Hired to Wear the Sheikh's Ring

by Rachael Thomas

  ‘Good, because my cousin and his wife have just arrived. As the closest members of my family other than my sister, they will be joining us here.’

  ‘The cousin who is threatening to take over your country?’ She looked at him now that the attention was not directly on them or the simmering sexual tension that was threatening to explode in the most spectacular fashion. Disbelief filled her eyes.

  ‘The very same.’ He just had time to confirm her question before Simdan sat beside him. He spoke in his own language, the undertone of warning to his cousin clear whatever any bystander understood and he was aware of Niesha’s cold, curious gaze on Tiffany. How could he ever have thought he could come to love Niesha, to want to spend the rest of his life with such a woman at his side? She was as wrong for him as Tiffany was.

  ‘Simdan, Niesha, may I introduce my bride, Tiffany?’ He spoke in English as knowing that Niesha understood the language made saying those words all the more satisfying. His cousin’s eyes narrowed and he glared hostilely at Tiffany, but it was Niesha’s angry eyes that rang alarm bells in his head. She had married his cousin and that fact alone made her capable of just about anything. Would she pose a threat to Tiffany or was he allowing irrational thoughts to get the better of him?

  ‘I am honoured to be joining your bridal entourage,’ Niesha said silkily, and already he was having misgivings about allowing the traditions of extended female family members attending the bride. He should have insisted Niesha couldn’t be part of that, but had been wary of alerting his cousin to anything that might lead him to the fact that the marriage was merely a deal brokered in an English hotel garden with a woman who made a living out of being a professional bridesmaid.

  ‘I’d be grateful for your guidance,’ Tiffany said firmly and he had the distinct impression that she had already assessed Niesha.

  ‘It is time we men withdrew.’ He looked at Tiffany and again that sensation that he was abandoning her came over him. ‘Your ladies will take care of you and tomorrow, when I see you, it will be to become your husband.’

  * * *

  Tiffany looked up into his eyes as he took her hand and helped her to stand. The warmth of Jafar’s touch sent a tingle of awareness all through her, swiftly followed by the realisation that tomorrow her life would change. It didn’t matter that the marriage wasn’t for love and that they would lead separate lives in three months, tomorrow still changed everything—for her and for Bethany.

  ‘And is everything in place for all my requests to be met?’ She kept her voice low, aware that some members of their party spoke very good English, but also needed to refer to their deal. It was the only thing that would serve as a much-needed reminder for her that this was a business deal, one that would gain each of them what they needed. It would be all too easy to slip into the fake world of affection and, even more so, the illusion of desire. Except, for her, that desire was very real. It was powerful and threatened to consume her. ‘Do I have all I asked for?’

  His jaw clenched and his lips drew into a severe line. He looked formidable, his eyes sparking a warning at her as he let go of her hand. ‘Everything is as planned.’

  She wished now she’d insisted on Bethany being with her tomorrow. She wanted reassurance from her sister that he’d kept his part of the deal, because there was no way she was going to tie herself in the legal bindings of marriage to a man who upset her equilibrium so completely she lost all sense of reason unless the money had been transferred. She had to keep the money at the forefront of her mind. Remind herself why she was here.

  ‘Good.’ The word sounded cold and officious and from the quick rise of his brows he’d noticed it too. ‘So I can call Bethany tomorrow and tell her everything is sorted?’

  ‘She knows the full details of our arrangement?’ His voice lowered and his eyes narrowed in suspicion, then he looked around them, checking to see who was paying them any attention.

  ‘Only Bethany. I had to tell her something.’ A sense of triumph sluiced over her. In this one thing at least she had some power.

  ‘Make sure it stays that way.’ The deep, almost feral growl of his voice dragged her attention back to him and she smiled sweetly, uneasy as she became aware of Niesha watching them closely. She wasn’t a fool. She hadn’t missed the undercurrent of tension between the man she was to marry and the beautiful Niesha.

  ‘I do things properly,’ she quoted his words back at him once more and got the same satisfaction as last time.

