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Book: The Sheikh's American Baby (The Sheikh's Every Wish Book 5) by Holly Rayner
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Authors: Holly Rayner
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afraid of running into anyone, but knew she didn’t have to worry about the servants’ discretion. If Abdul didn’t think they were to be trusted, he surely wouldn’t have left her in his bed.
Back in her suite, Lucie showered and dressed in a frenetic hurry, then practically skipped downstairs to breakfast.
Zach was there, looking very much as though he’d managed to down an entire bottle of the honey liquor before going to bed last night. How he’d gotten it, Lucie didn’t know, and she didn’t want to ask.
She also found she wasn’t quite so annoyed at the idea of talking to him as she had been the previous day.
“How are you, Zach?” she opened.
He looked at her, suspicion in his gaze. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, rather than answer her question.
“I did,” she said, spreading butter on her toast, appreciating the fact that even in the midst of wanting to show them his country, Abdul had catered to any homesickness by providing them with a proper American breakfast.
“The beds here are wonderful, don’t you think?”
“Well, I’ve only tried out the one,” he sniped, watching her face carefully, as though she might give away whatever had happened after he’d left her and the Sheikh to their own devices.
On another day, Lucie might have been disturbed by the implication. She might have tried, for the millionth time, to talk to Zach about boundaries. But today, she found that nothing he said could bother her, and she only shrugged.
“Well, my bed was wonderful. Have they told you if we’re going to the site soon? Do you know if work is going to resume today?”
He was about to answer when a butler entered and told them that the car was ready to take them back to the dig.
Now that she didn’t care in the slightest about giving Zach the wrong impression, she found it was much easier to talk to him. It was easier, in fact, to make him listen to her thoughts on what she hoped to find at the dig site than it would have been to try and hold it all in. So the whole ride to the camp, she found herself babbling on about the day ahead.
As soon as they arrived, however, Lucie realized just how far her hopes were removed from reality.
She’d heard about sandstorms before. But somehow, when she’d pictured them, she’d always imagined them like tornadoes—wreaking havoc on some things and leaving others untouched.
Not so, it appeared, for the previous night’s storm: everything they could see was covered in a thick layer of sand and dirt. It was like another ten years had just been dumped on their site, and would have to be cleared away—and because of the importance of preserving the historical record, they would have to be just as careful in digging it all back out again.
So they set to work. It wasn’t easy, but then, Lucie had always excelled at hard work. And she was glad of the opportunity to get to know her fellow archeologists better. The more she spoke to them, the more certain she became that they were her kind of people. And between that, and the joy that was hanging on her from the night she’d just had, her spirits were still high.
But as lunch came and went, she began to worry. The Sheikh hadn’t said exactly when he would come to visit, but as the afternoon drew on, it seemed to become less and less likely that he would be coming to the site that day.
She began to make excuses to hold back the crushing doubt attacking her mind. His business might have taken longer than expected, she reasoned. Maybe he’d gotten caught up in town. None of this was a reason for concern. The man who had kissed her good morning would want to be here. Why would he have said so if he didn’t?
As the afternoon shifted towards evening, one possible reason began to take hold in Lucie’s mind. Perhaps, she thought, he’d told her that so that he could leave without her making a fuss.
When an official-looking
Back in her suite, Lucie showered and dressed in a frenetic hurry, then practically skipped downstairs to breakfast.
Zach was there, looking very much as though he’d managed to down an entire bottle of the honey liquor before going to bed last night. How he’d gotten it, Lucie didn’t know, and she didn’t want to ask.
She also found she wasn’t quite so annoyed at the idea of talking to him as she had been the previous day.
“How are you, Zach?” she opened.
He looked at her, suspicion in his gaze. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, rather than answer her question.
“I did,” she said, spreading butter on her toast, appreciating the fact that even in the midst of wanting to show them his country, Abdul had catered to any homesickness by providing them with a proper American breakfast.
“The beds here are wonderful, don’t you think?”
“Well, I’ve only tried out the one,” he sniped, watching her face carefully, as though she might give away whatever had happened after he’d left her and the Sheikh to their own devices.
On another day, Lucie might have been disturbed by the implication. She might have tried, for the millionth time, to talk to Zach about boundaries. But today, she found that nothing he said could bother her, and she only shrugged.
“Well, my bed was wonderful. Have they told you if we’re going to the site soon? Do you know if work is going to resume today?”
He was about to answer when a butler entered and told them that the car was ready to take them back to the dig.
Now that she didn’t care in the slightest about giving Zach the wrong impression, she found it was much easier to talk to him. It was easier, in fact, to make him listen to her thoughts on what she hoped to find at the dig site than it would have been to try and hold it all in. So the whole ride to the camp, she found herself babbling on about the day ahead.
As soon as they arrived, however, Lucie realized just how far her hopes were removed from reality.
She’d heard about sandstorms before. But somehow, when she’d pictured them, she’d always imagined them like tornadoes—wreaking havoc on some things and leaving others untouched.
Not so, it appeared, for the previous night’s storm: everything they could see was covered in a thick layer of sand and dirt. It was like another ten years had just been dumped on their site, and would have to be cleared away—and because of the importance of preserving the historical record, they would have to be just as careful in digging it all back out again.
So they set to work. It wasn’t easy, but then, Lucie had always excelled at hard work. And she was glad of the opportunity to get to know her fellow archeologists better. The more she spoke to them, the more certain she became that they were her kind of people. And between that, and the joy that was hanging on her from the night she’d just had, her spirits were still high.
But as lunch came and went, she began to worry. The Sheikh hadn’t said exactly when he would come to visit, but as the afternoon drew on, it seemed to become less and less likely that he would be coming to the site that day.
She began to make excuses to hold back the crushing doubt attacking her mind. His business might have taken longer than expected, she reasoned. Maybe he’d gotten caught up in town. None of this was a reason for concern. The man who had kissed her good morning would want to be here. Why would he have said so if he didn’t?
As the afternoon shifted towards evening, one possible reason began to take hold in Lucie’s mind. Perhaps, she thought, he’d told her that so that he could leave without her making a fuss.
When an official-looking
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