SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance (64 page)

“It will have to do.” She opened her wallet and pulled out her Visa and her driver’s license, handing them over to the desk clerk. “Here you are, you can charge it to my Visa please.”

“Certainly, thank you Miss… Cambridge.” The clerk started typing things into his computer and ran her Visa card through the machine.

Monica was looking around the hotel lobby and admiring the artwork that was on display, waiting for the man to charge her credit card for this overpriced room she was about to stay in for the night, and fantasising about the bed and curling up in a little ball and going to sleep for hours.

“Here you are Miss Cambridge,” he said as he handed her back her Visa and Driver’s License, “would you please sign here?” He indicated where she should sign to accept the charges to her Visa. “Wonderful, and here is your room key, you are in the West Tower, just turn right when you exit the lobby behind you and head into the first elevator past the lounge, and you are on the 9th floor, room 908.”

“Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure, and in case you would like a nightcap, our lounge is open until 2:00am.”

“Thank you.” Monica smiled at him and collected her key and her purse and bag, and headed over towards the elevator that he had mentioned.

There was nice, relaxing jazz tunes coming out of the lounge as she went past and she thought that maybe she would come back down and have a nightcap, that would really put her into a deep sleep. She would just head upstairs, drop of her stuff and freshen up, change out of this clothes she’d been stuck in the car for 15 hours wearing and then go down and unwind a bit.

Monica rode the elevator up to the 9th floor and headed down the hallway in the direction of her room, following the little signs posted on walls. She reached room 908 and slipped her key into the door handle, hearing the little ‘beep’ that told her the door was unlocked and then went into the room. It was an absolutely beautiful room. There was a lot of space and she notice that there was even a kitchen tucked in the corner of the room, with a full sized fridge and an oven, the works. Turning the corner, she saw a living room instead of the bed she had been expecting to see and she realized that this was a suite, not just a hotel room. Wow, this is luxurious, she thought to herself, traveling in style!

She walked into the living room and saw a door to the left, opening it wider she walked into a room with a King size bed and two pretty little nightstands on either side. The bed looked incredibly comfortable, so Monica put her bags down on it and kicked off her shoes, flopping herself face-first onto the fluffy soft white sheets. Monica had never been at such a fancy hotel, in fact, she’d never stayed at a hotel alone in her young life. Everything about this trip was exciting to her. Thinking that she should definitely go down and check out the lounge and have a nightcap, as the desk clerk had recommended, Monica pulled herself off the incredibly comfortable bed and opened her bag.

Riffling through it, she found a simple blouse and jeans to wear. Monica went into the bathroom and enjoyed a nice hot shower, keeping her hair up in a shower cap so she wouldn’t have to worry about going through all the hassle of blow drying it. Monica got dressed and put a bit of mascara on and a bit of lipstick, just for fun. She grabbed her purse and headed out of her hotel room, grabbing her room key off the counter on the way out. She got in the elevator and she was tucking her room key into her purse as the elevator door opened, thinking she was at the lobby, Monica walked out without looking up, bumping hard into someone.

“Oh no! Sorry!” Monica exclaimed, startled as she looked up to see who she had walked into.

“That’s quite alright my dear.” The man who she had walked into was incredibly handsome. He flashed an incredible smile of perfect white teeth and his green eyes lit up with the smile, making them twinkle in an intoxicating way. He was wearing a dark grey suit and a blue tie, he had the look of someone very important, someone with money. He had dark brown hair and a clean shaven face, with a lovely olive skin complexion. “It’s my fault, I didn’t expect a beautiful woman to come spilling out of the elevator. Next time I will have to pay more attention when elevator doors open so as not to startle you.”

“Oh… umm… Thank you.” Monica blushed a shade of scarlet as she looked around the floor, not recognizing the floor as the lobby. “Where are we? I was trying to get to the lounge for a nightcap, I’ve had a very long drive.”

“This is the penthouse.” The elevator doors started closing behind her and the man held his arm out to stop the doors from shutting. “The lounge is down on the first floor, but if you’d like, I have a full service bar here. If you’d like company with your nightcap.”

