The Oil Tycoon and Her Sexy Sheikh (13 page)

“What woman?” He looked bemused.

“That last night, you told me you had already chosen who you wanted out of all the eligible Saqati women.”

He shook his head. “I’d already chosen you, Livvy. Only you.”

“But… you can’t. I’m not the sort of woman you can marry. I’m not Saqati. I’m not Arab. I’m not a Muslim.”

“You will be a Saqati woman as soon as you marry me. As for the rest—my people love you already.”

“What?”

He grinned. “The radio show. Apparently it started all sorts of interesting rumors about you and me.”

Jemimah had said something about rumors at the reception, but she’d been so distracted by everything else going on that night that she hadn’t even considered the implications.

“It seems that half the Saqati population have been expecting the announcement of our betrothal for weeks.”

“You mean they don’t mind?”

He slid his arms around her waist and tugged her a little nearer. “They don’t mind at all. Sadiah says you will be the breath of fresh air our country needs.”

“Would I have to convert?”

“There is no law that requires it.”

“And I wouldn’t make it harder for you to be the emir?”

He laughed. “Being the emir without you by my side would be an infinitely more difficult task. I am so sorry that I couldn’t propose at the reception. I needed to speak to my father, and I needed to see the council. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask you to marry me if all I had to offer you was a life of shopping and sunbathing.”

“As it turns out, I quite enjoy sunbathing.” She indicated her lounger and he laughed. Olivia turned back to face him. “You didn’t need to offer me anything more, Khaled. Only you.”

“Is that a yes?” he asked. “You’ll marry me? You’ll stay with me?”

“Through everything,” she vowed. “As long as you want me.”

“I know you dreamed of taking over from your father.”

“That dream was never going to come true.”

Khaled stroked her hair. “What happened?”

“He had already appointed someone else, even before I told him you weren’t going to sign. He… I think he was glad I failed.”

“Oh, darling, I’m sorry.” Khaled pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms.

“No, I… I realized that I never cared that much about the job, after all. I just wanted him to be proud of me.”

“I’m so sorry, Livvy. I wish I could make it better for you.”

“You do,” she muttered. “You make everything better.”

“I’ll try, sweetheart. I’ll always try.”

She opened her arms to him, offered him her lips to kiss. He took her invitation with a desperation that made her realize the past couple of weeks had been as hard for him as it had for her. She slid her hands up into his hair and pulled him closer, showing him with every inch of her body how much she needed him.

“Don’t ever let me go again,” she whispered.

“Never.” He claimed her mouth again, running his hands over her all-but-naked body. Olivia arched into his touch, craving him, needing him everywhere, anywhere, all at once.

“I love you,” he told her fiercely. “I love you, Olivia McInnes, and I always will.”

Something inside her settled. Finally she knew what it meant to be secure, to feel safe. To be loved and to know it. She gave a deep, deep sigh of pure joy.

An hour later, in the bedroom of her beach hut, Olivia lay stretched out across Khaled’s chest like a satisfied cat.

“Can we stay here forever?” she murmured.

“Good plan.” His hand reached down to caress her bottom. “Is there room service?”

“Of course.”

He sighed blissfully. “We’ll never even need to get out of bed.”

“The bathroom is across the hall.”

“Too far. I’ll tell the hotel we need a shower put in here.”

She laughed. “Brilliant.”

He rolled her over onto her back and surveyed her closely. “This is new,” he observed, fingering the gold stud that adorned her belly button.

She blushed. “I can take it out if you don’t like it.”

He shifted down the bed to inspect it more closely. “I like it. I’m just a bit surprised. When did you have it done?”

“On my way home. I had a brief moment of rebellion at the airport. I blew hundreds of pounds on the smallest garments I’ve ever owned, and I got a piercing.”

He grinned up at her. “Were you still drunk?”

She groaned and hid her face. “Probably. Tell me the worst. How embarrassing was I?”

“Not embarrassing. Sweet. A bit clingy.” He’d better tell her the rest of it. “You said you loved me.”

She sat bolt upright. “What?”

“You said you loved me. Of course, you were very drunk, so you probably didn’t mean it.”

“Khaled!”

He winked. “You’ve never said it sober.”

“I… but of course I love you.”

“Of course.” He grinned smugly. “How could you help it? By the way, I’m very curious about those tiny garments you bought.”

“You saw one this afternoon.”

