One Night With the Sheik (Friends Forever Book 4) Read online

  One Night With the Sheik

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2018

  ISBN13: 9781944078706

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  A Note from Elizabeth about this story…

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from “Tempted”

  Note about The Lottery Winners

  A Note from Elizabeth about this story…

  This book was originally titled “The Sheik’s Redemption” and started out with Arianna trying to kill Rhys. I’d had that story beginning in my head for about a year, but I hadn’t figured out how to write the story. So when this plot came to my mind, I was eager to write it.

  A bit about how I create the stories though…

  I write up a rough draft of a book – usually all the books in a series. I then go back and start polishing each book, starting with the first one. I do this over and over again until I have the words and characters “right” in my head and in the words of the story.

  When I came back to this story to start polishing, the beginning bothered me. I didn’t like promoting violence – which is how I interpreted Arianna’s attempt to kill Rhys. It felt wrong in so many ways.

  So, I basically re-wrote this story. Instead of Arianna trying to kill Rhys, I turned it around so that they’d had a previous relationship and then she had to come back and ask him for help. When I worked all of these details, the title “The Sheik’s Redemption” just didn’t fit the story any longer. Hence, the reason I changed the title to “One Night With the Sheik”.

  If I’ve confused any of you, I sincerely apologize and hope that this explanation makes sense. And I hope that you enjoy this story!

  Elizabeth

  Prologue

  Rhys Sabad del Isolm, Sheik of Triar glared at his chief of staff, unwilling to give in on the issue the shorter man had brought up. Again. “I’m not ready to settle down,” he announced with a tone that said he wasn’t discussing the issue further.

  Adjar rubbed his forehead. “I love you like you are my own son,” he said softly, “but you are the most stubborn man.”

  “Regardless, we have things to do. Things that need to get done in the country. Marriage would only distract me.”

  Adjar laughed, shaking his head. “Marriage is not a distraction, my friend. Marriage is…beautiful. It is magical.”

  Rhys pushed away from the desk. “Marriage is annoying.”

  “Marriage is a gift!” he argued right back, one of the few men who dared to argue with the Sheik of Triar. “And one day, you’re going to meet a woman who will prove that to you.” Rhys said nothing, but Adjar read the disbelief in the other man’s handsome features. “Just you wait, my friend. A woman is going to enter your life and you will understand.”

  “Understand that women are beautiful and lovely?” he teased. “I already know that. I love women.”

  “No,” he argued even as someone entered the office with a stack of papers. “You like women. But soon, you’re going to fall in love.”

  “Love is for the weak,” Rhys replied, already distracted by the next item of business.

  “Lightning bolts, my friend,” Adjar said, lifting his finger into the air for emphasis. “One day, you’ll feel them and you’ll know.”

  “Know that it is going to rain?”

  Adjar rolled his eyes. “Lightning bolts are the sign that you’ve found the woman who will make you whole.”

  Rhys chuckled. “Right. Lightning bolts. Got it,” and he signed the document his assistant put in front of him. “Don’t we have a council meeting?”

  Adjar followed behind the tall, handsome man. Rhys was a good man, a powerful man. Too many women had entered his life and used him. He was cynical, but some day, a woman was going to blow him away.

  And Adjar planned to be around when that happened!

  Rhys walked into the conference room, dismissing the previous topic. “Joseph! How is your lovely daughter lately?” Rhys asked, shaking his chief engineer’s hand before taking his seat at the head of the table.

  “She got the job!” Joseph replied, his eyes sparkling with pride for his only child. “Arianna is now the business manager for a gardening center. She got away from her horrible boss and is thriving with her new job!”

  “Excellent! It must be nice to work outside all day long. Is her commute longer?” he asked, knowing that the traffic in the Washington, D.C. area was miserable.

  “No,” he laughed, delighted with his daughter’s success. “She moved out closer to her new job. The rent is cheaper and the area is safer.”

  “I’m sure you’re relieved about that. Would you like my security team to look into the area to see if there are any unknown problems? I can have them investigate.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Thank you. That’s a very generous offer.” His ruddy cheeks turned a brighter shade of red. “I’ve…uh…actually already done that. I hired a security team.”

  Rhys laughed. “That’s good! Any parent has the right to ensure their child’s safety,” he said.

  Other meeting attendees were entering the conference room now. “Excellent news. When is her next visit?”

  “She needs to focus on her job for a while, but she’ll come for a visit again soon.”

  “Good! Let my assistant know when she makes plans. I would love to meet her. We’ll have dinner together.”

  Joseph nodded, but the meeting began and he focused on giving his boss’s boss an update on the state of the oil fields and production. Everything was good, proceeding along expected plans, production had actually increased after several planned tweaks to the production systems and accidents were down.

