The Sheik's Secret Bride (7 page)

She pressed her hands together in front of her thin chest. “Sure. How many do you have?”

“There are a half dozen or so for riding. I also own some race horses, along with breeding stock. The horses are a hobby of mine.”

Her eyes had widened. “So you have way more than Mr. Preston.”

“I would think so.” He led the way, walking down past a few stalls,
then
stopped in front of an oversized pen. “This is Alexander the Great. He’s my favorite riding horse. He likes attention, so it’s safe to pet him. In fact, he’s a bit vain. If we ride by water, he likes to go slowly so he can stare at his reflection.”

Bethany
giggled,
then
slowly reached up her hand to touch the black stallion. Alexander snuffled her palm and gave a snort of disgust.

“He wants a treat.”
Malik
pointed to a small bin set against the center of the far wall. “You’ll find oats in there. You may feed him a handful, but no more. Too much will make him sick.”

Bethany
nodded,
then
ran over to collect the treat. She carefully flattened her hand to feed the horse and was rewarded when the animal consented to be petted. The girl sighed with pleasure.

“When I grow up I want to own lots of horses. I’ll ride all day and learn to jump and it will feel like flying.”

Her blue eyes sparkled as she spoke of her dreams. There was color in her pale cheeks and an energy that made him feel old. Had he ever had such simple hopes for his own future? Doubtful, he thought. He couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t known he would someday rule El
Bahar
. But
Bethany
’s life was very different. He envied her
her
freedom, all the while knowing that even if given a chance he wouldn’t change his destiny.

“You’ll need to start by learning how to ride,” he said. “I would be happy to teach you.”

She stared at him and pressed her lips together. Her entire body quivered with excitement.
“Really?
You’d teach me on one of your horses?”

“Yes. I have an old gelding
who
has just the right temperament. He has a white star on his forehead, which makes him very handsome, although he’s not vain like Alexander here.”

“Thank you,”
Bethany
breathed reverently, then tilted her head and gave an exaggerated grimace. “Except I have to ask my mom, and I’m afraid she’ll say no.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know. Moms can be difficult sometimes.” Her expression brightened. “But maybe because you’re a prince and all, she won’t mind so much.”
Bethany
smiled. “I asked about you at school today and everyone says you’re going to be king of El
Bahar
one day.”

“That does seem to be the way things are going.”

“I think it would be very romantic to be a princess, but my mom doesn’t agree. You don’t exactly fit into her plan.”

Of that
Malik
was sure. Liana’s plan included enough money for a house and her daughter’s college education. From what he could tell, the single mother had tried to think of everything. He doubted a royal prince had figured into her expectations.

“I would still be happy to teach you to ride,” he said.
“If you would like.”

“Oh, I’d like that very much. I’ll ask her right away.”

“Fine.
If it’s all right with your mother, we’ll start tomorrow when you return from school.”

Bethany
shrieked and jumped, gave him a quick, unexpected hug, then tore out of the stable as if her shoes were on fire. Alexander snorted his displeasure, but
Malik
didn’t agree with the horse’s assessment. To his mind,
Bethany
was a most charming young lady who admired him. Now if only he could find a way to make her mother as much of a fan.

Liana paced around the living room, muttering under her breath. She could not believe this was happening to her. She felt as if she were trapped in some Victorian novel, perhaps as a governess newly arrived, only to find out that her employer had murdered his wife and was now raising the knife toward her.
Ridiculous.
Malik
might be arrogant and annoying, but he wasn’t threatening her life, even if it did feel as if she was well and truly trapped.

She couldn’t get Carl Birmingham’s words out of her head—he’d said Prince
Malik
was a member of the board of directors at the
American
School
. Not to mention the fact that she should be honored to be the prince’s guest.

“Honored,” she grumbled as she paused in front of the French doors to the balcony.
“Yeah, right.
Next he’ll be telling me not to worry my pretty little head about it.”

Her gaze settled on the view before her. The blue
Arabian Sea
stretched out to the horizon. It was dark and vivid and probably the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Slowly, she turned in a circle, taking in the exquisite horse murals, the expensive furniture, the objets d’art. The
bedrooms were just as lovely and spacious, and was
she crazy to want her own place rather than accepting the hospitality of a royal prince?

She was a single mother from
San Bernardino
. Her dad was a retired postal worker, her mom, a homemaker. Liana’s sister worked as a hairdresser. Liana herself, the only one in the family to make it through college, taught high-school math. And here she was complaining because she’d caught the attention of the Crown Prince of a wealthy and respected nation.

“Maybe I am insane,” she said aloud. “Maybe I should just give in and stay here. It’s not so horrible. After all, the food is great, and there are hot and cold running servants.”

Liana sank onto the sofa and took a deep breath. As tempting as the palace might be, she couldn’t stay because nothing was going to be that easy. She didn’t know why Prince
Malik
had brought her here, but she doubted it was because he thought she would be a great ornament. Did he expect her to sleep with him? Was this all about sex?

Liana bristled at the thought. In this day and age women were not kidnapped to be placed into a harem. At least not women like her, with twenty extra pounds settling on her hips and thighs and a body with the still-visible marks of childbirth.