“The bikini? I thought you might have bought underwear.”

“No. I thought about it, but I couldn’t see the point.”

He ran his hands up to cup her naked breasts. “Fair enough. So if the piercing was your moment of rebellion, what does that make the trip to St. Lucia?”

“This was my haven of restoration. I was supposed to be having a holiday and finding myself. Whilst wearing skimpy bikinis and having hordes of gorgeous men fall at my feet.”

He couldn’t help laughing. “But I found you instead, though I’m happy to note that I did not actually fall at your feet, even though you were wearing a bikini, which was indeed far too small for you. Livvy, I never meant for you to think I didn’t want you. I planned to tell you after the ball.”

“But I had too many glasses of champagne and ruined that plan.”

“Quite. I rushed to the airport as soon as I could get out of the council meeting, but the plane had already taken off.”

“That was nearly two weeks ago.”

He frowned. “I know. I wanted to come immediately. I was already arranging for the plane to fly me to Aberdeen, but…”

“But?”

Khaled sighed. It was always going to be this way and there was no use pretending otherwise. “Jamil reminded me of a state visit. I had to be there.”

“Yes, I see.”

“No, you don’t.” He grasped her hands and waited for her to look up at him. “I wanted to ditch it. You were more important—you
are
more important, but…”

She squeezed his hands. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I understand that you have duties, Khaled. I don’t want to stop you from doing what you must.”

“They were from Kuwait. There was a ceremony to honor Djalil. I had to be there.”

She lifted a hand to his cheek. “Do you still miss him?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know what our lives would have been if he had lived. I might never have met you.”

Olivia shook her head. “It’s better not to wonder, but I wish I had known your brother. I always wanted a brother.”

“He would have liked you.”

She smiled. “You’re biased.”

“Maybe.” He stroked her hair. “I phoned you later that day. Your father was bewildered. I don’t think he understood why you left again so suddenly.”

She grimaced. “I’ll talk to him. Explain.”

“He didn’t know where you were. It took a few days to find you. And I wanted to clear my schedule. I thought I might need longer.”

“Longer?”

He grinned. “To persuade you. I had no idea you were going to be so easy.”

She shrugged. “I don’t play games.”

“No, you don’t. I love that about you. But I should have come sooner. I could have found a way.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. She tugged at his arm and obligingly he moved near enough for her to kiss him. “Nothing matters now.”

Reluctantly he pulled away. There was something else he had to tell her. “I need to be back in Saqat by the end of the week.”

Olivia slumped against the pillows. He tickled her stomach. “We can come back here, if you like. For our honeymoon, perhaps?”

She smiled broadly. “Yes, please.”

“Good.” He pushed back the sheets and stood up. “Excuse me, I must phone my father.”

“Your father!” Olivia sat up and pulled the sheet around her swiftly. “What on earth is he going to say, Khaled? You can’t just marry me, you know that!”

“Relax.” He sat on the edge of the bed and slid his hand around Olivia’s neck. “My father likes you. He knows I was coming to find you, and he told me to tell you that he has always wanted a daughter.”

“Oh, Khaled.” She stared at him, lips trembling and eyes stinging with sudden tears. “Truly? I thought your father would want you to marry a Saqati woman.”

“My father wants me to find the woman of my choosing and make her Saqati by marrying her.”

She reached up and kissed him again.

“Uh-uh.” Khaled pulled away. “I need to make that call.”

She watched him cross the room to take his phone from his bag. He made the connection, then wandered out onto the verandah to speak with his father.

Olivia lay back in the vast bed and stared up at the ceiling. He’d done it. He’d really done it. She was going to be CEO of Saqat Oil, and with Khaled as chairman, it would be revolutionary in its approach. He would do everything possible to protect the seas he loved, and Olivia would work out how to help him. He’d set this up for her, she knew he had, and she loved him for it. She would have given up anything for him, but he had found a way of ensuring that she didn’t have to. He’d given her a future that was beyond anything she’d dreamed. A company to run, a husband who believed in her capabilities, and a man who trusted her with his dreams. It was almost too much to comprehend.

…

Khaled leaned against the French windows and watched her. The grin on her face matched his own. They were going to be unbearable for everyone else, he realized. Madly in love, and wholly incapable of hiding it any longer.

“Happy?” he asked in mock solemnity when she finally noticed him standing there.

