Duty, Desire and the Desert King. Jane Porter

until Rou found it at sixteen, two years after her mother’s death.

      The limousine had arrived at the palace, and inside she checked her cherished cloak, and turning toward the ballroom, hesitated for just a moment before the doors, aware she was alone, aware she’d turn no heads, but also grateful for her anonymity. Her parents’ beauty bewitched the world. Rou dazzled no one. But it was also better this way. She could live quietly. And she could remain in control. Control being very important to her well-being.

      With a quick hand over her hip, she smoothed the jersey fabric of her conservative black gown and entered the gold-and-white ballroom illuminated by a thousand gleaming candles.

      And the first person she spotted across the ballroom was Zayed Fehr.

      She froze.

      Couldn’t be, she told herself, stepping back as if she could escape into the shadows. Instead she bumped into a waiter and spilled one of the glasses of champagne he carried.

      She apologized profusely in German, and glanced over at Zayed Fehr again.

      It was him. Had to be him. No one else looked like that, or moved like that. And God help her, it appeared he was coming toward her.

      Panicked, Rou disappeared into the crowd and then fled the ballroom for the hall where she retreated to the elegant ivory-and-gold ladies’ room.

      Rou paced the lounge area of the ladies’ room, so agitated she chewed on a knuckle, something she never ever did.

      What was he doing here? Why would he be here? Oh, but she knew the answer to that. He’d wanted her help. She’d refused. So he’d hunted her down here. Damn him.

      For twenty minutes, she hid in the ladies’ room until she heard the trumpets herald the arrival of Ralf and Georgina. Surely Zayed would be gone by now.

      But she was wrong. She’d taken only four steps into the highceilinged hall before he appeared before her, blocking her access to the ballroom.

      “How did your Vancouver event go?” he asked conversationally, as if they were old friends, good friends.

      Rou’s mouth dried even as her pulse jumped. She couldn’t have answered him if she tried. Instead she longed for her cloak, to bury herself inside the comfort of velvet and hide.

      “I heard from the store owner that it was a smaller turnout than expected,” he added. “Were you disappointed?”

      Her eyes snapped at him. “No.”

      “So the lackluster turnout wasn’t why you hightailed it out of town?”

      Rou hated that she blushed, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know if she was blushing because he’d discovered that her event had been less than stellar, or if it was because he’d actually turned up at the store as he’d said he would, and by the time he showed, she’d already taken off, rushing for Vancouver Airport to catch her flight to Munich and then on to Vienna. “I can’t believe you chased me all the way from Vancouver to Vienna.”

      “I was invited to the wedding, and I wouldn’t use the word chase—”

      “No, you would say you were being persistent,” she flashed bitterly.

      Zayed nearly smiled. “Or determined,” he agreed. “But I am determined, and once I’ve set my mind on something I always succeed. You must know that you’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

      He was wearing a tuxedo with tails, and the jacket hugged his broad chest, tapering at the waist. He looked sinful, darkly handsome, his golden eyes intense in that striking face.

      She averted her own eyes, pretending to watch those still arriving. “The only difficulty is your inability to accept rejection.”

      “That’s not quite correct, Dr. Tornell. In Vancouver you led me to believe there was a possibility of us working together. You did agree to meet me after your event, and I was there. I waited for you. And when you didn’t emerge from the store, I went in looking for you. The owner was there. The cashier. Your media escort. A couple of readers still lingering in the afterglow. But you, you were long gone.”

      She studied one couple disappearing into an alcove, arms entwined, eager to touch, to be alone. Early love was like that. A craving for contact, a craving for skin. She couldn’t imagine such an intense physical need. She’d never felt a physical need.

      With an effort she turned her attention back to Zayed. “I have already made commitments to others, clients currently under contract. I don’t think it would be fair to them to take on someone new right now.”

      “And yet you just met with a prospective client this morning, and I believe she walked away under the assumption that you would take her on?”

      Rou rarely blushed and yet again heat surged to her cheeks, her face burning from her chin to her brow. Her thoughts were just as chaotic. For some reason she couldn’t think when Zayed Fehr was near. All her logical thought disappeared in a puff of panic, a cloud of emotion. And Rou didn’t trust emotion. “Are you spying on me?”

      “I don’t spy, but I do have bodyguards and personal assistants. Butlers, chauffeurs and valets—”

      “I get the picture,” she said stiffly, “and for a man so powerful, I can’t help but wonder why you chose me to help with your search for a queen.”

      “You’re successful. And your matches endure. I’ve yet to hear of one marriage ending in divorce.”

      Rou felt a shiver race through her. The very word divorce made her cold. Divorce. Attorneys. Judges. Courtrooms. Nasty, hateful, deceitful allegations. Seven years it’d taken her parents to finalize everything. Seven years. And by the time they finally had an agreement in place, they’d destroyed everything and everyone, including their own daughter.

      It had taken Rou all of her teens and well into her twenties to heal, and the only reason she did heal was her friendship with Sharif Fehr. He’d made sure she returned to school, made sure she had the funds to continue through graduate school. With his financial support, she’d been able to keep her vow that she’d work to make sure that no child, and no family, should ever suffer the way she had.

      Chilled, Rou thought of her soft velvet cape in the cloakroom and then of her cozy hotel room at the exquisite Hotel Bristol. She was ready to return to her room, ready for the safety and warmth the four walls provided. “It’s late and I’m still very jet-lagged….”

      “Running away again, Dr. Tornell? And yet aren’t you the expert at teaching women to stand their ground, and face their fears, and look reality in the eye?”

      “Yes. But I’m also the expert who says women should trust their gut, and my gut says you are dangerous.”

      He laughed, and his laughter silenced her.

      He should have been appalled, angered, but no, he laughed.

      She lifted her chin. “I’m deadly serious, Sheikh Fehr.”

      “I’m sure you are, but you’re so wrong in this case, so completely off base, that I can’t help but wonder if you’re really a scientist or if those are someone else’s degrees from Cambridge tacked on after your name.”

      “I assure you, I’ve earned every doctoral degree, thank you.”

      He smiled, but his eyes were cold. “Then act like a scientist, because that’s what I want. I’m most certainly not interested in the woman in you.”

      “That’s good, because the woman in me despises the man in you.”

      She walked away then, legs shaking with every step. She felt ill. Exposed. Any other time she would have left the reception, but this night was Georgina’s night and she couldn’t leave, not yet, not until dinner was over and the dancing began.

      Zayed let her walk, watching her slim, black-clad figure disappear through the ballroom