  ‘Sorry to break you two up.’ Niesha’s words cut through the air like a knife and she saw Jafar inhale deeply. ‘It’s time for the ladies to go. There is much preparation still to do for tomorrow.’

  Tiffany looked at Jafar, seeking some sort of guidance or reassurance, the thought of being abandoned to this woman again unsettling. Was Tiffany overreacting to feel threatened by her, by something between her and Jafar?

  ‘There is one more thing.’ Jafar pointedly ignored Niesha’s intrusion. ‘I have arranged a surprise for you, which should by now be waiting in your suite.’

  ‘A surprise?’

  ‘Isn’t a man allowed to give gifts to the woman he is to marry?’ There was jest in his voice, but Tiffany had the distinct impression it was for Niesha’s benefit, all part of the act of a couple madly in love. Maybe there wasn’t even a surprise at all.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said softly, wanting only to escape the undercurrent of attraction that still sizzled between her and Jafar.

  ‘Then I bid you goodnight.’ He looked into her eyes as if he was sending her a special message—but what? ‘I will be waiting for you tomorrow.’

  Tiffany entered her suite, Jafar’s last words ringing in her mind. Niesha and one other lady followed her in, apparently to be her chaperones for the night. She was tired from travelling and fighting the deepening attraction for the man she would marry tomorrow and didn’t feel in the mood for any kind of surprise.

  ‘Tiffany. You look amazing. Different, but amazing.’ At the sound of her sister’s voice she whirled round to see, not only Bethany, but her niece, Kelly, looking so excited to be part of the surprise Jafar had arranged to be waiting here for her. He’d done this for her? Her heart softened a bit more towards the formidable desert sheikh who’d bought the next two years of her life.

  ‘Oh, my goodness. When did you get here?’ She rushed over and scooped up Kelly, whirling the little girl around and then stopping to look at her as she held her in her arms.

  ‘You look like a princess.’ Kelly’s voice was full of awe.

  ‘She is a princess now.’ Bethany moved towards them and together they all hugged one another. Then she stepped back. ‘There is one more surprise.’

  Tiffany looked at her sister, unable to fathom out what that could be. ‘What can be better than my two most favourite people in the world?’

  ‘Your best friend?’ Lilly’s voice sounded from behind and she turned, still holding Kelly, to look at her friend, guilt rushing over her for not having responded to her texts.

  ‘I had to come and see for myself if you really wanted to go through with this and why.’ Lilly moved to join them, a teasing smile on her face. ‘Of course, I know the supposed real reason, but have also realised there is another very valid reason.’

  ‘There is?’ Tiffany was stunned. What other reason could there be other than to help Bethany and Kelly?

  ‘Your groom.’ Lilly looked at Kelly, appearing to search for suitable words. ‘He is very handsome, not to mention caring for his bride. He arranged all this. He flew us here in secret, as a surprise for you. That tells me a lot—as does your blush.’

  ‘I am not blushing,’ Tiffany said quickly, knowing full well she was doing exactly that.

  ‘I think I will put Kelly to bed now.’ Bethany touched Tiffany’s arm and smiled. ‘You two must have lots to catch up on.’

  ‘Before you go...’ She halted, not sure how to ask. ‘Have all the funds been paid in?’

  Bethany looked at her, rel
ief in her eyes. ‘Yes.’ The word was a whisper and then she silently turned and walked away with a tired Kelly in her arms.

  Tiffany watched her sister go, smiling as Kelly waved at her over her shoulder, and she knew that, whatever else Lilly was reading into her motives for accepting this deal with Jafar, she’d done the right thing. Already there was lightness in Bethany’s step, a hint of hope in her eyes. Jafar had kept his part of their deal and now she had to keep hers.

  ‘As you have your sister and friend here now, we will leave you and return in the morning to begin the bridal preparations.’ Niesha slipped from the shadows of the room, startling Tiffany. She’d completely forgotten about them. Had Niesha just heard that exchange?

