“What?” she asked, swallowing the strawberry.
He didn’t say anything for a moment, just continued to watch her, thinking how sexy she was as she enjoyed the food. “We haven’t even shared a meal. This is our first meal together.”
That reminded her of how silly she’d been to fall into a relationship with a man she didn’t know. “Lessons learned for next time, eh?”
He frowned and she saw his eyes darken. “What do you mean, next time?”
“When we meet our next partner,” she clarified, her stomach clenching with disgust at both the idea of another man touching her as well as any woman touching Rashid. Her eyes glanced down the stairs, thinking of the lovely flight attendants. She wondered if Rashid had already sampled their beautiful bodies and she hated them instantly.
She pushed her plate away, unable to eat anything more. “If that’s all you wanted to discuss,” she said wearily, her exhaustion coming back up to bring down her excitement from the past several hours of discussing the details of his home changes with Rashid, “I’ll go find a spot to work.”
Rashid glared at her, wondering how he could get her to understand that what they’d shared in England was rare and she shouldn’t be so cavalier about it. Surely she’d realized that when she’d been with that other man at the hotel? How could she just dismiss something so special?
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s fine. Have more plans for me by the time we land and we’ll discuss them over dinner tonight.” He felt like he’d made some small progress and he wanted to continue during dinner. Maybe a glass of wine or a hot meal would help her relax and they could talk more openly.
Sidra nodded and shuffled all of her papers together, wondering how she was going to come up with more ideas when all she wanted to do was fall asleep somewhere. She was so worn out she wasn’t sure any ideas she came up with now would be any good.
She picked up her papers and stuffed them into her briefcase, then walked carefully down the stairs. At the bottom, several men were waiting and, at the site of her, they quickly moved upstairs. Sidra wondered if she’d taken up more of Rashid’s time than she’d been allotted. If that were so, she thought as she walked down the plane, looking for an empty seat in a quiet corner, then it was all his fault. She hadn’t wanted to do this on the plane. She’d wanted to sleep and work and possibly more of the first than of the second. But here she was, her mind trying to come up with unique ideas to create a masculine bedroom with butter yellow décor. That was impossible, she told herself as she found a chair way back in the back of the plane. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but it was out of the main walkway which meant she wouldn’t be disturbed and could get a couple of hours sleep before landing.
She placed her briefcase next to her feet, then slipped her shoes off and pushed the button that would lower the back of the chair into a reclining position. It took her perhaps three seconds after her eyes closed before she fell asleep.
She didn’t hear the pilot turn on the fasten seatbelt sign. Nor did she hear the rest of the crew as they finalized preparations for landing. The day had disappeared as the plane moved across the sky to the east and it was now early morning in Tasain. As the plane taxied to a stop, the personnel rushed about, collecting their papers and hurrying down the stairwell so they could finalize their work prior to reporting later in the day. No one remembered to check for the new interior designer who had joined their ranks until Rashid descended the steps and inquired as to her whereabouts to his security chief. He wanted her to ride with him, but no one had seen her since she’d descended the stairs earlier in the flight.
When the body guard looked back blankly, Rashid cursed and called a halt to everyone’s departure. “Find her!” Rashid hissed and even he stormed back up the stairs in search of his missing lover. Twenty minutes later, and still no sign of her, Rashid was starting to wonder if she’d gotten off the plane with someone else and was already heading back to the United States.
No, he hadn’t known her long, but something inside him told him that she wouldn’t just run away. She was too proud and when she’d descended the stairs several hours ago, she looked about ready to pass out from exhaustion.
“She’s sleeping somewhere. Search all the areas where someone might have curled up and fallen asleep and make sure she’s okay.” Rashid swore under his breath, thinking about how he’d wanted to call her back and ordered her into his bedroom to sleep before she’d gone back down the stairs. No one had ever entered that area but himself so it would have looked odd, and declared his intentions more quickly than he wanted them known. But his frantic search now was giving away exactly what he wanted to hide and he didn’t give a damn. He just wanted Sidra found to make sure she was okay.
He was walking down the aisles of the plane, looking to his right and left, trying to think of any place she might have hidden to find some sleep when he almost stumbled upon her. She was curled up in a chair, her hair fanned out behind her and both of her hands stacked on top of each other to form a pillow for her chin. She looked exceptionally lovely and peaceful.
He signaled to one of his body guards who immediately radioed to the others that the woman had been found. Rashid bent down and watched her for a moment, looking at her perfect skin, the heart shaped face that had caused him so many nights of frustration. As well as her lovely, long legs and her perfect breasts that fit in his hands exactly.
As he watched her, she sighed in her sleep and mumbled something, but he couldn’t understand her. He knew he’d have to wake her up, but she looked so peaceful, he regretted it when he touched her shoulder gently and she jerked awake.
“It’s time to disembark, little one,” he said softly, smiling at the way she looked around. She was like a little kitten when she woke up. She stretched, glanced to the right and left, forward, her hand reached up and touched her hair and she ran her fingers through the soft, brown tresses, exactly like he wanted to do.
One moment she looked adorable, the next she was shoving him out of the way and racing towards the bathroom. He couldn’t believe it when she slammed the door shut and he could hear her throwing up. He was instantly worried about her now and knocked on the door. “Sidra, open the door, love. You need help.”
When there was only silence, he signaled to the flight attendant to unlock the door. All the attendants had keys to the bathrooms in case of an emergency and Rashid considered his woman throwing up a definite emergency. As soon as the door was opened, he said to his body guard, “Call ahead and have my physician standing by when we reach the palace. I want her to see him as soon as possible. And get me a warm towel,” he snapped as he entered the bathroom to find Sidra sitting on the floor to the bathroom, a towel already in her hand and her eyes closed.