Stealing From The Sheikh - A Sheikh Romance Novel (Irresistible Sheikhs Book 3) (16 page)

Peering in further, something large caught my eye, and I realized the room wasn’t barren of décor at all; hanging on the wall opposite, facing the bed, was
Oceanic
, the painting Rafiq had taken home from my gallery.

I flushed a bit. This had to be Rafiq’s bedroom, no doubt. Had he really loved my painting so much that he wanted to see it right from his bed? Something about that seemed so unusual. I’d figured, after his proposition, that he had purchased
Oceanic
just to sweeten me up for the eventual offer. But that didn’t explain why it was here, now, in such an intimate place.

The sound of Rafiq’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. “I would be happy to give you a full tour of my bedroom, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

I whirled around, embarrassed, my cheeks flushing. “Oh, sorry, I… I was just looking around…”

Rafiq had a wicked grin on his face. He didn’t seem upset. Instead, he leaned past me and flipped on the lights to his room, getting close enough to me with his muscled, shirtless chest that I could feel the heat emanating from his skin.

“Have a look around, then. After all, this is your home for the time being.”

Since he didn’t seem to mind, I stepped inside the room to get a better look at the painting.

“I’m surprised to see this up here,” I said, pointing.

“Why’s that?” said Rafiq. He moved around a huge dresser that matched his bed, and disappeared into a walk-in closet. The rustling sound of fabric and wire hangers chimed within.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Art hung in one’s bedroom usually tends to be pretty significant to a person…I suppose I didn’t expect to see this here.”

“Are you saying you don’t think your work is special?” said Rafiq. He was buttoning up a soft pink long-sleeved shirt over his muscles, grinning at me.

The sight was incredibly attractive, and judging by the look on his face, he knew it well.

“It’s not that,” I said. The look on his face gave me feeling he was teasing me. “Are you deliberately misunderstanding me?”

“A little bit, yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m just trying to help you relax. I can see you’re nervous. There’s no reason to be.”

I flushed red. “Well, I don’t exactly have a lot of experience in this particular world. I’ve never been someone’s pretend girlfriend before, and certainly not for a client who has my art hanging in their bedroom.”

“Don’t worry, Evangeline,” he said. “I’m going to make this easy for you. We will both benefit and walk away better for it.” He smiled at me. “Now, unless you’re wanting to stay for the show, I have to finish getting dressed.”

I scoffed at his assumption and rolled my eyes. There was the Rafiq I was waiting to appear.

“No, thanks. I’ll wait out here.”

Rafiq laughed gently to himself as he followed me to the bedroom door and shut it behind me.

Bought By The Sheikh can be found on Amazon
here
-
http:/amzn.com/B01AIMLWI8

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