of friendship.
“Think with your big head here, Sayed,” Yusuf almost pleaded. “If she is not there when I arrive, I will be forced to turn the matter over to Omar.”
Sayed didn’t bother to remind Yusuf that no name had been mentioned. Even if his bodyguard hadn’t been keenly aware of Sayed’s preoccupation with Aaliyah Amari, discovering the identity of the woman Sayed had spent the night with would not provide much of a challenge for the security team.
Sayed felt his own groan coming on.
“Is that what you want?” Yusuf asked when Sayed didn’t reply to his statement.
No way would Sayed sic his father’s fixer on Aaliyah. “That is not acceptable.”
“As you say.”
Which was not agreement. Not coming from the man who had grown up alongside Sayed and was almost as close as a brother.
Sayed had been trained to lead a country and Yusuf had been trained to protect the royal house of Zeena Sahra. They shared a common goal that had solidified the bond between them from childhood.
“I will see you shortly.”
“As you wish, Emir.”
Grinding his teeth at the additional sarcasm lacing his friend’s tone, Sayed hung up the phone.
He turned to face Aaliyah. She’d scooted to the other side of the king-size bed and was sitting against the headboard, her long, dark hair in just-woken-up disarray, the sheet pulled up over her nudity.
The way it outlined her delectable curves, he did not think the cotton provided the barrier she thought it did.
There was no point putting off what he would rather avoid altogether. “My bodyguard insists you sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
Aaliyah nodded and then winced. Pressing the hand not holding the sheet in a death grip against the side of her head, she let her eyelids slide shut.
“You do not mind?”
“No,” Aaliyah said in a whisper. “Would you mind not yelling, though?”
“You’ve got a hangover?”
Her eyes snapped open, fire sparking in their narrowed green depths. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
He laughed, when he was sure nothing could have made him do so today. Not when he faced one of the biggest political crises of his life.
AALIYAH’S FROWN TURNED into a full-on glare.
And Sayed’s laughter increased, lightness pushing away a layer of his stress. “You are a breath of fresh air.”
“Why? No one else frowns at you?”
“It is pretty rare.” He stood up, unashamed of his nudity. “Come. You can have the first shower. It will help.”
She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “I’ll wait until you leave.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He started going through the drawers and cabinets in the room. “Are there any pain relievers in the suite?”
“Your fian...the princess requested we stock ibuprofen. It is in the bathroom cabinet.”
“She’s not a princess,” Sayed remarked as he went in search of the pain reliever. “Her father is a very influential sheikh, but he is not a king. And now she is merely a Mrs. Palace Aid.”
Which would not afford her any of the prestige or benefits life as his wife would have done.
“You’re a little bitter there.”
Coming back out of the bathroom with two pills and a glass of water, he shrugged. “She chose her life, now she will live it.”
And he did not think the pampered daughter of a powerful sheikh would enjoy her newly humbled circumstances as much as Tahira clearly believed she would.
“Love makes up for a lot of deprivation.”
“That is a sweet sentiment, but not very realistic.” He handed Aaliyah the pills and water.
She frowned up at him. “My mother and I went without many luxuries you probably take for granted as necessities, but I never doubted her love and that made up for everything.”
“She was no doubt an amazing woman,” he said with sincerity.
Ms. Amari had raised Aaliyah, after all.
“She was.” With a look of sadness, Aaliyah looked away as she swallowed the pills.
When she tried to hand him back the glass, he shook his head. “Drink it all. It will help.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Sip it.”
She sighed. “It wasn’t the alcohol, was it? You really are this bossy all of the time.”
“It comes with the job.” He smiled, the urge to laugh again not easy to stifle, but he did not think she would appreciate it.
She finished the glass of water and put it down.
“Good. Now, go take your shower.” If he timed it right, Yusuf would arrive while she was in the bathroom.
Sayed didn’t understand this need he had to protect her, but he had no doubts it would embarrass Aaliyah greatly to face Sayed’s security staff the morning after.
She seemed discombobulated enough by her one-night lover’s presence.
She took a tighter grip on the sheet, her expression mutinous. “I’ll wait.”
“I am not accustomed to having my instructions disregarded,” he told her, lacing his tone heavily with censure.
“Poor you.” She appeared anything but sympathetic. “I’m sure you will survive it.”
“You were not this stubbornly shy last night.”
She glared up at him. “I was drunk.”
“You told me you were not.”
“I wanted you to make love to me.”
“So, you knew enough to make the choice,” he said with some relief.
“Of course. I’m not a child.”
He tugged on the sheet. “Are you sure?”
Affront was written all over her lovely face.
He shrugged, lifting