  Six months later…

  “Dad, I don’t think that Sheik Islom truly wants to meet me,” Arianna teased, excited to see the beautiful country of Triar again. It had been a long time since she’d seen her father and it felt good to be in the warm desert sunshine.

  Joseph Callas walked along beside his beautiful daughter, glaring at the other men who stared at his Arianna. Her strawberry blond hair and lovely eyes drew men’s attention, but they didn’t have to be so obvious about it!

  Looking at his daughter’s amused expression, he realized that she was serious. She didn’t want to dine with the sheik? “He does! He asks about you every time we talk, which is mostly on the phone lately.”

  Arianna hugged her father. “Dad, he was just being polite. I’m sure he doesn’t have time for me.”

  Joseph patted his daughter’s hand, admiring the complicated twist of her strawberry blond hair. “You’re just like your mother, Arianna. She was so beautiful and…” he sighed, shaking his head. “Stubborn.”

&nbs
p; “Mom was much prettier than I am,” Arianna laughed. “But I’m glad that you think I look like her.” She helped him store her suitcases into the trunk of his car, then slipped into the passenger seat. She sat back as her father pulled out of the airport parking lot. Five minutes later, they were out of the airport traffic and heading towards the city. Arianna relaxed, watching the amazing beauty of the dessert country of Triar pass by outside. “So what are we going to do this week?”

  “Besides dine with the sheik tomorrow night?” Joseph waited, counting the seconds for his lovely daughter to understand what he’d just said.

  Two seconds. Longer than he’d expected.

  “Tomorrow night?!” she gasped. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Nope! I spoke to him on the phone last week and he asked when you were coming for a visit. I told him this week and his assistant called an hour later, setting up dinner for tonight.”

  Arianna couldn’t believe what her father was telling her. Dinner with the ruler of Triar? “What am I supposed to wear to something like a dinner with this guy? I mean…he’s the sheik! He’s the big guy!”

  “Relax,” her father laughed, patting her hand again. He’d done that all her life, trying to reassure her. Normally, it worked. But in this case, the gesture failed miserably. “The assistant mentioned a suit and tie for me would be appropriate and a simple cocktail dress for you.” He stopped at a traffic light and glanced at his daughter. “Apparently, a cocktail dress is casual dining for the sheik.”

  Arianna laughed at her father’s derisive look. “I’m sure that an evening gown is more his normal style.” But in truth, she had no idea. She couldn’t imagine dressing up for dinner every night. She normally either skipped dinner or poured herself a bowl of cereal and ate curled up on her sofa. Even when she went out with her friends, they wouldn’t ever dress in a cocktail dress!

  “Okay, so he’s wining and dining his best engineer,” she teased. “This could be fun!”’

  “That’s the spirit!” her father replied. “And I’m buying you a dress.”

  “Dad, you don’t need to…”

  “I want to,” he interrupted. “I didn’t warn you in advance of the need for a dress. And besides, this will be an event.”

  Two hours later, Arianna and her father finally agreed on a dress. He wanted her in something sparkly and flouncy. She preferred the more sedate, neck to knee sheath dresses. They’d compromised on a black sheath dress with a sweetheart neckline and Arianna promised to wear her mother’s pearl necklace, the one that her father gave Arianna’s mother on their wedding day.

  Arianna was a bit shaky as they stepped out into the chilly desert air that night. The palace was much bigger and much more ornate than she’d been expecting. The palm trees danced in the moonlight and she heard birds in the distance. There were armed guards everywhere, but Arianna focused on the elaborate mosaics decorating the walls and the marble floors with the intricate patterns.

  They were led into a beautiful blue and white salon and Arianna gasped at the art on the walls. “Is that an original Ivy Taylor photo?” she whispered, walking over to the brilliant picture on the wall. “It has to be! No one does photography like Ivy Taylor!”

  “It is,” a deep, masculine voice announced.

  Arianna spun around, a polite smile plastered on her face. But the man walking towards her was nothing like who she was expecting. He was taller! Good grief, he was tall! And so incredibly handsome in a raw, powerful way. The hawk-like nose, the dark, intense eyes…broad shoulders and firm, hard lips.

  He took her hand and she felt a strange trembling take over her body. He was magnificent, she thought. More attractive than any man she’d ever met!

  “You must be Arianna Callas,” he said softly, his other hand covering their clasped hands. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Your father has told me so much about you, it is wonderful to finally meet the person behind all of the stories.”

  Arianna felt the blush and cursed herself. “I’m sure my father exaggerated.”

  The man laughed, the sound coming out as a sexy rumble. “I doubt it.”

  Over the next two hours, she talked and laughed with the man, shocked at how easy it was to converse with him.

