Free The Sheikh's Unforgettable Lover (The Sharqi Sheikhs Series Book 1) by Leslie North Page A

colder and more oppressive. Growing impatient, she coughed, but he continued to shuffle his papers. Finally, she spoke up.
    “Good afternoon, sheik,” she said to him. 
    “Please have a seat, Miss Atkins,” he said waving to the chair nearest her. Kim nodded and sat down opposite the sheik as he finished with his notes. She counted to ten in her head and then counted to ten four more times before he finally put his pen down and looked up at her.
    “You wanted to see me?”
    “I did indeed.” Saeed studied her for a moment. He had so much displeasure on his face that Kim wondered what he was thinking about. “So, you are sleeping with my son,” he said at last. Kim’s eyes flew open. She had not been expecting that at all.
    “Excuse me?” Kim had only slept with Karim once, and even if she was, that was not Saeed’s business. Why was he asking her that and how had he found out?
    “I know all about it and I must say that I am disappointed.”
    Kim knew that she was not the woman for Karim but she did not expect his father to get involved. Besides, they had only slept together once even if she did relive it over and over each night before bed.
    “I do not understand, sir,” she said, even though she did. She just did not know what to say to him.
    “You are smart a girl. I am sure you understand my words,” Saeed said, his lips tight. “I need you to distance yourself from my son.”
    Kim’s jaw hung open. “I don’t understand... why? I mean him no harm.” Saeed dismissed her with his hand.
    “Listen, Miss Atkins, Karim is my eldest son and he will marry a full Arabic woman and bear me grandchildren appropriate to my station.”
    “While I can understand your desire for grandchildren, it is Karim’s choice who he wants to be with.”
    Saeed looked at her as if she was mad. “I do not care what you think; I will not have you poison my son against me.”
    Poison Karim against his father? This was simply ridiculous. Kim almost laughed because that was how stupid the sheik was sounding. “I would never turn your son against you.”
    “If you truly care for him, then you will leave him at once.”
    She did care for him. More than she had yet to admit to herself. What had started as a little crush, had soon developed into much more than that. She had tried her best not to fall for him but she failed miserably.
    “Sheik Sharqi, I cannot see what I have done to offend you,” Kim said calmly.
    The sheik sighed. “I see, you won’t leave easily.” Saeed opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a chequebook. He picked up his pen, clicked it and started writing out a cheque. He tore it out and passed it to Kim. She frowned as she picked it up. He had written her a cheque for fifty thousand dollars. She gasped.
    “Why are you giving me money?” she asked. She really hoped he wasn’t buying her off. It was insulting.
    “I will give you this money if you agree to leave Karim alone and return to the states.” He said calmly as if he was speaking wise words. This was all just business to him. Kim was disgusted at how cruelly his father was behaving.
    “I do not want your money,” Kim replied as she returned the cheque.
    “I see, you want more money.” He wrote out another cheque for one hundred thousand dollars. “Is this enough?” he asked her.
    “Sheik, I do not want your money. Please keep it.”
    “Is this not enough? You western women are all so materialistic.”
    Kim was growing increasingly furious that he was generalising western women who were not all the same. She certainly was not materialistic. No matter how much money Saeed was going to offer, she was not going to take it.
    If he were not much older than she was, she probably would have slapped him across the face. Sadly, he was old enough to be her father, and she was taught to respect her elders.
    “I resent the fact that you think all western women are the same. Please keep your money; I do not want a dime of it.”
    “I know