn to jelly.

“Hi Abdul, thanks for coming in,” she said. It was funny to her, how much she really meant that. That she was thankful that he had come in, she was thankful that she was able to see him.

He took the couple strides to the table that Nora was sitting at, her fingers tapping away at her phone and not even looking up. If she had maybe she would have seen what Emily knew was obvious. She could see it in Abdul’s deep and dark eyes, a fire was burning behind them that was heating her face and making her burn with desire for him. But Nora didn’t see what was passing through them, she didn’t feel the energy that was buzzing around Abdul and Nora, instead she was far too preoccupied with her phone.

But Emily felt it, she felt every charged drop of blood that was coursing through her body. It was almost too much to handle and she lost her balance, the tray in her hands tipping and almost falling to the floor. Luckily Abdul caught the tray and straightened her and the platter before everything toppled to the ground.

“You ok?” his voice rumbled in her ear. Her whole body felt set on fire as his hand brushed over hers underneath the tray.

“Yes, thank you. I’m fine.”

From the corner of her eye she could see Nora look up and roll her eyes.

“Let’s make sure we hire someone dependable to bring the cake into the reception hall the day of the wedding. I don’t want it to be dropped by clumsy hands and ruin the whole thing.”

Emily flushed with embarrassment and broke away from Abdul’s help but he kept his stare steadily on her. “Everything will be fine, I trust Emily.”

She smiled gratefully and walked over to the table and gently set down the tray of wedding things. Nora finally looked up and eyed the tray. Emily needed to steady her shaking hands, she could still feel the heat where Abdul’s hand had brushed hers and her entire core felt off-kilter. But the way Nora was scrutinizing the tray made the nerves in Emily’s body feel tight and tingly. At the end of the day, no matter what she felt for Abdul, he was getting married to Nora, and not only were they high paying clients but he was also a new business partner. Nora’s opinion mattered more than she realized.

“I’m impressed Emily. This all looks fabulous.”

Nora’s compliment didn’t sound enthusiastic or excited but Emily knew that Nora wasn’t a woman who gave them away for nothing. So she let that knowledge make her feel a little bit more confident in her abilities to successfully handle the wedding, and mostly the bride. Nora started discussing layers and had several new ideas about what she wanted with her wedding cake. Emily listened intently, taking notes and trying not to notice that Abdul wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to Nora but was focused solely on Emily.

It was hard to stay on track in her mind while he was watching her every move, but it was something she supposed she would have to get used to now that they would be sort of working together. But by the end of her meeting she was feeling confident that she’d be able to handle her feelings and attraction to Abdul. She would just have to stay focused and remember her tasks at hand, like listening to his soon-to-be wife rattle on about the perfection of her wedding.

When Nora seemed finally satisfied, she stood from her seat, a clear dismissal that their time was done. But Abdul cleared his throat and shifted in his chair a bit.

“I’m very glad that you think so highly of Emily’s work because there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you about.”

Nora’s eyes were back to her phone but she made a small noise which Emily guessed meant that she was listening, sort of.

“I’m so impressed by what Emily has done with her bakery that I’ve decided to invest in another location for her. Maybe even talk about franchising her business someday.” Abdul’s eyes had been trained completely on Emily as he made his announcement.

As for Emily, her breathing had started to speed up. She felt uncomfortable that Abdul hadn’t even discussed it with his future wife but was confessing his new business venture right in front of her! She didn’t even have much time to worry about how Nora was going to react, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be good. Sure enough, she was right and Nora’s head snapped up and a wild look had filled her eyes.

“You did what?” Her words hissed from her mouth and Emily involuntarily took a step back from the table.

“I’ve decided to invest some money into another bakery with Emily. She’s got an amazing product and I know that another location is going to make business bloom.”

“You made a big purchase with our money, without even asking me, right before our wedding. Right before we’re supposed to go home? How in the world are you going to run a business from a completely different country?” Suddenly the ice defrosted form her voice and she began to laugh. “This is absurd.” She turned and addressed Emily, “Was this your idea? Beg famous royalty for handouts?”

Royalty?

Emily turned to Abdul and knew confusion was written all over her face. Before she could ask anything, Abdul interjected. It was his turn to have ice in his voice.

“No. Emily did not come up with this idea and in fact turned my proposal down for a while before she accepted it. She had no idea until now that I am royalty and I doubt that if she had it would have changed anything.”