The Sheik's Pregnant Lover (Love By Accident) (10 page)

“Just Ms. Y
ork,” he countered, looking directly at Debra, his eyes challenging her to say another word on the subject of who would be going and overseeing anything with his project.  “Ms. York and I are already acquainted and I have complete faith in her abilities.  I know she’ll do exactly what I want of her.” 

Debra blinked but didn’t miss a beat.  She laughed and turned to Sidra, indicating that she should go along with
whatever she was about to say
.  “Naturally, Ms. Y
ork
is a very experienced and talented designer.  But surely you understand that she’s only a few years out of design school.  I’m more than willing to assist Ms. Y
ork
personally to ensure that your project goes along smoothly.”

“Just Ms. Y
ork
,” he stated firmly once again.  Then he stood up and Blondie rose along with him
, not even surprised that she hadn’t taken a single note during the whole exchange
.  The others behind him also jerked to attention.  “A plane will be standing by to take her to my home.  Make sure she’s on it.  I’ve seen her talents and know she’s extremely capable.”

Without another word, Rashid walk
ed out of the conference room, his entire entourage following behind him with Sidra looking on with wide, confused eyes. 

She was actually hurt by his attitude, not sure what was going on or why he was doing this.  Turning to Debra, she looked to her boss for guidance.  “I’m not really sure what just happened.”

Debra put up her hand, telling Sidra to wait.  Once the door to the conference room was closed, she turned with a patronizing smile to Sidra.  “Okay, well that was interesting.  Care to explain how you know the Sheik of Tasain?”

Sidra stared at Debra, swallowing painfully.  “That man is the Sheik of Tasain?”

Debra leaned back in her chair, smirking with some sort of hidden meaning.  “The one and only.  Any idea how he knows you and requested you personally?”

Sidra was so stunned she couldn’t think.  She shook her head and said, “I can honestly say that I don’t know that man.”

Debra watched her carefully for a long moment, then sighed. “Well, he knows you.  And he wants you to redecorate his palace.”

Sidra stammered at that statement, her while mind reeling with the implications of wealth that one word had. 
“Palace?  But he only said home.”

Debra glanced back at her with derision.  “
Dear, the sheik lives in a palace.  Where on earth did you get the idea that he lives in a simple home?”

Sidra knew she was looking extremely foolish, but couldn’t help it.  Her world was so confused right now and everything she’d thought she knew about Rashid was being transformed into something scary and dangerous. 
“Well, he said ‘home’.”  Her heart was pounding
painfully
in her
chest
and she had no idea how she was going to deal with the new information that the man she’d made love to next to a beautiful stream was actually ruler of one of the most powerful oil producing countries in the world.  As she looked down, her head was spinning and the thought crossed her mind that she could actually pass out right here in front of Debra.

It was only the realization that she would look extremely unprofessional if she passed out and her boss had to pry her off of the floor that she was able to pull herself together.  Placing both of her hands on the table, she shook her head. “I can’t do this,” she whispered.  “Why is he asking for me?” she asked, but deep down, she knew exactly why.  He wanted to punish her for embarrassing him in the lobby of the hotel last Friday night.  Maybe if she’d just gone with him that evening, he would have gotten his anger out of his system and she wouldn’t be in this horrible situation now. 

“That’s a good question, but you don’t really have time to figure that out.  His plane leaves tomorrow morning at ten and you have to come up with some ideas for him.”  She pulled some papers that had been in the center of the conference room table towards them and flipped through several.  “Here’s what you have on your plate right now,” she said and used her perfectly manicured finger to point
to
the outlines of Rashid’s palace. 

Sidra forced her mind to focus on the upcoming issues but Debra was going through so many items and cautions that Sidra was having problems. 

“Are you getting all of this?” Debra asked sharply when Sidra felt like her eyes were crossing. 

Sidra nodded, but she really wasn’t.  “I got it,” she lied.  Quickly, she came up with several suggestions for some designs and watched Debra’s facial features.  When the older woman relaxed and nodded, agreeing with Sidra’s ideas, she continued to explain various aspects of the project, issues that needed to be considered.  There were political problems, economic,
and social gatherings that took place in some of the rooms.  She would be redesigning even the sheik’s private areas and Sidra swallowed at the realization that she would be in Rashid’s bedroom, decorating his private space and making sure that it was decadent enough for his liaisons.  She hated that idea and considered several subtle ways that might make the area less conducive to seduction and more geared towards sleep.  It would serve him right if all he wanted to do in the room was sleep!

Debra’s firm voice broke into her malicious thoughts, getting her back to the present. 
“Okay, it sounds like you have some great ideas for the
se
areas, but you have to understand palace protocol as well.”  Debra sat down at the conference room table and drilled palace
etiquette
into Sidra’s mind.  She was never to address the sheik under any circumstances.  All questions must go through his assistant, with appointments to be set up the day before.  Sidra must always be mindful of the sheik’s limited time and
never disturb him.  Any inconveniences needed to be kept to a minimum so bathroom remodeling needed to be done during the day with all materials finalized and back in working order by the time he finished for the night.  The sheik could come and go as he pleased and she should vacate the any area in which he entered with a bow, or nothing at all if she could get out of that room without being seen first. 

Sidra was writing as fast as possible, but there
were so many rules
!  The
regulations
, the hierarchy within the palace, the assistants’ names, the advisors’ names, the various agencies, the laws and culture of the country, it was all drilled into Sidra throughout the day.  Lunch was brought in, Debra’s secretary was also brought in to type up all the notes as Debra relayed them. 

