Lord of the Desert Read Online Free PDF

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    â€œYes. And I don’t guess you know anybody in Qawi?”
    He lifted his eyebrows expressively.
    She shrugged. “Well, Maggie got a job working for the sheikh there and since she can’t take it now, she wanted me to take her place without telling anyone who I was.”
    His eyes were twinkling. “You disapprove?”
    â€œShe wasn’t really thinking straight, or she wouldn’t have suggested it. I don’t like telling lies,” she said flatly. “And I’m not any good at them, either. Besides, I don’t think I can pass for an executive-type businesswoman who’s also a widow. I’m not sophisticated and I don’t know how to plan parties or welcome visiting dignitaries. All I know how to do is legal work. I worked for a firm of attorneys in Jacobsville.”
    He listened attentively, his eyes narrow with speculation and a half smile on his wide, thin mouth. “Amazing,” he murmured.
    She looked up at him with wide gray eyes. “What is?”
    â€œNever mind.” He searched her eyes. “So you think the job is beyond your capabilities?”
    â€œCertainly it is,” she said. “I’m going to finish my vacation here and then fly to Amsterdam and go home,” she added, making her decision as she spoke.
    One dark, elegant eyebrow lifted. “Do you believe in fate, Miss Brannon?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œI do. I think you should go to Qawi.”
    â€œAnd live a lie?” she murmured unhappily.
    â€œNo. And tell the truth.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward abruptly. “I know the Sheikh of Qawi. Rather, I know of him,” he said unexpectedly. “He is a fair man, and he admires nothing more than honesty. Use your friend’s ticket. Take the job.”
    â€œHe won’t give it to me,” she interrupted. “He was emphatic about Maggie’s qualifications, and one of them, for some reason, was that she’d been married…”
    â€œTell him the truth, and take the job,” he repeated firmly. “He will make allowances. I happen to know that his need of an assistant is personal and immediate. He will not want to waste time trying to find someone else with Madame Barton’s qualifications.”
    â€œBut I’m not qualified,” she emphasized.
    He smiled. “To meet people?” he chided. “You and I are strangers, yet here we are sharing a holiday trip.”
    She let a smile touch her soft mouth. “That was only because I almost knocked you down,” she pointed out. “I can’t really make a habit of it, just to meet people.”
    He waved a hand. “I think you will make an excellent assistant.”
    â€œAs I mentioned earlier, I can’t speak any other language except Spanish.”
    â€œYou can learn Arabic.”
    â€œAnd worst of all, I’m not Muslim,” she worried.
    â€œNeither is the sheikh.” He leaned forward with a grin. “Qawi is unusual as a nation in the mixture of her cultures. There are as many Jews and Christians as there are Muslims, owing to an unusual colonial history. You will feel right at home,” he assured her. “And in the past two years, it has become an ally of both the United States and Great Britain.” He grinned wickedly. “Oil contracts are lucrative temptations to democracies. How many friends Qawi has gained because of her new wealth!”
    She smiled. “You make this sound very easy,” she told him.
    â€œAs it is.” He frowned as he studied her oval face. She was attractive, but no real beauty. However her features were nice, and she had warm eyes. Her mouth was perfect. He grimaced as he looked at it and mourned for what he could never experience again. Her hair, though, was what fascinated him. It was platinum blond, obviously long, and definitely natural. She reminded him, oh, so much, of Brianne Martin…
    She was