She looked down at her clothes, feeling more than a little silly in the same clothes she’d been wearing the previous day. “For the record,” she told him, glaring up into his eyes, “I don’t ‘traipse’ anywhere.”
He smiled slightly, enjoying the sparkle that had come back into her eyes. “You’re mocking me. I like that.” The wind was whipping the blue silk against her figure and Arianna was completely unaware of how the silk molded to her curves, giving him an enticing silhouette to enjoy.
She pulled back, shaking her head and pulling him to a stop. “I don’t…”
Immediately, he sensed the warring emotions and turned to face her, effectively shielding her from anyone else who might be in the parking lot. “You’ve already been to the rig site and were treated poorly.” He paused, bending down to kiss her forehead. “Forgive me. That was insensitive of me.” He looked around, thinking quickly. “Would you like my men to take you back to the palace? I can look around and see what I find out. Then you and I can discuss my findings this evening over dinner.”
“How did you…?”
“My security team. They’ve been looking into the issue and were told yesterday that you had already been asking questions. One of the workers admitted that you weren’t treated well. In fact, you were kicked off of the property, weren’t you?”
“Yes but…”
“You don’t have to come with me, Arianna. I can do this with my guards and we can discuss whatever I find out later.”
She thought about his offer, thinking that it sounded very nice and cozy. But it also sounded like a cop-out. Yes, they would travel to where the men had insulted her yesterday, even shoved her around a bit. She didn’t want to hide from this. She’d traveled halfway across the world to find her father and she wasn’t copping out now.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head to emphasize her negative response. “No, I’ll go.”
He looked down at her carefully, feeling that strange tug once again, that sensation that made him want to protect her from all harm, anything that might hurt her, even if it was just her feelings. “Are you sure? You don’t need to prove anything to me.”
Arianna looked up into his dark eyes, struck by the honesty and integrity she saw there. “Maybe I have to prove it to myself,” she admitted. Was she simply imagining that? “Men who push women around are bullies. They expect women to fall in with their demands and not confront them. I backed away yesterday because they threatened to arrest me for trespassing. Going back there today would be good. Cathartic even. And it would send a signal to those weak men not to manhandle women.”
His eyes hardened and she held her breath, worried about whatever he might say next. “I want the names of the men who mistreated you, Arianna.”
Instantly, she relaxed. “Your Highness…”
“Rhys,” he corrected.
She shook her head. “I think it’s better if I stick to formal titles,” she argued.
He moved closer and she caught her breath. “Several months ago, I kissed you. And I’m going to kiss you again, Arianna. Very soon. So no, I’m not going to allow you to hide behind titles. This is happening. We need to find your father, but there’s no denying the chemistry between us.”
The certainty in his voice caused her heart to pound, but also that feminine core inside of her unfurled slightly. Had she misunderstood his amusement last time? It was hard to believe. “Oh, you think…” she started to say, to challenge his assumption that they would become intimate.
He shook his head and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “No more assumptions. Let’s discover the truth this time, eh?” The truth about what was going on between them? Or the truth about her father’s disappearance?
The personal aspect of their relationship would have to wait. She couldn’t handle anything more right now. Not with her father missing. But thankfully, he wasn’t placating her, he was nudging her to open her mind, to allow for the possibility that there was more going on than what she’d originally assumed or had been told. “Fine. Open mind. All options are possible.” As long as those options dealt with her father and not…whatever was between them, she silently added.
He nodded his approval and she felt that approval all the way down to her toes. She fought the warm glow that suffused her body, not wanting to acknowledge the source. But it was there, regardless of her stubbornness.
“Excellent,” he replied, his finger trailing down her cheek. She tried, and failed, to suppress the shudder of awareness that shot through her body with his touch. But he felt it and the heat warmed his eyes.
Thankfully, they were in the middle of a parking lot and his guards were becoming antsy about the two of them remaining so exposed. Arianna glanced to the right and left, then realized that his glaring guards were once again blaming her for putting him in danger. Yikes! He was exposed and she was standing here, bickering about…what had they been discussing? She couldn’t even remember now that her mind was fully distracted with the way her skin was still tingling after his touch.
“We need to get inside or back in the SUV,” she told him, then took his hand and hurried ahead of him, pulling him towards the entrance to the stores. He chuckled, but followed along. With his longer stride, he was more than able to match her hurried steps. He also noticed the startled expressions on a couple of his guards’ faces. Yes, he thought silently, she’s worried about me. So not quite the monster she’d presented to all of them yesterday.
He was glad that his guards were realizing that because…well, he suspected that this little lady was going to be much more important to him than he’d originally intended.
His guards would protect his wife with their lives, but if they admired her, it would be a much more palatable job.
He directed her first towards a shoe store. The store manager immediately hurried forward, gushing offers of assistance. “How can I help you, Your Highness?” he asked, bowing low.
“Ms. Callas needs steel toed boots,” Rhys explained. “But they need to be comfortable as well.”