  ‘Yes, thank you.’ She managed to project calmness as she spoke but didn’t miss the look on Niesha’s face and wondered again just what it was that had been—or even was—between her and Jafar.

  As the two Shamsumarian women left the suite Tiffany looked at Lilly. It was time for the difficult explanation she’d been avoiding.

  ‘Right, Miss Arabian Princess.’ Lilly took her arm and propelled her to the living area of the suite, which had looked out over the sculpted sand dunes during the day, but now showcased a velvety blackness full of sparkling stars. ‘I need to know everything that is going on and I mean everything.’

  After Tiffany had relayed the story, from the moment at the last wedding when she was a bridesmaid for his friend Damian Cole, to the moment at the charity dinner in Paris, she sat back and looked at her friend.

  ‘So let me get this straight.’ Lilly’s expression of disbelief echoed all she felt as she’d told her almost everything that had happened in the last two weeks. ‘He kissed you, in front of the cameras as part of the deal, and you can honestly say you felt nothing?’

  Tiffany sighed. ‘No and that’s the problem.’

  ‘No, it’s not. The problem is that you won’t let go, can’t allow yourself a bit of fun. This could be the perfect opportunity to bury the past, have a fling, prove you don’t need your dream of happy ever afters to enjoy yourself.’

  ‘I don’t call a two-year marriage contract enjoying myself.’ Tiffany bounced out of the chair and began to pace the room, pausing to look out of the window at the beauty of the night.

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Lilly said from behind her. ‘It’s the perfect excuse and Jafar is exactly the right man to fool around with, have some fun, forget about your ex and live a little.’

  ‘I’m not sure.’ Tiffany turned and looked at Lilly unable to hide the truth much longer, and that wasn’t the truth about her lack of sexual experience that even Lilly didn’t know, but the truth about her deepening feelings and strengthening attraction for Jafar.

  ‘You’re blushing,’ Lilly said as she rushed over to her, grasping her arms and looking into her face. ‘You like him, don’t you? A lot?’

  ‘If he kissed me like he did after the party I don’t think I could resist him.’

  ‘Hold up. After the party?’

  Tiffany recounted the kiss that had unlocked all the emotions she’d been trying to hide as well as opening the door for the woman she wanted to be, enabling her to set herself free if she just took the chance.

  ‘Tomorrow night is your wedding night,’ Lilly said, looking at her earnestly. ‘You are going to be married to him for two years whatever happens, so make the most of it—and the week you have to shut yourself away from the world, which, by the way, I’d gladly do with him.’

  To make the most of the week with Jafar, to enjoy his company, to explore the attraction, was what Tiffany wanted more than anything else. She was falling for Jafar, falling for a man who’d struck a deal with her, bought her for a huge sum of money, but none of that mattered when he looked at her with dark desire in his eyes.

  Tomorrow she would be his wife and shockingly, she finally admitted to herself, she wanted to be his wife in the truest sense of the word. ‘I told him it was to be a marriage in name only.’

  ‘He’s a hot-blooded male, Tiff, and you are an attractive woman.’

  ‘I’m his bought bride. Hired to do the job.’ Tiffany tried to talk reason into herself as much as her friend. The admission that she wanted Jafar, wanted to be his wife in every sense, suddenly changed everything for her. After all the resistance she’d put up, could she really change the goalposts now?

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE BRIDAL PREPARATION Niesha had referred to last night at the feast had been far more intensive than anything Tiffany had encountered before. She’d seen brides pampered but never to the extent that she had been in the last twelve hours. Now she stood in her white gown, encrusted with an intricate pattern of the tiniest diamonds down the front of the full skirt, and on the fitted bodice they were set against what she suspected was real gold. A sense of panic rushed over her as at any moment the tall doors of the palace banqueting hall would be opened and she would walk towards the man she was to marry.

  Nerves raced through her. Could she really do this?

  You are doing it for Bethany.

  Her ladies fussed around her one last time, adjusting the white veil clipped in her hair, which had been scented and elaborately piled on top of her head. Her full skirt was arranged around her one last time. There wasn’t a detail they missed, even checking the gold and diamond band at her waist, which showed off her figure while maintaining the modesty of being covered as tradition dictated.

