The Desert Prince's Bride (The Sheiks of Altair Book 2) Read online

  Jaffri looked down at the pictures and thought his sister would be thrilled. “Sada will love this,” he agreed. “Especially the pink roses. You’ve done a wonderful job of understanding her preferences. She’s not really into red roses.” He smiled at her and Giselle warmed under his admiring regard. “How did you know?”

  She looked up at him, then quickly away, feeling a strange sensation bloom in her chest. “That your sister preferred pink to red? That was easy. She never wears red but she does wear a lot of pink or dusty rose.” Giselle ran a finger over the pictures, smiling at the idea. “The press used to call her the Untamed Princess before she left for boarding school, but I don’t think that’s who she really is. So I went a bit softer for this event.”

  Beautiful, fascinating, and observant. “Why didn’t you assume that her color preference was because she doesn’t look good in red?” He didn’t ask about the nickname the press had given to his sister. Everyone in the palace hated that nickname and Jaffri’s father was trying to figure out how to help her live it down. It would help if Sada could recover from her girlhood crush of…well, that would take time. Eventually, Sada would grow out of it.

  Giselle shrugged. “A guess,” she replied, but in reality, Giselle had spent the past three days surfing the Internet for pictures of the princess, making notes of her preferences, past social events, reading interviews, clothing choices, and anything else she could get her hands on that would give her more insight into the princess’ preferences.

  He was watching her and she felt her cheeks heat up under his intense scrutiny. “I doubt that,” he commented, but didn’t outright challenge her on the issue. “Why haven’t I seen you around the palace before?”

  Giselle stepped back from the desk, shrugging her shoulders. “I just started here about a month ago.”

  “Seems like a long way to travel just for a job,” he commented. “How long have you been doing party planning?”

  She stiffened at his words. “I went to college on a scholarship and worked my way through by planning social events, not specifically parties, Your Highness.”

  He chuckled softly at her obvious umbrage at his words and leaned closer. “I hit a nerve, didn’t I?”

  She looked away. “Yes. You did.”

  “Explain.”

  Her lips compressed and she studiously refrained from rolling her eyes at his command. “Assuming that all we do is plan parties is a bit patronizing, Your Highness. We are diplomatic diplomats, in a way.”

  When his dark eyebrow went up, she took that as a command to continue. Giselle considered it a success that she didn’t comment on his arrogance. But she couldn’t stop her chin from jerking defiantly upwards. “In order to organize any social event, an organizer must understand the cultures and values of each attendee. We have to know all the political and cultural problems that each country is experiencing. Only then can we know who to invite, whom not to invite, whom to seat next to whom, and which participants must be kept apart. We must know about all the happenings in the world, are briefed by your security division and intelligence teams, and we convey the same back to them, giving them heads up on anything our team overhears. We’re sort of like social spies and diplomats,” she explained with a twinkle in her eyes.

  He laughed, just as she’d meant for him to. “So, you like your job?”

  “Oh yes!” she gushed, forgetting her irritation of moments before. “It’s fun and interesting, never the same thing twice. I love exploring different ideas, new themes, and incorporating all the cultures and rituals from other countries into the parties and events here at the palace. I’m still not fully briefed on all of the upcoming events, but I’m getting there.”

  He sat down opposite her and listened, laughing as she told him about some of her earlier events, especially the ones during her college years. He didn’t stop her as she curled her socked-covered feet up underneath her legs, getting more comfortable, even though no one had ever dared to sit so casually in his presence before. Jaffri realized that he liked that she was comfortable around him. He remembered the trembling when he caught her and the wary look in her eyes. Apparently, she’d gotten over her fear of him. Normally, he didn’t mind intimidating people but… he didn’t want to intimidate Giselle.

  He also noticed when she leaned forward, her enthusiasm for her job coming across loud and clear. As Jaffri listened and watched, he found Giselle to be an interesting mix of enthusiasm and wisdom. Her youthfulness gave her the vibrancy that was often beaten down in the older staff, but her knowledge and experience were also obvious. She’d been doing this sort of job since high school and was obviously in love with the opportunity to create an atmosphere conducive to happiness and celebrating.

  An hour into their conversation, Jaffri refilled her glass, suspecting that she hadn’t even realized she’d finished off the first serving and was sipping her way through another portion of the excellent scotch. Not once after that first taste did she scrunch up her nose at the taste. But as they talked, he watched her features, noticing all of the lovely ways her facial features changed. He didn’t really need to hear her words to understand what she was telling him. Everything she was feeling was right there on her lovely features, in her glowing, green eyes or in the smile of her full, sensuous lips.

  Jaffri hadn’t realized how complicated planning social events could be. He’d simply told his aides to organize one thing or another, never fully grasping all of the subtle nuances that went into ensuring everyone had a good time. Damn, what a world!

  He knew that an interruption was bound to happen, so when one of his guards entered the office to hand him his phone, he knew that their time together was over. He was actually surprised that it had lasted this long.

  “I’m sorry, I have to take this,” he sighed and stood up. She immediately set down her glass and stood up.

