The Sheikh's Christmas Maid (Shadid Sheikhs 1)

“You better be right,” she muttered as she slid out of the truck. The snow was halfway up her calves. Lifting her legs, she started trudging through the woods. When Samir caught up with her, he held out his hand. She ached to take it, but even though she could have used his support, she couldn’t reach out for him as she held her arms tightly at her sides.

He was right. A few minutes of trekking through the woods, they made it to the clearing. Samir knocked on the door, but she didn’t expect anyone to answer. There was still no evidence that anyone lived there. He tried the door, but it was locked.

“There’s a back door,” she said as she peered through the window. “Come on.”

The wind howled and bit at her nose. Thankfully, the door was unlocked. Shivering, she breathed in deep. “I’ll see if I can get a fire started.”

“I’ll do that,” Samir volunteered immediately.

“I wouldn’t want you to dirty your hands, your highness,” she muttered as she walked away from him. Pulling off her gloves, she blew hot air on them and looked around. The cabin was fully furnished and cozy, but the dust on the counter was half an inch thick. Whoever owned this placed hadn’t been here in a long time. It made sense. It was probably a vacation home.

The fireplace had gas logs, and the pilot light was still on. Praying that there was gas in the line, she turned the switch, pressed the starter and shut her eyes. After a minute, the logs roared to life. “Thank you,” she muttered as she shucked her jacket.

Hanging it on the chair in the corner, she pulled off her boots and set them by the fire to dry. Wiggling her toes, she sat on the couch and drew her knees up to her chest.

Samir stood in the doorway and stared at her. “It was Melka,” he said quietly.

“I told you,” she said tiredly as she closed her eyes. “I don’t want to hear this.”

“Please.” There was desperation in his voice. “You have every right to hate me, but you deserve to know the truth. After all those things that I said to you, you should know.”

The need to cry almost overwhelmed her and she took a few deep breaths. Opening her eyes, she nodded silently. He didn’t move from the doorway.

“Melka returned from the explosion and told me there was evidence that pointed to you having a hand in it. He said you put signal jammers in the safe house to keep my brothers from calling me. He told me that you were a grifter, and you were only out for my money. He said that he thought you engineered the explosion with help so you could catch me at a weak moment.”

Poppy shook her head. “Why would he tell you those things?”

“He told me it was because he loved me, and he knew that something was different between you and me. He thought you might hurt me. He faked the death threat against me as well. The man fancies himself my protector from harm and a good time, apparently.”

“You really believed that I was capable of doing those things?”

Samir walked forward and fell to his knees in front of the couch. “Poppy, I trusted Melka with my life. Literally. After all the years that we had been together, I would never have believed him capable of lying. Even when I realized that his story didn’t make sense, I still wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was my best friend. But he didn’t want to be my best friend. He thought of himself as more than that.”

It all made sense. “He hated me from the moment he met me. I could tell. I actually thought that he was the one who shut me into the shed.”

“He was,” Samir said quietly. “I called Taj on the way over here to get him to stop you from leaving. He’s in the city with his family, but he told me that he hadn’t been back to the house since he’d unloaded the shed. Thankfully, he also told me where he kept the keys for the snowplow. He just didn’t tell me it needed gas.”

“God.” Poppy fell silent and stared at him. “I understand that you were in a hard position, and I know that we haven’t known each other for very long, but you said some horrible things to me, Samir.”

He leaned forward and pressed his head to her thighs. “I know. I would give anything to take them back. I was so angry. I loved you, and I thought you’d betrayed me. I should have given you a chance to explain, but I thought it was my fiancée all over again.”

“What did you just say?” Her voice was oddly quiet, and he lifted his head and stared at her.

“I should have given you a chance to explain.”

“Not that,” she said as she shook her head. “The part where you said that you…before you thought I betrayed you.”

A smile spread over his handsome face. “I loved you, Poppy Milenne. I do love you. I knew you were special from the moment that I found you sprawled out in the snow, cursing at me like a sailor.”

Poppy chuckled at the memory. “That was not the best first impression on my part.”

Pulling himself up, Samir sat beside her. “That was the first time I’d ever met a woman and knew that she was genuine,” he whispered. “You held nothing back. You never have. Whether you’re mocking me, yelling at me, or loving me, you’re always one-hundred percent you.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she shook her head. “That’s not true,” she whispered. “I’ve been holding myself back because I’ve been afraid. I knew that I loved you, and I knew that you would leave me.”

“Poppy.” Samir gathered her in his arms and pulled her into his lap on the floor. “If you forgive me, I will never leave you again.”

“Promise?”