The Sheik's Reluctant Lover

Copyright 2013

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, business, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

“Dad, I just don’t think…” Rachel
Stuart
started to say.

Her father
gently
interrupted her before she could come up with an excuse. 
“Don’t say you don’t have the time.  I guarantee you won’t regret this.”
 

Rachel bit her lip, wondering how she could say no to her father.  She knew he was
lonely
, but…

“He’s not here, honey.” 
John Stuart
said the words softly, but her heart ached that her father
knew
. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep
, cleansing
breath as the pain of her last visit to the farm swept through her.  She slowly let the air out of her lungs and straightened her shoulders, not willing to reveal too much even to her father. 
“I don’t care if he’s there or not Dad.  This has nothing to…”

“
Rach
’, don’t even try it.
”  He
softly
interrupted her comment, knowing where this conversation would go if he allowed it.
 
“
Your old Dad knows what’s going on
and I feel for you
. 
Rais
isn’t
scheduled to arrive until
late
tomorrow
afternoon
.  So if you don’t come out tonight, then you’re not going to be able to see these beauties for another month and I know you’re
gonna
love these guys.”

‘Beauties’?
  Did that mean that new horses had arrived on the farm? 
He knew h
e’d piqued her interest with that comment
and she hesitated
only briefly
because if there was one thing in this world she loved besides her father it was horses
.  And she was relieved that the man in question wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the following day.  “What is it?” she asked, trying to hide her curiosity but failing because whatever her father was calling about had to be big. 

His
relieved
laughter flowed through the phone lines
, knowing that he’d
gotten her with those words.  If there was one thing Rachel hated it was to not know a secret.  He tormented her with Christmas and birthday presents, and any surprises he could think of throughout the year just to tease her
.  “Come out for dinner tonight and you’ll see.”  He waited a moment before he said, “I’ll make you macaroni and cheese,” he said with a hopeful tone.

He’d hit her weak point, damn him.  She closed her eyes, her hand gripping her cell phone as if she could find strength.  “With the gorgonzola cheese?” she whispered.

“You bet,” he laughed
again
, knowing that she was caught now.  “I’ll see you at six o’clock.  Don’t be late or I start eating it myself.”

She groaned and shook her head.
“Fine.
  I’ll be there.”
  He knew exactly how to lure her home for a visit.  His macaroni and cheese was the best with gorgonzola cheese and chives. 
The man didn’t stop there.  He added
secret ingredients he wouldn’t
even give her a hint
about
so that she couldn’t figure out how to make it herself.  She’d tried, just so she didn’t have to risk running into
the man in question
, but she hadn’t come close and he was using that as her compensation for the risk involved in coming home. 

After disconnecting, she stared at her computer screen, her eyes not really seeing anything. 
Her father knew, she thought with resignation and more than a little embarrassment.  He wasn’t a stupid man,
so it was ridiculous of her to think that he hadn’t noticed
her reaction
to the man
over the years
.  But it would have been nice if it had just been her secret. 

With resignation and embarrassment, she accepted that there were just some things a daughter couldn’t hide from her dad. 

Three hours later, she shut down her laptop and packed up her office, forcing a smile as she walked out of the building so her co-workers didn’t know she felt like she was facing a death squad.  She usually timed these things better
but she’d already committed to the visit
.  Coming out tonight was cutting things a bit closer than she preferred. 

It took her two hours with heavy traffic because she worked in downtown Washington, D.C. and her father
lived
out west of the city.  It felt as if everyone and their brother were heading out west along Interstate 66 so there were long periods when she was crawling in traffic, and those were the good moments.  There were other times when she just sat there, the autumn sunshine beating through her window
while traffic came to a standstill
. 
This was why she used public transportation, she thought with frustration as she pulled her jacket off during one of the
many
sitting spells. 
Unfortunately, there wasn’t any way to get all the way out to the farm on public transit so she had to drive herself, inching along in rush hour traffic. 

When she finally pulled up behind the stables, she was hot, miserable, irritated and
painfully
hungry. 