  When he took her hand at the end of the night and lifted it to his lips, Arianna felt the trembling awareness throughout her entire body! Never before had she been more aware of another man in her life.

  “It was a pleasure to finally meet you, Arianna,” he said softly, looking deeply into her eyes as his lips kissed her fingers.

  She wanted to say something equally charming, but words failed her. She was silent as she watched his lips press against her fingers, wishing that he would kiss her lips instead. So when he lifted his head, the deep ache of disappointment was an almost physical force.

  “Thank you for dinner,” Joseph said, shaking the man’s hand next. He then took Arianna’s hand in his and led her out of the dining room. Arianna was stunned by…everything. With a look over her shoulder before the doors closed upon them, she wondered if he felt that startling sensation as well.

  When Arianna realized that he was still watching them, that ridiculous trembling increased and she leaned against her father for support, thinking her knees might just give out on her.

  By the time they were back at her father’s house, she’d convinced herself that she’d imagined everything. The kiss, the shock of his touch, the trembling awareness. She’d just…fallen for the romance and excitement of the evening.

  “Arianna!”

  She woke with a start, then immediately shielded her eyes from the bright sunshine streaming in through the windows of her bedroom. Glancing at the clock, she realized that it was already almost ten o’clock in the morning. She never slept this late! Of course, she rarely tossed and turned, thinking about how much she wanted a man to make love to her. One particular man. In fact, that had never happened. None of the men she’d dated in the past had affected her in the same way.

  So after just one night, one meal, she was dreaming about a man. And not just any man! A sheik! Arianna scoffed as she pulled her tee-shirt off over her head and quickly dressed. What was she thinking? She was a business manager. Sheiks weren’t interested in garden center business managers! She’d lost almost an entire night’s sleep thinking about a man who was so completely out of her league!

  “You have a delivery,” her father announced as she padded barefoot into the kitchen, looking at her over his cup of coffee.

  Normally, Arianna stuck to hot tea. But after last night, she needed a stronger jolt. Reaching into the cabinet, she pulled down a mug and poured a full cup of her father’s strong coffee, taking a sip before answering her father. “A delivery? I didn’t order anything.”

  Joseph chuckled. “I don’t think this is anything an ordinary person can order.”

  That didn’t make sense. Unfortunately, “Huh?” was all she could manage at the moment. She took a longer sip of coffee, trying to get her brain to function.

  “Go look in the living room,” her father said, by way of explanation.

  Arianna stood there for a long moment, not sure what he was talking about. But when he simply stared back at her, she shrugged and padded barefoot down the short hallway. As she peered around the corner, she actually jumped back when she saw the enormous bouquet of flowers that was sitting on the floor of the living room. The bouquet was too large for any other surface in her father’s house, hence the place of prominence on the floor.

  “What in the world?!” she whispered. “Dad? Why is there a huge bouquet of flowers on the floor?” she asked.

  He was right behind her and she jerked around, almost spilling her coffee when she realized he was so close.

  “Read the note,” he said and flipped it out of his pocket, handing it to her.

  “A note,” she repeated, staring at the expensive envelope.

  “Read it, honey,” he said, chuckling slightly at her dazed expression.
“It probably explains the reason for the flowers.”

  Arianna opened the envelope and pulled out the single piece of paper.

  Last night was delightful. Would you dine with me again tonight?

  She stared at her father, then back down at the note. “Again?” she whispered, her eyes wide now, although her mind was still not functioning. Of course, now it was due to the note and not her lack of sleep.

  Her father laughed slightly. “I believe you charmed the sheik last night and he would like to have dinner with you again tonight.”

  She backed up, shaking her head. “I can’t!”

  “Why not?” he asked. “I was only planning on chicken for dinner. I’m sure that the sheik will be serving something more interesting.”

  Her mouth fell open as she stumbled for some reason not to go tonight. “But…I’m here to be with you, Dad.”

  “I think that this might be a more important meeting.”

  He walked away then and she stared after him, not sure what he meant by that statement. But several hours later, despite her protests, she stepped out of a limousine and stared at the ornate doorway to the palace. The driver had pulled up to a different door this time and, immediately, the sheik himself stepped out of the palace doors, extending his hand to lead her inside.

  “I’m delighted that you could make it tonight,” he said softly, pulling her closer. Not too close, but enough that she had trouble breathing.

  “The flowers were beautiful. Thank you.”

  “I’m pleased that you enjoyed them. Come inside and we’ll have drinks in the courtyard.”

  Arianna followed, amazed by new views of the magnificent palace. They must have been in the more public areas of the palace last night, because this area showed evidence of a more personal touch. Things were still beautiful and meticulously cared for, but everything was a bit more…well, less ornate was the only way to describe the décor tonight. She’d almost thought “casual” but there wasn’t anything casual about this man or her current surroundings.