The Sheikh's American Bride (The Sharqi Sheikhs Series Book 2)
Read The Sheikh's American Bride (The Sharqi Sheikhs Series Book 2) Online
Authors: Leslie North
By Leslie North
The Sharqi Sheikhs Series
Book Two
Blurb
Librarian Claire Anderson will do anything to be transferred to a new University. After her professor boyfriend humiliated her by sleeping with a student, she’s ready to leave Harvard behind for good. However, when the Dean won’t give her a referral unless she does him a favor, she has no choice but to accept. Now she has to spend the next month playing tour guide to Taleb Sharqi, a sinfully gorgeous Sheikh who practically has his own female fan club.
Taleb came to the US to study, but he has a secret, and far more personal, motive. He wants to find an American bride before his 25th birthday. But only a certain type of woman will do: she must be tall, blond, thin and wealthy—everything his new tour guide is not. With her dark hair, strong mind and love for ice cream, Claire is nothing like the woman he’s looking for. But then why is she suddenly catching his eye?
A spark ignites between them, but Claire’s past humiliations resurface as Taleb struggles to learn that you can’t control who you love.
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Table of Contents
“Men are so stupid!” Claire Anderson complained in frustration as she stared into her phone’s camera. “And I can’t believe that you’re so far away that I have to talk to you by Skype.”
“I can’t believe that he cheated on you.” Kim growled.
“I can't believe it either, that jackass. Who does he think he is? God’s gift to the female student body?”
“You know that if I was there, I’d be happy to help you bury the body,” Kim told her consolingly, as Claire cracked a smile.
“Don’t make me smile, dammit. I’m angry. Oh Kim, I’m so humiliated. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was only one, but apparently, this is not the first time. And to think I thought I loved him. What was I thinking?” Slamming her hand down in frustration, Claire hit the horn on her car.
“Where are you?”
“My car. See?” Turning the phone around, Claire did a wide sweep of her car before flipping the phone back around.
“Well, it’s good to see that you finally cleaned your car,” Kim replied drolly.
“Not funny. What am I going to do? I just got my job at the Harvard Law Library and with his tenured position; he’s in there all the time.”
“Can you transfer to a different library?”
Running her hand through her hair, “I guess I can try, but I really like it there,” Claire replied, pouting.
“How many libraries does Harvard have? Fifty?”
“Seventy,” Claire replied sullenly.
“Well, girlfriend, I think if it gets to be too much for you, you might look to transfer someplace that he doesn’t go.”
Staring into the camera, Claire blinked slowly before she pulled her phone away from her and then back in again.
“Um, what are you doing?” Kim asked.
“Trying to figure out who you are and what you did with my friend. Clearly, being in love has changed you.”
“I’m still me. And I don’t think love has changed me. Much,” Kim replied as she giggled. “But honestly, Claire. You're a beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman. Heck, if I was a guy and not madly in love with Karim, I’d want to date you,” Kim replied making kissing noises into her phone.
Laughing, “I bet Karim is glad you aren’t,” Claire replied as she continued to chuckle while imagining her friend as a guy.
“Seriously, Claire. You need to put this behind you. The guy is clearly a player. Any real man would be lucky to have you.”
“I am in a crappy place.” Claire sighed. “You're so lucky to have such an amazing man at your side.”
“I have kissed my fair share of frogs before I found my prince charming. You’ll find yours too one day.”
“I don’t believe in fairy tales,” Claire replied, even though she was a sucker for romance stories.
“Well, you know what I mean. Speaking of princes or rather sheiks, have you seen Taleb yet?”
“Yes, I’ve seen him around the campus, now that the semester is starting.”
“Oh really? Have you spoken to him?” Kim asked. Taleb was Karim’s younger brother and her future brother-in-law.
“He is always surrounded by so many girls. It’s ridiculous.”
“Surely not all the time?”
“No, seriously. Every. Single. Time. He has his own fan club.”
Kim started laughing. “It can’t be that bad,” she replied in surprise as Claire laughed with her.
