“Someone has annoyed you,” he said.
She turned and glared at him. “Yes, someone has. A man. You probably don’t want to be here today, what with you being a man and all. I’m angry enough not to be picky about who I yell at.”
He laughed. “You do not frighten me.”
“Because I’m a woman, right? What is it with you men that you think you know better?” She pointed to his crotch. “It’s just excess flesh, you know. It’s not the great repository for all knowledge. Since when did being a man make you an oracle?”
She was all fire and rage. Both her passion and beauty excited him.
“I did not claim to be an oracle,” he told her. “I said I am not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” She picked up a large wrench. “I could do a lot of damage with that.”
“Yes, you could.” He walked over and removed it from her grasp, then set it on the desk. Still holding her hand in his, he rubbed her fingers. “What happened?”
“I talked to Jon.”
Qadir did not respond. Better for Maggie to tell him in her own way.
She drew in a breath. “He’s just so annoying. His stupid superior attitude. Like he has all the answers. I hate that.”
“And him?”
“I don’t hate him, but I want to smack him upside the head. He’s convinced he knows best. Since when does he get to be in charge of my life? Hello, it’s my life. Mine. Not his. But will he accept that? I’ll give you one guess on that question.”
Qadir had not been pleased to know that Maggie would have to tell the other man about the baby, but there was little choice in the matter.
She looked at him. “He wants to marry me.”
“He is an honorable man,” he told her, enjoying a brief image of crushing Jon like a bug. “That should please you.”
“Well, it doesn’t. It really pisses me off. Okay, fine. I’ll accept he wants to be a part of his child’s life. Knowing him, I shouldn’t be surprised. I still think it would be better if he walked away, but he won’t. That’s just so him. But marriage? Did he notice the new-century thing, because here we are. It’s a shiny new world and by God, no man is going to marry me just because I’m pregnant with his child.”
The marriage proposal did not come as a surprise, but Qadir did not like it.
“He doesn’t even care that it’s not what I want,” Maggie continued, still fuming. “No. It’s all about him and the baby and what’s right.” She turned on Qadir. “How is this right? How is two people making themselves miserable right? Wait. It’s not two people. It’s three. What about Elaine? I think they’re falling in love and he’s going to toss that away because of the baby? This is just so typical. Do you know he doesn’t think I’m capable? I never got that before, but he just about said I couldn’t do this on my own. That really, really annoys me.”
She jerked free of his touch and stalked around the car. “It’s a guy thing, right? The need to assume women are just a little bit less? Why is that? Do we threaten you so damn much? Oh, I’m just so mad I could spit.”
Despite potential risk to his person, Qadir chuckled. She turned on him.
“You think this is funny?”
“I think you are beautiful and full of life. Jon is a fool for ever letting you go, but that is his loss. He must deal with it now.”
Her eyes widened. “That was good,” she breathed. “Seriously. I feel almost disarmed.”
“How unfortunate, as I like you armed. Go to your office and get changed. I will take you to lunch and then shopping. You will feel better when we are finished.”
She rolled her eyes. “And here I was starting to like you. Do you get that I’m not the shopping type?”
“I haven’t said what we’re shopping for.”
“Oh. Well, if it’s cars, I’m so there.”
He smiled. “Go get changed.”
“Okay. It would probably be better for me to get out than to stay here.”
“Agreed. I do not want you taking out your temper on my Rolls.”
She laughed, then closed the door behind her. Qadir stayed where he was, careful not to move because if he did, he would join her in her office and this time when he touched her, he would not stop.
An impossible situation, he told himself. At first Maggie had intrigued him with her humor and lack of pretension. He had enjoyed her company, but nothing more. Recently, though, he thought they might become lovers. The chemistry between them would make their time together pass very quickly. He had considered discussing that with her, but now everything was different.
She was pregnant and the father of her child wanted to marry her. Qadir knew he could not stand between them, even when his gut told him Jon was not the one for her. Jon had let her get away. What had the other man been thinking, to prefer another woman over Maggie? Impossible.
Not that he would be having that conversation with Jon anytime soon. But it gave Qadir pleasure to imagine the other man’s fear when faced with a powerful sheik.
He wondered if Maggie could be convinced to accept Jon’s proposal. He did not think so, but what did he really know of a woman’s mind? Perhaps she secretly longed for her old lover.
He didn’t want to think about that, about her being with someone else, so he pushed the image away. For now, and for as long as he wanted her, Maggie was his. Yet he had only bought her time. Did Jon still possess her heart?
“Better,” Maggie said as they walked out of the restaurant. “That was exactly what I needed.”
“You have an impressive appetite,” Qadir said.
“I know. It gets embarrassing. I’ve always thought that if my work weren’t so physical, I would blow up like a balloon. Which, at this moment, I don’t care about.”
For the first time since her uncomfortable conversation with Jon, she felt as if she could catch her breath. Maybe it was that big, juicy hamburger sitting in her stomach. A burger, fries and a shake had been exactly what she’d needed to change her mood.
“Thank you,” she told the man at her side.
“You are welcome. Although I enjoy watching you throw things, I like seeing you smile, as well.”
She looked up at him, at his dark eyes, his handsome features. “You’re really smooth.”
“I know.”
“It’s a prince thing, isn’t it?”
“Some of it is me. My cousin Nadim is also a prince, but he is completely lacking in personality.”
“I talked to him at the ball. He was a lot more formal than you.”
“A kind way of ignoring his shortcomings.”
Maggie hadn’t been impressed, either, which made her wonder why Victoria would even consider marrying him. Yes, he was a prince and all, but marriage was forever. Especially a royal one.
Qadir put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I, however, have a wonderful personality and you are completely charmed by me.”
“That’s true,” she said with a laugh, even as she leaned into him. She liked it when he held her or touched her. Her body melted as little nerve endings began a “touch me” dance in the strangest places.
She wanted to turn to him and have him kiss her. Deep kisses like before with lips and tongue and hot breath. She wanted to be swept away and taken and…
Oh God. She was pregnant. Pregnant with another man’s child. She couldn’t have erotic thoughts about Qadir. It wasn’t right. It was borderline icky.
He was totally the wrong man and even if he wasn’t, her being pregnant made her the wrong woman.
The good news was her attraction to him was purely physical. It wasn’t as if her heart had gotten involved at all.
They headed back for the car. Qadir had driven and parked at the end of the block. But before they reached the gleaming Mercedes, she caught sight of a window display.
Last week she never would have noticed it, but today she slowed as she took in the pale green blanket draped over the white rocking chair. The small-scale dresser had painted rabbits playing together on the drawers. A toy box stood open with stuffed animals spilling from it.
