The Sheik's Pregnant Lover (Love By Accident) (3 page)

Goodness, was she fantasizing about having an affair with a man who was poor? 
Laura would get a real laugh out of that! 

Sidra wasn’t a snob, but Laura teased her about all the men she was around, men who could take care of her and dress her in the most beautiful clothes if she would only flirt a little more openly, be friendlier and take those advances the men were offering. 

Sidra wasn’t like that.  She didn’t want to win a husband, she wanted to win respect.  She’d lived too long in the shadow of her brother, a successful stock broker who had always teased her that she’d never make it in the world with her soft, creative heart. 

Maybe he’d been right.  She loved her brother Ryan, but he was cold, calculating and at only two years older than she was, had made a great deal of money.  That wasn’t the path she wanted to take though. 
She
didn’t want to make a
lot
of money.  She wanted to make beauty.  She wanted the world to be a better place to live
in
and she knew she could use the creative gifts God had given her to make things nicer. 

She wasn’t weak, she told herself, arguing against what her brother always
said about her
.  She was strong, but kind hearted.  Which was why she worked for a design firm who handled the business side of things instead of going out on her own.  They collected the money, while she enjoyed the creative side of the business.  Well that, and the fact that she didn’t have any clients!  Having clients is pretty essential to her dreams, she thought with a smile.   Ryan had to approve of that side of the issue at least. 

She needed to call him.  She hadn’t talked to him in about a week and they usually caught up with each other more often than that.  He must be pretty busy because he rarely let a weekend go by without checking in with her.  He’d raised her after their parents died and it had been pretty tough for a while. 
But he’d pulled them through that crisis at an age when he was much too young to be bearing the responsibility of a young sister to raise.  She’d never forget him for that.  She owed him a lot.

“You look exceptionally beautiful when you smile like that, Sidra,” a deep voice said as the man and horse walked quietly through the damp forest towards her. 

Sidra quickly stood up, startled that the man she’d just been thinking about would suddenly materialize in front of her like that.  “What are you doing here?”

He took several steps closer, watching her the whole time and uncaring of any little creatures that might crawl along the leaves. 
“Hoping you would come for a walk
through these woods
at the same time you drove into my life yesterday.
”  He halted and smiled,
“
Or more specifically, didn’t drive into my life.”

She couldn’t believe he
’d
actually said those words.  Wasn’t he supposed to prevaricate and tell her that he’d only been coming on a morning walk like he usually did?  “Aren’t you supposed to pretend that this was an accidental meeting?”

His horse stepped over the stream and came closer, allowing him to look down at her with a raised eyebrow. 
“Why
would I do that
?”

She looked around, shrugging her shoulders in confusion.  “Because you’re a guy and men need to
pretend
like they aren’t interested until a woman shows that they’re interested?”

He chuckled as he threw his long leg over his horse and dismounted.  “And are you interested?  In me?”
 
He walked up to her, leaving just a foot of space between their bodies as he looked down at her. 

She thought about lying, or at a minimum, telling him that she thought he was handsome but not that she was interested.  But there was something about the way he was looking at her that forced the truth from her. 
“Yes. 
Very much so,” she finally said, looking down at her hands that were clenched on top of her knees from the nervousness he generated within her.  “
You’re a very interesting man.”

He smiled and Sidra was glad she’d been honest. 
“What do you know of me?
”

She laughed, pretending that her blush wasn’t so obvious and looked up at him.  “I know that you have no mechanical knowledge at all when it comes to cars, but you’re very good at reading maps.”

“And is that all?” he asked, leaning forward slightly. 

“
A
nd you’re very handsome.”

He quirked an eyebrow.  “No one has ever said I was handsome before.”

She tilted her head to the side, considering his features.  “You are.  Not in the pretty boy kind of way, but there’s a harshness to you that’s very attractive.  Very handsome.”

His eyes were intense, the blue coming out as icicles for some reason.  She shivered with that intensity, wishing she could run and hide all of a sudden.  “Y
ou’re a very kind person.”

She shook her head and raised an
eyebrow
back at him.  “Are you trying to tell me that the ladies don’t throw themselves at you continuously?  I won’t believe it at all.”

Rashid threw back his head and laughed, delighted with her honesty.  She was partly right.  Women did throw themselves at him, but he knew it was because of his title and his power or wealth.  He wasn’t a handsome man but he took advantage of anything they were offering.  He didn’t care that they were superficial women who wanted something from him.  He knew their game and played it well.  “Perhaps women find something in me that they want,” was all he would admit to at the moment.

She smiled and wondered why his laughter could make her heart skip a beat.  “I think you’re being modest, but that’s a very kind thing I suppose.”

Now she was telling him he was kind?  He could go for attractive perhaps, but no one would ever dare to call him kind. 
“In what way?”

She shifted on the rock so that she could face him more fully.  She wished she could throw herself into his arms, but thought that would be just too forward. 
“Most men, in my experience, are braggarts that rarely live up to their opinions of themselves.  You, on the other hand, probably have a great many talents hidden behind those pretty blue eyes,” she said and batted her own
hazel
ones up at him, “but are trying to convince me that women only pant after you for your physique.”

Rashid smiled and Sidra’s mind instantly conjured up a wolf about to eat her for dinner.
  It was quite breathtaking and she stared back at him, hoping he would break this tension that was slowly building between the two of them.
  “And what adjective would you use to describe my physique.”

