“Such as?”
“You can’t be going out with someone else while we’re fake-dating. I don’t want to be cheated on.”
“Agreed. Although the same rules apply to you.”
She smiled. “Not a big issue for me, but thanks for worrying.” What else? “I don’t want any of this in the papers. Do you guys have tabloids out here?” The idea of Jon knowing was one thing, but having a fake relationship played out in the media was another.
“We have some local coverage,” he said. “It is nothing like what exists in America and Europe. I would want some minor mention of us dating to convince my father, but nothing more.”
“Okay.” She hesitated. “I feel like I should ask more, but I can’t think of what it would be.”
“You’ve dated before,” he told her. “This will not be all that different.”
Except for not falling in love with the guy.
She looked at Qadir. “Are you sure about this? You do remember I’m a car mechanic, right? I don’t do the long-nail thing.”
“Yes, I know and please, do not recommend your friend Victoria again. I thought of this last night at the ball. You did extremely well there. Remember, the Russian ambassador was interested.”
“I don’t think that’s a very high bar,” she said.
“Regardless, you’re the one that I want. Yes or no, Maggie?”
Was she crazy to consider the offer? If she said yes, she would have enough money to buy three shops back home. She would be set for a long, long time. She would also not have to return to Aspen and watch Jon and Elaine fall deeper and deeper in love.
It wasn’t as if there was any pressing reason to say no. She didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything by a certain time. She was sadly free from commitment.
Maggie couldn’t think of a single downside. She supposed there was the remote possibility of falling for Qadir, but honestly-what were the odds of that? He was nothing like Jon and Jon was the only man she’d ever been in love with. So she was perfectly safe.
She drew in a breath. “Yes.”
“Excellent. We will meet again soon to work out the details.”
“Fine.”
“I will let you return to your packages.”
He approached as he spoke. She straightened and started to lift her right hand so they could shake on the deal. Instead Qadir cupped her cheek, bent forward and brushed her mouth with his.
The touch was light, quick and not the least bit sexual. Still, when he stepped back she felt the burn all the way down to her toes. Something sharp and needy twisted in her stomach and made her want to lean into him so he could kiss her again and this time do it like he meant it.
Her reaction stunned her. She hoped she answered as he said goodbye, but she couldn’t be sure. She could only try to breathe through the desperate need to have him kiss her again and know that she had just dropped herself into a level of trouble that she’d never been in before.
Chapter Five
Maggie spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out what she’d gotten herself into. Fake dating a sheik? That sort of thing didn’t happen to anyone, let alone someone like her. Maybe Qadir had a brain disorder that left him confused. Maybe he’d been kidding. Maybe she’d imagined the whole conversation and the next time she saw him he would call her “Ms. Collins” and look right through her.
Rather than make herself crazy with all the possibilities, she opened packages, savored the thrill of her car parts, then started an inventory base. It was nearly one before she noticed she was starving. But before she could cross to the phone and order lunch, Qadir appeared with a folder in one hand and a picnic basket in the other.
“We have much to discuss,” he told her. “Is now a convenient time?”
If it wasn’t, did she really get to say so? “If you brought lunch, then now is fine,” she told him.
“A conditional acceptance?”
“I’m starving.”
“So you can be bought with food.”
“Sometimes.” Based on their deal, she could also be bought with money, but she didn’t want to think about that.
They went into her office where she laid out the lunch he’d brought.
She eyed the white-chocolate macadamia-nut cookie and knew that if she had been alone, she so would have started with that. Next time, she told herself with a sigh, thinking one day she was going to have to go down to the kitchen, find whoever provided the daily baked cookies and give him or her a big hug.
“I had my assistant make a list of possible places and events for us to go to,” Qadir said when she’d taken her first bite of the sandwich. “The choices are divided into events that are purely public and those that will be perceived as private.”
Maggie nearly choked. “You told your assistant about our deal?”
“No. I asked for an updated social calendar. Then he prepared a list of restaurants where photographers were known to frequent. I’m sure he thinks we’ll be avoiding those places.”
She managed to swallow without killing herself. “Okay. That makes sense.” They would have to be seen to convince people-meaning Qadir’s father-that this was all real. “Is the king going to be upset about this? I’m nothing like Sabrina or Natalie.”
Qadir smiled. “Which is a good thing.”
“In your mind. What about in his?”
“He is not the one dating you.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Be serious. I don’t want the king hating me or ordering me out of the country because I’m not a known breeder.”
“Don’t worry about anything. My father will be delighted to think I am finally getting serious about someone. It has been a long time.”
How long? Maggie remembered her first night at the palace when she’d overheard Qadir and the king talking about someone from Qadir’s past.
He put the list on the desk between them. “I have marked several events I suggest we attend, but the others are discretionary.”
She glanced from the paper to him. “I don’t understand. You’re saying I get a vote, too?”
“Of course. Why would you not?”
Because he was a royal and she wasn’t. “Okay,” she said slowly. “That’s nice.”
He smiled at her uncertainty. “You keep forgetting, I’m the most charming of all my brothers.”
“So you say. I haven’t actually talked to any of your brothers so I only have your word on this.”
He grinned. “You’ll have to trust me.”
For reasons that weren’t clear to her, her gaze dropped to his mouth. She found herself reliving that brief but powerful kiss they’d shared.
She’d reacted so strongly to the lightest of touches. It had been the strangest thing…most likely brought on by too much champagne-even though she couldn’t remember having more than half a glass. Or maybe it had been because she hadn’t eaten. Whatever the cause, it hadn’t meant anything. Forgetting it had ever happened made the most sense. Except she couldn’t seem to forget.
“Maggie? Did you want to make some suggestions?”
“What? Oh. Sure.”
She glanced down at the neatly printed possibilities. There were plays, sporting events, a hospital wing opening. The shower for Kayleen and the wedding to follow were in bold.
“These are…” she asked.
“Required. The shower for you and the wedding for both of us.”
If she’d been standing she would have backed up a couple of feet. “I can’t go to Kayleen’s wedding shower. I
