by Leslie North
“Greetings, Sheik Taleb.” Malil said formally as he reached the top step. Glancing to Claire, “Miss Anderson.”
Claire raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten that Taleb was a sheik. He certainly didn’t act like the leading man character in her favorite romance stories.
“Hello, Malil,” Taleb replied in a plain tone, giving nothing away.
“Could I have a word?” He looked at Claire and then back at Taleb. Malil seemed cautious as if he was unsure about interrupting them.
“It's alright,” Taleb said to him. Malil nodded and then looked down at the documents he was holding.
“I have found some potential candidates,” he told him.
For his wife? Claire asked herself. So, Malil was helping with the search. Normal people did not look for wives like that. But then again, Taleb was a rich man from a rich, elite Middle Eastern family. There was no way he was going out onto the street to search for a wife or using Tinder. Of course, he would have someone else do that for him.
“How many?” Taleb asked.
“Three,” Malil replied. “But they’re strong matches.”
Talib raked a hand through his thick hair, “And they definitely fit my criteria?”
That damn ridiculous criteria; Claire thought to herself. There were plenty of beautiful women in the world that did not fit his criteria. It did not make them any less desirable. Taleb was simply too picky.
“Yes. I have their information right here,” Malil told him, gesturing to the files.
“Show me,” Taleb demanded.
Claire stood to one side as Taleb read through the files. Unable to ignore what was going on, she went up on her toes so she could look over his arm at what he was reading. Each file had a picture and some basic information. Claire watched Taleb's facial expressions as he read their information. He looked intrigued.
Claire wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the whole thing was. She also wanted to step in and discourage him from meeting them. It was in her best interest to do so, but how? Taleb looked up from the files.
“They're definitely good matches,” he told Malil as he smiled and nodded.
“She isn't a natural blonde,” Claire pointed out. Taleb looked at her. “You can see her roots,” she added. He looked back down at the picture. After a few moments, he nodded and handed the file back to Malil.
“You are right,” he said to her flatly. Claire was surprised at how quickly he changed his mind. They both examined the next picture. The next woman was definitely a natural blonde. That was not the problem this time.
“There is no way she is five feet eight inches tall,” Claire said about the next woman.
“You don't think she is that tall?” Taleb asked her. Malil stood there silently, watching Claire and Taleb looking at the choices he had brought.
“No, I do not. Look at those heels; she’s probably closer to five six.”
Taleb grunted and handed the file back to Malil. “You are right once again,” he said.
“Why do you want a tall woman anyway?”
“I want my children to have great genes.”
Claire raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? You are already thinking about children too?”
Taleb nodded. “I plan right until the end. I do not half-ass anything. Besides, tall women are naturally more attractive than short women are.”
He probably likes long legs; Claire thought to herself, as she felt self-conscious about her height. She never minded being short. Until now. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the next photo.
“She is perfect,” Taleb said, tapping a finger on the file.
“As if there is such a thing,” Claire replied. The woman was quite beautiful though – a platinum blonde and elegantly tall.
She stared at the photo and noticed that she was holding a Chanel bag. Claire herself could never afford one or any other designer bag but then again, she preferred her backpack. The longer she stared at the bag, the more she could see something was off.
“Wait. The letters are too close,” Claire pointed out.
“What letters?” Taleb asked. He looked confused.
“On the bag.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“It’s a fake.”
“Okay…” Taleb still looked confused as he stared at the photo. Claire shrugged her shoulders.
“I don't know, I mean if she is from a prestigious family, then surely she can afford a real Chanel bag,” she stated. Taleb raised an eyebrow.
“So you think that she is lying about her background?”
Claire nodded. “It is a possibility,” she answered, holding her breathe and awaiting Taleb’s reply.
Taleb and Malil exchanged a glance.
“Women know how to spot these things,” Malil ventured. Taleb stared at the picture before sighing heavily and handing the file back to him. Claire's eyes widened. She could not believe that she had successfully put him off all three women. She sighed with relief.
“So what happens next?” she asked him.
“We keep looking.”
Malil nodded. “I will find more candidates. This time I will double check their background,” he stated as Taleb nodded.
“Miss Anderson seems to have sharp eyes. We might need to borrow them in the future.”
Swallowing, Claire tucked her hands in her pockets, “Anything I can do to help,” she told them, relieved that he would be starting over on his search. Malil bowed his head to Taleb before he left.
