The Sheikh's Blackmailed Bride (Sheikhs of Al-Dashalid 2)

Her gut churned. “Laura?” That was it. She was going to tell them and then delete it.

Laura’s footsteps came fast. Too fast. She appeared at the door of Catelyn’s office, breathless. “Cate—”

“I have to talk to you. I changed my mind. I—”

“The sheikh is here.”

The words took several heartbeats to register. “What?”

“Your new husband.” Laura’s lips turned up at the corners, but she pressed them back into a thin line. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t an appropriate joke for the moment, but honest to god—”

Daisy skidded to a stop next to Laura. “Should I offer him a drink? Catelyn, brush your hair.”

“Brush my—guys, stop.” Catelyn held up a hand. “This isn’t funny.”

Laura’s eyes went wide. “We are dead serious. Sheikh Rami is here. In the office. Right now. I came to warn you, and Daisy left him alone out in the—”

“I hope I’m not intruding,” said a rich, smooth male voice from outside the door, and then he appeared behind her friends.

Rami.

Tall and dark, his eyes sparkling. Oh, god, he was delicious. Gray slacks, a white shirt—he was every inch a prince. Gorgeously muscled. He was hotter than she’d remembered. Catelyn pressed her thighs together under the desk, then remembered herself and stood up.

“Welcome to Elite Occasions,” she said, too fast. Her lips felt numb. “How—how can we help you?”

Rami gave her a little smile. “I came to talk about some…interesting news coverage I recently became aware of.”

“We’re so sorry,” Daisy burst out. “We’ll take the blog post down right away—”

“That’s what I came to discuss.”

“Taking the blog post down?” Laura sounded professional, but her face was pink. Rami had that effect on people. “It’s easy. A couple of clicks, and then it’s deleted. You know what? We should—we should sit down.” She motioned for Rami to come into Catelyn’s office. He was too tall for it, filling the room with a scent like citrus and sunshine. Catelyn gripped the edge of her desk.

“Let’s discuss.” Rami motioned to all of them, and how could they do anything but obey? Catelyn sank back into her desk chair. Daisy and Laura perched on a small sofa she kept next to a coffee table filled with decor samples. “But…I’d like to take the opposite tack.”

“You…want to leave the post up?” Laura looked at him like he’d descended from the moon.

“It would be beneficial for a number of reasons.” Catelyn remembered this brisk tone from Lydia’s party. “The information already exists, and deleting it would be embarrassing for my family.” Rami ticked off the reasons on his fingers. “I’m legally required to take a wife by the age of thirty, and that time is very near. The reputation of your business depends on the truthfulness of your blog, to be frank. And finally, I’ve learned a few things about you.” His dark eyes searched Catelyn’s face, and she felt short of breath. She squashed the wild desire to straddle his lap, put her arms around his neck, and kiss him. It would have the happy side effect of shutting him up.

“Like what?”

“You’re connected to someone who I very much want to make a business deal with.”

Catelyn didn’t follow—and then it was clear. “Lydia?”

“Yes.”

Her head spun. “So…you want to leave the blog post up…to get close to Lydia?”

Rami laughed, a low chuckle. “I want to do more than that. I want to make it absolutely real. And soon. I’m invited to negotiations with her in three weeks.”

Daisy gasped, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

Laura was not so speechless. “Are you kidding? You want to marry her for a business deal?”

“And a number of other reasons, which I’ve outlined,” Rami said, not taking his eyes from Catelyn. A heat burned in his gaze that made her desperate to be alone with him—but this? A wedding? It was all too absurd.

Panic rose, choking her. He was sitting right there