It was after midnight when Debra finally stopped and Sidra looked up, half asleep and half of her panicking like she’d never panicked before.  “I think that should cover it.  I want daily reports on your progress.  My home and cell phone number will be included in the materials Tara will send over to you.  If you have any problems at all, you must call me immediately.”

Debra leaned over so that Sidra was looking at
her boss
in the eyes.  “Understand something, Sidra.  You’ve been requested personally by a king.  That happens once in a lifetime.  If you succeed here with this project, you can write your own ticket anywhere, set your own price.”  She waited a moment to let that sink in before she continued.  “If you mess this up in any way, you won’t be hired by any firm, anywhere in the world.  You’ll be considered taboo with bad karma.”  Another heartbeat passed while Sidra’s eyes widened.  “Don’t mess up,” she finally said.

Sidra nodded her head, terrified of even falling asleep tonight for fear that she might dream something incorrectly
after that warning
. 

She went home that night and it was eerily quiet on the streets.  She felt like she was going to be sick with all of the instructions Debra had given to her
.  It as an odd feeling to be out so late, or more specifically, so early.  She thought she was being followed at one point but when she turned into her apartment complex, the headlights that had been behind her for a while continued on.  As soon as she entered her apartment, she made a cup of
chamomile
tea and then
she went through several relaxation techniques. 

It
was about one o’clock in the morning when she finally
relaxed enough to consider falling asleep
. 
Unfortunately, her day wasn’t over. 
She still had to pack, hadn’t come up with a single idea for Rashid’s home
besides the general layout she’d given to Debra about fourteen hours ago
, or his palace or whatever it was that he lived in, and the rules Debra had drilled into her going over and over in her mind. 

She set her alarm for seven o’clock in the morning and fell into bed about three o’clock, her bags packed and ready by the door, her passport in her purse and an overwhelming sense of doom coming over her.  Why was Rashid doing this?  She was pretty sure he didn’t need his home redecorated, and even if he did, why did he want her to do this?  Was it retribution?  Was he angry that he’d seen her with another man?  But they hadn’t done anything, barely even spoke since Tim had done all the talking about his law cases or Mindy had regaled the foursome with her bubbly personality dominating the conversation. 

By five o’clock, she gave up trying to sleep and got up, showering and changing into her favorite suit. 
The dark brown color made her skin look softer and her hair shinier while the shape of the jacket tucked in at her waist, making her feel sophisticated and elegant. 
She took the outlines of the rooms and started making notes about some ideas, just in case Rashid was serious about redecorating and this wasn’t some sort of punishment.

Debra’s secretary had printed out the flight schedule and directions to the airstrip where the private planes took off so when she opened her door at seven o’clock to head to the airport, she was startled to find a large man outside her door staring at her.

With a yelp, she slammed her door shut and leaned against it, wondering why a large, bulky man would be standing outside her
apartment
door.  Her fingers were shaking as she reached for her phone to dial nine one but before she finished pressing the second one, her phone rang once again. 

She answered it, uncaring of who might be calling, just so she could have a connection to another human being.  “Sidra?” Rashid’s voice came over the line.

“Rashid?  What are you doing calling me?” she gasped.  “It doesn’t matter.  I have to hang up.  There’s a large, scary man standing outside my door.  I need to call the police.”

“Don’t hang up, Sidra,” he warned, his voice calm and his firm voice stopped her. 

She’d been just about to press the red button when she heard his voice.  She brought her cell phone back to her ear and listened, wondering why he was so adamant about her not calling the police. 
“Are you kidding me?”

“Not at all.  The man standing outside your door is part of my security team.  He’s there to bring you to the airport.  Be there in an hour and don’t be late,” he said smoothly before hanging up the phone. 

Sidra stared at the phone, wondering if he’d misunderstood.  Then her fuzzy, sleep deprived mind started to process the words he’d said.  She slowly opened the door and peered outside.  The man was still standing there with a phone to his ear.  He bowed slightly when he saw her, said something foreign to the phone and shut it off.  “May I help you with your bags, ma’am?” he asked gently.  Or as gently as a man that large could come across. 

Sidra could only nod her head and step back as the scary looking man with a scar across his cheek stepped into her apartment and picked up her two heavy bags, easily carrying them as if they were no heavier than her purse
, while she’d had trouble just rolling them to the door because of their weight
. 

With a sigh, she shook her head, checked to make sure she had her passport, then followed the man out the door, making sure her door was locked behind her.

The ride to the airport was quiet since she was the only person in the limousine.  She felt very conspicuous as they drove through the secured gates and straight up to the plane that was standing by with a staircase leading up to the very large plane.  This wasn’t a private plane.  This was a double
decker jumbo jet with people milling all around, some with automatic rifles and bullet proof vests, others with just large bulges under their suit jackets.  The idea of this much security terrified her.  Where had all of
these
men been when
she and Rashid had
been by the creek?  She would have started asking questions if she’d seen so many armed guards surrounding him at that point.

And if she’d asked a few more questions, she might not feel as foolish as she did now. 

“This way, ma’am,” the
body guard explained
to her.  Someone else rushed over to the trunk of the limousine and pulled her bags out of the trunk, taking them to some sort of machine towards the back of the plane. 

She was escorted onto the jet and her eyes widened as she looked around.  So many people working
, all looking extremely busy and professional,
and
yet still
no sign of Rashid.  Personally, all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep
so not seeing him now wasn’t such a problem.  It was just that she wanted to know where the enemy was, she thought
. 
S
he’d been planning
sleep during the flight
while she’d
lain in her bed last night
,
but
that wasn’t on the agenda
if all these busy people were any indication
.