Auctioned To The Sheikh (All He Desires Book 5)

by Holly Rayner

  “My mother was sick,” she began slowly.

  “I remember,” he nodded, tilting his head down to get a better look at her.

  “She was in all this debt from her medical bills and I had no idea what to do so…” Emily looked up at the man she loved and saw that the truth was already dawning over his face. “So I stole money from the company. A lot of money, which you ended up discovering. And then Mike found out and blackmailed me into sabotaging your business deal.” The sentence came out as one giant ramble until she collapsed into a heap of tears, her body now racked with sobs as she sank down onto the floor.

  “Hey, hey,” Tariq cooed and joined her on the rug.

  But she didn’t stop. The whole story came flooding out. Emily detailed every single thing she’d done to help her mother, and to subsequently cover it up by trying to ruin the business deal.

  As soon as the last of it had come out, she began to feel sick to her stomach. She felt waves of white, shooting pains going through her heart as she finally made eye contact with Tariq. She thought for sure she would see hatred in his eyes. But no. He was smiling.

  “Oh, Emily,” Tariq whispered, taking her into his arms. He kissed her cheek and smiled down at her, brushing her hair out of her face. He rocked her back and forth for a moment before rubbing her arm with his hand as he asked, “So you weren’t avoiding me because you couldn’t stand me?”

  “What?” Emily stared at him in shock for a moment before letting out a genuine laugh. “No, of course not! Give that until our fifth date, at least.”

  “Well yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”

  “So…” She frowned, now feeling utterly puzzled. “You’re not mad?”

  “Family is forever,” he said simply. “We do desperate things when we feel like we’re losing someone. Hey, look at me, I’ve been turned down several times now and I just randomly showed up at your apartment. That’s desperate.”

  She sniffled and blinked in surprise. “Why are you here?” she asked with a chuckle.

  “You weren’t answering your phone,” he said simply. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “You don’t hate me?” she asked, her brows cupping into a U-shape as she looked up at him in wonder.

  He laughed. “Impossible. Frankly, I’m baffled you didn’t tell me about all this sooner.”

  “You know, ten thousand dollars may not seem like much money to you, mister billionaire, but to the rest of us folk, it’s a lot.”

  He leaned in and rubbed his nose against hers. “I know,” he said softly.

  “And you forgive me?”

  “Of course I forgive you,” he said sweetly. “Emily, we’ll fix this. And I promise, with me as your boyfriend,” he paused suddenly and marveled at how red both their faces had gone. “I mean, if it’s okay to call myself that…”

  “Yes!” she cheered. “Yes, of course!”

  He leaned in and kissed her gently, cupping her cheek in his hand. “Then I promise that with me as your boyfriend, you’re not going to have anything to worry about ever again.”

  Chapter 17

  Weeks had passed since the Hasan Group had officially taken over Salt River Resorts. Going into work each day was like entering a little slice of heaven for Emily. The buyout had put The Hasan Group as one of the top five travel companies in the United States.

  Emily couldn’t be happier for her boyfriend’s success, or for how much he had done to improve the company’s reputation and work ethics. Even the coffee tasted better. But today, there would be no time for travel bookings or account management. Tonight it was all about Lindsey’s latest perfectly planned occasion, a grand charity event to celebrate the company’s recent success.

  All of the travel world’s top dogs were at the event—a ball, of course. The proceeds would go to a charity which supported underprivileged youths to volunteer abroad and broaden their horizons—a fantastic cause Emily herself would have loved to take advantage of as a teenager.

  Emily wore a deep maroon dress that hugged her curves and highlighted her blue-green eyes. She’d put her hair up in a mess of curls and had carefully applied her best cat-eye eyeliner. In her opinion, she got to walk in on the arm of the most handsome man she’d ever met.

  Weeks into her relationship with Tariq, Emily was still as excited by him as she had been during their monumental weekend away together. She couldn’t get enough of him. She made a vow to herself to always put him first and to never be afraid of showing all her love to him every day. Her heart was bursting with life as the pair walked into the beautiful, chic art gallery Lindsey had chosen as the backdrop for the event.

  The gallery was set in dim lights with oversized chandeliers at the center of every room. Waiters with champagne wandered around, leading people to a beautiful spread of food and an elegant dance floor that rivaled any fairy-tale ballroom.

  “Are you having fun, my love?” Tariq whispered in her ear as he stole two champagne flutes from the nearby waiter.

  “I seriously couldn’t be happier,” she grinned, spotting Lindsey from across the room.

  “Hmm,” he responded wryly, “I take this as a challenge, and I accept it wholeheartedly. How to make Emily happier?”

  She giggled and pushed his chest playfully. “You’ve made me the happiest just by firing Mike, to be honest.”

  “Hey, I figured firing by insubordination was a fantastic way to get rid of the bad eggs. Not to mention bribery,” he tapped his nose knowingly and she tapped hers right back.

  The pair were interrupted by the sound of Lindsey hitting the stage in front of the crowd. “May I have your attention,” she said as she began her speech about charity, love, and travel.

