The Sheik's Secret Bride (2 page)

“As much as I would like it to be otherwise,” she said with a kind smile, “I’m neither an official visitor nor a resident. But thanks for the offer.”

The little man pressed his thin lips together. He had dark eyes and a sparse beard. He wore an exquisitely tailored suit.

“Please, ma’am. You would be most welcome.”

A uniformed security guard appeared at her elbow. “It’s quite all right, ma’am. We’re just trying to speed up the process.”

“If you’re sure,” Liana said doubtfully. She allowed the two men to take possession of her luggage and lead the way over to the customs official.

“You don’t want to be in a faster line?”
Bethany
asked as she dragged her carry-on bag behind her. “You like waiting in here?”

“Okay, okay, I was just being careful.”

They came to a stop and waited while the uniformed officer began to check their passports. Liana glanced around and was surprised to see that no one else had been directed to this particular line.

“I don’t understand,” she said, looking at the small man, then the security guard.
“Why me and not them?”

“Because I requested it.”

Liana recognized the deep, resonant voice. Even before she turned to look at the gentleman who had just joined the party, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. She was tired, hungry and had spent the past twenty-four hours traveling halfway around the world with her nine-year-old daughter. She was not in the mood to be played with…even by her own body.

But all the temper in the world couldn’t counteract the feeling of heat that swept through her, or the faint trembling in her arms and legs. She raised her gaze and stared directly into the handsome face of
Malik
Khan, Crown Prince of El
Bahar
.

The prince offered a low bow. “We have not been formally introduced. I am Prince
Malik
and you are…?” He reached for her passport.

“Liana Archer.
This is my daughter, Bethany.”

“Hi,”
Bethany
said, beaming up at him. “Do you really live in a palace?”

“Absolutely.
With my two brothers and their wives.
Lots of princes and princesses.
Oh, and my father, King of El
Bahar
.”

Bethany
’s blue eyes widened. “And you have your own horses and gold, and lots of people bow to you all the time?”

Malik
grinned. “Not as much gold as we would like and people don’t bow all that much anymore. It makes it difficult for them to get their work done if they’re bowing all the time.”

Malik
motioned to the customs official, who quickly stamped their passports, then ushered them through without
so
much as a glance at their luggage.

“Welcome to El
Bahar
,”
Malik
said.

Liana was still speechless at seeing him again, not to mention the effect of her misplaced physical reaction to his presence. She was too exhausted to figure out what was wrong with her, so she was determined to ignore it. Yes, the prince was tall—probably six foot two or three. She was five foot eight and he towered over her. Or maybe it was his headdress that gave him the illusion of height? She studied him and decided that his clothing might emphasize his power, but it didn’t add anything that wasn’t already there. Nope, Prince
Malik
was tall, strong and intimidating. But then maybe all princes were. She didn’t travel in royal circles much.

“Why did you do this?” she asked, jerking her head toward the long, slow-moving lines of people still waiting to go through customs.

Malik
shrugged. “I wanted to apologize for scaring you and your daughter on the plane. I assure you, that
was
not our intention.”

His gaze was steady and direct. She tried to ignore the way he seemed to be seeing into her soul by looking at his individual features. Perhaps if she could find fault, he wouldn’t be so intimidating.

Unfortunately for her, Prince
Malik
was physically quite flawless. He had wide-set eyes and a straight nose. High cheekbones cut through tanned skin. His mouth was firm and a little stern, but there was the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners. He was the kind of man who would look good with his likeness on a stamp…or the side of a mountain.

“So, Liana Archer, why are you in my country?” he asked.

“I’m a new teacher at the
American
School
.” She shifted slightly and saw that the customs official, the little man in the well-fitting suit and the security guard were all still within earshot. None of them were overtly listening to the conversation, but Liana didn’t doubt they were catching every word.

Malik
frowned. “You are not.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are not a teacher,” he said folding his arms over his chest. “Women teachers are old and unattractive. So why are you really
here,
and where is your husband?”

She’d been warned that while El
Bahar
was more forward thinking than most Middle Eastern countries, the nation still had particular ideas rooted in the past. Obviously this was one of them.

The combination of her lingering attraction, the odd welcome they’d received on the plane and the tiredness she saw in her daughter’s face made Liana speak without thinking.

“Look, Your Highness, I can’t see that it’s any of your business, but for what it’s worth, I’m not married anymore. I can’t do anything about my age, but if you’d like I’ll work on popping out a few warts to make me more unattractive. Would that be sufficient?”

Behind her, she heard a collective gasp from the three men. Belatedly, she thought that sarcasm would probably not be welcomed by the Crown Prince. A vision of years in a desert prison followed by a slow and painful death filled her mind. She took a step closer to
Bethany
.

But instead of getting angry, the prince simply smiled. “Would the warts be on your nose?”

“Is that where you’d like them?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to consider the matter.” Then he snapped his fingers—literally—and a porter appeared with a cart.

