Sold To The Sheikh Bidder

Lauren’s eyes sparkled as she smiled. “I think he’s going to try, though.”

Sadira’s husband entered the room, then. He and Hakim embraced before Hakim introduced Lauren to Bahir. Lauren lost track of time as they sat down together, getting to know one another while passing the baby around, cooing over how darling the little girl was.

Promising to come visit again soon, Hakim was thoughtful as they left the hospital. Lauren wondered if he was considering moving home permanently. Over the week, she’d seen that he wasn’t the cold, unfeeling person he made himself out to be. He was completely different when he was with his family, or with her. She wouldn’t be surprised if he chose to focus his business closer to home so he didn’t have to continue to be someone he wasn’t.

Hakim took them to another park, this one a larger nature reserve just outside the city. He surprised her with a picnic basket full of food he’d picked up at the market that morning while she’d been looking at a stall displaying local art. They sat outside in a lovely grove of trees, eating and drinking and making relaxed, genial conversation.

Somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, Lauren realized that she hadn’t actually done any work since that morning, not her own work and not for Hakim, at least not if you didn’t count being a gift consultant. It was nice to have the downtime, but she was surprised, since Hakim had made a big deal of her coming with him in a professional capacity.

When they got back to the house late that afternoon, Lauren thought maybe he would want to check in with his office, but instead he asked her if she would have dinner with his family.

“I don’t want to intrude. You should definitely have dinner; I’ll be fine here,” she insisted.

Hakim shook his head. “Come on, how often do you get to say you had dinner in a palace? With royalty, no less.”

Lauren grinned at him. “I’ve had dinner with you.”

“I don’t count,” he said firmly.

“It’s really okay, Hakim.”

“I want to show you where I grew up. Besides, if you’re not there, they’ll pester me about meeting a nice girl and how the business is going.”

“So, I’m supposed to pretend to be your girlfriend?”

The look on his face made Lauren think he didn’t entirely object to that thought, but what he said was, “No, of course not. It’s just that if you’re there, they’ll be more circumspect. Besides, they’ll like you.”

Lauren grinned at him. “Okay, I would love to have dinner with you and your parents tonight.”

His reaction was so pleased that Lauren began to suspect she wasn’t in Al Asaab to act as his personal assistant at all. Perhaps Hakim simply wanted to show her around and get to know her better, and that thought made her feel warm and happy. If he wanted her to meet his parents, then maybe that meant there was something between them after all.

Chapter 13

Lauren

Dressing for dinner with royalty was more than a little nerve wracking, Lauren decided as she held two outfits up to herself in front of the full-length mirror in her room. She really wished that she had brought more clothes with her, but at least she’d packed two good black dresses that were more work appropriate, but would do for dinner.

She chose the longer dress, with an A-line skirt and a lace overlay covering the bodice. She left the belt that she normally wore with the dress off, deciding it looked less like she was dressed for a work meeting without it.

Black heels, diamond stud earrings, and a small gold pendant rounded out her outfit. She might not be tabloid material, but at least she wouldn’t embarrass herself.

Lauren was confident in her ability to interact with anyone; after all, she’d been eating dinner with CEOs and the California elite since she was a teenager. But dinner with royalty was a whole new ballgame. Plus, the fact that it was Hakim’s parents.

When she met Hakim in the front entryway of his home, he stopped short to look at her. Lauren felt herself blush under his appraising gaze. The appreciation in his eyes was gratifying, and Lauren took a moment to admire him as well. The man definitely made a suit look good.

“Shall we go?” Hakim held out his arm to her.

Lauren took it and let him escort her to his car. As Hakim walked around to the driver’s side, she fidgeted in her seat, impatient to find out if the night was going to be delight or utter disaster.

Hakim must have picked up on her nerves—the entire drive over, he told her funny stories about growing up in the palace. One involved a young Sadira and Hakim sneaking out to the gardens to watch a meteor shower after being told to go to bed. They had fallen asleep watching the stars.