Read Online Shamed in the Sands by Sharon Kendrick - Free Book Online Page A

different. Her royal status set her apart from other women. It made people break rules for her. Unwillingly, he felt the quickened beat of desire as he remembered her blue eyes and the silky texture of her olive skin. His mouth dried as he recalled her hot, tight body. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Why the hell hadn’t she told him who she really was at the time?
    ‘This is all very mysterious,’ he said. ‘Do you want to tell me what it’s all about?’
    ‘I’d rather do it in person.’
    Oh, would you, my presumptuous princess? With a flicker of irritation, Gabe waved an impatient hand at Alice, his newly promoted assistant, who had just stuck her head around his office door. ‘Very well. I’ll send a car for you at seven.’
    ‘No,’ answered Leila flatly. ‘That won’t be possible.’
    ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘My bodyguards will not permit me to visit a man’s apartment. It must be done in total secrecy. Will you be there tonight—at two a.m.?’
    ‘Two a.m.?’ His deep voice reverberated with incredulity. ‘Are you out of your mind? Some of us have work to go to in the morning.’
    ‘I’m afraid that the cover of darkness is the only solution to ensure I won’t be seen, and I can’t afford to be seen,’ she said, a note of determination entering her voice. ‘It will be best if you send the car for me then. But I need to know if you’ll...if you’ll be alone?’
    ‘Yes, I’ll be alone,’ said Gabe coldly—and gave her the address.
    Leila’s heart was racing as she replaced the phone, but she couldn’t shake off her feeling of apprehension—and hurt—as he cut the connection without even the politeness of a formal goodbye. Was he always this cool towards the women he’d slept with—as if he couldn’t wait to put as much distance between them as possible? And how the hell was he going to react when she told him?
    She told her retinue that she intended to rest for the remainder of the evening and instructed them to order themselves food from room service. Then she phoned Sara, cutting through the princess’s delighted exclamations by telling her that she needed a favour.
    ‘What kind of a favour?’ asked Sara.
    ‘Just that if my brother calls and asks if we’re having a good time together, you tell him yes.’
    ‘I think it’s unlikely that your brother will call me himself,’ said Sara drily. ‘Is there something going on, Leila? And does that something have to do with a man?’
    ‘How did you guess?’
    ‘Because with most of my girlfriends, it’s usually a man,’ answered Sara with a wry tone. ‘Don’t suppose it’s anyone I know?’
    Leila hesitated. In a way she was wary of saying anything, but part of her wanted to blurt it out. ‘Actually, you do. You used to work for him and he came to your wedding.’
    There was a long silence. ‘I hope you don’t mean Gabe Steel?’ said Sara, her voice low and disbelieving.
    ‘That’s exactly who I mean.’ Leila could feel a skitter of panic washing over her skin. ‘Why, what’s the matter with him?’
    ‘There’s nothing the matter with him—that’s the trouble. Just about every woman in London is or has been in love with him at some point. He’s gorgeous, but he’s a heartbreaker, Leila—and my advice is to stay away from him.’
    It’s too late for that now.
    ‘I can’t,’ said Leila slowly. ‘Will you cover for me, Sara?’
    Sara’s sigh came heaving down the phone. ‘Okay, I’ll cover for you—just so long as you promise me you won’t do anything stupid.’
    I already have , thought Leila, but she injected a breezy note into her voice.
    ‘I promise,’ she said as she put the phone down.
    She could hear the sound of the room-service trolleys being trundled along the corridor towards the rooms of her retinue. Praying that their attention would be occupied by the novelty of eating Western food and that they would eat too much of it, she settled down to wait.
    Shortly before ten,