  “Of course, Your Highness,” she agreed awkwardly. Glancing at her watch, she gasped and backed up a step. “I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I took up so much of your time yammering away about social events when you have more important issues to handle!”

  He ignored the person on the other end of the phone call, stepping forward and taking her hand. “Please. It was a delightful afternoon and I enjoyed listening to you. You have a wonderful way of telling a story, Giselle.”

  She looked up at him incredulously, but he only laughed and took her hand. “I look forward to hearing more of your stories.”

  He lifted her hand to his lips. As he pressed a gentle kiss to her fingers, he felt the shiver run through her and looked up to see her face. Softened lips, lowered lashes, soft pink creeping along her cheeks…beautiful!

  Chapter 2

  Two days later, she couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer.

  “Stephen, is Prince Jaffri married?” Giselle asked as she entered her boss’ office.

  Stephen looked up from his computer, surprised. “No. And that’s actually a big issue.”

  She tried to hide her surprise. “Why would it be an issue?”

  “Because everyone wants him married and producing heirs, that’s why.”

  She looked down at her notebook, pretending that this was just a casual conversation. Which it should be! Giselle knew perfectly well that there could be no future between herself and the handsome prince. But ever since that conversation over the weekend, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She’d dreamed about him both nights and…well, she wasn’t interested. She was just curious. She wanted…nothing. It was mere curiosity. She’d never meet the man again. Their introduction on Saturday afternoon was simply a fluke.

  “He’s a single man. I’m sure that there is someone special in his life.”

  Stephone snorted. “I’ve heard there are many ‘special someones’ in his life.”

  Giselle froze, her pen poised over her notebook as her fingers tightened around the pen. “What do you mean?”

  Stephen laughed. “You’ve seen him in the news, right?” her
boss asked, shivering with mock excitement. “The man is hot! And tall, muscular, and a freaking prince! There’s no better aphrodisiac than that combination. Add in disgustingly wealthy and the man is a powerful magnet for women.”

  “He seems like a discerning type, not one to…”

  “How do you know what he ‘seems’ like?” he interrupted, his eyes sharpening on Giselle’s startled features.

  Trapped! “I just…” she shook her head. “I’ve been doing so much research on Princess Sada for the party you’ve assigned to me. I looked up the other members of the royal family. Just to be thorough.”

  Thankfully, Stephen didn’t notice the slight hesitation and accepted her explanation. “He’s a hound, no doubt about it, my dear. But no, he isn’t married. Why would he be? The man wouldn’t want to narrow his field of play.”

  Giselle changed the subject, not wanting to hear any more about the prince’s desire for variety. It hurt, and she knew that it shouldn’t. Just because she’d felt a connection, doesn’t mean that he’d felt it too. He had beautiful women from all over the world to choose from. She was just a mousy social planner.

  Walking back to her office, she struggled to focus on her job. No more fantasizing about tall, overly muscular men with too much arrogance and a laugh that caused her heart to stumble.

  Chapter 3

  “You haven’t left.”

  Giselle jerked upright with those words, startled. Jaffri was there, standing in the doorway. “Yes,” was the best she could come up with. Oh, to have the kind of mind that could whip up a pithy response at the top of a hat!

  Those muscular arms crossed over his chest distracted her, straining against the material of his dress shirt. Oh my! She tried not to focus on those muscles, wondering…a lot of things.

  “Why haven’t you gone home to your husband and family?”

  Giselle pulled her eyes away from those impressive biceps, surprised as she looked up into his blue eyes. Husband? With her schedule, even a boyfriend wasn’t easy to maintain. Most men became irritated at her inability to go out on Friday or Saturday nights, prime date nights for most of the world.

  She leaned back in her chair, enjoying the man’s attention. “Oh, probably because they don’t exist.”

  Did his eyes light up a bit with that revelation? “Boyfriend?”

  She shook her head, her trembling fingers tucking her dark curls behind her ears. “No boyfriend.”

  “Cat?” he teased.

  Giselle couldn’t stop the burst of laughter. “No, thank goodness. My oldest brother accidently adopted a cat, and that thing catches salamanders, snakes, chipmunks, mice…all sorts of things and then brings them in the house.”

  The revulsion that passed over his handsome features was comical. “Why the hell would it do that?” he demanded, pushing away from the doorframe where he’d been leaning and moving deeper into her office. He sat down in the chair in front of her desk, but Giselle held her breath, wondering if the small chair would hold his impressive height and weight. He wasn’t fat…she didn’t think the man had an ounce of fat anywhere. He was almost obscenely muscular. Everywhere! She suspected that even his little toe could lift a log.

  Giselle ripped her gaze away from his shoulders, again, and focused on his question. “I don’t understand cats myself, so I don’t know why it would bring creatures indoors.” She shrugged, leaning forward on her desk. “They seem fluffy and sweet, but a mystery.”

  “Are you a dog person?”

  Giselle laughed. “I don’t think so. I love them, when they are someone else’s responsibility.” She shook her head. “I have trouble remembering to feed myself. I suspect that any animal I adopt might starve because I’d forget to feed him or her.”

