The Prince and the Working Woman (Desert Prince Book 1) (9 page)

She choked back a cough. "You want me to go to the palace and cook for the king?"

"Don’t think of him as the king. He’s Rashid and Hamid's father. I promise they won't put you in the dungeon if you mess it up."

"There's a dungeon?"

Mona had a fit of the giggles. “I guess you haven't been up to the palace yet."

Mandy had seen it in the distance during her travels. The large stone structure stood on the highest point of an otherwise flat topography. She had imagined something out of the Arabian Nights but instead she found a relatively modern building with nods to Islamic architecture. "I've been everywhere else in the city."

"Then it is time. King Omar is very nice. You met him at the wedding."

Yes she had. But no one had gotten within twenty feet of either king without a wall of security between them. Could she refuse without causing hard feelings? Did she want to? It beat sitting at home one more night wondering about a man she had no business obsessing over.

"So we're making steak and onion blooms?" A delicious heart-attack on a plate.

"Every time he's in New York he orders take out from The Outback. I know you don't eat meat but you’ve made it for us before.”

She had made dinner for the happy couple back in Boston. But cooking for the commoners she thought them to be and making dinner for a king were two different animals.

"You're in, right?" Mona asked.

Mandy had cooked for Hamid and lived to tell about it.  "Let me get the onion tool."

“I bought one.  Just grab your purse.”

* * * *

"Thank God it's Thursday." Hamid paraphrased the popular American saying. He never minded travel before but he was glad for this week to end. He stopped off at the office just to check in. He was on his way out when his brother entered.

“When did you get back?" Hamid asked.

"Today. I thought you were at the Paris Summit until next week." Rashid countered.

"I returned for the weekend." Hamid wanted to get the hell out of the office and head across town to see his reason for returning. Ignoring his brother had been a way of life in his youth. He wasn't a jealous child any longer. He could spare five minutes. “How was the trip?"

"Great. I am sure you’ll hear all about it at dinner."

He shrugged apologetically. "I won't be there."

"Really?"

Neither of them ate at the palace except on holidays. Why the surprise? "I have plans."

"All right.  Should I send your regards to Amanda?"

"What?"

"She and Mona are making dinner for father tonight."

Why hadn’t she told him?
Because you didn’t call her, fool!
She had not been out of his thoughts all week. He deliberately refrained from contacting her for that very reason. He checked in with her driver instead. Since she dismissed the man for the weekend he figured she'd stayed in. It would've served him right if he had showed up to surprise her.

"I guess I'm going home for dinner. Need a ride?"

"No I have to get the puppy. My wife worries more about her dog than me."

At least the princess wasn’t convinced that all men were dogs.

Hamid made his way to the palace a mere mile away from the government complex. His father was tied up in a meeting so he went straight to the kitchen, pausing just outside the entrance.

Mandy stood at a butcher-block table with her back to him. Hair pulled back in a ponytail and dressed in slacks and an embroidered tunic she had apparently picked up at the Bedouin marketplace, she was a sight for his tired eyes.

His sister-in-law joined her at the table. “Don’t cry, Mandy.”

Her spine stiffened. She raised her hand, which held a long, sharp knife and turned. Why was she upset? Very little bothered her or so he’d believed.

She lifted her chin and wiped her free hand across her tear streaked face. “Then you peel the onions."

Hamid stifled a groan. He needed to get her out from under his skin. In the middle of their cooking chaos the awkward puppy came barreling into the room, yelping and jumping on her feet.

"No Zuzu." Mona clapped her hands but the boisterous puppy ignored its mistress. "I know you have allergies. I'll put him in another room"

“He got so big.” Mandy reached down and lifted the pup into her arms. It licked her face. She didn’t blink. "It's all right. My allergies seem to be gone. I think I owe my doctor an apology. He told me to move to a dry climate and I called him an idiot."

Hamid chuckled. She had called him an idiot and hadn’t felt the need to apologize. Mandy never treated him like a prince and he relished every minute of their time.

"I need to check out the pantry again." She placed Zuzu on the floor, washed her hands and headed out of the kitchen.

"Stop sniffing the spices. You don't fool me," Mona called after her.

He followed, sending a silent warning to the princess not to give him up. He thought Mandy’s friend was teasing but there she stood in front of the spice cabinet inhaling the spices like a junky snorting coke. Plunging the spoon in and out of the saffron held her spellbound. He wished she gazed upon him with such lust in her eyes. His body reacted. He let out a low whistle.

With a frightened shriek she spun around. The spoon flew from her hand. Yellow powder landed on his foot.

"Holy shit." She glared at him. Her face flushed. "That's about a hundred dollars’ worth of saffron."

"On my $400 leather shoe. What’s your point?"

“You scared me.” She sucked in several calming breaths. “What are you doing here?"

"Me? I live here." He cupped his hand on her slender neck and urged her closer. A combination of onion, saffron, and lemon gave her a surprisingly alluring charm.

"I need to get back to the kitchen. Mona is waiting for me."

"No she's not."

She tapped her shoe impatiently on the floor.  “Well she should be!"

"Tell me you missed me and I’ll let you go."

Her eyes sparked in challenge. "And if I refuse?"

"I can get you to prove it instead."

She tipped her head in challenge. "How do you plan to do that?"

Laughter rumbled in his chest. “All it takes is a stainless steel appliance to get you off. I have a kitchen full of them out there."

