Bella and the Merciless Sheikh

Suddenly it was all too much for her. He was so, so un believably attractive and powerful and confident that she swayed towards him.

I’m like a feeble plant, she thought wildly, trying to wind myself around a strong stake.

Consumed by longing, she put out her hand, drawn to him by an in visible force and by feelings so intense that she was humbled. Nothing mattered but being close to him. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

He tensed instantly and his lack of response was more humiliating than anything that had happened to her before.

Aware that she’d just made a bigger fool of herself than ever before, Bella turned her face away. Her cheeks burned with humiliation and she wished she could just slide under the straw and hide.

She withdrew her hand. ‘As I was saying,’ she croaked, ‘I’ve missed you because I really wanted to tell you how well I’ve been doing. You’d be really proud of me. I’ve been helping to train Batal for the race, and—’ Once again she almost told him she’d been exercising Batal, but then she decided he’d probably have a meltdown if she told him that so she passed over that bit. ‘He’s going to do well, I know he is.’

She hoped he’d think he’d misinterpreted her first remark and that appeared to be the case because he relaxed slightly.

‘I admit I’m surprised that Hassan can handle him.’

‘Oh, Hassan is a good rider,’ Bella said glibly, focusing on Amira. ‘It’s all going to be fine.’ She still hadn’t got her head around who was actually going to ride Batal in the race itself. ‘There’s only one more week to go. It’s going to feel weird once it’s over. No one talks about anything else.’

He didn’t want her, she thought numbly. The one man she really wanted had rejected her.

‘It is an important event in our calendar.’ Zafiq stroked Amira gently. ‘Have you spoken to your father since you’ve been here?’

‘No. I’ve been too busy.’ She didn’t confess that she was nervous of phoning any of her family in case they rejected her.

She was in disgrace, wasn’t she?

‘What happened to your craving for your laptop, your phone and your iPod?’

Bella patted her pocket. ‘iPod here. I listen to music while I’m mucking out the horses. Amira really likes Linkin Park and Muse. Loud music sends Batal into orbit so I tend to listen to Mozart when I’m with him. Sometimes Schubert.’

He gave her a curious look. ‘So Bella Balfour really is turning over a new leaf.’

‘Looks that way.’ Bella held tightly to Amira’s mane to stop her reaching out to him.

She had to win the race, she told herself fiercely. There was no one else who could ride Batal. She had to find a way.

For once in her life, she wasn’t going to let anyone down.

CHAPTER NINE

‘BELLA, you can’t ride the stallion in the race! It’s too dangerous!’

The jockeys were gathered round her in one corner of the barn, all uneasy about the plan.

‘You have a better suggestion?’ Bella was squeezing her feet into her boots and trying not to think about Zafiq. Rumour had reached her ears that he’d been on a two-day trip to Europe, ostensibly to meet some ‘suitable’ princess and Bella had never known such agony. ‘I’m the same height as Hassan. Everyone thinks Hassan has been riding Batal—they have no reason to think it’s me.’

‘They’ll notice soon enough when you ride into the winner’s enclosure.’

‘I’ve thought about that—’ Bella tucked her shirt into the waist band of her jodhpurs. ‘Batal isn’t going to stop when he finishes the race. I’m going to make sure he keeps galloping. He tries to do it all the time, so no one will guess it’s intentional. They’ll just think he’s being his usual moody self. I’ll let him bolt all the way back to the stables. Hassan, you’ll be waiting back here in the stables so that when everyone arrives, you’re standing here holding the stallion, apologetic that you couldn’t hold him back and irritated that you missed the applause and attention.’