The Royal's American Love (10 page)

 He glanced carefully through the crowd, looking for an
older American woman. He supposed his picture of a 1950s’ secretary was far
from correct, as the only older American woman he saw was quickly joined by a
very happy family.

The crowd thinned, and a young woman with extraordinary
black curly hair made her way through it. She walked with a bounce in her step
and her head up, scanning the crowd for someone. She wore a light green dress
over dark leggings and ballet flats, and when he met her eyes briefly, he felt
a deep jolt go through his body.

 A shame I'm not here to meet that one
.
But I
suppose if it were here, I wouldn't really want her looking over my accounts.

The girl couldn't have been out of college. Perhaps she was
in Dubai for school, or perhaps she was on one of the desert archaeological
digs. He admired her voluptuous frame and her loose easy gait for a moment
before he turned his eyes back to the crowd.

Miss Waters' plane had disembarked almost twenty minutes
ago. He frowned. He had no message that she had decided at the last moment not
to come.

He found her name in his contacts and typed a quick message
to her on his phone.
I'm here to pick you up. Are you off the plane?

Her reply was gratifying instantaneous.
Yes, I am here.
The flight was lovely! Where are you located?

Amir glanced around.
I am under the large potted tree
with the red flowers. I'm straight out from the gate.

I will come find you! I am looking forward to meeting
you.

 Amir grinned at the enthusiasm of her message. For a woman
like Miss Waters, surely this would be the adventure of a lifetime.

He looked up in time to see the same young woman with the
flyaway dark curls in the green dress cutting through the crowd toward him. As
she got closer, he could see that her skin was an utterly smooth warm brown
with a splatter of completely adorable dark freckles across her nose. She
seemed to be looking for someone, and a suspicion started to grow in Amir's
mind.

Miss Waters?

 The moment he sent off the message, she glanced down at
her phone and started to type.

Amir sighed, looking at her with disbelief. This girl was
the woman he had brought all the way from America to be his good right hand?
She looked as if she should have been giggling with her school friends. She
looked as if she should... he shook that last thought away because it was
frankly disrespectful to her and besides, he had quite enough on his plate.

Amir pocketed his phone and strode forward. “Miss Waters?”

The woman looked up, startled. To her surprise, rather than
regard him with fear or wariness, she offered him a wide grin that seemed to
warm the world.

“
Al Salaam alaykum
. I'm Estelle Waters,” she said in
surprisingly good Arabic. “I did not expect that you would come out to meet me
yourself.”

“
Wa alaykum e-salaam
,” he responded, before
switching to English. “I beg your pardon, but... you are truly Estelle Waters?”

 She nodded, her smile even brighter. “I am. I am so
excited to make your acquaintance, Mr. Kalil. I am so glad that I have the
opportunity to thank you in person for offering me this opportunity.”

The words were absolutely what he would have expected from
the woman he had corresponded with for so long, but the woman delivering
them... well, this would take some getting used to.

“Do you have any bags to collect?” he asked.

If she was a little surprised by abruptness, she didn't
show it. She shook her head, pointing to the rolling suitcase she was dragging
along. “You gave me such a generous stipend that I decided I would wait until I
got here to decide whether to send for my things or not,” she said with a small
laugh. “Or perhaps that's gauche to bring up money so soon? All I know is that
your offer was beyond generous, and I wanted to say thank you.”

Her bright honesty was infectious, and he found himself
smiling at her before he could stop himself. “I am glad that you find it to
your liking.” It was a little hard to take her seriously, and he understood how
unfair that was. She was the same woman he had been working with for the past
long months. Nothing should have changed.

She looked around them curiously as they left the airport,
and the look she gave his car was appropriately impressed. He was pleased to
find her, but he couldn't help the feeling that he had picked up a date, not a
valuable assistant.

“How long have you worked at Miller & McKinley?” he
asked as they pulled into traffic.

“Two years,” she said promptly, “though I found them through
an undergraduate internship program. They hired me right out of school, and
I've been working with them ever since.”

