The Sheikh's Irresistible Proposal Read Online Free PDF Page B

Her bewildered expression left nothing to the imagination and Naasir quickly came up beside her.
     
    “Not to worry, ma’am. Those are His Highness’ bodyguards. They are with him at all times. Except when he manages to, how do you say…ditch them?”
     
    Hannah looked at Naasir and saw that he was smiling. She had a feeling they were going to get along just fine.
     
    “Now, we need to get you through security so we can board the jet.”
     
    “The jet?” Hannah said.
     
    Sadiq returned, accompanied a few feet away by the group of bodyguards. “You didn’t think you would be flying commercial, did you?”
     
    Hannah waved her hand as if she’d done all of this before. “No, of course not…”
     
    “Good, then let’s get going.”
     
    Hannah followed the Sheikh into a small terminal and up to a counter where two glamorous female attendants were waiting. After she answered all the usual security questions, showed them her passport and let them rifle through her purse, she was given the go-ahead to board the jet.
     
    Sadiq led her outside to the tarmac where a gleaming white jet waited with the stairs folded down. Beckoning them over was a long, red carpet trimmed with gold thread. Alongside the carpet stood each bodyguard, holding their arms in a salute as Sadiq and Hannah approached.
     
    Hannah wanted to pinch herself; she couldn’t believe this was happening. She knew, of course, that some people lived like this, surrounded by luxury, pomp and ceremonial fanfare, but she had never witnessed it outside of a trashy magazine or television show. And now, here she was, about to board a private jet with the heir to a royal empire—and a darned good-looking heir at that.
     
    What the heck , she thought as she reached her hand under her sleeve and pinched herself. Yep, I really am awake .
     
    “Come, let me show you around,” said Sadiq as he guided a mesmerized Hannah through the cabin door and inside the plane.
     
    The cabin held a large white leather sofa and reclining chairs, all surrounding a gleaming marble table. They faced each other, but could also swivel to face an enormous plasma television mounted on the wall separating the cabin from the cockpit. Along one side of the cabin was a long mahogany desk complete with two laptops, two chairs and a table lamp.
     
    Beyond the central cabin space was the entrance to the rear of the jet, which held a galley kitchen, a bathroom and two separate bunk rooms. One of the bunkrooms had a queen bed that folded out of the wall while the other held two twin beds.
     
    “You can sleep in here if you need to,” Sadiq said of the compartment with the queen bed. “It’s a twelve-hour flight to El-Shakanish, so you might want to get some rest.
     
    “Oh, thanks,” she said. Hannah looked at the room and wondered how many other women had slept in that bunk, with and without the Sheikh.
     
    They returned to the main cabin and Hannah sat down on the leather sofa while Sadiq walked over to the bar and began to pour himself a drink.
     
    “What would you like to drink, Hannah?” he asked from the bar.
     
    “Um, nothing, I’m fine.”
     
    “Nothing at all?”
     
    Hannah always felt a little awkward when she told people she didn’t drink. It wasn’t that she couldn’t drink, she just never liked the taste of alcohol, nor how it made her feel. As a singer in a jazz club, that often put her in awkward situations.
     
    “Well, it’s just that I don’t really drink,” she said—if she was going to be with this guy for six weeks, she may as well just get it out of the way now.
     
    “Nothing? Like not even juice or water?” Sadiq asked as he turned toward her with a bottle of water in each hand.
     
    Hannah rolled her eyes and grinned at him. “Yes, I drink juice and water.”
     
    “Okay. I mean the whole not drinking thing wouldn’t be terribly bad, considering my country is in the middle of the desert, but it is a little odd. I’ve never a met a