  And you are doing this for Kelly.

  She looked at her niece as she and Bethany were treated to the same attention. She smiled at Kelly, who was having a wonderful time being a little princess. The little girl’s laughter made her smile and chased away the doubts that had been building since the moment she’d opened her eyes early this morning. As did Bethany’s carefree smile.

  Tiffany’s attention fell on Lilly, who was less than enamoured with the long-sleeved bridesmaid dresses Madame Rousseau had arranged. The very fact that there were bridesmaids’ dresses prepared for them by the designer meant Jafar must have planned from the day they agreed on their deal to have Lilly, Bethany and Kelly at the wedding, as her bridesmaids.

  He had mentioned her parents on that night in Paris and she wondered how he’d fared with her mother and father, who hadn’t spoken to one another for many years. Jafar was a man who relished a challenge so she wouldn’t be at all surprised to see her parents here. She remembered how her father had tried to talk her out of it, believing she was simply rushing into a marriage, having no idea why or that Bethany and Kelly would benefit. As far as her mother and father were concerned it was a real marriage in every sense. Would they really want to miss that?

  ‘It is time,’ Niesha said, coming to stand before her, and Tiffany still couldn’t shake off that feeling that this woman knew something about the marriage deal. She always had a superior expression on her beautiful face. Had Jafar told anyone other than his aide that this was a business deal? Did anyone else know it was an arranged marriage with a difference? That he’d hired his bride?

  ‘It is.’ Tiffany took a deep breath, reassuring herself that all brides were nervous as they were about to walk down the aisle to their future husband and these woman would expect nothing less.

  ‘There is one more essential item.’ Niesha’s voice had hardened with disapproval. ‘A final surprise from your soon-to-be husband.’

  Niesha turned and gestured someone forward. Her father. Guilt rushed over her again for not having told anyone other than Bethany and Lilly the truth about the marriage, but she was so pleased to see him and her feelings towards the man she was to marry softened a little more.

  ‘So you are going through with it?’ The tone of her father’s voice left her in no doubt he hadn’t changed his mind. As far as he was concerned, she was making a big mistake.

  ‘I am, yes.’ She kept her tone firm. She had to make him think this was the real thing for her. ‘This is what I want, Dad.’

  ‘And nobody is pressuring you into this?�
� Had he any idea just how close he was coming to the truth?

  ‘No,’ she laughed softly, hoping to distract him, for Bethany’s sake. ‘Nobody is making me do anything I don’t want to do.’

  ‘In that case, you have my blessing.’ He smiled and offered her his arm.

  Tiffany looked at Niesha, who was watching them closely, eyes narrowed with suspicion, and she tried to derail the conversation before it deepened. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Your mother is here too, I’m told.’ Her father’s lips set into a firm line once he’d informed her of his ex-wife’s presence, reminding Tiffany of another reason why she’d never wanted to get married. At least not for real. If her parents could barely be civil to one another since their divorce, what was the future for her and Jafar in three months’ time?

  ‘We must not keep His Highness waiting any longer.’ Niesha cut the conversation quickly. ‘Nobody ever keeps the ruler of Shamsumara waiting.’

  ‘Then I am ready.’ Tiffany took a deep breath and looked ahead of her at the tall, ornate doors, behind which guests were assembled—and Jafar waited.

  Slowly the doors opened and she stood looking into a room filled with women in black abayas over colourful dresses on one side and men dressed in white robes on another. Jafar stood waiting for her on a raised dais and all eyes in the hall were on her as she walked towards him on her father’s arm. She, however, couldn’t take her eyes from Jafar.

  Dressed from head to foot in a subtle gold colour, he looked like a warrior prince. At his side hung a sword and from either side of the shoulders of his clothing, which had hints of Western influence, were fine gold chains and diamonds. As she drew closer the fine gold fabric of his headdress shone in the shaft of light that slanted down from the highest windows of the banqueting hall.