The Sheikh's Unforgettable Lover (The Sharqi Sheikhs Series Book 1) Read online

  Shaking her head, Kim climbed out of bed and walked to the shower. How could he be so casual about last night, she asked herself. Maybe it was best to put last night’s events behind her. Karim was Amare’s older brother and it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a relationship with him while she was tutoring his younger brother. No matter how hard it was, she was not going to develop feelings for him.

  After a long shower, Kim got dressed and made her way downstairs for breakfast. She was very hungry. As she walked toward the dining room, she noticed the maids looking at her a little more than usual. Some were even whispering amongst themselves. Kim thought it odd but she decided to shrug it off. Moments later, she walked into the dining room to find Karim already seated at the table dressed in a charcoal grey shirt and grey trousers. He looked and smelled good. He was looking over some paper work as usual.

  Joining him at the table, Kim served herself some food and immediately started eating. Karim looked up, “Did you go in my office to work on the accounts?” he asked her.

  “Yes,” she replied. Not only had she been bored, but she was worried about the outdated accounts. Clearly, he needed help with them even if he was too proud to ask for her assistance. They had been created using old formulas and old digital systems that from the looks of his notes, he was lost.

  “How much did you do?”

  “I basically got through most of it.”

  Karim raised his eyebrows. “Explain to me what you did,” he said to her. Kim moved closer to him and started explaining and pointing out what she had done. He listened as she spoke, asking questions and having her go over some areas again.

  “The formulas are all set up. So I would recommend inputting all the data into Excel as it will make it much easier to keep track of instead of this method,” she said as Karim frowned.

  “I will think about it,” he replied. Kim stared at him blankly.

  Pursing her lips, she shook her head, why was he always disagreeing with her?

  “Given the amount of data, it would be of the greatest benefit to your company to update your accounting to something, oh at least from the twentieth century,” she told him dryly. “That way you can, as a minimum, provide your shareholders with something logical instead of…this,” she finished gesturing to the handwritten ledgers.

  As Karim was about to respond, two maids walked into the room, one was carrying a tray of fruit. They glanced over at Karim and then at Kim before they placed the tray on the table. There was something strange going on; Kim thought to herself. Why were they looking at her like that?

  “Sheik Karim, is there anything else we could get you?” one of them maids asked him.

  “No, you may go.” He dismissed them with his hand as they bowed their heads and left the room.

  “What if I wanted something?” Kim muttered under her breath. The maids had not even asked her or even looked at her when they asked Karim. This was ridiculous.

  She glanced over to Karim. It was still hard for her to believe that they that had spent a night filled with passion and were now sitting together as strangers. Trying to put it behind her, she concentrated on her breakfast but was soon pushing her fork aimlessly around the plate as her mind wandered.

  While she didn’t have a tremendous amount of experience, he was a magnificent lover and she had lost track of the number of times she climaxed in such a short time. And while he could have easily taken what he wanted and left, he made sure that her own pleasure came first, which had never happened to her before.

  She jumped when she heard him shuffling the papers. Looking up, she watched as he put them together and placed them in a folder. “Was this everything?” he asked her.

  Nodding her head, “Other than the need to use computerised software, yes,” she told him.

  Karim had half a smile on his face. “Well, they were my father’s files.”

  “And while some schools do still teach how to use an abacus, I think that you’ll find the use of a computer to be a bit more sophisticated.”

  “I’ve heard you woman.”

  Kim smiled and decided to serve herself some more eggs. She was feeling particularly hungry that morning. Fortunately, the maids always served a lot of food.

  “Are you enjoying yourself there?” Karim asked her.

  “Huh?” she looked at him.

  “You eat a lot.” He looked at her with a blank facial expression.

  “I seem to be unusually hungry this morning.”

  “Of course you are hungry. Moaning that much must have taken a lot of energy.”

  Kim’s jaw dropped open. Was he really making fun of her? He was right though, she had moaned a lot the night before.

  “I did not moan that much,” she answered petulantly.

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, I’m not a moaner.” Kim gulped down some orange juice.

  “We will see about that.” Kim’s eyes flew open when she felt his hand on her leg as he began caressing her inner thighs.

  “What are you doing?” she breathed.

  “Proving my point.”

  “Whaaaa-” she could not even finish her sentence without moaning. Karim stared into her eyes as she shifted in her seat. Damn, how was he able to turn her on so fast while they were sitting in the dining room?

  “See what I mean?”

  “Shut up,” she mumbled as his fingers brushed lightly across her panties. All of a sudden, he stopped touching her as Kim’s eyes flew open. She watched as he picked up his files and rose from the table.

  “Karim!” she complained as he smiled mischievously at her.

  “I have proven my point.”

  “What? Where are you off to?” Kim asked as she tried to even out her breathing. How could he just touch her like that and then stop abruptly? Didn’t he feel anything? Shaking her head, she willed her body to calm down as she watched him.

  “I have a meeting to attend,” he said right before he walked out of the dining room. Kim gulped down more juice. She needed to cool down after that mini session. She leaned back in the chair and started fanning herself. Fortunately, none of the maids had walked into the room as that would have been embarrassing.