“And who were you working under at the law firm?”

“Mostly under Mr. Miller, but after I took on your account,
I was mostly under my own recognizance.”

“You... were?”

She nodded. “Yes, they left most of the affairs to my
discretion.”

Amir was acutely aware of how much his business to Miller
& McKinley was worth. That they should have left it to an untried girl was
simply astounding. That he had not noticed that they had done just that was
incredible.

She must have read something in his face, because she
nodded, her grin dying down a little.

“All right, I can see you're having some trouble.”

He was at a stoplight, and he glanced at her quickly. He
was a little startled at how a face that seemed designed for joy could look
that determined in the space of a moment.

“I'm... having some trouble?”

“Yes, you are,” Estelle said firmly. “You obviously have a
picture in your head of who and what I am, and I do not match it, do I?”

He wasn't sure what to say about that, but she was
absolutely telling the truth. He nodded warily.

“I am sorry that I do not match your picture of me, but I
do promise you that I am the same person. I am the one who found the email that
halted the Ellsford deal, I'm the one who helped you get through the crisis in
Chicago, and I am the one who has been keeping you up to date on the Kalil
Enterprises interests in the United States for a solid half year and more.”

Now that she was talking, he could hear that steel that he
had always found in her writings. He could feel those green eyes boring into
him, and he could hear the resolve in her voice.

“Yes, you are,” he said quietly.

“None of that has changed, and if you truly think that it
has, then you should tell me right now. I'll be offended, and I will be upset,
but if you cannot work with me, that is something I need to know.”

“And what would you do if that was the case?” He already
knew what his answer would be, but if he were honest, his regard for Estelle
Waters was growing by leaps and bounds. He wanted to know more her, and this
was a part of it.

“Then I would demand the three months’ severance pay that
is part of the job contract, and I would look for employment in Dubai.”

He blinked. “You wouldn't go home to your family?”

She shot him a wary look. “My family loves me very much,
but nothing would please them more than if I returned to the United States.”

“Are they so eager to see you fail?” he asked, obscurely
offended on her behalf.

She laughed a little. “Hardly. They want to see me safe.
They cannot imagine why I want to see the world and really experience it. They
love me, but I confuse them a great deal. It is a good relationship, but I will
not say it is always an easy one.”

He felt an answering smile at his lips. “I think I might be
able to understand you there.” He came to a decision and nodded decisively. “We
are done talking about you returning to the United States. I have invited you
here as my assistant, and that means I am responsible for bringing you on board
at Kalil Enterprises. I have full faith that you will find a home here for as
long as you wish.”

 Her face lit up as if the sun had come out, and behind it,
he could also detect a quality for loyalty and passion that would serve her
well as his assistant.

“You are not going to regret this, Mr. Kalil,” she swore.
“I know that I'm young, but I also know what I'm doing. I'll do everything I
can do to make this switch an easy one.”

He laughed. “All right then. We shall see if we suit each
other at all, and from there, we will find out how you fit in at Kalil
Enterprises. Though I do have a question for you...”

She looked very alert, as if she was ready to jump into
battle on his behalf then and there.

“And what is that, Mr. Kalil?”

“I would very much like it if we could call each other by
our given names.”

She blinked. “You mean you want me to call you Amir, and
you would like to call me Estelle?”

He nodded, waiting to see how she would take it.

This time, her grin was slower but no less genuine. “Like
friends,” she said. “I would very much like to be your friend, Amir.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “Just like in the movies.”

“Beg pardon?”

He laughed, a little self-deprecatingly. “Dubai has a fine
tradition of films and cinema, but it cannot be denied that America cinema is
seen the world over. I have enjoyed many American films of all types, and
something has always struck me about the casual nature. I wondered, since you
were an American, how you would react.”

 “I'm an American through and through,” Estelle said
cheerfully. “But I think that one of my best traits, maybe my most American
trait when I come right down to it, is how adaptable I am. I'll take anything
you can throw at me.”

