by Kristi Gold
Concern called out from his dark eyes. “Are you ill?”
“Just a routine exam.” Not exactly a lie. “I’m fine.”
His frown dissolved into a stop-and-drop grin. “I would attest to that without the benefit of an examination, although I would not mind further investigation.”
“Is that coffee ready yet?” the sour man barked.
Karen welcomed the interruption on one level. On the other hand, she felt trapped between two persistent men intent on shredding her last nerve. She afforded the stranger a polite smile. “One more minute and the coffee should be done.”
He slapped his palm on the counter. “I don’t have another minute, so if you’ll quit talking to your boyfriend and get me my coffee, then I can get out of here. Some of us have jobs to do.”
Karen clenched her teeth and spoke through them. “I understand, sir, but the coffee’s not quite done yet. Could I get you a glass of water while you’re waiting?” Would you like to wear it? she wanted to say and would have except she’d been told the customer was always right. Even the fussy ones.
“I don’t want any damned water. I want my coffee.”
Ash had seemed unaffected by the jerk until that moment when a dangerous look came across his face. He took off his jacket, systematically laid it across the stool next to him and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt. Karen froze from fear that the sheikh was about to engage in fisticuffs with the irritable stranger. Instead, he walked around the counter, picked up a paper to-go cup, filled it with the last of the remaining lukewarm coffee from the previous pot, then turned and slid it in front of the man.
“This is in exchange for your absence,” he said in a low, menacing voice. “I realize there is no sign on the door indicating this establishment does not serve jackasses, but rest assured, that will be remedied after your departure.”
The man scowled. “You arrogant son of a—”
“My arrogance should not concern you. If you fail to leave the premises in thirty seconds, however, you should concern yourself with what I might do to encourage your departure.”
The man stormed out the door sans coffee, sending Karen and Ash an acid look through the window.
When Karen could finally speak, she turned and stood toe-to-toe with the prince. She would estimate him to be not more than six feet tall, but in the small space that separated them, he seemed as massive as the ancient oak in the backyard of her former Montana home. “Was that really necessary?”
“I refuse to tolerate insolence, particularly when a woman is the target of disrespect.”
Oh, good grief. “I really didn’t need to be rescued.”
His expression remained solemn. “My apologies. I tend to forget chivalry has lost its appeal in America.”
Karen felt somewhat remorseful since she realized he’d had honorable intentions. She also felt somewhat tense when he continued to survey her with his extreme dark eyes. The least she could do was thank him. “I appreciate your good intentions.”
His features softened into a look that could only be described as patently provocative. “You could show your gratitude by having dinner with me tonight.”
“I told you I don’t have the time.” She didn’t have the guts.
Maria suddenly appeared and eyed them both standing behind the counter, face-to-face. “Karen, did you hire the sheikh while I was downstairs?”
Karen reached under the counter and snatched up her car keys. “He was helping out with a rowdy customer.”
“How nice of you, Ash,” Maria said. “Wasn’t it nice of him, Karen?”
Karen’s stubborn gaze came to rest on Ashraf Saalem once more. Certain aspects of him were very nice. Nice and sexy. But she wouldn’t describe his eyes as nice. More like lethal in a most sensual sense.
She unhooked her gaze from the sheikh and addressed Maria. “Is Mimi here yet? I really need to go swoon.” Stupid, stupid mouth. “I mean I need to go soon. To my appointment.”
Maria grinned and flipped her hand toward the front door. “Go ahead. I can handle it until she gets here. We still have some slack time before the evening crush.”
Karen felt the pull of an inadvisable crush on an overbearing, arrogant, exotic prince. Stupid, stupid libido.
Keys in hand, she headed toward the door before Ash had another chance to knock her resistance out from under her.
“I will be in touch, Karen.”
Karen gripped the door handle, intending to exit, but halted at the sound of his enticing voice. She only hesitated for a moment before rushing to her car and speeding off before she was tempted to go back and accept his offer. Before she gave in to those magnetic eyes and that seriously sinful voice. Before she forgot that she had no desire to become involved with any man, especially a man who considered himself her protector.
Thank heavens she had managed a quick getaway.
Ashraf Saalem had no intention of letting Karen Rawlins get away. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her at the welcome soiree, from the instant he had spontaneously kissed her, he had wanted her. He still wanted her and he intended to have her, even if forced to practice the utmost in patience.
Ash was not known for his patience. He would never have gained his own fortune had it not been for persistence. He would have never left the security of his family’s business and come to America had he been willing to endure his father’s demands.
“Oh, darn.”
Maria Barone’s mild oath brought Ash’s attention to her. “A problem?”
She held up a black leather handbag. “Karen was in such a rush that she left her purse.”
Ash saw Karen’s carelessness as an opportunity to utilize a bit more strategy to convince her to see him again, this time alone. “I will be most happy to return it to her.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I would think she might need it since I assume it contains her driver’s license and any means she would have to pay for services.”
