Sheikh's Fake Fiancee Read Online Free PDF

explain.”
    “No, I’ve learned in all my travels that there are millions of reasons why people do things, some are custom and some are just here,” he said, pointing to her chest. “The heart makes up so many rules.”
    “Or maybe just ways to survive. My dad walked out when I was just six and Sydney was a baby. Maybe he couldn’t handle having a sick kid like Syd, or he was just a philandering dick. Maybe both, but we didn’t have much money. We’d celebrate Christmas over New Year’s so we could scrape up a tree someone else threw out and Mom could buy a few discounted gifts and maybe candy. I mean a book here or a stuffed animal there. She tried her best, but the one thing we could do was pretend. We could look at these windows and at least imagine what Christmas could be like if we were rich. Once I got my job and had my first big raise, we had Christmas again, but for the longest time, these windows and our imagination were what we had.”
    Bahan surprised her by reaching out and holding her hand. It was a simple gesture, far more innocent compared to things she’d done with him already, even with the temptation she’d presented dancing last night. “That’s one of the most honest things anyone’s ever told me.”
    “It’s just why things are the way they are,” she said, smiling a little as an animatronic Charlie Brown and Snoopy ice-skated their way through a pond in a snowstorm. “But these windows are beautiful either way, and sometimes I just like the simple, quiet things. I like to hear my thoughts.”
    “I never do,” Bahan replied, and for just a moment, his grip on her hand grew tighter.
    “What?”
    He swallowed and looked away. For a moment, Jennifer thought that he wouldn’t speak further and she couldn’t blame him. Clearly he’d said more than he’d meant to. Finally, though, he faced her again, those amber eyes of his seeming to probe into her very soul.
    “If I take too much time to think, then I can think about the possibility of things going wrong. One day I’ll be the sole leader of my people. My brother can help and so can my mother, but when I fully become the sheikh, their security and happiness—everything—will depend on me. Most of the time, I try and distract myself with anything I can…anyone I can.”
    “So am I a distraction?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Jennifer knew that after tonight, a simple yes wouldn’t suffice for her. Sheikh or not, Bahan meant more to her than just a quick roll in the hay, as they said back home in Lexington. It would pierce her very heart if he only wanted her as a distraction from his duties. “Is this all we’re doing tonight?”
    His response was so fast that he made her head spin as he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. “No, I swear that’s the last thing we’re doing here. Anything that comes after this, it’s not for one night. I wouldn’t want that…not with you.”
    “Why?” she said, breathing in his scent, her nose almost tingling with the spiciness of him. “What makes me different?”
    “Because I’ve seen part of your soul tonight, Goldilocks, and there’s so much more to you than you know.”
    ***
    It could all still just be lines.
    That was what scared her the most—the thought that she could be giving her heart away again to a man who was weaving the tales that she wanted to hear. Yet, there was something so sincere when she looked into his golden eyes that made her believe him. Bahan had given her a bit of his own truth, shared his fears that one day he wouldn’t be enough for his people. He almost hadn’t, and yet he had.
    That kernel of truth had been enough to reassure her, to let her believe this could work. It was why she was back at his hotel suite, hoping that she wouldn’t be carelessly cast aside come morning.
    Curling a lip playfully up at him, Jennifer said, “I think we’ve covered the dance. I don’t know if you want me to do a striptease for