The Sheik And The Pregnant Bride

She turned and saw Qadir walking toward her. While the tux was gone, he still looked pretty darned good in his tailored suit.

“I love fast delivery,” she said, pointing to all the boxes. “It’s like a miracle. I don’t know where to start. There are so many possibilities. Headlights, gears, pistons, brackets.”

He stared at her for a long time. “You’re a very unusual woman.”

“I know. I’ve heard that before.” She found the utility knife and moved toward the first box. It was small and light. The possibilities were endless!

She pressed the knife to the seam, then looked at him. “You want to open the first one?”

“Not especially.”

“Okay.” She slit the tape, then dug into the box. She pulled out the clear plastic bag within. “O-rings. Aren’t they beautiful?”

Qadir laughed. “As I said-unusual. I would like to speak to you for a moment, Maggie.”

“Okay.”

She put the O-rings back in the box and followed Qadir into her office, where she settled on the corner of her desk and looked at him.

She told herself it was silly to be nervous. She hadn’t done much on the car yet so it was unlikely he was upset about anything. Not that he looked upset. His expression was as unreadable as ever, although not in a hostile way. He looked very…princelike. And handsome, she thought absently, liking the firm set of his jaw and the way his eyes seemed to see so much more than they should.

“What do you think of me?” he asked.

The unexpected question made her blink. “Um, what?”

“We get along, do we not?”

Was that a trick question? “Yes.”

“Good. I agree.”

With what? What were they talking about?

“We have much in common,” he continued.

That nearly made her laugh. What did they have in common? A love of fine Arabian horses? Jetsetting around the world? Hardly.

“Cars,” he added. “We both like cars.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Sure. Cars.”

“I mention this because I was thinking about your business back home.”

The one she’d lost, she thought sadly. “It’s not exactly what it was,” she told him.

“The loss of your father would have changed things.”

More than he knew. “It was hard while he was sick. He was in the hospital a lot and I was with him. It was hard to stay on top of things.”

“Of course. When you return, you’ll have more time.”

She nodded, thinking she would also have a fair amount of money, although not enough to buy back the business. Still, she could start over with her own small shop. Continue the work.

“More money would help,” he said.

“It usually does.” A hopeful thought appeared. “You have a second car?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then…”

“I have a proposition.”

If she’d looked anything like Victoria, she would have assumed he was coming on to her. However, she stood there in coveralls that had been patched more than once, no makeup and her hair pulled back in an uneven ponytail.

“Which is?”

Qadir smiled. “You may have noticed my father’s enthusiastic efforts to interest me in a woman. Any woman. He’s determined to get all his sons married as quickly as possible.”

“Typical father behavior,” she said, then grinned. “Well, not counting the whole ‘good breeder’ part of the introduction.”

“Exactly. I am not interested in being pressured. However, the only way to get my father to back off is to give him the impression I’m involved with someone and that it might be serious.”

She nodded. “That would probably work.”

“I’m glad you agree. So I propose an arrangement between us. We would date for a period of weeks. Perhaps three or four months, then say we are engaged. Nothing would be formally announced, of course, although there would be hints. Then a few weeks after that, we would have a heated argument, you would return to your country and I, heartbroken, couldn’t possibly consider getting involved again for the rest of the year. Perhaps longer.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. His words had actually entered her brain-she knew she’d heard them. But they hadn’t made any sense. He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying.

“I…You…It’s…”

He smiled. “A relationship of convenience,” he said. “You will consent to be someone I become involved with for an agreed upon period of time-say, six months. I will, of course, pay you for your time.”

He named an amount that made her already spinning head threaten to fall off and explode.

He wanted to fake date? Then get fake engaged to her? And pay her? All in an attempt to trick his father, the king?

“If he finds out about this, he’d kill me.”

“Not in the traditional sense. He would be unhappy.”

Not exactly comforting, Maggie thought. “Just go out with one of the women he introduces you to. Why won’t that work?”

“None of them interest me.”

“Sabrina seemed really nice.”

He rolled his eyes. “You didn’t have to dance with her.”

“Lucky me.” She stared at him. “You can’t mean this.”

“Why not? It’s an arrangement that works for both of us. I don’t have to deal with the king’s matchmaking and you get to make extra money. I know the plan requires you to stay in El Deharia longer than you’d planned, but you will also earn a considerable sum for your trouble.”

More than considerable, she thought, unable to take it all in.

“I’m not princess material,” she said. “I work on cars.”

“You are delightfully different.”

If only. “I don’t know how to dress or say the right things. You should ask Victoria. Nadim’s secretary,” she added when Qadir looked blank. “Pretty, blond, a great dresser.”

“You and I get along. Spending time together would not be a hardship.”

She thought of the dance they’d shared at the ball. Nope, not a hardship at all. Especially if there was more dancing. She wouldn’t even object to kissing.

The image of them pressed together was so intense and so unexpected, she scrambled to the other side of the desk to put some distance between them.

“This is crazy,” she said. “Let’s all take a deep breath and start over.”

“It isn’t crazy. It’s a sensible plan that benefits us both. I get peace and quiet for at least a year. You get to work on my car, then vacation in a beautiful palace, all the while getting paid. I will provide you with an appropriate wardrobe, a chance to meet world leaders. We will travel and attend conferences. In time, the relationship will end and you will return home with a much larger bank balance.”

“It’s a whole lot of trouble just to get your father off your back.”

“You have never had to deal with a monarch as a parent.”

Good point.

She was tempted. Not only by the money, but by the opportunity. When else could she have an experience like this? Plus, a teeny, tiny, shallow part of her, the part that was still ashamed of what had happened with Jon, sort of liked the idea of him thinking she was dating a handsome prince.

“We would need ground rules,” she said.