She looked down and turned away
, suddenly shy and knew that her face was once again suffused with painful color
.  “Don’t be coy, Rashid.  You know that you’re
amazingly
well built.”
  She stood up and walked a couple of steps away from the rock, trying to put some distance between them.  She was honestly afraid she might throw herself into his arms, just to feel him touching her like he had yesterday. 

Rashid was looking at her very delightful derriere when she said that but her words made his eyes move upwards and he caught her eye.  “I’m not sure that ‘well built’ is a good thing.”

“
A
re you fishing for compliments?” she asked, laughing at his aggressive expression.  She knew she should probably be wary.  She was alone in the woods with a man she barely knew who was possibly ten times stronger than she was.  But this man didn’t scare her like some of her previous dates.  Ryan would be furious if he knew she was here though.

“What are you thinking right now?” Rashid asked out of the blue.

Sidra blinked at the quick change in subjects and looked up at him.  “I was thinking that Ryan wouldn’t like me being here alone with you.”

Rashid couldn’t believe the fury another man’s name created within him.  “Who the hell is Ryan?  And why should he care if you’re alone with me?”

Sidra instantly felt bad
for her lack of an explanation.  She turned to face him fully, not wanting to play the normal games men and women played upon an initial meeting.  He hadn’t done that with her and she would give him the courtesy of not doing that with him.  “I’m sorry, that came out sounding awful and I didn’t mean to even try to make you jealous.  Ryan is my older brother and he’s very protective of me.  Sometimes I don’t even tell him when I start dating a guy because Ryan will have a background check done on the man and it’s a bit intimidating.  I don’t like knowing all the bad things a guy has done before I even know what his favorite food is.”

Instantly Rashid felt better, both in hearing that she’s not dating another man as well as the fact that she had an older brother to watch out for her.  “As
well he should. I have two
younger sisters as well and I doubt that I would allow them to be in the
forest
with a strange man
under any circumstances
.  You should respect your brother
’
s wishes.”

She didn’t like those words.  Was he telling her that he didn’t think she should be here?  She wasn’t afraid of him so much as afraid of what she wanted to do with him, a completely different issue.  Possibly still a good reason to leave the area and find a place where she was able to maintain her sanity, but she didn’t want to leave him. 
“Are you telling me that I should leave here immediately?”

Rashid stepped forward, seeing the hurt look in her eyes.  An honorable man would tell her that she should leave and walk away as fast as possible.  His
intentions
were not honorable.  He wanted this woman with a driving intensity that seemed to be increasing the more he spoke with her.  And yet, there was an odd, protective side to his feelings as well.  Something he’d never felt before with someone outside of his family. 

This woman with her soft, pretty
hazel
eyes was
a mystery he wanted to unravel.  Both with her kind, soft-hearted smile as well as her lush figure, he didn’t understand why he wanted to pull her down into the damp grass and make love to her, and at the same time, tell her to run as far away from him as possible.  He was a dangerous man and being associated with him was
hazardous
in ways she
couldn’t
even begin to understand. 

She’d been so honest with him, he couldn’t be any less to her, even if it wasn’t what he wanted. 
“You would probably be better off if you did so.”

Sidra heard the words, but there was something in his eyes that struck her.  It was an odd vulnerability that she
wouldn’t
have thought possible in a man so strong
and confident
.  “Are you really that dangerous?” she asked and stepped closer to him. 

He saw how close she was and wanted to pull her against him, to bury his hands in her gorgeous, dark hair and kiss those soft lips.  He wanted to hear his name on those lips as he pressed slowly into her heat and when she climaxed in his arms. 
“You don’t know me.  How can you know if I’m telling the truth if I deny it?”

She laughed
despite her racing heartbeat and wobbly knees
.  “If my friend Laura heard that kind of a statement, she would be telling me to get away from you.  She watches all those criminal investigations television shows and would immediately think that you’re some sort of serial killer.”

Rashid laughed again, delighted with her sense of humor.  “I guarantee that I’m not a serial killer.”

She smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling.  “Would a serial killer really admit that he was if he had his latest
victim
alone in the woods?” She was teasing him, but she sincerely felt safe with him.  Well, safe from physical harm.  Not safe from being kissed.  Which she wished he would do. 

“Probably not,” he replied, all laughter gone.  “I’m going to kiss you though.”

Sidra thought her heart might stop in her chest with those words.  And then began pounding so hard she thought it might just burst out of her body.  Her fingers were shaking and her body was both clamoring for his touch and at the same time, telling her to run away. 

Instead, she took a step forward and placed her hand on his chest.  “I think I’d like that very much.”

He covered her hand, noting the shivering under his palm and he saw the pulse at the base of her throat increase visibly.  “Why don’t you let me know when you’re sure,” he said and stepped forward, not touching her except where her hand was touching his chest.  He wanted to pull her into his arm and ravage those full, red lips but something held him back.  Take it slow, he told himself.  This woman was not like the others who normally pursued him.  She was too delicate, too soft-hearted.  She didn’t know how to play the game, which was evidenced by the honesty she put forth each time she spoke. 

She bit her lip and looked down, taking in the strong, tanned hand covering her pale one on his chest.  She felt his heart and noticed that it was strong and sure, unlike hers that was racing in a way that made her almost gasp for breath.  As she looked up at him, she felt his heartbeat increase and that gave her the confidence she needed to say,
“I’m pretty sure.”