The Sheik's Secret Bride (13 page)

“You have the most curious expression on your face,” he said. “What are you thinking?”

That she would rather die than let him know what thoughts filled her mind! Did she really care why he’d asked? Hadn’t she just spent the past week wishing she had the chance to see him again? Had she really always been this contrary?
“That I would love to go.
Thank you for asking.”

It was obvious
Malik
knew she’d been thinking other things, but he didn’t press her. “Good.” He hesitated. “As a sign of respect for the
tribespeople
, you’ll have to dress traditionally.
Fatima
has the appropriate clothes at the palace. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind getting ready there.”

Liana had visions of a bikini with harem pants, but hoped that wasn’t what
Malik
meant. No doubt she would have to be covered and veiled. After all she was entering a very different kind of world.

“Of course.
I’ll wear whatever is right for the occasion.”

He rose to his feet as
Bethany
, in her riding clothes, ran in. “I look forward to it, then.”

Liana stood as well and tried to keep her feet pressed firmly on the ground, although she was sure her bright smile gave her pleasure away.
“Until Friday.”

The blue silk shimmered like clear water in sunlight. Liana turned in the mirror and studied herself from different angles. The dress wrapped around her in a way that covered her completely, yet left her free to move. A sheer matching veil covered her hair.
Fatima
had already shown her the white velvet robe she would wear over the dress and the veil that would hide the lower part of her face from prying eyes.

“The nomads believe that if an unknown man sees one of their women, he’ll be tempted to steal her away. Or at least ravish her,”
Fatima
explained as she lined Liana’s blue eyes with kohl. “It is quite a compliment.”

“I’m sure the women appreciate their concern,” Liana agreed.
“Especially the ones who don’t feel as attractive.”

Fatima
smiled. “All women are beautiful. Didn’t you know that?”

Liana smiled. “A lovely
philosophy,
and one we in the west could learn from.”

Fatima
rubbed a red stain on Liana’s mouth,
then
studied her handiwork. “Perfect. And in your case, it would be best to keep yourself covered, my dear. All that lovely blond hair is sure to be a temptation. Why, I would guess that Prince
Malik
could get two or three dozen camels for you.”

“As much as that,” Liana said, not sure if
Fatima
told the truth or not.

When the older woman stepped away, Liana looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes seemed huge and mysterious, while her lips were dark with the stain. Between the eastern-style dress and the veil, she hardly recognized herself.

Maybe this was all a dream, she thought. After all, she stood in the middle of a harem talking about being sold for a few camels.

Fatima
touched her arm and smiled. “You are loveliness itself, Liana. I hope you have a wonderful time with my grandson. Don’t worry about not speaking their language. The people of the desert are most expressive, and you’ll figure out what they’re saying. Besides,
Malik
will be there. He is fluent in their tongue.”

The queen drew the white velvet robe around her shoulders and fastened it at her neck, then draped the veil over her face.

“It ties in these two places,” she said, demonstrating how to secure the covering.
“Although you’ll probably want to wait to wear it.”

Liana felt like an El
Baharian
princess. She was even going to meet her very own prince. What did it matter if it was only for the evening?

“Thank you for everything,” she said, turning and impulsively giving
Fatima
a hug. “You’ve been so kind.”

“My pleasure.
And while you are off to the desert, I’m going to spend the evening with your charming daughter, who, I believe, is currently with the children in the nursery.”
Fatima
glanced at her diamond and gold watch. “
Malik
will be waiting for you. Enjoy, my dear. This will be a night to remember.”

“You look lovely,”
Malik
said as he held open the rear door of the limo waiting at the main entrance to the palace.

“Thank you,” Liana murmured, hating how nervous she felt now that she and
Malik
were together. She wanted to tell him that he looked pretty good, too, what with his robes and traditional headdress. The rich-colored garments emphasized his dark strength and made him appear even taller than usual.

She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt more awkward—not even on her first date, back when she’d been all of sixteen and excited because Chuck Archer had asked her out to a movie.

“I’m a little surprised by our mode of transportation,” she said as she slid onto the butter-soft leather seat. “I would have thought we would need a four-wheel-drive vehicle.”

Malik
nodded at the chauffeur hovering by the door,
then
moved in next to her. “Usually we would, but our friends have set up camp not that far from a paved road.
Sandy
will drive us out into the desert and we’ll walk the last quarter-mile.” He glanced at her shoes. “I told
Fatima
you would need sensible shoes. Did she listen and pass the information along?”

Liana held up one foot. Her sandals were flat and very comfortable. “She warned me to wear something I could walk in.”

“Good.” He gave her a quick smile,
then
looked up when the driver lowered the glass partition.
“Yes,
Sandy
?”

“Are you ready to leave, sir?”

Malik
nodded. “We’re in your capable hands,” he said pleasantly.

“I shall endeavor not to disappoint, sir.”

The glass closed silently as the car began to move down the circular driveway.

“
Sandy
has been with the family for years,”
Malik
said, motioning at the man barely visible through the smoky glass. “He’s originally from
England
, but he moved to El
Bahar
when he was in his twenties. My father prefers him to all the drivers. In fact,
Sandy
is the one who taught my brothers and
I
to handle a car.”