  No longer hungry, she pushed her plate aside. Was all this simply a game to him? Shaking her head, she turned in her chair and got unsteadily to her feet. She simply had to put him out of her mind, but how?

  Chapter Twelve

  “Good morning, Sheik,” the receptionist greeted Karim with a big smile on her face as he walked into Sharqi Jewels Head Office.

  “Morning,” he said to her as he kept walking and barely paid attention to her blushing over him.

  “Sheik Hussain Tazeem is waiting for you in your office,” she said.

  “Thank you.” Karim nodded.

  While Hussain was eight years older than he was, they had grown up near one another and were both the product of traditional upbringings. Both hard workers, Karim had come to rely on him as both an ally and a friend.

  He had been shocked when he found out about his father’s behaviour toward Hussain’s twin sister and quickly sought to make amends. He walked into his office to find Hussain sitting comfortably at his desk.

  “Hussain,” Karim said as he walked in. Hussain got up and went to greet him.

  “Karim. It has been a while, my friend,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

  “It has indeed.” The two of them shook hands and sat back down. Hussain pressed a button on the phone. “Bring us some tea,” he said and let go of the button. He returned his attention back to his friend as he smiled at him.

  “How has business been going?” Hussain asked him.

  “Sharqi Jewels is progressing well. After his forced retirement, my father wasn’t particularly cooperative explaining some of the files, so there has been considerable work figuring out exactly what is going on financially.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  The receptionist walked into the office with a tray of tea, which s
he placed on the desk. Karim took a sip of his black tea before he spoke.

  “There is much to do but we are no strangers to hard work,” he said.

  “Yes, indeed,” Hussain replied as he laughed.

  Both men were from powerful families. The Tazeems had their hands in oil and spices while the Sharqis had their hands in jewels. As the eldest sons, both men put the growth and prosperity of the family business before their own personal lives. They were very similar in many ways, which was why they were so close.

  “How is the spices industry these days?” Karim asked.

  “Good.” Hussain nodded and drank some of his tea.

  “And the business with my father?”

  “That is all well too.”

  Karim shook his head. “My father is a particular man,” he said. A few months ago, Karim’s father had reluctantly gone into business with Hussain and to his surprise, it had become quite profitable.

  “That may be the case; however he is a good business man.”

  “His ways are so outdated; I was trying to decipher his old business accounts the last few weeks.”

  Hussain started laughing. “And how is that going?” he asked.

  “Not very easy, I tell you.”

  Talking about those business accounts reminded Karim of Kim. He was surprised that she had taken it upon herself to help him out with them. Even though he did not want to admit it, he was grateful. She had helped him a great deal and saved him a lot of time.

  She had surprised him when she came onto him the night before. He had never thought she was the forward type. If he did not need to be at the office early that morning, he would have made love to her again.

  The short time they had spent together over breakfast had been distracting as he found her sweet scent intoxicating. He would have loved to continue with the teasing and watch as he brought her pleasure. The small noises that she made as she writhed beneath him were arousing and he couldn’t wait to do it again.

  “As long as it is working out,” Hussain said with a smile. “So listen, I have a favour to ask of you.”

  Karim blinked a few times. “Yes, anything,” he said. This was not the time Karim had been caught thinking about Kim.

  “You remember Cassie?” Hussain asked him.

  “Your Western woman?” Karim asked as he looked at Hussain with a narrowed gaze.

  “Yes, her.” Hussain smiled and shook his head.

  “What about her?” Karim asked. The couple of times that he had met her, he found her too American for his taste.

  “When she was younger, she used to walk past this jewellery shop every day. She fell in love with a particular ring.”

  “Okay?” Karim furrowed his brow. He wondered where Hussain was going with this.

  “Well, I need your help in locating that ring,” Hussain said. Karim raised his eyebrows and put his cup on the desk.

  “What? You are not thinking of marrying this woman are you?” he asked. He went from being confused to being shocked. He stared at Hussain with his eyes widened and waited for an explanation. He was really hoping that Hussain was not going to propose.

  “You look surprised,” Hussain replied.

  “I am surprised. What happened to the man who did not believe in marriage?”

  That was another thing that Karim and Hussain had in common. They both did not believe in love and they did not want to get married either. They never wanted to be tied down to anyone, especially a mere woman.

  Hussain sighed before he responded. “That man met Cassie.”

  “Even after you found out that she was a spy?” Karim questioned.

  “Well she did not sabotage me in the end. She actually helped me.”

  “It does not change her initial intentions. This is why women cannot be trusted.”

  Hussain laughed loudly. “That was how I used to think; however things are different now. I found someone worth trusting and loving.” Karim leaned back in his leather chair and stared at his friend.

  “So, you want me to locate some kind of ring, so that you can marry a spy?” Karim had been aware of how Cassie and Hussain had met. He had been surprised that Hussain stayed with her, even after he knew that she was an industrial spy. Even though she had changed her ways, Karim would have never been able to trust her after finding out her original intentions.

