Free The Prince and the Working Woman (Desert Prince Book 1) by Kat Attalla Page B

kitchen. Mona is waiting for me."
    "No she's not."
    She tapped her shoe impatiently on the floor.  “Well she should be!"
    "Tell me you missed me and I’ll let you go."
    Her eyes sparked in challenge. "And if I refuse?"
    "I can get you to prove it instead."
    She tipped her head in challenge. "How do you plan to do that?"
    Laughter rumbled in his chest. “All it takes is a stainless steel appliance to get you off. I have a kitchen full of them out there."
    "Touché." She smiled, pulled on his tie to draw him closer and kissed him. Before he had time to react she turned on her heel and left. Damn! She still had not said she'd missed him.
     
    * * * *
     
    Mandy didn’t relax until dinner ended and King Omar retired to his office. He was charming, like his sons and he showed her more kindness and respect than her own father. He had asked her about her plans for the Community Center and seemed so impressed with her answers that he suggested she represent the Center in upcoming International Trade Fairs in Asia and America. Nerves kept her stomach rumbling through the entire meal. She felt as if she was the only one talking… babbling maybe because she could not remember a single thing she said. Her words must have made sense because she walked away from the dinner with a chance to offer the services to corporations looking to invest in Touzar at two of the biggest trade conventions in the world.
    At 9 o’clock she was exhausted but with adrenalin flowing she would not sleep for hours. The newlyweds took off as quickly as good manners allowed, not that she blamed them. That left Hamid to see her home.   Getting him out of his custom suit could help her relieve her nervous energy. He needed a shave but damn it made him more attractive.
    "I talked too much, didn’t I?"
    He draped his arm over her shoulder. "You sold your ideas. That’s part of your job. If you can sell it to a King you can sell it to a CEO."
    Had she known she would have prepared. No, she would have made herself sick obsessing over it.  What touched her most was Hamid’s obvious faith in her abilities.  “Do you think he liked dinner?”
    “I know he did.”
    "How could you tell?"
    "He said if you got tired of running the center, you could run the household instead."
    Mandy arched her eyebrow curiously. "Does it pay more?”
    "Funny. About as amusing as him saying he wished a few of his sons were daughters. I wondered who he’d like to trade off."
    "But he has four daughters-in-law."
    "Mona is the only one who spends any time with him. He has three grandchildren he rarely sees except for state dinners and holidays. And only then so their mothers don’t lose the child support."
    She had to admit that the divorce rate in his family was higher than the national average "Well that sucks."
    "I never gave it much thought but yes it does."
    She dropped a kiss on his scruffy cheek. “Well I for one am glad you’re not his daughter.”
    He pulled her into his arms. His dark eyes stared intensely. "Would you like to go somewhere this evening?"
    She wanted to say yes but the photo spread in the Gulf Times came to mind. Perhaps if they had her car she would consider the offer. But driving in a limo with diplomatic plates and a bodyguard/driver would amount to traveling around the city with the neon sign on top of the car.
    “I want you to take me home and we can play with the appliances."
    A wicked grin covered his face, "I'm up for that."
    "I hope you are." She tugged on his sleeve and pulled him towards the exit.
    “After ten minutes you’ll be celebrating the difference between stainless steel and human steel.”
    Oh, Lord she loved his arrogance. “You better not be all talk.”
    The ride home took ten minutes of curbing the roaming hand of the prince. She didn’t mind him copping a feel. She liked it too much. The bodyguard might be trained to be invisible, but she still knew he was there.
     
    * * * *
     
    Finally inside the apartment, Mandy