The Sheikh's Collection. Оливия Гейтс

get anywhere by playing the blame game. The question is, what are you going to do now? I don’t think moving to Antarctica is a viable option with a month-old child.”

      The trip was beginning to appeal to him greatly. “If I refuse to comment further, the rumors will eventually die down.”

      She leaned back and released an acerbic laugh. “By the time Sam turns twenty?”

      He recognized the absurdity in believing any scandal involving the Mehdi family would simply go away. “You’re right. I will have to come up with some way to explain the situation. But I will not retract my statement regarding my son.”

      She appeared resigned. “I understand that, but you have to be worried Talia might find out someone else is pretending to be your son’s mother, not to mention your wife. If she decides to come forward, everyone will know Sam’s the result of a relationship out of wedlock and you lied about our marriage.”

      Since his ex was the consummate publicity hound, handing her that bone could prove to be problematic eventually. “To my good fortune, she’s unreachable at the moment. I highly doubt she will hear any of this until she returns to France.”

      “Possibly, but I’m sure the king has heard by now and—” she streaked both hands down her face “—if my grandfather finds out, he’ll demand I board the next plane bound for the Carolinas.”

      Despite what had transpired an hour ago, he still did not want her to leave for many reasons. “As far as I know, you have not yet been identified.”

      “I saw camera flashes.”

      “And you were wearing sunglasses. You could be any number of women who’ve crossed my path.” He regretted the comment the moment it left his stupid mouth.

      “All your ex-lovers?” she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

      He grasped for anything to dig himself out of the hole. “I meant any woman, whether I’ve slept with her or not. When you are constantly in the spotlight, your reputation becomes completely overblown. My brother Zain could attest to that. His reputation preceded him before he married Madison.”

      “I recall Elena mentioning they’re in Los Angeles,” she said. “Is his wife from the States?”

      “Yes, and she is unequivocally the best thing that has ever happened to him. I sincerely never believed he would settle down with one woman.”

      She leaned back against the seat and began to toy with the diamond pendant dangling between her breasts. “Well, since I’m apparently just any woman, I suppose I shouldn’t be worried at all. However, if I know the press, it’s only a matter of time before they learn who I am.”

      Adan pushed out of the chair and moved to the veranda’s edge to stare at the mountainous panorama he had always taken for granted. “It would be better for Samuel if everyone believed you are his mother, not Talia. She has quite a few skeletons in her dressing room closet.”

      Piper joined him and folded her arms atop the ledge. “Haven’t we all in some way?”

      He turned and leaned back against the stone wall. “I would have a difficult time believing you have anything scandalous to hide.”

      She smiled. “Well, apparently I gave birth and I haven’t been exposed to sex in quite some time. That would be some fairly heavy fodder for the gossipmongers.”

      He shook his head and returned her smile. “It’s good to see your wit is still intact.”

      “Hey, if you can’t immediately fix a terrible situation, you might as well find some humor in it.”

      A true optimist. He added that to his ever-expanding list of her attributes. “Do you consider the thought of being wed to me so terrible?”

      “Actually, I can think of a few perks being married to you would provide.”

      He inched closer to her. “What perks do you have in mind?”

      She faced him and folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Living in a palace immediately comes to mind.”

      Not at all what he’d wanted to hear. “That’s it?”

      “Who wouldn’t want to be waited on hand and foot?”

      He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m disappointed that’s the best you can do.”

      She frowned. “If you want me to include your expertise as a lover, I can’t speak to that because I don’t know. Not that I didn’t try my best to convince you to show me in your hotel room.”

      He still wanted to be her lover. More than he’d wanted anything in quite some time, aside from being a worthy father to his son. “Since the rest of the world now believes we’ve conceived a child together, perhaps we should give lovemaking serious consideration.”

      Her grin rivaled the sun setting on the horizon. “Procreation in reverse. I kind of like the thought of that, but...” Her words trailed off along with her gaze.

      “You still doubt my honor.” He hadn’t been able to mask the disappointment in his tone.

      “You’re wrong,” she said adamantly. “I realize now only an honorable man would so obviously love a child he just met. I see it every time you look at Sam.”

      Every time he looked at her, he felt things he could not explain, and shouldn’t be feeling. “Then what would stop you from exploring our relationship on an intimate level, particularly when you were so bent on doing so in Chicago?”

      “I’m taking your need for celibacy into consideration.”

      That vow was quickly becoming the bane of his existence. “I do not believe that to be the case.”

      She sighed. “Fine. Truth is, I don’t want to get hurt.”

      He slid a fingertip along her jaw. “I would never do anything to hurt you, Piper.”

      “Not intentionally,” she said. “But if we take that all-important step, I worry it’s going to be too hard to walk away. And we both know I’ll be walking away sooner than later.”

      Letting her walk away wouldn’t be one of his finest moments, either. But he could make no promises. “I propose we continue with our original plan and learn all we can about each other while you’re here. Anything beyond that will happen only if we mutually decide it’s beneficial for both of us.”

      She tapped her chin and pretended to think. “A prince with benefits. That does sound intriguing.”

      He had resisted her long enough was his last thought before he reeled her into his arms and kissed her. She didn’t reject the gesture at all. She didn’t push him away or tense against him. She simply kissed him back like a woman who had not been kissed enough. And as usual, his body responded in a way that would merit a serious scolding from his former governess.

      Bent on telling her what she was doing to him, he brought his lips to her ear. “If we had no care in the world, and all the privacy we needed, I would lift up your dress, lower your panties and take you right here.”

      She pulled back and stared at him with hazy eyes. “I could think of worse things.”

      He could think of something much better. “You deserve a bed and champagne and candles our first time.”

      “You’re certainly not lacking in confidence.”

      Subtlety had never been his strongest suit. “Provided we decide to take that next step.”

      “Provided we could actually find the time to do it while adhering to your son’s schedule.”

      Right on time, the sound of a crying baby filtered out through the nursery’s open window. “I shall go see about him,” he said without removing his hold or his gaze from her.

      “I’ll do it,” she answered without