  As her friend began talking, Emily quickly excused herself from the Sheikh and made her way backstage. She was, after all, up for auction tonight. She could hear Lindsey from the stage getting ready to make her big announcement.

  “Now, I personally know two people who fell madly in love after playing this round of charity dating, so let’s get our paddles up and get ready to fall in love!” Lindsey began clapping and the audience followed suit as they erupted with cheers and claps.

  Tariq raised his brow to Lindsey as his girlfriend emerged on the stage, looking radiant as ever. Tonight, he wasn’t going to waste time bidding against anyone else. Standing from his seat, Tariq raised his paddle to start the bidding in the best way Emily had ever heard.

  “I want to start the bidding at one million dollars,” he said confidently, smiling all the while. “For the woman I love.”

  Emily’s heart pounded with excitement as she stared down at her prince. She walked to the edge of the stage and he helped her down, grabbing her by the waist and spinning her before catching her lips with his.

  Life may have had a few bumps along the way, but Emily was sure that if there were such things as happy endings, this one was hers.

  Epilogue

  “I’m so proud of my Salt River family,” Emily began, addressing her employees at one of the world’s top-rated travel agencies.

  A lot had changed in the months since the company had been bought out by the Hasan Group.

  For starters, Mike was gone, much to the relief of women everywhere. Lindsey nearly threw an event in celebration of his departure alone. For her part, Emily was now the beloved manager of the travel company, answering only to her boyfriend.

  Life with Tariq was like living in some alternate universe where dreams really did come true. Even Lindsey had promised to take a shot at romance, inspired by their love story. The pair had moved in together a week ago and were still marveling at how well their cats got along together. It almost embarrassed Emily how much she enjoyed spending time doing the mundane things with Tariq.

  Another perk of Emily’s new position meant her mother now had no medical bills to speak of, and Emily was happier than she’d ever been in her whole life. She’d finally found it. The love that changes you.

  Turning back to her
new work family she raised a glass toward her colleagues. “I want everyone to know how much we appreciate how hard you work for us and for our customers. Every smile we see, every good review or word-of-mouth referral we get is because of you. We couldn’t have made it to the top without your blood, sweat, and tears. So, before I talk your heads off, I just want to say we love you, travel safe, and have the best holiday ever!”

  The small crowd of employees cheered and chattered at the end of Emily’s speech, toasting one another for the beginning of their holiday break.

  For a once self-proclaimed shy girl, Emily couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt in her new role. She’d been training for months to take over, and when she did, it had felt like a dream come true. That’s what she loved so much about Tariq—he brought things out in her she never knew were there to begin with.

  The Christmas holidays had them busier than ever, but it was important to Emily and Tariq to give everyone sufficient time off so they could go be with their families. Morale was up one hundred percent since Tariq had become involved. Emily loved that about him. He was always looking to give others exactly what they needed: time, commendation, family pursuits.

  Emily headed back into her office, formerly Mike’s. She’d redecorated entirely since he’d left, and the room was now a stark white with a navy blue accent wall—sleek and modern.

  The office had cleared out since her rousing speech, save for her favorite girl in the building, Lindsey Straus. The blonde walked into Emily’s office and leaned against the door, a mug of tea in her hands and still steaming. Emily loved that Lindsey had never treated her any differently since getting her new position.

  Lindsey stepped further into the office and kicked off her tall red heels, taking a much-needed seat across from Emily. “Great speech, girlie.”

  Emily smiled happily. “Thanks.”

  “So,” Lindsey began, “where are you and lover boy off to this Christmas?”

  “Home, I think,” Emily said simply.

  “What? No big trip for the King and Queen of travel?”

  Lindsey’s nickname for them was more or less accurate. The couple had taken three trips together since their initial vacation in Tariq's home country. They'd been to New York, Alaska, and South Africa. That was one of the best perks of running a travel company—they got to explore new places together under the legitimate guise of doing promotional work for their company. The best part was that their not-so-hard work seemed to be paying off, making their company wildly successful.

  “Just a weekend,” Emily giggled and turned her computer off and pushed her chair away from her desk. Lindsey took this as a signal and stood from the chair. “Hawaii. It’s going to be so sunny. When I come back I want you dripping with envy over my tan.”

  “Lucky! Why only a weekend?”

  “We love traveling, but what we really want to do is build our roots here, together.”

  Lindsey sighed, rolling her eyes playfully. “Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m up to?”

  Emily raised her brows in surprise, cocking her head to the side. “Lindsey,” she said, “where are you headed to this holiday season?”

  “Greece,” her friend responded smugly.

  “What?! That’s amazing!”

  “Now ask me who with!”

  Emily raised a curious brow as she slowly asked, “Who with?!”

  “Tom!” Lindsey finally squealed.

  “What?! Tom? Tom whose death we’ve been plotting?!”

  “I know!”

  The girls met in the middle of the room, clasping their hands together and doing an excited dance that they could only do when extremely giddy.

  “Turns out my drunken speech really made an impression on him and last week he came into my office and told me he couldn’t stop thinking about me.”

  “Shut. Up.”

  Lindsey smiled more widely than Emily had seen her do in a long time. “So we thought we’d pull a ‘Tariq and Emily’ and go for our first date somewhere ridiculously romantic and fall in love and get married. He may or may not know that last part yet.”