  He laughed along with her. “I doubt that would happen.”

  “Oh, you never know. I can get a bit caught up in things.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking about how caught up she’d been in imagining him naked just now. “No, it’s probably better that I not accept responsibility for another life. Not at this point, anyway.”

  “A smart woman knows her limitations,” he commented. “So what kind of dog would you have if you remembered to feed it?”

  Giselle twirled the pen in her hand, trying to appear relaxed. That was hard to do with this man watching her. She noticed his eyes skim down her figure, or what he could see of it with the desk in the way, and her whole body warmed.

  “A big dog.”

  “German Shepard?”

  She thought about that for a moment. “No, probably not. I would opt for a fluffy dog.”

  “So, a cocker spaniel?”

  “No. They are beautiful, but I think I’d prefer a mutt. Something I could rescue from an animal shelter. I hate looking at those pictures of the sad little guys in cages, those sweet eyes just begging for a little love. It breaks my heart.”

  She heard his grunt and narrowed her eyes. “Are you really going to sit there and tell me that you don’t have the same reaction?”

  Another grunt and he didn’t answer the question, but Giselle suspected that, deep down underneath all of those rough and tough muscles, he did have the same reaction to those animals. He wouldn’t admit it though. Not to her at least.

  Instead, he changed the subject. Giselle went along with the new topic, still feeling the warmth of his blue gaze, like a flower in summer sunshine. And he was funny! Goodness, she never would have expected that a man in his position, with all of his responsibilities, would have such a sense of humor! Not only was he funny and intelligent … he was actually sweet!

  She wasn’t exactly sure how a man in his position could take the time out of his busy day to just chat. But Giselle couldn’t stop the rush of happiness at the casual way he discussed just about any subject.

  They’d been talking for about an hour when he lifted his cell phone and typed something. She sat silently while he did so, and didn’t ask. When he put it away, he brought up another subject and they chatted away. A few minutes later, a palace employee arrived with a full, gourmet meal, complete with wine and dessert!

  Standing up, he tilted his head towards the covered dishes that now filled her tiny office with incredibly tantalizing smells. “Eat.”

  A moment later, he left and Giselle lifted the dome of one of the plates to discover a plate of creamy chicken and vegetables. She peeked under the silver cover for dessert and saw rich chocolate cake that was covered in thick chocolate frosting. Her mouth started watering with excitement. “Wow!” she whispered.

  Diving into the food, she devoured every last morsel while contemplating her conversation with a prince! It was more than a bit surreal. During their two conversations, he’d come across as…well, normal. She’d never thought of a royal personage as normal. Or even human! When she watched the news, saw them walking from one place to another or entering a building surrounded by guards and aides and other very stern looking people…well, they seemed sort of…ultra-human. Was that even a word? Probably not, but she didn’t care. Licking the last little bit of icing off of her fork, she thought about her conversation. ABOUT A DOG! How crazy was that? She’d discussed canine preferences with the Prince of Altair. Crazy!

  Packing up for the night, she chuckled slightly, thinking about the man. He was breathtakingly handsome. Smoothing down her pink sheath dress, she wondered about the women in his life. She didn’t fool herself into pretending that she might be one of the women he was interested in. Picking up her bag, she chuckled at the very idea. Her pink heels clicked against the marble floors as she walked out of the building to her car, waving to the guards. The idea that a man like that could be interested in a woman like her was crazy!

  But that didn’t stop her from thinking about it. She figured she was pretty normal. Just about any woman who came into contact with a man like Jaffri would go down that mental road. It was normal, although silly and completely unrealistic.

  Giselle reminded herself of that the following night
, when he arrived at her office doorway. And she reminded herself of that once again when his large frame filled up her doorway again every night for the rest of the week.

  Their conversations never lasted longer than an hour, and he always ordered dinner for her, complete with some decadent dessert that she had to stop eating because her suits and dresses were getting tighter.

  She also dreamed about him every night. No, this wasn’t a good thing, she insisted to herself as she sat at her desk way past the time when she should have packed up. She should have gone home an hour ago. All of her work was done…well, she was pretending to work but in reality, she was simply waiting. Waiting for her prince. Even thinking those words sounded crazy. He wasn’t her prince. He was some other woman’s prince. Or he would be another woman’s prince, as soon as Prince Jaffri decided to settle down and marry.

  And yet, Giselle couldn’t stop trembling as she clicked on another news article, skimming over the words but not absorbing any of the information. She should just leave, she thought. Get out of this office and go home.

  So why was she still sitting here?

  Because she wanted her nightly conversation with Prince Jaffri. She left the building every night smiling, thinking about him. She spent her lunch break looking up news articles so she would know what was going on in the world and be ready for whatever he might bring up. She loved the challenge of keeping up with him.

  She should just leave. Walk out. Don’t wait. This was silly and her fascination with the man was going to go nowhere. How could it? There could be no future between them. He was a prince! He was the head honcho prince, even! He would be ruler of Altair one day!