He laughed at her enthusiasm, shaking his head. “I didn't
expect to have you quite so eager fresh off the plane. I assumed you would want
a few days to sleep and get on your feet before I brought you to the business.”

She shook her head, and now there was a glint in her eye. “No,
I slept on the plane, and my new place can wait. Can I come see Kalil
Enterprises now? Would that be all right?”

Amir glanced at her, a little surprised. “Of course, I was
headed that way myself after I dropped you off.”

“Perfect,” she said with a wide grin. “I can't wait to get
started.

CHAPTER TWO

Estelle stretched, popping something in her back and making
Amir look a little concerned.

“Are you all right?” he asked for the second time in two
hours.

“Fresh as a daisy,” she promised, but when she stumbled a
little, getting out of her desk chair, he caught her, shaking his head.

“I'm going to warn you, Estelle, it is a bad idea to end an
exemplary first day at your job by lying to your employer.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but then she realized what
she was going to say and shook her head. “I guess I was, wasn't I?” she said
with chagrin. “You're probably right, and I should call it a day.”

“More to the point, I need to call it a day,” he pointed
out. “After all, I'm your ride back to your new apartment.”

Estelle's eyes widened and she stammered with guilt. “Oh
no! I completely forgot that I was keeping you and that you were my ride. I
didn't think at all. I'm sorry.”

Amir's smile was gracious, and it struck her all over again
what a handsome man her new employer was. He was far from being the dignified
older gentleman that she had thought he was going to be, but she was finally
getting used to this version. Every now and then, however, she still looked up
and found herself impressed by Amir's height, his lean, muscled body and his
good looks.

“It is far from a problem, but perhaps you will allow me to
order some food when we get back to your place. I ate before I picked you up,
but now I'm quite hungry.”

His look was teasing, but Estelle still felt a touch
mortified. As if to agree, her stomach growled loudly. She had last eaten on
the plane, and that was a small vegetarian meal of lentils in a bland yellow
sauce.

“Anything you like,” she promised.

During the ride back to her apartment, Estelle found
herself falling into a contemplative silence. The lights of Dubai were bright
against the darkening sky. It was one of the most advanced and wealthy cities
in the world, and she could hardly believe that she was here in the middle of
all of it. She was making her way in the world, but it was hard to forget that
she was now literally on the other side of the planet from everything she knew
and cared about.

As if he could sense her mood, Amir drove in silence. It
was only when they hit a red light and a well-dressed family of four, mother,
father, toddling child and baby in arms, were crossing that he spoke.

“It is all right to be homesick,” he said softly. “You are
far away from what you have known.”

“Don't you dare tell me to go home,” she said fiercely.
“Not when you were the one who brought me here, and not when I'm going to do
all of this good work for you.”

Amir's chuckle was soft, but there was something about it
that warmed her right down to her toes.

“I wouldn't dream of it,” he said. “Only I can imagine how
it is for you to be lonely, and I wanted to tell you that loneliness was all
right. You don't have to hide it or be ashamed of it.”

His words were so kind tears prickled at her eyes. That
would be just perfect. She had come to do a demanding job halfway across the
world, and now she was going to cry. She blinked hard to keep the tears from
falling.

“You speak of it with familiarity,” she said. “Have you
been away from home before?”

Amir's laugh was slightly bitter. “I went to school in
Oxford for a while, but I barely had time to feel homesick there before I came
home.”

Estelle bit her lip, but there was something in the way he
spoke that made her feel comfortable enough to continue. For another person,
she would have tactfully held off, assuming that they didn't want to share with
her. With Amir, things felt a little different.

“What happened?” she asked gently.

He shrugged, more tired than angry or even frustrated. “You
are going to be working for Kalil Enterprises now, so you might as well know
the lay of the land. My family are traditionalists, Estelle. They have
modernized quite nicely, and they are kind people who want the best for the
world, but there are some things on which they stand very firm.

“When I was at school, just starting my first year, my
older brother Rashid threw over the traces and ran away to South America. The
whole family was in turmoil, and I was called back because my parents were in a
blind panic.