She looked at the silhouette of the fifty-something
chauffeur
and grinned. “Then I’m surprised he doesn’t have more gray hair.”

“Actually, so am I.” He shrugged. “Strong genes, I suppose.”

“I suspect one would need that to deal with you three princes.” When
Malik
opened his mouth to protest her teasing, she quickly changed the subject. “Tell me what will happen tonight.”

He drew his eyebrows together. “Do you really think I’m that easily distracted?”

“No, but I think you’re that nice a host.”

“First you try to trick me into changing the subject and now you flatter me. Obviously you need a good lesson in respecting royalty.”

“Obviously,” she murmured, not quite able to believe she was actually flirting with the Crown Prince of El
Bahar
. But up close,
Malik
seemed almost like any other man…aside from the incredible good looks and the fact that they were riding in the back of a limo.

“I shall think of something appropriate,”
Malik
promised, then gave her a wink.
“Now, about the welcoming ceremony.
We’ll be led into a large tent. Generally the women sit apart from the men, although, as you are my guest, they’ll make an exception. We’ll be fed, there will be a few speeches and then
Bilal
, their chief, will present me with a prize goat or camel.”

Liana had been listening intently, right up until that moment. She burst out laughing.
“A goat or a camel?
Are you serious?”

“Very.”

“But what will you do with it? There’s hardly room for it to ride back with us.”

Malik
shrugged. “I’ll insist on holding a competition of some kind.
A race or a game of skill.
The prize will be my gift. So the tribe gets to make me a present of something of value without actually losing the animal. Customs are observed and everyone is happy.” He paused. “Are you thirsty? Would you like something to drink?”

Liana smiled. “That would be lovely,” she told him.

Malik
opened the small refrigerator on his right and pulled out a chilled bottle of champagne. He removed the foil covering and the wire netting,
then
expertly popped the cork without spilling a single drop.

Once he’d poured them each a glass and handed hers to her, he set the bottle back in the tiny refrigerator, then touched his glass to hers.

“To a night unlike any other.”

She wanted to believe he meant their being together, but she knew better.
Malik
was talking about all that she would experience in the nomad encampment. “To the night,” she agreed.

She took a sip of the bubbly liquid. It was smooth and faintly sweet, yet tasted as light as if it were moonbeams.

Liana chuckled,
then
glanced around the spacious passenger compartment. The wood trim wasn’t simply a polished strip of walnut, but was instead inlaid in various pieces that created a beautiful spiraling pattern. Underneath her feet was the softest carpet she’d ever felt. She took another sip of the bubbly liquid and sighed.

“The rich really are different,” she said. “If you’re trying to get me to regret moving out of the palace, you’re doing a good job.”

Malik
didn’t return her smile. Instead he set his glass on the small inlaid table above the refrigerator. “Do you regret your decision?”

She noticed he asked the question without actually issuing an invitation to return. Not that she blamed him. No doubt he’d gotten over whatever minor attraction had caused him to take her there in the first place.

“Regret is a strong word,” she said truthfully as she looked at him. “I’ve had a twinge or two, but most of the time I know it’s the right decision. I mean there were dozens of compensations, but Bethany and I need to be grounded in the real world.”

“The palace is real.”

“For you, maybe.
Not for us. For me it was like living in
Disneyland
. It’s a great vacation, but on Monday morning there are still those pesky bills to pay.”

He shifted on the seat, settling into the corner and angling toward her. “Do you think my life is so easy? That I don’t, as you put it, pay my own bills?”

“I don’t know.”

She drank more of the champagne and was surprised to find she’d finished the glass.
Malik
poured
her another
, then leaned back against the leather.

“I guess I shouldn’t make assumptions,” she said, suddenly intrigued by his question. “Tell me what it’s like to be the Crown Prince of El
Bahar
. Is it wonderful?”

“At times.
I enjoy representing my country when I travel. I have the satisfaction of knowing I can influence hundreds of thousands of lives for the better. I work hard, but I am well compensated by my life-style.”

It all sounded very nice. “What was it you once told me?
Money, prestige, power?”

“All of that,” he agreed.

The champagne went down so easily, she thought as she swallowed another mouthful. “But it can’t be perfect every moment,” she said. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Ah, you want the seamy side of life at the palace.”

He was teasing, but she didn’t return his smile. “I’m not saying it has to be seamy, but there are prices for everything. For example, I’ll bet you didn’t have a normal childhood.”

He shrugged. “It was normal for me. I was taken from my mother when I was four and
raised
primarily by my father and his ministers.”

Liana blinked. “Taken, as in, you didn’t see her anymore?”

“Not often,” he agreed blandly. “My father was concerned that I grow up to be a strong and self-sufficient man. I couldn’t be coddled by women all the time, running to my mother for every little scraped knee or bruised feeling.”

Liana remembered what
Bethany
had said—that
Malik
had broken his arm twice when he’d been a boy. “What about broken arms? Did you get coddled then?”

“I was fine.”

But he didn’t meet her gaze as he spoke, and she thought she glimpsed something lost and painful in
Malik’s
dark eyes. “Were all your brothers raised the same way?”