Maria looked hesitant, wary. “You have a point. But I’m not sure she’ll be too thrilled if I tell you where she’s going.”
“She mentioned a doctor’s appointment.”
“She did?”
Maria need not know that the revelation had come after some coercion on his part. “Do you know the whereabouts of the doctor’s office?”
A slight-of-frame, gray-haired woman breezed up to Maria and offered, “She asked me directions to Industrial Drive at Blakenship yesterday, the two hundred block, so I’m guessing that’s the location.”
Maria gave the waitress a scolding look. “Mimi, Karen might not like you passing on that information.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “She has to have her purse, doesn’t she? Besides, I don’t think he’s going to pilfer her credit cards.”
“I guess you’re right,” Maria said.
Ash held out his hand to Maria and she finally relinquished the bag to him. “You may trust that I will find Ms. Rawlins and deliver it safely.”
“Good luck,” Maria said.
Ash wasn’t one to rely on luck, but he would use his powers of persuasion. He gave the two women a polite nod. “I’m certain I will be back soon.”
The lady named Mimi favored him with a smile. “I’m sure you will since Karen works here. That missy is a looker, all right.”
Without responding, Ash left the building, unable to hold back his own smile over his good fortune. He had something Karen Rawlins needed, and she had something he wanted. Quite simply he wanted her. At least this was a beginning.
On that thought, Ash strode to the silver Rolls-Royce Corniche parked at the curb, slipped into the seat and drove away, his impatience escalating as he wove through heavy downtown traffic. After what seemed an interminable amount of time, he turned off onto the side street Maria had mentioned and approached a redbrick building that appeared to be a clinic.
Ash pulled into the parking lot and when he noticed the sign that read Milam Fertility Center, he assumed he’d come to the w
rong place. Then, near the entrance, he caught sight of a blue compact car that resembled the one he’d seen Karen drive away in at Baronessa’s.
He took the first available space several rows away, grabbed her purse and left the car to take his place by the hood where he could still view her vehicle. Presuming she had already entered, he decided to wait until she came out even if it took several hours. He had many questions to ask Karen, the most important being why she had chosen a clinic that catered to those intending a pregnancy. Then the sedan’s door opened and Karen stepped from the car.
Ash saw his chance and strode across the parking lot, finding her bent halfway in, halfway out of the car. He paused a moment to study the bow of her hips and the pleasing shape of her legs extending from the skirt she wore as she conducted a search for, most likely, the handbag.
“Are you looking for this?”
She barely avoided bumping her head as she spun around to face him. “What are you doing here?” Her voice held a note of shock, as did her expression.
He dangled the purse before her. “I have come to return this to you.”
She snatched it from his hand. “Thank you. I didn’t realize I’d left it.”
Obviously. “Now it is your turn to answer a question.” He sent a direct look at the nearby sign. “What are you doing here?”
She worked the bag’s strap round and round her slender fingers. “I told you I have—”
“An appointment, I know. But what business would you have at this establishment? Are you applying for employment?”
She looked almost alarmed. “Of course not.” After closing the door with a thrust of her bottom, she leaned back against it, looking quite annoyed. “You shouldn’t concern yourself with why I’m here.”
Her guardedness frustrated Ash though he had no call to interrogate her. But he had to know why she was here. “I would greatly like to understand your purpose for being at this particular place.”
“You don’t need to understand. This is my business, not yours.”
“It is my business if you are involved with someone with whom you plan to have a child, if that is your reason for being here.”
“Why is that your business?”
“Because I would cease to insist that you see me socially. I would not want to intrude on another man’s territory.”
Her gold-green eyes turned to feminine fire. “For your information, Sheikh Saalem, I am no man’s territory. In this day and time, a woman doesn’t need a man to have a baby, at least not all of a man.” By the discomfort in Karen’s expression, Ash discerned that she regretted the revelation.
He streaked a hand over his jaw, not quite certain what to make of Karen’s disclosure. “Then you plan to have a child on your own?”
She tipped up her chin in defiance. “Yes, I do. Artificial insemination.”
That did not set well with Ash. He understood the need for the procedure in some instances, but not in this case. “Do you mean insemination with some stranger’s sperm?”
A blush spread across her cheeks. “I don’t care to discuss sperm with a sheikh.”
“But you would consider having a child by a man you know nothing about?”
“Yes, and that’s my prerogative. I’m thirty-one and I’m not getting any younger. It’s the right time in my life to do this.”
Ash pondered her words, her purpose. Yes, he definitely had something Karen needed. Services he no doubt would be willing to give her, with great pleasure. And she had something else he wanted as well. The ability to have a child, the means for him to settle into a permanent relationship with a woman whom he found both intelligent and alluring. He had waited many years to find that particular someone since his father had thwarted his first attempt.
“Perhaps I could assist you in the matter,” he said.
Her eyes went wide. “You mean you’re willing to make a donation for me to use?”
“I have no desire to share my affections with a plastic receptacle. I prefer making a child the way nature intended for a man and woman to procreate.”