  Tariq and Emily’s love story had become something of a legend in the offices. Emily had even jokingly mentioned to Tariq that they should put their story on their website as one of their biggest travel booking successes.

  “Lindsey,” Emily said seriously, looking to her friend in wonder. “I’m so happy for you.”

  Lindsey stared at her for a moment and looked almost misty-eyed before she shook her head and quipped, “Okay shut up now before you make me cry. Have an amazing holiday.”

  “You too.”

  With that Lindsey left the office in a hurry, likely eager to get to her man. Emily shut off the lights and walked out into the main entryway to see Tariq standing there.

  “I love when you give speeches,” he said flirtatiously, leaning in to kiss her softly on the mouth. She gladly accepted his embrace and their lips danced together all too briefly before she pushed away from him.

  “Not just yet,” she whispered, putting her finger over his lips. “I have a surprise for you,” she beamed and walked over to the main office lights, turning them all off.

  “Utter darkness. Surprise!” he called from the lobby.

  “Just wait!”

  Emily ran into the center of the entryway where she flicked a switch and suddenly an oversized Christmas tree lit up with hundreds of twinkling lights. Frost tipped the ends of the evergreen tree, the sweet scent of pine filling the whole room. The tinsel glittered against the string lights that were carefully weaved throughout the branches. A plethora of carefully placed blue, white, and silver ball ornaments hung throughout. The centerpiece was so beautiful, even Tariq had to reach out and touch one of the bulbs. The tree twinkled and seemed to sway in the darkness, the lights shimmering a blue-green hue.

  Emily came up beside him and looped her arm through his, staring at the tree in wonder. “Just like the Eiffel Tower, see?” she said.

  “You know, I’ve never celebrated Christmas before,” Tariq said, walking around the tree and inspecting it with a smile on his face. “But I have to say you did a marvelous job.” His eyes glistened as he leaned in for another kiss.

  “I know it’s not nearly impressive as you know, flying to Paris and seeing the light show, but…”

  Tariq set his finger over her soft lips before hushing, “Shh. It’s perfect. Just like you.”

  Emily leaned up and pressed her forehead against his and the two of them stood in a beautiful silence together for a moment before Tariq took her hand in his and kissed her in front of their private light show.

  “Now it’s time for your surprise.”

  Emily looked up at him with mild confusion—they had agreed that no presents would be exchanged, seeing as Tariq didn’t celebrate, so what could the surprise possibly be?

  They made their way to his private car. They were to leave for Hawaii tonight, and already had their bags packed and ready to go.

  The back of the car was comfortably heated, and Tariq let his driver escort them to the airport while he sat in the back next to Emily. She fussed with her carry-on purse for a few moments before a small leather-bound book emerged. Emily peered into it, carefully turning the pages before pulling out a pen.

  “What's that?” Tariq asked, looking over.

  “It's my...” She shrugged, flushed. “It's my travel book,” she said quietly. “I wrote it in when I was sixteen and listed all the places I wanted to travel to. So, now I'm slowly checking them off, making big entries whenever we go places.”

  Tariq leaned over to peer inside and saw the pages covered from side to side with beautiful art of Paris and the Middle East, all drawn in red ink. Among the pages were various scribbles. “These,” she said while taking out scraps of paper, “I got these on a work trip to New York. Nobody knows who drew them, but it’s the same symbol on paper, coffee cup scraps, cigarette cartons, whatever, and there are hundreds of scraps all over New York.�
�

  Tariq reached over and grabbed one, examining it more closely. “Like its own performance art,” he mused.

  Leafing through the small black book, the Sheikh saw pictures from Paris and Al Dirhan, dried flowers and receipt stubs, every tidbit taped inside the book representing different memories. There were dozens of blank pages, just waiting to be filled with adventures, and plenty of places still to travel to. As he reached the end of the book, Tariq couldn’t help but look up in wonder at his girlfriend.

  The drive to the airport went quickly, the scenery from the window a blur of holiday lights and garlands rather than a cityscape.

  Emily grabbed her bags from the back of the car as Tariq conversed with his driver. She stood by the airport entrance and looked up at the night sky, lit up by rare Phoenix flurries and stars. She breathed a plume of white into the air and marveled at the beauty of the scene.

  “Are you excited to get to the villa?” Tariq asked, bustling up beside her with the rest of their luggage. It was clear from the withered expression on his otherwise pleasant face that the man wasn’t too fond of winter temperatures, even at fifty-five degrees. She couldn’t say she blamed him. Both were overjoyed to be spending some time in the sun.

  Walking in through the airport doors, Tariq seemed to get especially excited. He turned to watch Emily’s expression, beaming as she finally caught sight of her surprise.

  Her mother.

  “Mom!” Emily nearly screamed, running over to Janet and pulling her into a deep embrace.

  Emily had mentioned to Tariq several times how much she wanted to be nearer to her mother and how the hours long drive to see her was inconvenient at best. She’d often joked about using Tariq’s private jet to go and visit her, but she never thought he would actually bring the two of them together.