The last bit was a stretch, but he’d told worse lies in his time. After all, it was for a good cause. In truth, she wasn’t unattractive, she just needed a little help.
She opened her mouth and closed it several times. No sound emerged. He watched the color climb her cheeks.
“You’re blushing,” he observed.
“No, I’m not. I don’t blush. Never. I don’t live an embarrassing life, so why would I blush?” Even so, she ducked her head and pressed the back of her hand against her cheek.
“Would it be so very terrible?” he asked.
“Yes!” She glared at him. “Why are you doing this? Why aren’t you running screaming in the opposite direction? I’ve just told you that your father wants you to marry a stranger, and you don’t seem to care.”
“I care. I just don’t think it’s the end of the world. There are worse fates.”
“Like what? Being buried alive? Being eaten by bloodsucking bats?”
He winced. “You’re right, Heidi. You don’t cater to the male ego. As my wife, you’d have to work on that.”
She stomped her foot. “Read my lips, Prince Jamal Khan of El Bahar. I am never, ever going to marry you. Not in this life, not in the next life, not even for a day. No. Not me. And that’s final.”
“Want to bet?”
Jamal grinned, then stepped close to her. He slipped one arm around her waist and slid the other around her shoulders. Instantly her body went stiff, and her mouth dropped open with shock.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked as she pressed her hands flat against his chest.
“Finding out if that mouth of yours is good for anything but tossing around insults.”
Her hazel eyes flashed with fire. He was afraid the heat just might melt the frames of her glasses.
“Don’t even think about it,” she told him. “I’m not interested in you in that way. I don’t enjoy physical contact. I will only ask this once, sir. Unhand me.”
“If you’re only going to ask once, then I’ll only have to answer once. No.”
Chapter 3
This was not happening, Heidi thought in amazement. She and Jamal were in the middle of a serious conversation about why they could not possibly marry. He wasn’t actually going to stop talking to kiss her, was he?
She swallowed as she realized he very well was. The man was looming again. Apparently he lived to loom. Then there was the matter of her being in his arms. No mistaking that one. She was pressed right up against his rather impressive body.
She wanted to complain. She wanted to say that it was unpleasant or icky or that she really wanted him to stop. The problem was, it wasn’t unpleasant. For one thing, heat seemed to flow from him to her, settling in rather unusual places. Her stomach was not as calm as it could be, and where her br**sts accidentally brushed against his chest…well, they were extremely hot and sensitive in the most peculiar way. She wasn’t even going to think about how her legs suddenly felt weak.
She stood with her hands at her sides, but she had the strongest urge to raise her arms until she could touch his shoulders or maybe even his hair. But she didn’t. For one thing, she wasn’t interested in kissing or anything remotely physical. For another, she didn’t know what to do. Kissing had not been a big part of her life.
“Relax,” Jamal told her, his voice filled with laughter. “I’m not going to eat you.”
“I’m relaxed.”
“Heidi, if you were any stiffer, we could iron clothes on your back.” He shook her gently. “Deep breaths.”
“I do not need instructions from you, thank you very much. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Liar. You need instructions from someone, and I’m the only one here.”
Was her inexperience that obvious? More heat flared on her cheeks. Fine, so maybe she was blushing. But it wasn’t her fault. The situation was entirely intolerable. “If you would just release me, we could continue our conversation.”
“I don’t want to talk. I want to kiss you. Now say my name.”
She blinked. He’d said it. He’d actually said the “K” word. Kiss! She hadn’t misread the situation. And just a minute before, Jamal had said he found her attractive. No man ever had before. She knew she wasn’t really the attractive type. She didn’t know how to be. It was her clothes, her hair, or maybe her glasses. She looked at the magazines and wanted to make a change, but she didn’t know how to translate what they were doing on the page to something she would be comfortable in. It had always been easier not to try.
The same with men. She’d held herself back because she’d felt so awkward. Now she was sorry she didn’t have more experience.
“What are you thinking?” Jamal asked.
Heidi looked at him. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying again. I wonder if the king knows about this character flaw.”
“Jamal! You’re not helping the situation.”
“Actually, I am.” He drew her even closer, which she hadn’t thought possible. “Now say my name again.”
“Why?”
“Because I like how it sounds.”
She glared at him, trying to ignore the way his dark eyes seemed to reflect lights of the stars overhead. Or maybe it was the lamps lining the path.
“Why does everything have to be about you?”
He grinned, his white teeth flashing in contrast to the shadows on his face. “Because it’s more fun that way.”