Read Online Diamond in the Desert by Susan Stephens - Free Book Online Page A

progress this thought.
    ‘Close the door!’
    ‘Wuss,’ he murmured in a way that made her picture his sexy mouth curved in that half-smile.
    ‘I don’t like the cold,’ she muttered, hugging her knees and burying her face so she didn’t have to look at him.
    ‘You could have fooled me! But I guess you’d love the desert,’ he said.
    She went very still and then forced herself to reach for the ladle so she didn’t seem too impressed by this last comment.
    ‘You can’t still be cold?’ Emir commented as she ladled water onto the hot stones. ‘That’s enough!’
    The small hut was full of steam. She had been ladling the water on autopilot, trying not to think about the possibility of travelling to the desert with Emir, and in doing so was threatening to steam them alive. ‘Sorry.’ She lifted her shoulders in a careless shrug. ‘I got carried away.’
    ‘You certainly did,’ Emir agreed as he towelled down.
    ‘It’s a long time since I’ve done the whole sauna ritual thing. I’d forgotten—’
    ‘What fun it was?’ Emir interrupted.
    ‘How cold you get,’ she argued, picking up the ladle again.
    He laughed and took it from her. ‘That’s enough,’ he said as their hands brushed. ‘Sit down.’ He towered over her, blocking out the light. ‘If you want to raise the temperature, just ask me.’
    ‘Very funny.’ She glanced up.
    Emir shrugged and smiled faintly, making her glad she was wearing a towel. He had no inhibitions, and, in fairness, most people went naked in the sauna, but that only worked if they had no sexual interest in each other.
    ‘How about I build a fire in the fire pit outside?’ Emir suggested. ‘You don’t want to be cooped up in here much longer.’
    She had always enjoyed sitting round a blazing fire surrounded by snow and ice, and it would be one heck of a lot safer than this intimate space. ‘That’s a great idea.’
    ‘I’ll call you when I’m ready.’
    You do that, she thought, banking Emir’s sexy smile.
    Her heart thumped on cue when he rapped on the door. Sliding off the bench, she went outside to join him. Emir had built an amazing fire...roaring hot and set to last.
    ‘Nights in the desert can be freezing,’ he explained. ‘And in some parts a fire is essential to keep mountain lions away. We have amazing wildlife,’ he added as she sat down and stretched her feet out. ‘Kareshi is a country of great contrasts. We have big modern cities as well as a wilderness where tribal traditions haven’t changed in centuries.’
    Why was he telling her this? Was he serious about her visiting Kareshi? They were staring at each other again, Britt realised, turning away to pretend interest in the fire. There was no point in getting any closer to Emir when their relationship, such as it was, wasn’t going anywhere. Lifting his chin, he stared at her as if he were expecting her to say something. Who knew that Britt Skavanga, lately hotshot businesswoman, as her sisters liked to teasingly call her, could feel so awkward, even shy?
    Maybe you should get out of the office more often.
    Maybe she should, Britt thought wryly, lacking the energy for once to argue with her contrary inner voice. Emir had gone quite still, she noticed.
    ‘Do you see them?’ he said, looking past her into the trees.
    ‘The deer? Yes,’ she murmured. A doe and a fawn were watching them from the safety of the undergrowth. ‘They’re so beautiful,’ she whispered, hardly daring to breathe. ‘I always feel close to nature here,’ she confided in another whisper.
    ‘As I do in the desert,’ Emir murmured back.
    There was that connection thing again. It was there whether she liked it or not. And now she stiffened, remembering the warning her mother had given her when Britt was a child. Now she understood why her mother had said the things she had, but as a little girl she had thought her father loud rather than violent, and playful, rather than bullying. Now she knew he’d been a