“Was... was he okay?”

Amir's laugh was oddly respectful, if a little rueful. “Oh,
he does quite well there. He's the leader of an artist colony now, and his
paintings sell for thousands of dollars. My parents, I think, are proud even if
they are still angry, but since Rashid did that, they've become even more...
worried about breaking with tradition.”

“And because you are their son, they want to make sure that
you carry those traditions on,” she guessed.

“Exactly.”

 Estelle thought as the car made its way through the busy
streets. She could imagine that. Her family was far from traditional, but even
then, she could feel the chains of convention and the familiar pulling down at
her. She knew from her research that the Kalil family was an old one,
technically counted as royalty, or would have been if the world was a slightly different
place. Amir was, in many ways, a prince.

She was startled when they pulled up to a tall building lit
up bright against the dark. Amir pulled into the circle drive where he handed a
valet his car keys and told them to send up her baggage.

 Estelle barely stopped herself from saying that she would
take care of her bag on her own, but she couldn't stop herself from staring
around at the marble lobby, the impeccably dressed doorman, and the elegant
people on their way in and out.

“Oh, Amir,” she said softly. “Surely this can't be for me?”

“Why shouldn't it?” he asked casually. “Kalil Enterprises
owns a block of apartments in this building. My family also owns the penthouse
at the top for our exclusive use. It was the most convenient way to get you
settled quickly. It is part of your board agreement with us, but if you find it
not to your liking, I'm sure we can make comparable arrangements elsewhere.”

Estelle giggled. Maybe she was too tired, because there was
something slightly hysterical about the sound of her mirth. When Amir raised an
eyebrow, she shook her head.

“I…I just think that my old apartment might be the size of
a broom closet in this place,” she said.

Amir nodded judiciously. “This building does have very
large broom closets,” he said gravely, and something about that was so funny
that she kept on laughing.

If the concierge was startled by the well-dressed man and
his giggling companion, she didn't show it. She and Amir passed a few words,
and then Amir turned to Estelle with her key cards.

“Here you are. You are on the seventeenth floor.”

The elevator was glass encased with marble, and it was
utterly silent as it took them to their floor.

Amir stepped back as Estelle opened the door to her new
apartment, and she gasped. It was a one bedroom, but it was utterly enormous
and furnished with tasteful furniture that seemed to cry to be used. There was
a small balcony that seemed made for plants, a small but impressive
entertainment center, and a bedroom that seemed completely dominated by the queen-sized
bed.

“I can't believe this,” she said, flopping down on the
couch. “This is amazing.”

“We wanted to make sure that you felt invested in staying,”
Amir said with a smile. “Kalil Enterprises definitely believes in treating its
employees well.”

“There's treating people well, and there's killing them
with kindness,” Estelle said. “Did you want to order something?”

Just as she said that, there was a discreet knock at the
door.

Amir gestured her to stay seated and went to open it,
bringing back a flat box labeled with the florid name,
Rossovivo
. The
familiar smell of fresh pizza made Estelle's mouth start to water and when he
put it down on the small table in front of the couch, she could have cried.

“You ordered us pizza?” she said in a small voice.

“I did.” Amir looked at her curiously. “Is that a problem?”

She shook her head. If she spoke, there was an embarrassing
chance she was going to cry. Instead, she waited until he sat down at the couch
next to her, and she threw her arms around him.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his chest. “This is
perfect.”

He seemed a little startled by her impulsive gesture at
first, but he quickly wrapped his arms around in her a comforting hug. “Come
now,” he said after a moment. “You don't want the pizza to get cold.”

The pizza was not exactly what she had back home in New
York, but it was still delicious. The crust was thin and crisp, and the flavors
of mozzarella, cream, basil and pistachio exploded in her mouth. They ate in
companionable silence for a while. When the first edge of her hunger had been
taken off, Estelle thought of how good this felt, simply being able to share
food with another person. It made the loneliness and homesickness feel suddenly
far less dire.

'Thank you so much,” she said, settling back after her
third piece of pizza. “That was just what I needed.”