  Hussain narrowed his gaze at Karim and leaned forward. “I need you find that ring for me so that I can marry the woman I love.”

  “Who happens to be a spy.”

  “Who used to be a spy.”

  The two men started laughing.

  “Okay. What kind of a ring is it?” Karim asked.

  “It was a unique gold band with a red stone. Around the stone were yellow diamonds,” Hussain explained. “I will have a mock up drawn.”

  “It sounds like a unique ring,” Karim said, scratching his stubble with his thumb.

  “I purchased the entire store and I will have the contents shipped here. I just need Sharqi Jewels to locate the exact ring.” Karim widened his eyes and stared at Hussain as if he had lost his mind. He was starting to think that he might have actually lost it.

  “You did what?” Maybe Karim had heard wrong. “You bought the entire shop?”

  “Yes, and the warehouse.”

  Karim shook his head. “My friend, you are crazy.” Hussain laughed.

  “Crazy in love,” he replied as Karim ran his hand through his wavy hair.

  “All of this for one girl?” Karim asked, whistling lowly. It made no sense to him. Hussain was going to great lengths for one woman, a western woman at that. He really could not understand his friend.

  “You’ll understand one day, my friend.” Hussain said to him with a warm smile on his face. Karim raised his eyebrows, shaking his head.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As Kim was walking out of her classroom at the orphanage, she heard excited voices coming from the teacher’s lounge. Curious, she headed toward the lounge and was surprised to see Karim standing there surrounded by the teachers who were busy bombarding him with questions.

  Instead of his usual look of indifference, he looked downright terrified as the women fawned over him. Amused, Kim stood in the doorway watching as he tried to answer their questions as fast as they asked them. When Dania began asking him about the number of children he planned to have, Kim took pity on him and cleared her throat as loud as she could.

  Turning his head, the look of relief Karim gave her had her covering her mouth to mask her laugh as her eyes danced merrily. Shaking his arms, he stepped away from the doting women and rushed toward her.

  “I thought we could go to lunch,” he told her quickly, as she looked at him in surprise.

  “Um, sure. Just let me grab my things,” Kim replied, as she wondered what got into him.

  “Oh, Kim, must he leave so soon?” Salma asked. “We were just getting to know him,” she crooned as she batted her eyelashes at him.

  Sliding her hands up his arm, Dania leaned against him, “Can’t we keep him for just a little bit longer?” she asked as she winked at Kim.

  Turning away, Kim coughed to cover her laugh again when she saw the horrified look on Karim’s face. Turning back, “Perhaps another time, ladies, there was mention of lunch,” she told them as the women made noises of complaint.

  Stepping forward, Karim grasped her elbow and quickly exited the lounge as the women all shouted their goodbyes to him. Once outside, he took several deep breaths as he heard the women’s laughter from inside.

  “Is it always like that in there?” he asked as they walked toward the car.

  Unable to hold her laughter back, “No, that was a special show just for you,” she answered as she clutched at her sides.

  When they arrived at the restaurant, Kim stepped out of the car and looked up. “Where are we?”

  “This restaurant belongs to a friend of mine. Come on, I think that you will enjoy it.”

  Placing his hand at the smal
l of her back, he escorted her inside. As they walked toward the reception stand, he was surprised to see Hussain. Smiling broadly at his friend, they shook hands as Karim introduced them to each other before Hussain showed them to a table overlooking the back garden.

  Giving him a strange look, Hussain held his tongue as he handed them their menus.

  Opening her menu, Kim looked at the broad list of options and sighed. “So what’s good here?” she asked him as Karim closed his menu.

  “Everything.”

  “Well, I’m not that hungry. Any chance you could be more specific?”

  Smiling at her, “Is there anything that you’re in the mood for?”

  “Food,” she replied as she snorted in amusement. “Actually, I’ve liked everything I’ve tried so far. Maybe we could order some different appetizers so that I can try them. Oh, and dessert.”

  “So, should we start with the dessert first?” he asked her flatly.

  Looking up at him, Kim wasn’t sure if he was serious until she saw his mouth twitch. Pasting a frown on her face, she stared at him, “I think I can manage the appetizers first,” she told him. “Unless of course, the desserts are really good.”

  “Oh, they are. Hussain’s twin sister is a fantastic pastry chef.”

  As she was about to say something, the waitress came to their table to take their order. Karim ordered a selection of finger foods and pastries for Kim to try.

  They chatted together while they waited and Kim was surprised at how attentive he was. While he did interrupt their conversation to check his phone several times, he always seemed able to pick up the conversation where they left off, which impressed her. If she wasn’t careful, she could easily see herself falling for this man despite the warnings she received from his brothers.

  When their food arrived, Kim looked at the array of finger foods all sitting on small plates. Everything smelled delicious, as she took a deep breath, smiling.

  “I noticed that you seem to enjoy the different pastries that our cook makes and thought that you might like to try some of our more savoury dishes.”

  Nodding her head, Kim couldn’t prevent the blush from creeping into her cheeks as she realised that Karim watched her eat. Reaching for a meat tart, she bit into it and closed her eyes.