No, she told herself. A handsome prince like him would want perfection. And he’d have plenty of choices—what with women falling all over him everywhere he went. Liana had felt the powerful chemistry of his attraction. She, too, had been all a-twitter at the thought of being close to someone like
Malik
. He’d made her heart race and her blood boil and whatever other fabulous phrases filled the pages of those romances
she
so adored reading. At least between the covers of those books, the women always found a wonderful man and sexual fulfillment. If only life were that tidy.

But it wasn’t, and, regardless of her wayward hormones, she had no intention of falling for
Malik
, either in or out of bed. Not that he was going to ask her, which brought her right back to where she’d started…what on earth was she doing here?

The suite door opened and
Bethany
sailed inside. Her bright eyes and glowing skin told of a wondrous adventure. Liana smiled and patted the cushion next to her on the sofa. “Come tell me all about it,” she told her daughter.

Bethany
plopped down next to her and gave an exaggerated sigh. “There are so many horses,” she said, leaning against Liana.
“Rooms and stables of them.
They’re all big and pretty and Prince
Malik
was there and he introduced me to his favorite. Alexander the Great is a very vain horse. He looks at himself in the water, admiring his reflection!”

She gave a giggle of delight, as if a vain horse were a wondrous thing indeed. Liana was less amused. “Prince
Malik
was with you?” What on earth had he been doing in the stable?

Bethany
nodded. “He talked to me and everything.” She straightened and looked at her mother. “He’s very nice. He said that he would like to teach me to ride and I told him that I had to talk to you first and make sure it’s all right, but I know it is because he said he has a very special horse that is perfect for a girl like me and I wouldn’t get hurt and you really wouldn’t mind, would you, because you know I’ve wanted to ride forever.” She paused to draw in a much needed breath. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted in the whole wide world.”

Blue eyes stared beseechingly up at her. Liana grabbed hold of the anger flaring inside of her. None of this was her daughter’s fault, she reminded herself.
Bethany
was an innocent in whatever game Prince
Malik
might be playing with them both. But she couldn’t ignore the fury building inside her. How dare that man use her daughter to get to her?
Riding lessons.
Yeah, right. Every good prince gave them to absolute strangers on a regular basis. It was probably part of their training.

She forced herself to smile at her daughter and smooth her bangs from her face. “I think learning to ride is a wonderful idea, and if it doesn’t work out here, I’ll check into it in the city. I’m sure there’s a stable close to the
American
School
. Even with all the money we need to save, I’ll bet there’s enough left over for lessons.”

Her daughter opened her mouth to protest, but Liana stopped her with a shake of her head. “I need to talk to the prince first,
Bethany
. While I’m gone, please start on your homework. After dinner, I thought we’d watch a movie. Would you like to pick it?”

Bethany
’s natural good nature asserted itself. “You won’t forget about the riding lessons?”

“I promise I won’t.”

“Okay.” Her daughter kissed her cheek, then stood and skipped out of the room. She paused in the doorway and glanced back at her mother. “I looked this morning and there are Disney movies on the shelves in my room, along with The Little Princess.” She giggled. “Maybe we should watch that one.”

Liana looked at her daughter.
Bethany
was a pretty child. She still had freckles on her pert nose, and with her slender, athletic body, in a few short years she was going to be a heartbreaker. But for now she was still a little girl. Liana would do anything to protect her, even risk an international incident…or her job.

“The Little Princess sounds great. Will you be all right while I’m gone? I should be back in about twenty minutes.”

“I’m nine!”
Bethany
reminded her. “I’m not a baby.”

“I know. You’re practically a grandmother. Promise you’ll stay in the suite.”

“Promise,”
Bethany
called in a sing-song voice as she headed off to her room.

Liana waited until she heard the door close, then she rose to her feet and went in search of Prince
Malik
.

The palace was huge, and, in a matter of minutes, she found herself completely lost. All the long corridors looked similar enough to confuse her. By the time she’d passed the stone nymph fountain for the third time, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to find her way on her own. Of course, her journey was hampered by a lack of knowledge about her destination.

Finally Liana spotted a young servant and stopped the woman. She explained she was looking for Prince
Malik
. Complicated directions followed, ending with Liana being escorted to a large set of double doors.

“Here, ma’am,” the young woman said with a smile. “Prince
Malik
. Good evening to you both.”

“It won’t be a good evening for him,” Liana muttered as a way to gather her suddenly lacking courage. “I plan to tell him exactly what I think of him. How dare he thrust himself into our lives like this and expect…” She verbally stumbled as she realized she had no clue about his expectations, except a burning certainty that they couldn’t possibly either be acceptable or match her own.

That decided
,
she pounded on the door.

She fully expected to be let into a suite of offices and then to have to explain her presence to a host of secretaries and assistants. Instead, Prince
Malik
himself opened the door. The sight of him disconcerted her, as did his state of dress.

Liana stared and swallowed and vowed that this time she was going to ignore the heating, melting sensation filling her body. It’s not as if the
man were
naked, or even close to naked. He wore black slacks and a formal white shirt. He’d been in the process of slipping in cufflinks when he’d answered the door.

Dark eyes locked with hers and the intense expression there nearly caused her not to notice his still-damp hair and the clean look of his freshly shaven face. He was a handsome man—too handsome for comfort—and she had the most disconcerting urge to offer to finish fastening his cuffs for him.