Chapter 9
Taleb snapped his laptop shut after finishing yet another essay. Rubbing his head, he wished that he could spend all his time searching for a wife instead of attending lectures, but if he was going to maintain the appearance of law school for his father and brother, he had to attend his classes.
Standing up, he decided to stretch his legs and walk around the library. He knew that he should be taking law school seriously, but he couldn’t concentrate. His birthday was less than four months away and they had gotten nowhere with the list of candidates Malil was able to pull together.
He had hoped that by attending his classes, he might luck out, but there were few tall blondes at Harvard and none of them caught his eye.
As he walked, some of the female students in the library tried to get his attention, but he did not bother to acknowledge them, he was too lost in thought. Claire was right; he did gain a lot of attention wherever he went. At home, it was because of his name. Here, he presumed it was because of his looks.
Walking along the mezzanine, he looked down on the main floor and caught sight of Claire pushing a library cart loaded with books. She was a rare one.
She was different from any woman he had ever met. For one thing, even though she was not blonde, she really was very pretty but she did not seem to notice. In fact, she spent no time on her appearance preferring to wear what looks like men’s clothes than something more feminine. When he had touched her that time at the art museum, he had to admit to himself that he intentionally kept his hand on her longer than he should have as he thoroughly enjoyed the feel of her curves.
There was something Kim was always saying about good things coming in small packages. Taleb wondered if she was talking about her friend because when Claire did not seem thoroughly pissed at him, she really was quite pleasant to be around.
He watched her attempt to balance several books at once before one slid out from the middle causing several more to shoot out and land with a loud thud on the floor. When she bent to retrieve them, he had a lovely view of her cleavage, as her shirt stretched tightly around her.
Her skin was a light golden color and looked soft to the touch. He remembered what her wrist felt like when he grabbed her and he wished that her skin had been exposed when he placed his hand on her waist. He pictured himself kissing the inside of her wrist and wondered if her lips would part in anticipation…
Claire paused to answer a student question and the smile on her face had
the student smiling, as Taleb suddenly wished that she were looking at him that way. There was an unwanted stir in his groin surprising him as he could not believe he was feeling like that because of Claire.
She did not fit his criteria. At all. He grunted. He wanted to look away but he could not stop staring at her, and the stir in his groin only increased.
Taleb cleared his throat and turned on his heel to make his way back to his desk. He had work to do, instead of staring at Claire.
***
Claire was returning books back to their shelves. Having sorted all the books that she needed to bring upstairs, she wheeled her cart off the elevator and headed toward the back wall. Scooping up three books, she headed down one aisle.
It was dimly lit and there was someone leaning against one of the bookcases reading a book. Looking up at the guy, she thought that the glasses he was wearing made him look sexy, as he flipped through the pages. She figured that she could get a closer look when she went to put the books back on the shelves.
“Excuse me,” Claire said politely to him. He had been so engrossed in his book he hadn’t even noticed her approach. When he looked up, Claire's eyes flew open when she realized whom it was.
“Claire,” Taleb said.
“Taleb! It's you.”
“It's me.”
“I did not expect to see you here.”
“Why not? It's a library isn't it?”
“Well, true, but since you had said that you were here to find a wife, I guess I assumed that you would be skipping your classes.”
“Both my father and brother would kill me if they found out that I had come all this way and did not attend my classes.”
“But if your primary goal is to find a wife, I guess I thought that you would return home after succeeding.”
Shrugging his shoulders, “I have not decided yet. I find my courses engaging and was surprised at how nice the view is from up here,” he answered as he smiled to himself.
Smiling back, “I think that if you give Harvard a chance, you may find that you like it. Besides, it’s only three years,” Claire replied.
As she was about to walk past him, she realized that the aisle wasn’t wide enough. “I need to get to the other side,” Claire said to him. Talib stood up as she tried to squeeze past him, but there wasn’t enough room to do so without touching him. She felt her breasts rub against his chest and her nipples instantly respond.
Sucking in her breath, she was feeling rather awkward but she needed to get to the other side. Taleb stared at her with his piercing grey gaze, which normally intimidated her but this time it was ten times worse because of how close they were.
To her surprise, Taleb stopped her by placing his arms on either side of her. Taking her books, he set them on an open shelf. Lifting her shirt, he placed his warm hands on her waist seeming to enjoy the feel of their skin touching. Dipping his head down, he pressed his lips against hers and started kissing her. Claire barely had time to react. His lips felt surprisingly soft against hers as her hands found their way to his chest.
