“You must really have money to burn if you flew out all this way to see how I looked,” she said with a frown.
“I didn’t. I actually wanted to see if you had any vacancies. I’m looking to try my hand at the Iditarod race again, so I’ll need a room and a team.”
Lodging. Dog rentals. As desperately as she wanted to kick him out and tell him never to return, all she could think about were the repairs that the farm needed. She still had a fence to mend plus feed to buy for next month. His money would help with all of it, but why did it have to be him of all people? Forced to think of the farm and her daughter before her own comfort, she made her decision.
He could stay, but that didn’t mean that she had to be nice to him.
“Let me check,” she said briskly as she opened her book. Pretending that she was rearranging some things, she finally nodded. “I think that’ll work. Will you be leaving right after the race?”
He stared at her for a long minute before nodding. She quickly wrote out the information card and slid it his way. Turning her back to him, her hand hovered over the keys.
“Deposit is fifty percent of the total bill. It’s non-refundable. You’ll receive a final bill when you leave. Here is the pamphlet of information on dog rentals to look over.”
She’d automatically put him in the same room as last time because it was the biggest and had a gorgeous view, but for some reason, she had trouble giving him the key. She imagined him in the same bed where he’d first made love to her.
“Kristy?” he asked in a soft voice.
Snatching the key off the hook, she reached over and grabbed the credit card from his hand. “You’ll be in the same room as before. Do you have any questions?” she asked tersely as she swiped his card.
“Just one,” he said intensely. “What happened when I left?”
“What do you mean?” She tried to blink innocently at him. “Dad retired two years ago. He’s traveling in warmer climates these days. I’m in charge now.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
Setting her jaw, she glared at him. “What do you think happened?” she asked coldly. “Life went on. Here is your key. Do you need help with your luggage?”
“Kristy…”
“You’re quite early, but breakfast will be ready in about two hours. We’ll be serving lunch between noon and one. Dinner will be between six and seven.”
“Kristy…”
“When you’re ready to take a look at the dogs, please let me know. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with our selection. Henry is my dog handler. He will be in at eight, and he can answer any questions you may have about them.”
He clamped his mouth shut, and she could see the anger in his face, but she held her ground.
When she’d found out that she was pregnant, she’d done everything she could to contact Kashif. She wrote him letters begging to speak to him, and she even tried to fly out to see him. She heard nothing in return, and her Visa was denied by the palace. Finally, in one last ditch effort, she wrote him a letter telling him that she was pregnant.
In return, she received a check for two hundred thousand dollars. Humiliated, she’d ripped the check up. She’d carried a lot of anger with her until Arella was born. Then, like magic, she realized that without Kashif, she wouldn’t have her beautiful daughter in her life. So, she let go and tried not to think of the past.
That didn’t mean that seeing him didn’t hurt. And if he thought he could show up and take her daughter away, he had another thing coming.
She was just as beautiful as Kashif remembered. Those tangled, strawberry blonde locks and her beautiful blue eyes had haunted his
dreams. After he’d been called away, her silence had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship with him but that didn’t stop him from thinking about her.
Seeing her now, bristling with anger, he wondered if coming here had been the right decision. Given her silence the past three years, her hostility caught him by surprise.
But this was his last chance to race. His father had already admitted to wanting to step down soon, and Kashif would wear the crown. It had been a burden on his shoulders ever since he was born, and it was partly the reason that he was such a thrill-seeker. Once he was Crowned Sheikh, there would be no more adventures.
Jarik, his younger brother, was much more serious and shouldered responsibility better. Kashif knew that his brother didn’t understand why he needed the adrenaline boost or a reprieve from the stress. He thrived in diplomatic situations while Kashif would much rather be out experiencing life.
Samir, on the other hand, enjoyed being the youngest. He never seemed to have a care in the world. His life was always about women and partying. In so many ways, he envied that.
Opening the door to his old lodgings, he glanced around and noticed that everything was radically different. The furniture had been moved around, and rather than the navy blue color scheme that decorated the room previously, everything was greens and browns. It was nothing like he remembered, and yet he couldn’t stop the onslaught of memories.
Kristy lying naked on the bed, waiting for him. The intimate showers they’d shared. The way they’d cuddled on the couch and watched television. The late night conversations.