Minutes later, Liana and
Bethany
were in the back of a cab speeding away from the airport. Prince
Malik
had let them go without doing anything more than wishing them well.

“Remind me never to try to be witty in front of royalty again,” Liana murmured as she leaned her head back against the seat.

“He wasn’t mad,”
Bethany
said confidently, snuggling up to her mother. “Prince
Malik
liked you. I could tell.”

“How nice,” Liana said automatically, even though that wasn’t what she felt. She was not the least bit interested in the prince’s affections, thank you very much. She liked her life too much to mess it up with wishful thinking. She had plans and goals, and they did not include a dalliance with royalty—despite her body’s reaction to the man.

When the cab began to circle around toward the clearly marked exit, Liana realized she hadn’t told the driver where they were going.

“Do you know the
American
School
?” she asked him. “That’s where we need to go. I understand there is a main office by the housing complex?”

The dark-skinned man met her gaze in the mirror and gave her a friendly nod.
“Yes, ma’am.
I know the place well.”

“Good. Although I have directions, if you need them.”

“No. I go there many times a week. Most of the teachers there don’t have cars.”

Liana had been told the same thing. Many of the teachers there were, like her, expatriates on two- or three-year contracts. While the generous salary meant that purchasing a car wouldn’t be a problem, most teachers didn’t bother. Apparently public transportation was reliable and inexpensive, and it saved the trouble of buying at the beginning of the stay, then selling at the end.

“So what do you think of El
Bahar
?” she asked her daughter as the clean, air-conditioned cab moved onto the main highway.

The city was stretched out in front of them, with the
Arabian Sea
to the left. It was a darker blue than the sky—nearly the color of cobalt. Lush plants came right down to the edge of the highway, although in the distance she could see the barren land that was the beginning of the desert.

“I like it,”
Bethany
announced. She sniffed. “The air smells sweet, like flowers or perfume. Do you know what it is?”

“No.” Liana inhaled the scent. “A flower of some kind, I would guess. We’ll look it up on the computer.”

Along with a furnished two-bedroom condo, her contract had stipulated that she would be given a laptop computer, with Internet access, for use at home as well as in the classroom. All utilities, except for the phone, were included. The
American
School
had made her a very generous offer, and Liana was pleased to be in El
Bahar
at last.

“Just think,” she told her daughter. “You can tell all your classmates that you’ve already met the Crown Prince.”

Bethany
grinned. “You think they’ll believe me?”

“If they don’t, I’ll be a witness.”

The cab moved past a group of high-rise buildings between the highway and the sea. Liana remembered her research on the country and suspected this was the financial district. El
Bahar
had a stable economy that encouraged outside investors.

Up ahead the highway split and the driver took the road leading into the city. In a matter of minutes they were driving through a unique world that was equal parts modern buildings and ancient stone structures. Up ahead stood the last remnants of the wall that had once guarded the city, and beyond that a white glittering building jutted out toward the sea.

“It’s the palace,”
Bethany
said, pointing toward the large building. “I recognize it from the pictures.”

“Lovely,” Liana agreed. “I wonder if our condo is close to
it?
I remember reading that there are tours of the gardens. We’ll want to do that right away.”

Bethany
glanced at her. “Maybe we’ll see Prince
Malik
again.”

“Sure,” Liana agreed, even though she doubted the truth of that statement. Would a Crown Prince bother with a tour group on his grounds? There was no way he would have time. No, their lone encounter with royalty was over and, for
her,
it had been more than enough.

The driver wove through streets that narrowed,
then
drove through impressive open gates. A long curved driveway circled through trees and blooming plants she couldn’t identify.

Liana straightened and glanced around. Okay, so maybe the condo used by the staff of the
American
School
had really impressive grounds. Or maybe this was part of the school itself.
Or maybe a park.
That was it. They were driving through a park and…

They rounded a curve in the drive. In front of them was the white building they’d admired just a few minutes before. Up close it was even more impressive, with several stories and wide balconies. A dozen or so guards stood at attention by a huge double door.

“Mommy?
Where are we?”
Bethany
asked.

Liana didn’t have an answer. Either the condo was much nicer than anything she was used to, or their driver had just brought them to the royal palace.

She looked at the man behind the wheel. “There’s been a mistake.”

He shook his head and grinned. “No mistake. His Highness said to bring you home, so here you are. Welcome to the royal
palace
of
El
Bahar
.”

Before Liana could decide what to do next, a tall man in a gray suit strode out to the cab and opened the door.

“Good,” Prince
Malik
said. “You’re here. Come, we’ll get you settled.”

Liana couldn’t tell if they were in a really big foyer or a smallish living room. She decided it was probably the former, because this was, after all, a palace, and she doubted it had smallish
anythings
.

A bubble of hysteria threatened to choke her, even as she told herself it would be best for everyone if she stayed calm. Screaming like a crazy woman wouldn’t do anything except upset her daughter.