Read Online The Black Sheep Sheik by Dana Marton - Free Book Online Page B

independent surgeon, wanted a man in her life and his shoulder to lean on when she needed it.
    Except that never worked. Believing in something like that would bring nothing but disappointment and grief. She’d seen her mother walk that treacherous path.
    She walked up the street and into the first diner she came across, ordered a toasted sesame-seed bagel with ham and eggs. Plus a tall glass of orange juice. Then she waited, watching for the black van through the window, but thank God, she didn’t see it. She didn’t have to wait long before someone she knew walked in.
    Sue Kim, the dry cleaner’s wife, ordered coffee, then went to sit in the back.
    Isabelle waddled over. Seemed like her belly had somehow grown an extra size overnight. Or maybe the baby was lying in a different way. The bottom of her belly felt tight today.
    “Isabelle?” Sue peered under the cowboy hat. “Are you going to a party?” She eyed the semi-cowboy, semi-nurse outfit doubtfully.
    “Long story. How are you, Sue?”
    “Lilly got into Harvard. Did I tell you that?” She said “Harvard” without saying any of the r ’s, and with a slight Korean accent. “She’ll be big doctor.” Her face beamed with pride.
    “Congratulations. That’s wonderful,” Isabelle said sincerely.
    “How are you? When the baby coming?”
    “Very soon. I’m supposed to go and see the doctor this afternoon. They check me every other day now. Of course, I just got my car towed. I was hoping I could ask you—”
    “Towed?” Sue seemed outraged on her behalf. “I take you pick it up.”
    The waitress was coming with the coffee, but Sue waved her back, already standing. “I’ll come back. I go now. Pregnant lady needs help.”
    Isabelle tried to protest that there was no great urgency, but Sue wouldn’t hear of it. They were in the white dry-cleaner minivan before Isabelle could blink, flying down the road at a speed that defied a race-car driver, Sue cursing the busybodies at the towing company all the way.
    “I miss your father,” she said, then suddenly, out of the blue, added, “He a good man. You need a good man like that for your baby. You want me introduce you?”
    Isabelle hid the twinge of panic with a smile. “No thanks. I’m good.”
    “Waiting for the father of the baby to come back. He will. You good woman.”
    They were at their destination before Isabelle would have had to come up with a response to that, thank God. Sue offered to wait until everything was settled, but Isabelle declined with thanks, sending her back to her coffee and her business. She didn’t want to impose on the woman’s time more than she had to.
    She would get her car, go home, change, call the royals at the resort and tell them where she’d left Amir, in case for some reason Amir couldn’t call for himself. He had said that his friends could be trusted. She wanted to make sure he was all right. Then she would work some more on the baby’s room. The thought of that put a true smile on her face.
    But as she turned to scan the lot, she froze on the spot. A black van was parked by the corner, hidden behind a sign for the towing company. A very familiar black van. She tried to look as non-pregnant and unlike herself as possible as she hurried across the enormous lot—keeping waddling to a minimum, ignoring the hundreds of cars, making a beeline for the office inside a rusty metal shipping container.
    “Hi. I called a few minutes ago about an SUV that was picked up yesterday?”
    The air inside smelled musty even with the door and window open. But at least she was out of sight and could breathe easier for the time being. The transaction was pretty straightforward, lasting less than five minutes. She showed ID and paid the fee, signed the papers.
    The old man behind the beaten-up desk stopped chewing tobacco long enough to tell her where her car was. “Nothin’ personal, little lady. People call that the road is blocked, we come out.” He gave a toothless grin