for her.
“We are welcome,” Zayn said.
“Well, that’s good. I was already mentally planning on how I would relay your valiant fight to save yourself to your staff when I returned back in the SUV without you.”
She took a step toward him and stumbled. The wry smile that curved his lips said everything his voice didn’t. She was not running anywhere out here, and they both knew it. Not when she could scarcely walk a few steps without nearly falling on her face.
“I even explained to Jamal that you are a reporter. He still didn’t kick us out. I think that’s a good sign.”
“So he doesn’t mind me making observations that will end up in the news?”
“They remain fairly unaffected by world events out here, but that isn’t to say it doesn’t matter. As long as your representation is fair, he will not mind. Though I have to say I’m surprised that you care one way or the other.”
Heat stung Sophie’s face, and it wasn’t just from the sun. “Look, you’ve made some assumptions about me based on what you think a reporter is, and based on the fact that you think I’m basically a tabloid journalist, and given what I was up to when we met I can’t really blame you. But I write for the society pages for the New York Herald and that’s a far cry from the tabloids. Also, I’m a human being with feelings, and I acknowledge that other human beings have feelings. I’m not out to destroy anybody.”
“Except for the Chatsfields.”
She cleared her throat. “I never said I wanted to destroy them. I merely want to distract them.”
“To what end?”
“If you get to keep your secrets, then I get to keep mine. Now, rather than keeping me standing out here in the middle of the sand, why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
“Friend is used loosely here.” Zayn moved to her side, and put his hand on her lower back, guiding her in the direction of the man he had called Jamal.
The man was tall, nearly the same height as Zayn, his expression even more imposing. “You must be the reporter,” he said.
“Yes, that’s me.” She extended her hand, only to find it ignored. She put it awkwardly back at her side, wobbling a bit on the uneven sand. “Sophie. Sophie Parsons.”
The man nodded his head. “I suppose then we should give you something interesting to report on.”
“WE HAVE SENT your woman back to the tent.”
Zayn looked at Jamal, something strange twisting in his gut as he turned over the words the other man had just spoken. “She is merely under my protection. Nothing more.”
“Then would you prefer she sleep elsewhere?”
“As I said,” Zayn replied, knowing he should be taking Jamal up on his offer, knowing he wouldn’t, “she is under my protection. That means she must stay close with me.”
“As you wish.”
“There is nothing between us.”
Jamal looked off into the distance, his eyes fixed on the horizon line. “It is none of my concern what you do or with whom. I care not for your affairs, Al-Ahmar. You should know this by now. So long as you stay out of my business, I will stay out of yours.”
“To a point, I’m certain.”
“Well, you are here now. So obviously it only extends to a point. Though I will say it is lucky for you that you now have me to deal with rather than my father. His welcome for you may not have been so hospitable.”
“And yet, hostility between us is pointless. We both want the same things. We both want what is absolutely best for those we rule over.”
“Ah, yes. But I do believe you and I often have differing opinions on what is best.”
Zayn looked toward the tent that was being provided for Sophie and himself. “I sometimes differ with myself as to what is best.”
“Indeed.” Jamal laughed. “Don’t we all?”
Far too often. “I shall retire now.”
Jamal arched a brow. “As would I if I had a woman such as that waiting for me in my tent.”
“You have a wife. And this woman is not my lover.”
“Calm down, Al-Ahmar. I have no designs on your woman. Neither will I repeat what I have seen here. We may not agree on everything, but I believe you are a man of honor. And for that reason I do not see the point in causing you any trouble.”
Zayn extended his hand, and Jamal clasped it and shook it. “On that we agree. And I must bid you good-night now.”
He turned and walked away from the other man, ignoring his assumptions. Doing his best to push them away from his mind. Yes, he and Sophie would share a tent tonight. But there was plenty of room for both of them. And he would not touch her.
He crossed the courtyard, passing the campfires that were starting to die down. He swept up the closure of the tent and encountered a wide-eyed-looking Sophie.
“Good evening.” He turned away from her and continued on to the corner of the massive space, where there was a seating area, where the bags he had had his staff prepare for them were sitting.
“What are you doing here?”
“This is a guest quarters. And as we are both guests, this is where we will both be staying.”
“I don’t even have any...” Her sentence trailed off as she looked at the bags he was now standing next to.
“You have everything. Naturally.”
“Naturally. I’m beginning to discover that staying with you means being taken care of whether I want to be or not.” He only stared at her. “Well, that’s not what I mean exactly.”
“You mean I give you absolutely no excuses for being unhappy? I make you comfortable. It must be awful considering you’re trying to feel like the wounded prisoner.”
“Well, I do feel slightly like the invaded prisoner at the moment. I was not aware we would be sharing a tent.”
He swept his hand across the expanse of the vast space. “Did you think you would have such a place to yourself?”
She blinked, tossing golden hair over her shoulders, the strands turning to golden fire in the lantern light. “I confess I didn’t really think it through.”
“I don’t suppose you did.” He gestured toward a swath of silk that was suspended from the ceiling. “Back there you will find the bed. It is fine with me if you have it. I’m happy to sleep on the couch.”
“As