Monica looked at this mysterious man and wondered what she had to lose accepting his offer. She was already here, and she’d never been in a penthouse before. He was also very attractive, and she could use a bit of conversation to help wind her mind down. “Umm, OK. Sure, why not?”

“Wonderful.” The man removed his arm from the elevator door, allowing them to close shut behind her. “Right this way Miss.” The man offered her his elbow in a very distinguished manner of a gentleman. Monica looked at it for a second and then thought it would be rude not to accept it, so she lightly put her hands on his elbow and let him lead her into the penthouse.

They turned out of the hallway and into an expansive room that had a full bar, a beautiful view with big windows, a piano, and a lounge area with big, comfortable looking leather chairs and couches, with marble coffee tables and side tables.

“Oh, wow!” Monica said as she looked around the room.

“It’s nice but it’s nothing special, what are you drinking?” The man asked as he lead her over to the bar, dropping his elbow so she let go of it and he walked around the bar to service the drinks.

“Well, I have never been in a penthouse before, this looks pretty impressive to me!” Monica laughed and leaned against the bar. “I don’t know, I don’t drink much, what are you having?”

“How about a nice glass of Champagne?” The man smiled at her.

“Sure, that would be lovely!”

The man popped open a bottle of champagne and poured two flutes of the sparkling golden liquid. Monica watched as the bubbles slowly dissipated from the top of the glass. He walked around the side of the bar and handed one to her. “So, may I have the pleasure of knowing the name of the beautiful young woman who spilled out of the elevator and right into my penthouse?”

“Monica, my name is Monica. And you?”

“Christopher Hardy. A toast to fate.” Christopher raised his flute of champagne up to Monica’s and they clinked their glasses together.

Monica took a sip of her champagne and wondered why that name sounded so familiar. Christopher started walking over to the lounge chairs and settled himself into one of the supple leather seat, crossing his legs and enjoying a sip from his champagne flute.

“What are you doing here in Texas Monica?” He smiled at her as she settled herself into a chair opposite him.

“I’m just passing through actually, I’m on my way to LA.” Monica felt the buttery smoothness of the champagne and realized that she loved champagne, this one tasted absolutely delicious, the soft bubbles melting her taste buds as she enjoyed another sip. She had had sparkling wine before with her friends, but it had never tasted anything like this. It was always bitter, acidic and dry. This must be a very expensive champagne.

“LA? From where did you come from then?” He was watching her intently.

“I just left my parents house in Georgia, I’m making the drive to go stay with my friend for awhile in LA. She’s an actress.” Monica felt a little shy with the way he was watching her.

“Any big plans for when you get to LA? Aside from visiting your friend?” Christopher took another sip of his champagne, his eyes not leaving Monica’s.

“Well… actually… I want to be a writer. My friend convinced me to drive out there and I brought my scripts with me, she thinks maybe I have a chance of selling one to a production company of something.” Monica suddenly felt very shy, she never really talked to people about her dreams or desires, and this man was a complete stranger.

“A writer? Well, you are talking to the right person Monica! I’m a writer myself in fact.” Christopher raised his glass to her. “To you and your future as a writer.”

Monica raised her glass and smiled the Christopher as she blushed.

“Oh wait… Christopher Hardy? Oh my god, I’m so sorry! Your name, it’s on the display downstairs in the lobby. I can’t believe I didn’t realize…” Monica was a deep shade of scarlet now, embarrassed that she was in the penthouse of a world famous author and business man and had no idea who he was, the man was worth billions of dollars and here she was, just sitting and having a chat with him in his penthouse. Unbelievable… she thought in awe of her dumb luck.

“That’s quite alright, it’s actually very refreshing having someone not recognize me. That’s actually part of the reason I invited you up here, I realized you didn’t know who I was when you didn’t try to jump me in the elevator. There are a lot of crazy woman who come to these events thinking that they can persuade me to marry them or something ridiculous. I blame the tabloids, if they would just stop printing that I am the most eligible bachelor, then maybe these crazy women would back off!” Christopher laughed and then continued, “The other reason that I invited you up is because I was absolutely struck by your beauty.”