"Touché." She smiled, pulled on his tie to draw him closer and kissed him. Before he had time to react she turned on her heel and left. Damn! She still had not said she'd missed him.

* * * *

Mandy didn’t relax until dinner ended and King Omar retired to his office. He was charming, like his sons and he showed her more kindness and respect than her own father. He had asked her about her plans for the Community Center and seemed so impressed with her answers that he suggested she represent the Center in upcoming International Trade Fairs in Asia and America. Nerves kept her stomach rumbling through the entire meal. She felt as if she was the only one talking… babbling maybe because she could not remember a single thing she said. Her words must have made sense because she walked away from the dinner with a chance to offer the services to corporations looking to invest in Touzar at two of the biggest trade conventions in the world.

At 9 o’clock she was exhausted but with adrenalin flowing she would not sleep for hours. The newlyweds took off as quickly as good manners allowed, not that she blamed them. That left Hamid to see her home.   Getting him out of his custom suit could help her relieve her nervous energy. He needed a shave but damn it made him more attractive.

"I talked too much, didn’t I?"

He draped his arm over her shoulder. "You sold your ideas. That’s part of your job. If you can sell it to a King you can sell it to a CEO."

Had she known she would have prepared. No, she would have made herself sick obsessing over it.  What touched her most was Hamid’s obvious faith in her abilities.  “Do you think he liked dinner?”

“I know he did.”

"How could you tell?"

"He said if you got tired of running the center, you could run the household instead."

Mandy arched her eyebrow curiously. "Does it pay more?”

"Funny. About as amusing as him saying he wished a few of his sons were daughters. I wondered who he’d like to trade off."

"But he has four daughters-in-law."

"Mona is the only one who spends any time with him. He has three grandchildren he rarely sees except for state dinners and holidays. And only then so their mothers don’t lose the child support."

She had to admit that the divorce rate in his family was higher than the national average "Well that sucks."

"I never gave it much thought but yes it does."

She dropped a kiss on his scruffy cheek. “Well I for one am glad you’re not his daughter.”

He pulled her into his arms. His dark eyes stared intensely. "Would you like to go somewhere this evening?"

She wanted to say yes but the photo spread in the Gulf Times came to mind. Perhaps if they had
her
car she would consider the offer. But driving in a limo with diplomatic plates and a bodyguard/driver would amount to traveling around the city with the neon sign on top of the car.

“I want you to take me home and we can play with the appliances."

A wicked grin covered his face, "I'm up for that."

"I hope you are." She tugged on his sleeve and pulled him towards the exit.

“After ten minutes you’ll be celebrating the difference between stainless steel and human steel.”

Oh, Lord she loved his arrogance. “You better not be all talk.”

The ride home took ten minutes of curbing the roaming hand of the prince. She didn’t mind him copping a feel. She liked it too much. The bodyguard might be trained to be invisible, but she still knew he was there.

* * * *

Finally inside the apartment, Mandy dropped her purse on the kitchen counter. Hamid tossed his suit jacket on a chair and joined her. No need for small talk. They both knew what they wanted. She removed his tie and, one by one, popped all the shirt buttons. He leaned back against the refrigerator and pulled her to him. His hands slid along the contours of her body.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I want to talk to you first."

"Now?"

"Yes." Her serious expression left no room for disagreement "When was the last time you were tested for STDs?"

He dropped his hands to his side. Damn! Still no filter.  He’d never been asked that question before. He should have been. "When were you?"

Mandy shrugged. "That came out wrong, but this isn't a conversation I have every day."

"I had a blood test recently and no action since.”  When his father had gone in for surgery last month all the siblings donated in case it would be needed. And since he met Mandy, he had been caught up in the chase and taking cold showers. He was minutes away from payoff and she wanted to talk.

"You're angry," she noted sadly.

Was he? He had no right. She had enough sense to ask what he should have. "No. And for the record, I do not get nearly as much action as the papers might have you believe.” Did she have to look so amused about his recent dry spell? “Anything else?"

"Do you have condoms because if you don’t, I…"

Hamid exhaled a heavy sigh.  "I'm covered."

She inched closer and brushed against him. "You are?"

He laughed. "Not yet but I/it will be."

"So what are you waiting for?"

After the curve she threw him, he decided to turn the tables. "What exactly do you want? Spell it out for me.”

Amused disbelief sparked in her eyes. “Really?”

“It’s a language thing."

"You speak English better than me," Mandy mused.

“Better than I,” he corrected. “You don’t speak English. You speak American.”

“I guess I will just have to show you.” She pushed him down the corridor and into her room. She motioned for him to sit while she carefully placed the clothes from her bed in the closet. When she came back to him, she straddled her legs across his hips and rested on his lap. "Are you comfortable?"

“Pleasurably uncomfortable.”

Mandy leaned into him and placed small kisses along his neck, stopping at the corner of his mouth. She placed her soft hand on his shoulder and slid it down his torso. Her fingernails twisted and tugged at the mat of chest hair.

"You still with me, Hamid?"

He sucked in a sharp breath. "Yeah."

A lazy grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He kissed the lips that were right in front of him. Before he could take control, Mandy lowered her head and left a line of moist kisses along the same route her hand had just taken.

Hamid groaned. Her touch was delightful. He longed to be inside her. What she could do to him defied explanation. He reached for her, but she shook her head.