Free The Black Sheep Sheik by Dana Marton Page B

She tried to picture him there, in some palace, as sheik, in flowing white robes instead of her father’s jeans and shirt. The image came to her pretty easily and stole her breath away.
    Her daydreaming was interrupted by squealing tires. The stupid black van was back again.
    Amir took her hand, and they ran for the other end of the alley as fast as they could, which was not very fast at all. They made a pitiful couple at the moment, neither of them exactly ready for the Olympics.
    “I can’t go too far,” she warned him.
    “You won’t have to.” He opened the door of the first building to their left, some sort of government office. He grinned at her. “Perfect.”
    They went through the metal detector without trouble.
    “Where to?” the security guard asked, eyeing Amir, whose Middle Eastern heritage was unmistakable.
    She glanced at the board behind the guard. “Judge Schwartz’s office.”
    The guard nodded and sent them on their way.
    They walked leisurely down the hall, turned the corner, then picked up speed.
    “Do you know where you’re going?”
    “Away from the enemy.”
    She glanced back but couldn’t see them. Since they were armed, no way could they get through the metal detector. She couldn’t see them giving up their guns, which meant they would have to find another way into the building, or wait until Amir and she exited. Except, a building this size had many exits.
    Amir strode straight ahead, keeping to his true aim, and they were out on the other side of the building, bursting through a delivery entrance that opened only from the inside. The alley where they’d left her car was to their right. The black van blocked their way, but it was empty.
    Amir pushed the garbage container out of the way. “Don’t get in yet.”
    She waited as he jumped into her car, revved the engine and plowed into the van, shoving it out of the way. Then, when he was out in the street, he opened the door for her.
    She felt like crying as she climbed into the passenger seat. “I really liked this car.” With the baby coming, she wasn’t going to have money for another.
    “I’ll buy you another car,” he told her again as he pulled into traffic. “I meant it when I said I was going to take care of you.”
    “And I meant it when I said I didn’t want any of it.” Fate sure had a sense of humor. Here she was, with her weird phobia of powerful men, and she had to get tangled with an extra-super-alpha male who wanted nothing but to protect her and take care of her. No way was she going to let him.
    “We can go to the resort. The cramps have passed.” The sooner they parted ways, the better.
    “I want you to see a doctor. I don’t like it that you’re having pains. Where is the hospital?”
    She told him, but added, “I’m a doctor.” She preferred going to her ob-gyn without him. And she would, as soon as she dropped him off at the resort.
    “I’m taking you to the hospital. Then, when the royal physician gets here, he’ll check you, too, just to be safe.”
    “I can take myself.”
    He looked over, holding her gaze for a long second. “Why do you insist on fighting me at every turn, even when what I propose is to your benefit?”
    “Because if I didn’t, you would take over. You would want to help me with everything.”
    “Why do you fear that?”
    “Because I would come to depend on you. Little by little, I would change. I wouldn’t be the independent woman that I am now. Then, when I was weak, you would lose interest and leave me, and I would be so dependent by then that I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
    “Was that your mother’s story?”
    She hated that he got right to the truth. She didn’t want to think about her mother right now. She looked down at her lap. “Yes, it was. And I’m not going to repeat it.”
    “You won’t.”
    She looked back at him. “How do you know?”
    “You are the strongest woman I know, bar none, and believe me when I say this, since my sister Saida