Free Sheikh's Hired Mistress by Sophia Lynn, Ella Brooke Page A

and the natural light coming in. There are rooms where it would be better to have some recessed or even covered lighting.”
    “These are very common to have around,” he said.
    “Hm. That’s one of the reasons we would put them in a room that your business associates might see. Go modern with the furnishing, but keep these touches that would make them feel at home.”
    “Note what you like. I doubt they even have enough here to cover one room,” Aziz said, slipping his hands in his pockets.
    He turned away for a moment. Art appealed to him, but it seemed like general domestic decorating was probably beyond his capacity for personal investment.
    “I’m not exactly interested in hanging a lamp or two around the study.” Laine took a step back and took in the lamps, with all their colors.
    “We have a good amount of stock, miss,” the shopkeeper said.
    “Could your manufacturer do something custom? Like this?” Laine showed him a sketch. “I like the idea of a chandelier, but not hanging symmetrically like that. Instead, have them descend downward, in a curve?”
    The man scowled at the picture. “I would have to speak to the artisan himself.”
    “Well, I suppose we could buy the lamps individually and hire someone to put the piece together,” Laine said after a moment. She looked to Aziz.
    He shrugged. “Cost is no object.”
    “Ah, these magnificent lamps here, seventy-five dinar,” the shopkeeper said.
    Laine raised a brow skeptically. At last check, the Bahraini dinar was worth about two dollars and sixty-five cents. “What, each? No way. Maybe for seven of them. I can get one of these on eBay for forty bucks, American. There’s no way these are worth two-hundred dollars!”
    Okay, she was lowballing the price she’d seen online just a bit. But haggling was supposed to be a common activity in these markets, and locals tended to gouge Westerners if they could. And Aziz’s comment hadn’t helped.
    “The craftsmanship, miss, you have to know what you are looking at!” The man took down one of the lamps for her to see.
    “I promise you that when I have put Turkish lamps in the homes of upper class New Yorkers, I never charged them that much, and the craftsmanship was just as good as this.” Laine pointed up to one of the lamps. “That one is even missing a tile!”
    It wasn’t, but he looked up in astonishment anyway.
    “Will these even hold together?” she asked.
    “How dare you!” the man exploded. Laine jumped back as he began a tirade about the quality and worth of his stock.
    Aziz stepped between them. “You do not speak to her in this way!”
    “I stand by the quality of my stock! We do not sell cheap goods here, sir!” the man protested.
    Laine regathered herself. “We’re not paying that much for these! I would maybe give you eighteen dinars a piece!”
    The man’s reaction was practically apoplectic, but he didn’t step any closer to her with Aziz looming over him.
    But as she started to turn away, he called out, “Fine! Fine! Take the food from my children’s mouths! Thirty dinars.”
    Laine sucked in her cheeks. “Twenty-five.”
    The man stared at her. She stared back and swiveled her head. Aziz was just starting to reach for her, when the man nodded and told her to pick out which lamps she wanted.
    Laine smiled like a Cheshire cat.
    “I don’t know that was worth the effort,” Aziz told her as they walked away from the booth. He had ordered someone to collect their purchase for them and take it to their car.
    “Oh, I could have gotten them somewhere else. We got a little bit of a discount in cost, mostly on what we would pay for shipping, but I really need to get used to haggling here.” Laine pressed her hand to her chest. “My heart is racing, though.”
    “You offended his honor, by pointing out the flaw in his work.”
    “I was lying. There was no missing tile.”
    Aziz looked at her with admiration. “You lied.”
    “Distributors and manufacturers are