“A bit,” she replied with a wide smile and bright eyes that told a different story. “Are you?”

He went to join her on the bed, gathering her into his arms and tangling his hand into her hair.

“Happy to be with you, yes.” He pressed a kiss on her temple.

“But?”

He grimaced. She was too perceptive not to notice. “My father.”

“He doesn’t want you to marry me? I knew it.”

“Hush.” He stroked his hand down Livvy’s back. “Not that. His health has deteriorated since you left Saqat.”

“Oh, Khaled. You shouldn’t have left him. Should we go back now?”

She was amazing. He’d promised her until the end of the week, which was little enough, but she was willing to sacrifice even that.

“No. We’ll stay until Saturday, but I do have a favor to ask you.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He kissed her lips and took her hands in his. “My father would like us to be married as soon as possible. He’d like to be there, and we don’t know how much time is left.”

She saw the deep sadness in his eyes. “Yes. Yes, we’ll do that. Next week?”

“You’ll need a dress. And there are arrangements to make.”

“I’ll find a dress and the rest of it isn’t important. Your father being there is important.” Her hands squeezed his. “We’ll go back on Saturday and be married as soon as we can.”

Chapter Twelve

The wedding took place just a week later. Sadiah announced the engagement to the nation on her radio show, and both Khaled and Olivia were overwhelmed by the responses from the Saqati people. Every day brought bags full of letters, cards, and gifts to the palace wishing them well. Khaled told Olivia that it was her doing; he had never been so popular without her.

She shook her head. She knew that the people loved their prince and were glad to see him happy and smiling.

It was a small, quiet ceremony at the palace, with only a few close friends and family in attendance. The bride wore ivory Scottish lace patterned with thistles and roses. The groom wore traditional Saqati robes. Olivia’s father led her down the aisle, resplendent in his full Highland dress, more than a match for the grandeur of the Arab robes. The emir was present for the ceremony, but he was too unwell even to attend the celebratory dinner afterward.

“It’s as though he was waiting for us,” Khaled said once they were alone together in his rooms at the end of the day. “The doctors tell me that can happen. People cling on to life for a particular reason and then they let go.”

“He was waiting for you. He wanted to know that you would be happy.” Olivia looked at her husband. “And now you are.”

“No, he was waiting until the throne and the succession were secure.”

She shrugged. “Think that if you want. Although I should point out that the succession is not yet actually secure.”

Khaled gave her an indulgent look. “Well, we can work on that. Your father was happy for you too, Livvy.”

She pursed her lips. “He told me he wished my mother could have seen me today.”

“She would have been so proud.”

“That’s what he said. Then he told me he was proud. Quickly and gruffly, almost as though he didn’t want me to hear it, but that’s what he said.”

“I’m glad.”

“But I don’t know, Khaled. I wanted him to be proud of my career, not my marriage.”

“He will be. When Saqat Oil overtakes MCI Oil, then he will be extremely proud.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t want that. I want to do this job, and I want to do it well, for your sake and for the people of Saqat. I don’t want to spend any more days worrying about how to impress my father. I don’t want to be afraid to fail any more.”

Khaled drew a finger lightly across her forehead. “I don’t want you to be afraid of anything. And I don’t want you spending anymore days worrying.”

“Likewise. Shall we run away together and live in blissful isolation on a tropical island with lots of interesting fish for you to study and beaches for me to lie on in bikinis?”

Khaled grinned and kissed her. “Tempting though that is, I’m afraid we have to stay. Saqat has its own beaches that are all in need of beautiful women in bikinis to lie on them. As well as plenty of interesting fish for me to study when I get the chance.”

Olivia took his face in her hands and kissed him back. “I love you, Khaled Saqat. I love you despite your extreme sense of duty, and I love you with all your deeply rooted principles. I love you because of the strength of your family ties. Don’t ever apologize for being the man you are, because that’s the man I fell in love with.”

“Livvy…” His face softened as he gazed at her with so much tenderness. “I love you so much.”

“How much?” Her hands were tugging at the rope around his waist, struggling to work out the knot that held them in place.

“More than you can imagine. Shall I do that?”

She stepped back and let him dispense with the rope, the headscarf, and the robes. “One day, I’m going to make you teach me how to do that.”

“One day when you aren’t quite so impatient?”

“Exactly. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to be patient now. There are about a hundred tiny buttons down the back of this dress and they all need undoing.”

