One Desert Night (15 page)

Zahir was smiling warmly down at her again, and the depth of that incredible smile chased away all Gina's doubts. When her husband utilised that smile it was as though blazing sunshine appeared from behind a bank of stormy grey clouds and lit up the world.

'Pleased?' he answered. 'I am almost speechless with happiness. I just have to take it in for a moment. How you now expect me to give a talk about the Heart of Courage after hearing such news, I do not know.'

'You'll be fine.' Grinning mischievously, Gina stood on tiptoe to plant a tender kiss at the side of his mouth. 'You faced a horde of unruly rebels without a blink... If you can do that then you can easily talk about your family heirloom to a crowd of curious visitors. It'll be a piece of cake!'

'Sheikh Kazeem Khan!' someone called out from behind them. 'Can we have a picture of your and your lovely sheikha now?'

They turned together to face the sea of flash-popping cameras. Zahir slipped his arm protectively round his wife's still slim waist. 'The sooner we return to Kabuyadir and relative anonymity, the better I will like it,' he whispered low in Gina's ear.

She glanced up at him and her blue eyes were infinitely tender, and somewhat teasing, too. 'Even if you weren't the Sheikh of the kingdom, you couldn't be anonymous if you tried, Zahir. You're far too imposing for that!'

'Imposing, but friendly,' he joked, and kissed her then and there on the lips, for everyone to see...

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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First published in Great Britain 2011
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

© Maggie Cox 2011

ISBN: 978-1-742-90730-7