The Sheikh's Bartered Bride

Perhaps the thought of being wed by a judge did not sit well with her. “We can arrange a midweek ceremony with a clergyman if you prefer.”

Her eyes flickered, but she did not smile in gratitude as he expected. In fact, her smile disappeared altogether.

“You didn’t mind being married in a church?” Vance asked.

Hakim looked away from Catherine reluctantly, disturbed by her sudden lack of animation.

“My grandfather’s tribe is one of the many Bedouin tribes converted to Christianity centuries ago.”

“But I thought all the Bedouins had converted to Islam,” Felicity remarked.

“Not all.” Hakim didn’t really want to get into a discussion of religious history among the Bedouin people. He wanted Catherine to smile again. “You are all right with a small ceremony?” he asked her.

Catherine thought a certain amount of arrogance must be bred into men like Hakim. Even his question came out like a command.

What could she say? That she had dreamt of her wedding since she was a little girl? That those dreams had not included a poky wedding held in the middle of the day in the middle of the week with only family as guests?

He was right. Considering the way she reacted to being the center of attention, there was no reason for him to have suspected she wanted anything more than a few words spoken in a judge’s chamber.

But her dreams were not limited by her fears and knowing that Hakim wanted to marry her had given her confidence. He was a special guy. Sexy. Gorgeous. He was a sheikh, for Heaven’s sake. And he loved her. That knowledge had given her a desire to fulfill the secret dreams of her heart.

Before she could answer, he reached out and touched her. His look was intimate and full of promise. “I want to make you my wife.”

The unspoken message was clear. He wanted to make love to her and he’d already said that would have to wait until after the ceremony.

She wanted him, too, even more than the fairytale wedding trappings. She forced a smile. “All right.”

“Catherine!” Felicity’s voice registered shock and a certain amount of disappointment.

Felicity would have fought for the flowers. In fact, she had. Not that Vance had even hinted at anything less than a full production when they’d gotten married, but then he had loved her sister. He had not even balked at Felicity’s insistence on having her sister for a bridesmaid. At the time, Catherine’s face had looked like she had a perpetual case of severe chicken pox.

In the end, it had been Catherine who begged her sister to allow her to be the candle lighter instead. She hadn’t wanted to stand in front of a church full of people during the ceremony or be in any of the wedding photos. Her mother had been more than willing to give instructions to that effect to the photographer.

Shaking off the painful memories, Catherine smiled reassuringly at her older sister. “You can help me put it together.”

Felicity’s mouth opened and shut, her porcelain fine features drawn in lines of rejection. “Sweetie, you wanted a horse drawn carriage, oodles of flowers, music—”

Catherine cut in before her sister exposed her childish fantasies completely. “That was when I was nine years old.” A year before she’d become Amazon Girl, growing five inches in one summer and towering above her classmates the following September. Boys and girls alike. For one reason or another, the next ten years had been hell on Catherine’s self-confidence.

“But—”

“Do you want to go shopping with me tomorrow? I need a wedding dress.”

That caught her sister’s attention. “Of course, but don’t you have to work at the library?”

“I’ll take a personal day.” She’d never taken one. She was due the concession.

“What about a honeymoon?” Vance asked.

“Why not?” Hakim asked. He had planned to take her to Jawhar immediately to meet his family.

“I can’t leave the library in the lurch like that. We don’t have enough time to schedule someone to cover all of my shifts.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’ll hire a temp if that’s what you need,” Harold inserted, his first contribution to the wedding plans.

Catherine shook her head. “Reference Desk librarians don’t generally hire out through temporary agencies, Dad.”

“You could always quit your job.” Lydia smiled tentatively at her daughter. “Hakim will need your attention once you are married. You’ll want to establish a firmer social footing.”

Hakim agreed with Lydia. Not necessarily about the social scene, but he wanted to come first in his wife’s priorities. The narrowing of Catherine’s eyes and straight line of her mouth said she did not think much of her mother’s suggestion.