Khaled sighed pointedly. “Couldn’t you have got a dress with a zipper?”

“Well, there was one with Velcro down the back. Might that have suited you more?”

He laughed. “I’d like to have seen that.”

“I was a bit worried about tripping over the hem and hearing the whole dress rip apart in front of everyone.”

“No, it only needs to rip apart in front of me. And now that I think about it, you’re never going to wear this again, are you?”

“Well, no, I wasn’t planning to.”

“Excellent.” One sharp tug sent tiny pearl buttons flying across the room and left the dress slithering down Olivia’s body and onto the floor.

“You’ll have to pick those up later,” she said.

“Nope,” he said smugly. “That’s one of those good things about being the sheikh. Someone else gets to pick up the buttons in the morning.”

…

The next day, Olivia got up early to see her father off.

“If you need any advice with that new job of yours, you know where to find me. Not that I suppose you will, my girl. You’ve always been one to do things yourself without your old dad to help.”

She flung her arms around him. “I always needed you, Dad. Always.”

Oliver patted her awkwardly on the back. “You’ve got that husband of yours now, lass. You don’t need me.”

“Promise me you’ll visit,” she said.

“If you want me to.”

“I do. We do. Khaled doesn’t know anything about running an oil company.”

“He’ll learn. You’ll show him how, lass.”

“Dad? I thought you…” She bit her lip indecisively. But it was now or never. “I thought you didn’t think I was up to it. You gave the job to Charlie Munro instead of me.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I always knew you could do whatever you put your mind to. I just wanted you to choose something for yourself. Something easier.”

“
That’s
why you made things as hard as possible for me?” She stared at him in amazement. It had never occurred to her that her father was deliberately trying to make her seek another career.

“I thought it was no job for a lassie, especially not one as pretty and bright as you. You wouldn’t listen when I said as much, so I did everything I could to show you what I meant. But you proved me wrong. You always did.”

“Oh, Dad.” She was almost on the point of tears again. He wouldn’t say that he loved her, that wasn’t his way. Now that she knew, it didn’t matter if she never heard the words from his lips.

“You don’t need my help now anymore than you ever did, but I’ll be glad to visit you here. And if you can brave the wilds of Scotland, you know there will always be a welcome for you and your husband at Dalneith House.”

He winked at someone standing behind Olivia, and she turned to see that Khaled had entered the room.

“I’ll even make sure the woodshed is filled and the chimney swept, aye?”

“Thank you, sir. We would appreciate that very much. Olivia, my father would like to see you when you are finished here.”

“You go, lassie,” said Oliver. “I’ll be leaving now, anyway.”

“I’ll show you out,” Khaled said.

Olivia made her way to the emir’s rooms and a few minutes later Khaled joined her.

“He had a turn for the worse in the night,” he said in a low voice. “The doctors are monitoring him and giving him drugs for the pain, but there is nothing else they can do.”

“Khaled, I’m so sorry.”

He pressed her hand and led her into his father’s room.

“My son,” the emir said in a shaky voice. Then his eyes turned to Olivia. “My daughter.”

She walked forward to kneel by his bed. “I am honored that you call me so.”

He held out his hand feebly and Olivia took it between hers. “Look after my boy.”

“I will, sir.”

“And you,” he turned to Khaled. “Look after my people.”

“I will, sir.”

“Good,” he whispered. “Good.”

…

There was no honeymoon for Khaled and Olivia.

For three days they sat with the emir, making sure he was never left alone. When, finally, his eyes closed for the last time, Khaled grasped Olivia’s hand tightly.

“I have to tell the council.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“You can’t. It’s not permitted.”

Olivia bit her lip. She knew this was how it would be. Duty first. Protocol and etiquette ruling their lives even at a time like this.

“I’ll wait outside.”

They walked slowly down the gilded staircase toward the council room. At the door, Olivia paused, seeking the right words to encourage her husband, but he spoke first.

“Come with me.”

She looked up in surprise. His face was ravaged with grief and he was closer to tears than she had ever known him.

“Please.”

“But you said protocol doesn’t allow it.”

“Damn protocol. I need you there.”

Olivia nodded. “Through everything. I promised.”

Khaled slid his arms around her waist. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And to Saqat.”

“It is the same. You are Saqat now,” she murmured.

“No,” he said with a light kiss on her temple. “We are.”