The Sheikh and the Bought Bride

She jumped. “Why do you have to be stealthy?”

“We are close to the village. It’s less than twenty miles by horseback, although nearly fifty in the truck. The trucks require a road. I will be riding the rest of the way. Would you care to join me?”

“Sure. Thanks. Give me ten minutes to change my clothes.” She glanced around. Tents weren’t put up in the middle of the day, which meant privacy was an issue. Maybe she could climb in the back of one of the trucks.

“Why do you need to change your clothes? You’re even wearing sensible boots.”

She glanced down at her authentic cowboy boots. “I know. They’re so cool. I got them on sale. But I have a riding outfit.”

“Do you have different clothes for every event?”

“Of course. It’s a girl thing. Although I was challenged by the whole ‘you’ll be my mistress.’ That was a stumper. They don’t cover it much in the fashion magazines. I think they’re missing a real market.”

He was much taller than she and had to look down to meet her gaze. “You hide your emotions behind humor,” he said.

It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. “Well, duh.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. An actual twitch, which was nearly a smile. She wasn’t sure why making him smile or laugh would make her feel better, but she believed that all the way down to her toes.

“What you are wearing is fine,” he told her.

“But the outfit is really cool.”

“You can show me later.”

“You just don’t want to wait while I dig through all my luggage.”

“There is that, as well. Be ready in five minutes.”

“There aren’t any horses.”

“There will be.”

Kateb walked away. Victoria watched him go, not sure what to make of him. On the one hand, he’d taken her for his mistress for six months and that couldn’t be good. On the other hand, he’d given her electricity for her curling iron and taken care of her, albeit from a distance. Which meant this was the strangest semi-relationship she’d ever had in her life.

Four minutes and thirty seconds later, a man rode up leading two horses. Kateb spoke with him, then brought the horses to her.

“How well do you ride?” he asked.

“Isn’t it a little late to be worrying about that?”

He looked at her.

So much for the lip twitch. “I do okay. I’m not an expert, but I’ve been riding every couple of days for nearly two years.”

One of the men walked over and laced his fingers together to form a step. Victoria glanced back at the trucks holding all her things, including her purse. Was she just going to ride away and leave them all behind? Did she have a choice?

She stepped in the man’s hand, pushed off the ground, then swung into the saddle. After three days of driving, it felt good to be on a horse, out in the fresh air. Kateb got on his horse and moved the animal next to hers.

“We’ll be heading northeast.”

“Do I look like I know what direction that is?”

He pointed out into the wilderness, toward rolling hills dotted with low shrubs and grasses growing out of the sand. Like that would help.

He urged his horse forward. Hers moved into step without her doing anything, which meant it was probably going to be an easy ride. Her favorite kind.

“If you try to escape, I won’t look for you,” he told her. “You’ll wander for days before dying of thirst.”

“Oh, please,” she said, before she could remember he was royalty and sometimes it was better not to say everything she was thinking. “That’s so much crap.”

He didn’t bother looking at her. “You think so?”

“You’re not going to leave me out here to die.”

“Do you want to test your certainty?”

“Probably not.”

He smiled then. A real lip-moving kind of smile. His eyes crinkled at the corners, his expression relaxed. His face was transformed from unreadable and stern to approachable and handsome.

Somewhere deep inside, her stomach tightened, but this time it had nothing to do with fear or apprehension and everything to do with the man. She felt a little tingly and light-headed. Those reactions were quickly followed by a different kind of panic.

No, no, no, she told herself. There was no way she could be attracted to Kateb. None at all. Talk about the danger zone. She knew better than to give her heart to a man. That road led only to ruin. And falling for a sheik who was going to toss her aside in six months was a whole new level of stupid.

She drew in a breath. She had to get a grip. Finding Kateb attractive didn’t mean anything. It was biology. Okay—there’d been a tingle, but a tingle was a long way from love. She was completely safe. All it meant was that when he finally wanted her in his bed, the experience might not be icky. That was a good thing.

“What?” Kateb demanded. “Are you sick?”

“No. Why?”

“You look odd.”

Which was probably prince-speak for “you have a strange look on your face.” At least that was her assumption. Not that she was going to answer the implied question of “what were you thinking?”

Diversion seemed like a good idea. “How long have you lived in the desert?”

“Since I graduated from university.”

“Why the desert?”

“When I was ten, my brothers and I spent the summer in the desert. It is a traditional for the king’s sons to learn the ways of the nomads. I had always found the palace and rules constricting. For me, being in the desert was like coming home. I came back every summer, living with different tribes. One year I lived in the village and knew that was to be my home.”

“You didn’t want to spend all your time visiting Paris and dating supermodels?”

“I have been to Paris. It is a beautiful city. Just not for me.”

“And the supermodels?”