She walked into her father’s cottage and dumped her overnight bag
by the door, already feeling better once she smelled the macaroni and cheese scent wafting through his small home
.
“Dad?
  I’m home!” she called out.
“Can you tell me what the surprise is that couldn’t wait another month?”

Her father stepped out of the kitchen, tossing a dishtowel ove
r his shoulder.  The look in his
eyes told her something was very wrong. “Glad you’re here!” he said, a little too loudly
, his eyes darting from her to the kitchen, then back again worriedly
.  “Dinner is almost ready.  Why don’t
you
go change and I’ll get everything ready.”

Rachel watched her dad carefully, noting the odd look in his eyes.  “Didn’t you mention that you made macaroni and cheese
for dinner?
  I can already smell it so there’s no need to change.  I can just dig in.
”

He
hesitated, glancing behind him and Rachel peered into the kitchen, wondering what he was trying to see. 

When the tall man emerged from the
tiny
kitchen
, he
took her breath away
and her body immediately reacted to those dark, penetrating eyes
.  He was taller, his shoulders broader and his eyes darker, more dangerous.  Everything about him was just….more.  She gasped at the sight of him, her eyes taking in the overwhelming presence of the man she’d been avoiding for the past six years.  And she’d been doing a damn good job if that until tonight. 

Her father shuffled around for a moment before he said, “I’ll just go check on dinner.”  And he disappeared into the kitchen, leaving her alone to face her demons. 

“
Rais
!” she breathed, her heart instantly racing, her knees starting to feel weak and wobbly.  She couldn’t believe that he was actually here, in her father’s smal
l cottage.  It had never felt this
tiny before but
Rais
was so large, he actually had to duck between the kitchen
doorway
leading to the den area
so he didn’t bump his head.  And
shockingly, he
had
to angle
his shoulders to get through the doorway?  Ridiculous, she thought, trying to pull her eyes away from him. 

It was difficult, but she finally did it.  Unfortunately, her eyes only moved
away from his penetrating eyes
.  Traveling down his body was just as bad.  His broad
,
muscular shoulders tapered to slim hips and long legs that she knew were covered with bulging muscles
, just like the rest of him
.  The man was the epitome of masculinity topped off with an aura of confidence that
many, many
women found fascinating and alluring. 

She was not immune to his
magnetism
either, which was why she’d tried so hard to avoid visiting her father while he was in residence. 

She knew that
Rais
’
father passed away several years ago, so he was now
Sheik
Rais
Sayyid
Tarif
Zaman
, Sheik of
Dunari
, she thought in a ridiculous train of thought that left her speechless. 
She couldn’t even tell him to get out since, technically, this was his cottage, his farm and all of the horses out in the stables were his.  He owned the farm here in Virginia so if he wanted to come
to his house
earlier than anticipated, he could do whatever he pleased. 

“It’s been a long time,”
Rais
finally broke the silence. 

His deep, husky voice broke through her
crazy thoughts, jilting her mind into overdrive.  “Yes.  I guess it has been a few years.”

He raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly as he said, “More like six years, I believe.”  He leaned against the wall and slid his hands into
the
pockets
of his immaculately tailored slacks, those dark, dangerous eyes never leaving her face
.  “One might almost
imagine
that you
have been
avoiding me.”

Rachel flushed and looked down at her feet.  “That would be silly,” she said, hoping he couldn’t see her cheeks flame up in color
with the dimmer light in the cottage’s den area
.  “How have you been?” she asked
,
suddenly
overcome
with the need to straighten
the magazines that were scattered all over the coffee table and
pick up the
newspapers that had been
carelessly left on
the floor.  She was nervous and wished she could just slip out the door and fade back into the darkness of the autumn evening. 

He
smiled slightly
, crossing his arms over that massive chest of his while he watched her nervously straighten up the room. 
“I’ve been fine.  Why haven’t you been around?”

She picked up and refolded the blanket that she’d bought for her dad because he fell asleep on the couch so often.  “I’ve been pretty busy.”