Free Chosen by the Sheikh by Kim Lawrence Page B

thinking if only…’
    â€˜If only what?’
    â€˜I know this isn’t my fault.’ Logically at least this was true.
    Tariq tensed. Did she think he needed reminding that it was his fault? Did she think he wasn’t aware that he had sent his brother into danger?
    â€˜If I hadn’t come here it wouldn’t have happened.’ If I hadn’t interfered and meddled because I always think I know what was best. ‘Khalid would not be lying in a hospital bed.’
    â€˜No, he’d be lying in your bed.’ His glance drifted over her face, lingering on her inviting lips. It is where any man would want to be, he thought.
    It is where I want to be.
    Embarrassed, Beatrice looked away. The only man she had ever wanted to share a bed with was sitting a few feet away. The knowledge scared her witless.
    What is happening to me?
    â€˜Only if he had the energy to negotiate three miles of corridors.’
    â€˜True love always finds a way.’
    The harshness in his voice made Beatrice turn her head sharply to look at him.
    â€˜You really do care for Khalid, don’t you?’
    She responded to the abrupt question without thinking. ‘Yes, of course.’
    â€˜And you see no conflict in professing to love a man and sleeping with his brother?’
    â€˜I didn’t…’ Blushing to the roots of her hair, she threw a mortified glance over her shoulder, in the direction of the stony-faced guards. Her voice dropped to an agonised whisper as she added, ‘We didn’t…’
    â€˜Technically speaking,’ he inserted sardonically.
    â€˜And that was sex, not love. I don’t even like you!’
    â€˜You flaunt your body, yet you blush like a virgin when I mention sex.’
    â€˜I’m a mass of contradictions. It’s part of my irresistible attraction.’ She felt the helicopter drop and gave a sigh of relief. ‘We’re here.’
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    â€˜You lied,’ she accused in a quivering voice when the door closed behind the doctor.
    He shrugged, and didn’t look disturbed at the accusation. ‘If I had told you the truth and said that Khalid needed surgery to relieve pressure on his brain would it have made you feel better?’
    â€˜This isn’t about making me feel better,’ she retorted, struggling to contain her temper. ‘It’s about you deciding in a patronizing, paternalist way what I should know.’ She dashed a tear from her cheek as the hypocrisy of her accusation struck her.
    Didn’t postponing telling Emma about the accident make her guilty of the same thing?
    She chewed her lip, agonising over her decision. Was she doing the right thing, waiting?
    â€˜Here.’
    She stared blankly at the handkerchief he held out to her, then took it and blew her nose noisily.
    â€˜Thank you,’ she sniffed, adding, ‘You really are the most unbelievably arrogant man.’ And the most beautiful, she thought, her glance drifting to the sensual outline of his mouth. She looked away as her body temperature rose in response to an intense hormonal rush.
    â€˜It is part of my irresistible charm.’
    Beatrice didn’t respond to the teasing reminder of her earlier remark. His irresistibility was no joking matter to her. It was a shameful distraction!
    â€˜He’s out of surgery now?’
    Tariq and the doctor had spoken briefly, and though she had caught most of it she wanted to be sure she had the essential details correct.
    Tariq nodded. ‘Yes, and things went very well.’
    â€˜But they won’t know for sure until he regains consciousness?’
    Tariq nodded again, his eyes on Beatrice’s face.
    â€˜Can I see him?’
    â€˜My father is with him at the moment. I will come and get you presently.’
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    It was half an hour later when Tariq returned. Beatrice, who had spent most of the interval pacing up and down, had just taken a seat when the tall, commanding figure