Amir finished off his slice and leaned back next to her. “I
want you to feel like this is your home. I want you to feel as if you have
everything you need to make this truly yours.”

“I can see my way there now,” she said, aware that her
voice was growing slower and more dazed.

“Good.”

She should at the very least get up and say goodnight if
she was going to be a sleepy little lump. Instead, she felt so good and so warm
next to Amir that she simply let her eyes drift shut. She could feel her
fingers twisting in the soft material of his shirt. She could hear his deep
resonant voice saying something to her, but it didn't matter what.

Safe and full, she drifted off into a deep and sound sleep.

*

Amir looked down at his new assistant with a fond smile. He
had thought that she looked like a college student when he first saw her. Now
that she was nestled up close to him, a small smudge of tomato sauce on her
chin, she looked even younger.

“Well, we'll certainly see what you can do,” he said with a
sigh.

He was aware that there was a certain gentleness to his
voice when he spoke to her. Something about her made him want to protect her,
to make sure she wasn't hurt or damaged. When she was sitting in his car,
looking at a city that had to be overwhelming, allowing herself only to feel a
kind of wonder and delight, he had gotten an idea of how truly brave she was.

Something about her touched something inside him that he
was not sure existed before.

It was too much to think about, and after all, it truly had
been a very long day.

Amir jostled Estelle's shoulder a little to see if she
would wake, but she only snuggled to him more tightly, murmuring a soft
protest. He sighed. Apparently there would be no help for it.

He effortlessly picked her up from the couch, settling her
comfortably in his arms before he started to walk. She only sighed a little,
butting her head against his shoulder. He found himself murmuring to her
quietly, telling her to sleep.

He removed her shoes and socks, but the rest he had to
leave in place. He tucked her under the covers, and for just a moment, he
looked over her as she slept. He had to admit he was feeling more than just
protective, and that might be a serious problem for all of them, especially if
certain things his parents were discussing came true after all.

Still, despite what he knew to be true, he couldn't stop
himself from leaning down to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. In the
light from the living room, he could see her soft mouth curve into a sweet
smile.

“Good light, little bunny,” he whispered, and he closed the
door behind him as he left.

*

Estelle awoke in a full-blown panic. At first, the source
of her confusion was the fact that the light was definitely coming in from the
wrong side of her room, and then she realized she was not in her own room at
all. Then she remembered that the place she had thought of as her own room was
now taken over by a young woman with a ferret and a Mohawk, and she began to
feel excited, instead.

She sprang out of bed, shedding the last of the previous
evening's anxiety like it was water. She was certain it would be back for her
at some point, but right now, she had things she needed to do.

Estelle noted that she was in her travel clothes, and she
winced remembering Amir carrying her to bed. She should have been embarrassed
to fall asleep on her new boss as if he was a pillow there for her amusement,
but instead, the whole incident left her with a feeling of warmth and care. It
reminded her of being at home and how her friends had all looked out for each
other no matter what was happening.

She got up and checked the clock. It was just six, and
Kalil Enterprises started operations around nine. She had plenty of time to
send some texts to her loved ones, get a few stretches in and take a shower.

Estelle had never been the strongest or the fastest girl in
the world, but she was bendable. She loved to dance, do yoga, and now, dressed
in her loose workout clothes, she took care to stretch her body, working out
the knots and cramps from a long transatlantic flight. By the end, she had
worked up enough of a sweat that the shower was a welcome diversion.

The shower, like everything else in her apartment, was
state-of-the-art and incredibly lovely. It was a large enclosed glass cubicle,
and the shower head above was easily the size of a large serving tray. Playing
with the controls, she enjoyed a shower designed to mimic the fall of the rain,
and when she got out, she knew she was glowing with energy.

She was still looking at her clothing choices for the day
when there was a knock at the door. Estelle blinked before wrapping herself
snugly in her old robe and went to the door. She didn't think twice about
opening the door without the chain latched, and she found herself looking at a
very startled Amir.