The manager nodded quickly. “Size seven?” he offered after a glance at her feet.
“Yes,” Arianna agreed, startled by the man’s quick ability to determine her shoe size.
The man snapped his fingers and two employees bustled off, almost running to present choices. “We have several options. We’ll make sure your lady has a pair that are comfortable as well as safe.”
“Just safe would be fine,” Arianna offered, not wanting to be too much of a burden. Already she’d taken Rhys away from the palace and the business of the government. Besides, she was impatient to get back to trying to find her father. This was pointless, she thought. And she had a perfectly acceptable pair of sneakers in her luggage, although she had no clue where her bags had gone. One of the guards had taken it from the hotel and it had disappeared.
“Comfort is required as well,” Rhys contradicted and dared her with his dark eyes to argue with him.
Sure enough, Arianna bristled at the challenge, more than ready to fight for her point. But in what seemed like only seconds later, the man and woman who had just hustled into the storage room, were coming back out, their arms loaded down with boxes filled with shoes. They set the stack down, then stepped back, their eyes moving warily towards the guards.
Arianna couldn’t help but feel bad for them, but it was still more than slightly humorous since she was in the same position. The manager pulled out the boots and set them on the floor, obviously allowing Arianna to choose whichever she might like the best. “These will probably be fine,” she said, picking up the pair that looked the least expensive. She earned a very good salary as a business manager and could afford to pay for her own boots. In fact, Hayden had even forced a profit sharing program on her recently after Arianna had successfully expanded her plant business into the wholesale market.
But her mission here in Triar hadn’t been cheap. Flying halfway across the world and staying in a hotel in a foreign country
, not to mention living expenses and a few bribes that had revealed absolutely nothing, everything all started to add up. Her savings account was still healthy, but she was a conservative spender and wanted to preserve as much of her nest egg as possible, especially if she needed to pay a ransom for her father’s release.
She slipped the boots on and tied up the laces. As she walked around, she nodded. “Yes, these are good. I’ll take these.”
The manager bowed once again and started to wrap up the others.
But Rhys stopped him. “Try on a couple of the others, just so that you have something to compare them to.” He handed her the pair that looked like they would be the most expensive with soft leather and different ties that were a bit fancier than the other options.
Shaking her head, she backed up and held her hands out. “These are fine.”
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “They might be fine, but the others might be better. Never settle for substandard options, Arianna. I’m sure your father would agree, wouldn’t he?”
Her shoulders stiffened and she glared up at him. “These boots are perfectly acceptable. I don’t need fancy boots.”
She ignored the gasps behind her, refusing to back down.
Rhys ignored the others, moving closer as he glared down at her. “You’re just being stubborn now, aren’t you?”
She squared off with him, unwilling to relinquish the small areas of control that were in her power. A pair of shoes might seem like a silly issue on which to take a stand, but she wanted to win this argument. “Aren’t you being just as stubborn?”
Those lips quirked upwards slightly, as if he were once again fighting his amusement. “I’m allowed to be stubborn. I’m in charge.”
She couldn’t stifle the laugh that burst out of her with that pronouncement. “Um…well,” she shook her head. “I’ll fall back on your defense. I am allowed to be stubborn as well since I’m in charge of what I put on my feet and what my bank account can afford.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re not paying for the boots. And you are getting boots that are higher quality. We’ll be walking around all day in these and you’re going to need the better leather.”
She wasn’t giving in. “My boots. I’ll pay for them. And these are fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to contradict her once again.
He dared.
“She’ll take these as well,” and he handed the softer boots to the manager. His eyes lit up with the irritation in her eyes. “In fact, get her two pairs of these,” and he looked down at her, waiting for her next move.
She shrugged. “I hope you have a girlfriend who needs leather, steel toed boots, Your Highness,” and she tried very hard not to inflect his title with disgust. “Because I won’t be wearing them.”
He chuckled, turning so that his back shielded her from the view of the others in the store. They were already stacking the other boxes up, hurrying to the register to ring up the sale so it wasn’t too hard. “You enjoy defying me, don’t you, little flower?”
She heard the gentleness in his tone and pulled back, startled, not sure how to take the change in him. Gone was his stubbornness. In its place was…something much more intense. More startling. And scarier!
“I’m not defying you. I’m standing up for myself.” Her eyes watched his darker ones. “There’s a difference.”
He laughed again. “If you say so.” His hand reached out and did that sliding thing again. Immediately, all of the starch left her and she was standing there shaking while he nodded to someone behind her. She quickly spun around, definitely not wanting someone to witness her falling victim to his seduction.
Thankfully, it was only one of the guards who moved to the register and paid for all three pairs of boots, effectively sidestepping Arianna’s desire to pay for her own footwear.
“You cheated,” she snarled scathingly, still reeling from his touch and trying to hide it. Her reaction still didn’t make sense to her, so she tucked that issue away in her brain, needing to analyze her reaction and find some sort of logical reason for the way her body shivered whenever he touched her. Later. When he wasn’t standing so close to her. She couldn’t think when he was this close.