Karen shook her head. “No way. I’m not going to allow…well, allow…that.”
Ash moved closer and brushed a lock of wavy brown hair from her shoulder. He suspected Karen enjoyed a challenge, much like him, and if he had to use that device, then so be it. “Are you afraid?”
The willful look she gave him verified his assumption. “Of course I’m not afraid. Why would I be?”
He braced a hand on the car and leaned forward. “Perhaps you fear what you might feel if you allowed me to make love to you. What we might experience together.”
He heard a slight catch in her breath, the only sign she had been affected by his words. “It wouldn’t be a good idea, that’s all.”
“It is an exceptional idea. For some time now I’ve considered having a family of my own. This would benefit us both.”
Her sigh brimmed with impatience. “I only want a baby, not a relationship.”
“A baby who would not know his father? I believe that if you search your soul, you would not want this for your child, considering what you have recently learned about your father’s kidnapping.”
Karen studied the toe of her functional black canvas shoes, avoiding his gaze. “I don’t have a choice. I want a baby more than anything.”
With a fingertip, Ash nudged her chin up until she looked at him. He saw only indecision in her eyes, not total refusal. Enough to propel him forward in his planning. “I am offering you a choice. I am willing to father your child.”
She eyed him with suspicion. “And exactly what would you expect in return?”
He had given his heart to a woman once, and only once. He had no more left to give in that respect. But he could give Karen the baby she desired and a comfortable home, a secure future. “I want to have you as my wife.”
She frowned. “That’s nuts. We don’t know each other.”
“What better way to become acquainted?”
“I don’t want to get married. I almost made that mistake not long ago.” Again she looked chagrined, as if she had revealed too much.
Ash had no call to be envious of another man who’d had Karen’s affections in the past, yet surprisingly he was. No matter. If given the chance, he would attempt to make her forget any former liaison, especially one that appeared to have caused her pain. He could personally relate to that concept.
In order to do that, he must convince her that marriage would be favorable for them both, even if it meant proposing terms that were anything but amenable. “Perhaps we should have an agreement. If you decide not to continue the marriage, you are under no obligation to uphold the arrangement. You would be free to leave after the birth of our child.”
“You mean divorce?”
The word sounded harsh in Ash’s ears. It went against everything he believed. “Yes.”
She worked her bottom lip between her teeth several times before saying, “I take it you would want to stay involved with the baby after the agreement ends.”
He would do everything in his power to make certain that there would be no need to discuss custody of their child. He would do everything humanly possible to prevent their marriage from ending. “Of course. Would you not want that?”
“I suppose that would be best.”
Ash sensed impending victory. “Then we are agreed?”
“No.” She straightened and slipped the purse’s strap over one thin shoulder. “I need to keep my appointment. Weigh all my options until I’ve reached a decision.”
Ash pushed away from the sedan and gestured toward the building’s entrance, not quite ready to concede defeat. “Go inside with my blessing, Karen. And while you are there, think of me.” He slipped his arms around her waist. “Think of us. Consider what I am offering you, a father your child will know. The means to create life through an act that will give us both pleasure.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her—a kiss meant to persuade, to tantalize, to
keep him foremost in her mind. Her lips were firm against his, but with only slight coaxing, Karen finally opened to him and he took supreme advantage, slipping his tongue inside the soft, sweet heat of her mouth, but only once. A brief glimpse of how it could be between them.
With great effort, Ash stepped away from her, withdrew a business card from his pocket and pressed into her palm with an added stroke of his thumb over her wrist. “Here are the numbers where I can be reached when you make your decision. Decide wisely.”
Karen remained as still as a pillar as Ash walked away. Hopefully good judgment would reign and she would see the logic in his offer and agree to his proposal. If not right away, then he would simply have to try harder to persuade her.
Two
The man knew no shame.
Karen couldn’t believe that Ash Saalem had kissed her in a wide-open parking lot that afternoon. She couldn’t believe that he’d offered to father her child. She couldn’t believe that she was actually considering his proposition.
After pouring a glass of Chianti, Karen strolled into the living room and slumped onto the sofa in hopes of clearing her mind. She loved the fourth-floor brownstone apartment generously provided by the Barones. Gina had decorated the place beautifully with Italian silk sofas, an antique writing table, Turkish rugs. But the elegant furnishings and accoutrements wouldn’t fair well with an active toddler.
She was getting way ahead of herself. First she had to conceive, then she could decide on the living arrangements. At present the conception should be her top priority. That and Ash’s offer, not his masterful mouth. She needed to get the kiss off her mind so she could think clearly, not a measly mission by any means. Neither was deciding the best option for having a baby.
She sipped the wine and thought about the day’s events. During her appointment at the clinic, she had been instructed on what the procedure entailed and the possible cost, emotionally and physically, if she wasn’t successfully inseminated after several attempts. She had sorted through some sample profiles of prospective donors, most too good to be true. She had watched several couples in the waiting room looking anxious and hopeful—and in love.