An Ordinary Girl and a Sheikh. Nicola Marsh

of Einstein to figure out how that equation would work out.

      It wasn’t even as if she was fancy-free, at liberty to indulge herself, take the risk, no matter how self-destructively. She had responsibilities. A five-year-old son she would always put first, not out of duty, but out of love.

      Why, oh, why, couldn’t her big chance have come on the day when the car had been booked to drive some grey, middle-aged executive whose only interest was the movement of the FTSE or the NASDAQ?

      Someone who wouldn’t even have noticed she existed.

      ‘Tomorrow,’ she began, determined to put a stop to this before one of them did something really stupid. Something that she, at least, would regret—and she already had enough of those to last her a lifetime. Before she forgot all of the above and began to believe what his eyes seemed to be saying. ‘Tomorrow,’ she repeated, with determination …

      ‘Tomorrow I’m flying to Paris,’ he said, cutting her short before she could tell him that tomorrow he’d have another driver. If not Jack, someone else would have to take over from her, although what on earth she’d tell Sadie …

      Somehow she didn’t think, ‘He looked at me and I came over all inappropriate …’ would go down at all well. She’d be lucky to keep the school run. But she’d have to take that risk. Better to lose her job than fall back into a pit it had taken her months, years, to climb out of.

      ‘Want to come?’ he said, jerking her back to the here and now.

      ‘To Paris. With you?’

      ‘The alternative is being at James’s beck and call.’ ‘Oh.’

      What was that about being careful what you wished for? Although, if it meant she could keep this job for another day …

      ‘Well, great!’

      He wasn’t fooled for a minute. ‘He’s not a soft touch like me, Diana. You’d probably be advised to bring a packed lunch,’ he said. And then he smiled.

      Not the mask smile. Not the meaningless one that had so annoyed her when he’d used it to reduce a careless shop assistant to slavery. But the one that spoke directly to her, that said, ‘We are connected, you and I. Deny it all you want, but you know the truth.’

      It took her good intentions, all her common sense and heated them to dust, blew them away, leaving her momentarily struggling for breath.

      ‘I brought a packed lunch today,’ she said. ‘I was going to sit on the harbour wall and share it with the seagulls.’

      ‘Were you? Well, the day is a long way from over. Maybe we could do that later.’

       We …

      ‘It won’t be long,’ Jeff said, rejoining them before she could say anything. Just as well. For the second time that day she was lost for words. That had to be a record … ‘Do you want to clear up any final details on the contract while we’re waiting?’

      ‘I’m really quite happy with it,’ Zahir replied, ‘but, Metcalfe had a few queries.’ He held out his hand for the folder she’d put on the table in front of her. She handed them over without a word and Zahir extracted a single sheet of paper from the file and offered it to the other man. ‘If we can iron out these few details, keep her happy, you can have your office print up the final version and I’ll sign it before I leave.’

      Jeff glanced at the figures, then, thoughtfully, at her. She gripped her lower lip between her teeth to keep it tightly closed.

      ‘There’s no kidding you, is there?’ he said with a wry grin in her direction. ‘If I conceded the first three without an argument, will you consider splitting the difference on the management fee?’

      Zahir rescued her, holding up a hand as if to silence her. ‘Don’t be hard on the man, Diana. That’s fair.’ Then, offering the hand to Jeff, ‘We have a deal.’

      If Diana had felt any concern about Zahir’s intentions, Jeff’s broad smile quickly reassured her.

      ‘I’ll fly out to Nadira next week to set things in motion, Zahir,’ he said. Then, turning to her, ‘Will I see you there, Diana?’

      She’d just picked up her glass and taken a swallow of water, so Zahir answered for her.

      ‘I’m hoping Diana will accept my invitation to familiarize herself with the resort in the very near future. If you’re there at the same time we’ll be glad to repay your hospitality.’

      She choked and the water took the only available exit and shot out of her nose.

      Gasping, shaking her head, completely unable to speak, she leapt to her feet and rushed off in the direction of the washroom.

       Now what was he playing at?

      Since she had no possible way of knowing, she concentrated on the practicalities of mopping the water from the front of her shirt while she regained her breath and her composure. Took her time about refastening the unravelling mess of her hair. Groped in her pocket for lipstick and came up empty. Remembered, too late, that she’d left it in her jacket pocket. Just as well; her lips had got her into enough trouble already without drawing unnecessary attention to them.

      Finally, unable to put it off any longer, she returned to the terrace, where the two men were deep in a conversation involving boats.

      Zahir looked up. ‘Okay?’

      ‘Fine. Thank you,’ she said primly.

      His only response was one of those quiet smiles that undid all the hard work of the last five minutes. At least with regard to breathing and composure.

      It was all very well saying that he’d be in Paris tomorrow—and no, she couldn’t possibly go with him—but she had the rest of today to get through before then.

      And no escape.

      The rest of lunch, however, proved uneventful since Zahir was more interested in what Jeff had to say than in winding her up. And, like an idiot, she actually found herself missing their dangerous exchanges.

      Just how stupid could one woman get?

      Afterwards, the two men set off to tour the marina and it was Jeff, not Zahir, who glanced back and said, ‘Can we tempt you to join us, or are you more interested in the shops than boats?’

      Freddy, Diana thought, would have been in his element amongst the boats. He loved going on river trips. And that was what they’d do this half-term. A jaunt up to Greenwich on the river to look at the Cutty Sark and the Maritime Museum. They could even take a ride on a narrow boat along the Regent’s Canal to the Zoo.

      She realised that they were waiting for her answer.

      Or had she been waiting for Zahir to add his voice to the invitation? Encourage her to join them?

      ‘The shops have it, every time,’ she replied quickly, taking the wiser course and putting as much distance between them as possible.

      The way things were going, he was bound to say something, give her one of those ironic looks that would leave her with an uncontrollable desire to push him into the harbour—and how would she explain that to Sadie?

      ‘How long have I got?’

      ‘How long do you need?’ Zahir replied. Then, with a smile that suggested he knew exactly what was going on in her head, said, ‘An hour should do it.’

      She collected her wallet from the glove box, stuffed it into her trouser pocket and set off for the town centre. Although the possibility that she’d be able to afford anything in the small, exotic boutiques they’d passed on their way down to the quay was totally nil, she’d enjoy the window-shopping. She might be short of spare cash, but she could dream.

      But Sweethaven, she discovered, had more to offer than just designer boutiques and when she saw a real old-fashioned bookshop she pushed open the door and