He felt even better than she thought he would as she ran her hands over his body, which felt as though it had been chiseled from stone. His kiss was gentle as he licked lightly at her lips before pushing his tongue inside to explore. Sliding his hands around her, he grabbed her hips and lifted her up, holding her tightly against him, as he continued to explore her mouth. Claire could not believe what was happening; in the library too!
She was not his type. She did not fit his criteria. Why on earth was he kissing and touching her like that? she wondered as a voice in the back of her head kept screaming at her to shut up and enjoy herself.
She was even more shocked at herself for responding. She was not the type of girl that made out with random guys in the library aisles even if he was tall, dark and dreamy.
Claire found the strength to push him away breaking the kiss, as he set her back down. Touching her lips, she looked at him in surprise as they both worked to catch their breaths. Backing away, she turned and ran for the stairs, leaving her books behind. She needed to get herself away from him as fast as possible but she worried that it might already be too late.
Chapter 10
Taleb laughed at his little brother, Amare’s, description of Karim’s proposal to Kim. His older brother was more like their father than Amare or he was, which was why he was so surprised to find out that Karim had shouted his love for her in front of so many strangers.
Clearly, it must be western women bringing out this side of Karim and the Tazeem men because all were head over heels in love with these women who had them doing the strangest things.
Claire had him doing strange things as well. He never would have kissed a woman in public like that before and he really didn’t know what prompted him to do so. She was standing so close to him and the way she looked up at him when she brushed against him, he simply couldn’t resist a taste. Shaking his head, he signed off Skype after saying goodbye to his brother just as Malil walked in.
“You’ll like this one,” Malil told him as he handed him a file.
He put his laptop to the side before taking the file. Opening it, there was a picture of a stunning woman. She was tall, blonde and beautiful with piercing blue eyes. Malil had included several full body shots and based on her appearance, she was exactly what he was looking for. She probably hadn’t had a spoon of Ben and Jerry’s in her life, Taleb thought to himself.
“What do you think?” Malil asked him.
“She is gorgeous,” he replied unable to generate much enthusiasm.
“I ran a background check on her and she is definitely from a good family with no known legal or financial issues.”
Taleb nodded. This time Claire was not there to comment. He had not expected her to get involved the first time but she had pointed out some important things that neither he nor Malil had noticed. He had appreciated her sharp eye and found himself wanting her here now.
What? Focus, Taleb.
Other than curiosity, he could not understand why she got involved the first time. Perhaps it was her desire to please, which he noticed in the way she interacted with students at the library. Or, maybe she had pointed those things out because she was into him.
While he still could not understand why he kissed her, she had responded instantly and seemed to enjoy herself. That is until she pushed at him and walked away without lookinga back. No woman had ever walked away from him before. Maybe that’s why he could not stop thinking about her.
Taleb shook his thoughts away. Claire did not meet his criteria. Whatever had happened in the library was not to be repeated.
“What kind of a family is she from?” Taleb finally asked.
“Her father is the CEO of a cosmetics company.” Malil answered. Taleb nodded. That was good enough for him.
“You may set up a date for us to meet,” Taleb ordered.
Malil nodded. “I will do so.”
“Also, get Claire on the phone.”
Since he was still new to the city, he figured that it would be best to have Claire show him and his date around.
“Claire?” Malil was a little confused.
“Yes, she can show us around.”
“Oh, okay.” Malil looked at Taleb with a sideways glance, on the verge of speaking.
Taleb looked at the pictures once more. “Vanessa is beautiful and she has a good educational background. I hope that she meets my expectations.
“I have found and heard good things about her. I’m confident this is the one,” Malil told him but he only grunted and nodded.
Taleb thought about his conversation with his little brother about Karim and Kim. They both seemed so happy and in love. Amare told him how much their older brother had changed for the better because of Kim. He was the happiest he had ever been in his entire life. And that’s exactly what Taleb wanted for himself.
Based on her file, there was a chance that his dream was closer to him than ever before. Vanes
sa was flawless and definitely, what he was looking for.
“It is a good thing that my father is no longer against the idea of his sons marrying western women,” he said to Malil. Originally, his father was so opposed to western ideals that he threatened the life of a cousin to the royal family, Adilah Tazeem.
Yet, when he realized how much Karim loved Kim, he was the first to jump behind the wheel to see that his son got her back. If only Taleb had known that his father would have such a change of heart, he wouldn’t have had to go to such extreme measures to come to the United States to find a bride.