“I’m not kidding. He has a bodyguard who keeps a certain distance and then there are all these…females scurrying around him as if he’s some sort of celebrity.”
Claire shook her head as she pictured the entourage that constantly seemed to surround Taleb Sharqi, as he walked around the Harvard campus. Okay, granted, she had to admit that he was the stuff that ended up on the cover of her romance novels, but really? All that attention for one man? It wasn’t as if he was a
real
celebrity. Okay, she reminded herself, he is a sheik and according to Kim, a cousin to the royal family but all that attention this far from home?
“That was how it was at the orphanage with Karim. The women were all fawning over him and asking him all these crazy questions as they batted their eyelashes and rubbed their hands on his arms. When it’s only one or two women at a time, he shrugs it off, but when it turns into a mob, I can tell that it overwhelms him as he tries to shake them off politely.”
“Do they still do that?”
“They do, and I just stand there quietly smiling to myself.”
“Knowing that he is all yours.” Both girls started laughing, as Kim blushed.
“Yes, exactly.”
“Are you going to join Taleb's little fan club?”
“I’d have to take a number,” Claire replied dryly. She opened her car door and got out.
“So, what are you up to tonight?”
“It’s Friday night. I just found out that the man I thought I loved was cheating on me with a student in his department, care to take a guess?”
Kim didn’t even hesitate, “Ice cream.”
“You know me so well. Tonight, I’ll be sharing my bed with my two favorite men, Ben
and
Jerry.” At Kim’s snort, “The ice cream! Not them. Eesh, how old are they? Sixty?”
“Are you going to be okay?” Kim sounded concerned for her best friend.
“Yes, I'll be fine. Please don’t worry about me.” Claire said, forcing a smile. “I have a meeting with the Dean on Monday and I should know where I stand after that.”
“Okay, call me if you need me, hun.”
“Always, sweetie.”
Disconnecting the call, Claire had a pang of envy when she thought about how lucky her friend was. She had traveled to Saudi Arabia and took a position as a private tutor never expecting to fall in love with a sheik.
Claire walked into the store and immediately headed over to the freezer aisle. When she got there, she opened it and scanned for some Ben and Jerrys, her favorite ice cream.
Grabbing a pint, she turned on her heel and headed towards the register. As she was waiting in line, she grabbed the latest romance novel at the checkout and stared at the cover model. Dark hair, grey eyes, muscles in all the right places.
I bet you wouldn’t cheat on your girlfriend, oh tall, dark and yummy,
Claire thought as she added the book to her purchases.
“He fucked a student!” Claire lashed out, as Dean Parker stared at her in surprise at her outburst.
Leaning forward, the Dean braced his elbows on his desk, “Miss Anderson, if you would please calm down.”
“Calm down? I spent all weekend trying to be calm and it didn’t work. I thought I could do this, I really did, but he’s at the library all the time and so is she, I can’t stand to work there knowing that I’ll see them. Dean, please understand, with my dual degree in legal studies and library sciences….”
“You are exactly where we need you,” the Dean finished.
“But there are other libraries.”
Before the Dean could respond, his secretary rushed into the office.
“I am sorry to interrupt, sir, but your eleven o’clock is here.”
“Two more minutes, Mrs. Meade,” the Dean said to her before she nodded and left the office.
“Dean Parker, surely…” Claire’s voice trailed off as he held up his hand for silence.
“Miss Anderson, there are no rules against liaisons between professors and graduate students. If she were an undergrad, chances are he would be called before the ethics committee, but she isn’t. On top of that, Professor Daniel Simons is a tenured professor whose publications have helped with alumni donations.”
Claire balled up her fists tightly, “So that’s it then.”
Rocking back in his chair, he steepled his fingers as he stared at her thoughtfully. “Maybe not. There is a new student.”
“So?” Claire did not understand why the Dean was telling her about a student. It had nothing to do with her transfer.
“He is a high profile student and it is important to keep him around.”
Claire frowned, “Okay, then. What does that have to do with me?”
“I want you to show him around campus.”
Claire raised her eyebrows. “Ah, no thank you.” She had no intention of babysitting some rich kid.
