Free The Sheikh's Irresistible Proposal by Holly Rayner Page A

waiting limousine. She hopped in and Naasir closed the door behind her. It wasn’t until he started the car that Hannah realized she was alone in the back seat.
     
    “That was wonderful, Miss Green! A wonderful performance!” Naasir smiled at her through the rear view mirror as he pulled out into the busy city traffic.
     
    Hannah looked puzzled and was still breathing hard from her panic on stage. “Thank you, Naasir. But where is Sadiq? I thought he would be at the show? I mean, he was at the show, and then he wasn’t.”
     
    Naasir nodded to her. “Yes, ma’am. He was. But he got called away on urgent business. He asked me to extend his apologies to you.”
     
    “Oh,” Hannah said, cursing herself for overreacting. “Oh, okay, thank you.”
     
    She sat back against the leather seat as Naasir drove back to the palace, chuckling at how worked up she’d just gotten. A stalker, a murderer, a human trafficker. She really needed to stop watching so much television.
     
    Hannah closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. She felt good now that she was singing again. It had only been a week, but a week was a long time to go for her. Singing was her therapy. It was her medicine. It was the cure to everything that ailed her. She was glad she’d gotten to sing tonight and was looking forward to the next few weeks of performing. Even if she had to use the back door.

 
     
    ELEVEN

Over the next few weeks, Sadiq and Hannah visited several other clubs around the capital of El-Shakanish, the city of Shimab and the outlying regions. Each time she performed, Hannah would enter through a back door and Sadiq would enter through the front. There were a few occasions when he stayed for the whole show, but most of the time he would be called away halfway through, for some business emergency or another. Finally, after four weeks of touring around the country, Hannah decided to confront Sadiq about his mysterious disappearances.
     
    She broached the subject one evening, as they were in the back of the limousine, on the way to another one of her performances. “Sadiq,” she said, glancing at him, stunned again at how amazing he looked in his tuxedo.
     
    “Yes, Hannah,” he said.
     
    A shiver ran up her spine as he looked at her. Since her tour had started, their relationship had remained rather ambiguous. There had been times when he had put his arm around her in the limo, and others when he seemed to want nothing to do with her. Now was one of those times.
     
    “I was just wondering what type of business you are always running off to during my performances.” There. I’ve said it . Hannah looked at him and held her breath.
     
    Sadiq watched her as she waited nervously to see his reaction. God, she was gorgeous. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her when she was on stage, singing, moving so slowly in those dresses. And when they were alone in the limousine, the scent of her hair, the warmth of her breath, it was almost too much to bear.
     
    He had to be careful. He knew that getting involved with Hannah would be playing with fire. He didn’t want a relationship. And yet, he was finding himself more and more attracted to her every day.
     
    Hannah waited, hoping he would finally tell her what was really going on.
     
    Sadiq opened his mouth and was about to speak when Naasir slammed on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt, sending Sadiq and Hannah flying forward.
     
    “Oh no!” Naasir’s voice rang back from the front seat. “Are you all right? Sir, Miss?!”
     
    “We’re fine, Naasir,” said Sadiq as he found his way back on the seat. He looked over at Hannah and realized that he had his arm wrapped tightly around her, holding her in place. She hadn’t been shaken or injured; in fact, not a hair on her head was out of place.
     
    She looked at him and he looked at her and she knew; there was something he wasn’t telling her and he certainly wasn’t going to do it now. He had been so close to