Monica blushed and took a sip of her champagne to clear her throat because she was at a loss for words. Finally when she swallowed the sip, she managed to put some words together, “Thank you Christopher, I just feel kind of silly for not knowing who you were…”

“Trust me, it’s more flattering to not be recognized by someone as beautiful and intelligent as you, than to be bombarded by a crowd of money hungry fans.”

“I suppose you’re right, I can’t imagine what that would feel like…” Monica shook her head, wondering what her day to day life would be like if everyone knew her name and wanted something from her. She didn’t think she could handle the pressure or stress of it all.

“Hopefully one day you have the same kind of crazed fans from your writing!” Christopher laughed and shifted his body, uncrossing his legs and re-crossing them in the other direction.

“Oh, I doubt it… I don’t think I’ll actually be able to sell anything…” Monica looked down at the ground, full of self doubt now that she knew she was sitting with a famous author.

“Never say never my dear Monica.” Christopher got up and headed over to the bar, taking the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket where it was chilling, and walked back over to the lounge area. He came over and stood in front of Monica’s chair, she held out her flute for him to pour and as he was pouring the golden fluid into her cup he spoke.

“I have a proposition for you.” He finished filling up her champagne glass and then filled his own, returning the champagne bottle back to it’s ice bucket.

“A proposition?” Monica looked at him with curiosity.

“Yes.” Christopher sat back down in his leather chair and took a sip from his flute, looking at her in the eyes. “I would like to help you get your scripts published and sold. I have connections in the film industry and I would be able to make magic happen for you Monica.”

“Really? Why would you want to do that?” Monica was shocked.

“Because I think you are incredibly beautiful and sweet and innocent Monica, and because I want you.” Christopher was looking at her with husky eyes full of desire.

Monica swallowed and blushed red. “You want me?”

“Yes, I want you. I would propose that we spend the evening together, here. Then when you arrive in LA, I would ask you to come to my home in the Hollywood Hills to spend some time with me there where we would discuss your scripts and go over them together. After that, I will take your scripts to my contacts at Universal Studios and give them a choice of the ones you have finished and ready to go. I can guarantee you that they will pick one and offer you a contract and a price to buy the script. I will get you top dollar for it, let’s say in the ballpark of $500,000.00. Not to mention, you will become an accredited writer overnight, having your first ever script go straight to the big screen.” Christopher paused, assessing Monica’s reaction. “What do you think my dear?”

“That sounds too good to be true…” Monica was amazed at what he was offering her, but she was concerned about what he meant about them spending time together. “What would I have to do for you?” Monica was unable to meet his eyes when she asked the question. “You would have to give yourself to me, sexually. I want to have you Monica. Tonight.” Christopher’s voice was full of sex appeal and lust as he said the words.

“Tonight..?” Monica took a deep breath and raised her gaze so that she was looking into his eyes. “And you will sell my script for $500,000.00? Just for one night with me?”

“Yes.” Christopher’s eyes didn’t falter from their connection with hers.

“OK. I’ll do it.” Monica had no idea where her sudden bravery and confidence was coming from. She felt like another person, in a fantasy world. This didn’t seem real.

“Good. Come with me Monica.” Christopher set his flute down on the coffee table and took hers from her hand, setting it down beside his and taking her hand in his. He led her down another hallway and into a room with an incredibly big four post king sized bed that had an impressive canopy of rich gold fabric hanging down around it.

Monica allowed herself to be led over to the bed and she stood before it as Christopher released her hand.

“I want you to want this. Do you want this?” Christopher placed his hands gently on each of her arms, leaning in close and breathing lightly on her neck, making her skin come alive with the heat of his breath.

“Yes. I want this.” Monica whispered back, knowing that she did want this. He was so handsome and had such an intoxicating sex appeal, she wanted him and she wanted him now.

“Good.” Christopher reached around her and slowly held the back of her neck, tilting her head to the side and kissing the soft curve of her neck softly, his warm breath and soft lips making her entire body come alive with the sensation. It had been a long time since she’d been intimate with someone and her body was aching for his touch on her skin.