He laughed, and shook his head. “Get used to it.”
Once again, she wasn’t sure if he meant she should get used to his touch, or him getting his own way. Either possibility was dangerous.
They didn’t wait around for the manager to bag up the items. Rhys took her hand and led her out, heading towards a sporting goods store. In the United States, the sporting goods stores contained things like camouflage pants and deer hunting equipment. Here, since they were in the desert, the clothing was desert colors, blending more easily in with the rocks and desert instead of trees and forest. There were also pieces of sporting equipment that she didn’t recognize, but was curious to investigate.
She didn’t though, instead following behind Rhys, glaring daggers at his back.
He spoke to the manager of the store in his own language and in response, the other man nodded his head so hard, she wondered if it was possible for the manager’s head to fall off. Thankfully, he stopped, looked at Arianna, then nodded to Rhys again, and hurried off to a shelf.
“What did you ask that guy?”
Rhys turned to look down at her, his height making her feel a bit more intimidated in the dimmer lights. The lack of powerful lighting caused shadows to darken his eyes. Arianna needed to see this man’s eyes. It helped her to know what he was thinking, if only a fraction of his thoughts came through.
“I told him what I required of him and he is retrieving the items I requested.”
She poked a finger into his chest. “First of all, you didn’t ‘request’ anything. Secondly,” she glared up at him, “that still didn’t answer my question and you know it.”
He laughed softly and she quickly stepped out of his reach. That only created more amusement from him and his chuckle startled her since she was fully prepared for him to snap at her.
Before she could admonish him, the manager returned. In his arms were several pairs of cargo pants in her size, all in black. Another salesperson had various shirts, all long sleeved so she wouldn’t get sunburned in the harsh desert sunshine.
“Choose,” he commanded.
Arianna glared up at him but he only quirked an eyebrow, daring her to challenge him again. She realized that he was actually looking forward to her defiance, so instead of giving him the pleasure, she took the stack of pants into one of the dressing rooms and tried them on.
They all fit perfectly and she selected two of them, aware that Rhys wouldn’t allow her to pay for them herself. She chose two shirts as well.
“These will work,” she said, once more wearing her blue dress as she handed the manager the selected pants and shirts.
Rhys walked over to her and plunked a hat onto her head. She yelped, not expecting the action so it took her a moment to adjust the brim. “Anything else, Your Highness?” she asked, and this time, she didn’t even try to hide the sarcasm in her voice.
And again, he simply slid a pair of sunglasses onto her nose. Irritated, Arianna whipped them off and looked at them, but her eyes caught the price and gasped. “I can’t wear these!” she protested and tried to hand them off to the manager.
Of course, the manager took the glasses, but he only carried them over to the register and added them to the growing stack of items there. Rhys had included socks, several hats, and a second pair of sunglasses.
“I don’t need all of this!” she told him, horrified by the mounting debt. She’d have to pay him back for everything and she really couldn’t afford two thousand dollar sunglasses. Especially when a ten dollar pair would work just as well!
“Seriously, this is too much,” she insisted.
He handed her a pair of pants and one of the shirts. “You’ll need to change, eaziziun.”
She stiffened at his endearment, wanting to tell him that she wasn’t his “dea
r” or anything else, but she looked up into those dark eyes and knew that he was just waiting for her to reprimand him. She noticed his body lean forward, ready for whatever she might spout. And by that heated look in his eyes, she suspected that he wouldn’t allow her to say any of it. He would just…well, stop her.
And because she was already too irritated, she didn’t want to find herself in a compromising position. Again. Especially since she’d discovered six months ago how devastating his kiss could be. And how devastating it was when he laughed at her.
Taking the offered clothes, she marched back into the dressing room and changed. When she was dressed, she carefully folded her blue silk dress up, and stood there for another moment, breathing deeply to try and get her temper back under control.
The man was simply trying to help her. So why was she reacting so outrageously? Yes, the clothes were expensive and she probably wouldn’t use all of them, but was her stubbornness really appropriate?
With a sigh, she stepped out of the dressing room. Looking up, she stared right into his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
The surprise on his handsome features was almost amusing, but she couldn’t find the humor in this situation.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked, pushing away from the wall where he’d been leaning. He walked over to her until he was standing only inches from her.
Once again, her anger reared its ugly head, but she tamped it down, recognizing it for the fear it was. “I’m lashing out at you because I’m scared,” she admitted. “And painfully worried about my father and what might have happened to him, worried that he’s in pain or scared or…worse. And I’m impatient because going shopping, feeding me, and gathering my clothes isn’t searching for him.”
His hand lifted, cupping her chin. “I understand, Arianna. But trust me, my men are already working the issue. Even while we get you new clothes, my men are investigating although I know that you want to dig into the problem as well. Which we’ll do,” he assured her, anticipating her next question.
One Night With the Sheik (Friends Forever Book 4) Page 9