swelling in anticipation.
He ran his hands up and down her back before slipping one around her rib cage then up her T-shirt to her breast. Even through the layers of fabric, he found her nipple, tight and hard. He teased the sensitive point, rubbing it, circling, then brushing it with the palm of his hand.
At the same time he broke the kiss, only to nibble his way along her jaw.
He moved his free hand to her other breast. His touch was exquisite. Powerful need made her tremble. She wanted everything right that second. She wanted him.
He stepped back far enough to pull off her T-shirt. She quickly undid her bra and tossed it aside. Then his hands were on her bare skin.
He stroked her with his fingers before bending down and taking her nipple in his mouth. When he sucked, deep ribbons of desire wove their way down to that place between her thighs. She cupped his head with her hand, as much to be touching him as to make sure he never stopped.
His tongue danced with her, flicked against her, made her gasp and moan. Then he slipped one hand between her legs.
She braced herself for the magic of his touch and the intensity of her response. But even as he eased into place, she heard someone in the garage. A voice, then a burst of male laughter. She stiffened.
Qadir straightened. He immediately pulled off his suit jacket and covered her, then moved to the door, closed and locked it.
All that only took a second, but it was enough for her rational mind to wake up and be horrified by what had almost happened.
Qadir was her boss. They had a deal and that didn’t include sex. Just as confusing was the fact that she’d never been the kind of woman who threw herself into bed with any guy who came along. There’d only ever been Jon and it had taken them three years of dating to finally go all the way.
Of course they’d been young and both virgins. Qadir was a man of the world. Which explained his actions, but what about hers? It was one thing to enjoy a man’s kiss—it was another to get so swept away that she’d nearly done it in her office in the garage, in the middle of the day.
“Maggie?”
She looked at him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I won’t apologize.”
He hadn’t done anything wrong except take what was offered. “I don’t expect you to.”
“Would it help if you threw something?”
That made her smile. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel angry. Just confused. I don’t usually do this sort of thing.”
“There is a powerful attraction between us.”
“I got that.”
He picked up her bra and T-shirt. After handing them to her, he turned his back. She set his jacket over a chair and quickly dressed. When she’d pulled on the coveralls, she said, “Doing anything … you know, intimate, would mess things up.”
He faced her again. “I agree.”
“I work for you.”
He nodded. “Better to keep things business only.”
“Yeah.”
They were both saying the right words, so why did she have the feeling that neither of them believed them?
“You are all right?” he asked.
“Fine. Weirded out, but fine.” She gave him a little push. “Go back to your office and do princely things. I’ll be ready at seven.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he told her and left.
Maggie watched him go. When she was alone, she sank into the chair and tried to figure out how much trouble she’d just gotten herself into.
Could she and Qadir put this behind them and pretend it had never happened?
Without meaning to, she closed her eyes and remembered how it felt to have his mouth on her breasts. Talk about amazing.
“It’s just chemistry,” she told herself. “Nothing more.”
It couldn’t be. She was here for a job and that was all. In six months their fake relationship would end and she would go home, much richer for the experience.
The trick was to not get personally involved. But for the first time she wondered if that was going to be harder than she’d ever imagined.
“Tell me about the woman,” Kateb said as he shrugged out of his robes and tossed them over a chair in Qadir’s suite.
Qadir poured them each a Scotch and handed his brother a glass. “What woman?”
Kateb raised his eyebrows. “Word of your involvement had even reached me in the desert, so there must be a woman.”
They settled on the oversize sofas in the main living area. Qadir raised his glass in a toast to his brother. “It is good to have you back. You stay away too long.”
“I find no pleasure in the city. I belong in the desert.” Kateb took a sip of his drink. “But you have not answered my question.”
“Her name is Maggie Collins. She’s restoring the Rolls.”
Kateb’s expression gave nothing away. “And?”
“And she’s beautiful, funny, down-to-earth.”
“You say all the right things. What aren’t you telling me, brother?”
Qadir grinned. “That it’s a game. I’m paying her to pretend to be my girlfriend. In a few weeks, we’ll get engaged. Then this will all be too much for her and she’ll return home. Heartbroken, I won’t be able to consider any of our father’s offers for perhaps as long as a year.”
Kateb nodded slowly. “An impressive plan.”
“You wish you’d thought of it yourself.”
“The idea has merit, although living in the desert as I do, I am well out of the king’s reach.”
“Lucky you.”
Kateb took another drink. “You do realize the game may have consequences.”
Qadir thought about his encounter with Maggie that morning, in the garage. If those were the consequences his brother was talking about, he would welcome them.
She had been all sweet fire in his arms. Her body yielding, her moans telling him she was as aroused as he had been.
“I am not concerned,” Qadir told him. “I know what I’m doing.”
“As you wish.”
“Are you here to discuss the nomination?” Qadir asked.
Kateb shrugged. “I am not sure