“If you do that for me, I will make sure that you get the transfer.”
Claire's jaw hung open. Was he actually blackmailing her? “This isn’t fair.”
Shrugging his shoulders, “As a private university, you know that we get the majority of our funding from donors. Having high profile students
and
professors on campus goes a long way toward securing that funding. There is a rumor that he doesn’t plan on remaining at Harvard but if you could get him to stick around until at least half-way through the term and possibly get him to attend an upcoming donor function, it would help tremendously. In return, so long as he remains until say,” the Dean paused, rubbing the stubble on his jaw, “Harvest Festival in mid-October, I will do my best to see that you are transferred to a library that Professor Simons doesn’t frequent; perhaps one off campus.”
Claire stared at him now completely sure that he was blackmailing her.
“I don’t know,” she replied quietly, dipping her chin. “Who is this student anyway?”
“Taleb Sharqi.”
Claire's eyes flew open. “Taleb?”
“I guess you know about him already. As you can see, he is an important figure. We need to keep him satisfied
and
at our university.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But what do you want me to do with him?”
“As an alum here, you know this campus and the local area well. You were an academically excellent student with a great reputation and you work here. Show him around and give him a taste of Western culture.”
“I guess…” Claire trailed off.
“Claire, I have every faith in you that you will know exactly what to do,” the Dean said cajolingly. “Just make sure he is impressed.”
Before Claire could reply, someone burst into the office, someone tall, dark and handsome. She recognized him immediately – Taleb.
Another man followed quickly behind him as Claire raised her eyebrows at the sudden intrusion. She was shocked to see him, especially after they had just finished talking about him. He was much more handsome up close with his dark brown hair and sexy beard that looked about a week old.
“We had a meeting at eleven sharp,” he said to the Dean. Claire looked at him as he stood there huffing in indignation. She did not appreciate the fact that he had just burst into the office without invitation and now he was interrupting their conversation. He seemed rather rude.
“Apologies, Sheik Sharqi, for keeping you waiting,” the Dean said to him quickly, jumping up from his chair. “This is a good time to introduce you both, actually. This is Claire Anderson; she will be showing you around campus and the area.”
Claire felt awkward as the Dean introduced her to him. She was not prepared for all this to happen so quickly, after all, she had only just agreed to do it. He turned briefly to face her before turning back to the Dean. Claire’s smile rapidly shifted to a frown as he didn’t bother to greet her. She could not believe that this was the same man that Kim had spoken so highly of. Maybe there was some sort of mistake.
“I do not need anyone to show me around,” Taleb told the Dean, completely ignoring Claire.
“Given that you are new here, we thought that you would benefit from having one of our graduates and current employee show you around the campus and make sure that you have everything that you need.”
Turning his head, Taleb sized Claire up as she sat there slouched in her chair wearing a pair of baggy pants and a well-worn Harvard hoodie. Returning his attention to the Dean, “No really, I do not require a…babysitter.”
“Miss Anderson is nothing of the sort…”
As the Dean continued to talk, the conversation became white noise for Claire as she crossed her arms and openly glared at Taleb’s back. She didn’t care who he was, he needed to learn some manners.
Why was it that all the good-looking ones were such assholes? Why did he have to be so attractive? He could easily grace the cover of one of her romance novels. And a sheik? Really? He was every woman’s fantasy, including hers, and he was looking at her as if she were nothing more than a fly on the wall.
Wait. Why was he looking at her?
Claire snapped out of her thoughts when the Dean cleared his throat. Looking up, she was surprised to see all three men staring at her curiously.
“Sorry, did you say something, sir?” Claire asked apologetically.
“I was confirming that tomorrow morning was convenient for you to meet to begin the tour.”
Nodding her head, she was about to respond when Taleb interrupted.
“Fine, I will meet you on the front lawn at eleven. Don’t be late,” he told her curtly before he strode out of the room with the other man following behind.
As he walked away, Claire was unable to hold it in any longer as she shouted to his disappearing back, “Nice to meet you, too.”
