One thing was clear—he’d misjudged Heidi in many ways. The hidden depths made him curious about her. While he’d always intended them to get to know each other, so far he’d made no attempt. Perhaps he should change that.
“How are your riding lessons?” he asked abruptly as they entered their suite.
She turned to face him. “I haven’t been riding at all.”
“Because you’re not interested?”
“No, I like it very much. But I’m concerned about going out into the desert on my own, and I find riding in one of the corrals pretty boring.”
“You are welcome to join me any morning.”
Her face lit up with a happy smile. She looked as pleased as if he’d offered her the world.
“You want to go riding with me?” she asked.
“Of course. You are my wife. It’s important that we spend time together.”
Her smile faded. “That’s what you said before, but after we were married, I thought you didn’t want to be with me at all.”
“I want to be with you,” he said honestly.
He stared into her pale, young face. Her gaze was so open, he could read her hope, her fears and her worries as clearly as if she’d spoken them.
“I’ll probably make a lot of mistakes,” she said.
“You ride very well.”
Her lips curved up again. “I meant with you, not with the horse.”
“There is no right way or wrong way to get to know each other,” he told her. “There is only our way. Which will be whatever we make it.”
She nodded. “I’m nothing like Yasmin.”
Thank God. “I don’t see that as a problem. I don’t want another woman like her in my life.”
“Just as well. I know you’ll never care for me the same way, but I hope you’re right about us finding our own path. I would like that very much.”
Before he realized what she was doing, she raised herself on her toes and pressed her mouth to his cheek. The kiss was fleeting and innocent. Then she was gone.
Jamal stared after her, watching her bedroom door close and wondering what they’d just been talking about. He had a feeling he and Heidi had been speaking at cross-purposes. She worried about having to compete with Yasmin. Maybe he should tell her that she’d already won that one. He walked to the French doors and stared out at the sea.
He thought about Yasmin, about how she’d wanted everything the marriage had to offer—everything except him. She’d been interested in the parties, the jewelry, the clothes. Heidi, on the other hand, didn’t seem very taken with any of that. She certainly hadn’t done any shopping. At least not for herself. She’d bought some sexy things for her other persona. In fact, she—
The truth slammed into him like a car going sixty miles an hour. His breath left his lungs as if he’d been tossed across the room and had landed flat on his back. Event by event, he went over what had happened that afternoon. The sultry voice, the provocative dress and conversation. Heidi was trying to win him, but not as herself. She didn’t think she had what it took, so she’d invented another woman to get his attention. Someone who was supposed to be all that she was not. He who had always believed that women weren’t interested in princes for their personality had found the one woman who had everything else—the money, the position, the palace—and wanted one thing more…
Him.
The next morning Jamal wasn’t any closer to understanding why Heidi felt the need to win him. Maybe he had it all wrong. Maybe it was wishful thinking on his part. After all, while he didn’t ever want to fall in love again—loving Yasmin had made him vulnerable and he let her play him for a fool—he did want his marriage to be pleasant for both him and Heidi.
He paced the length of his office as he again went over all that Heidi had done to create her charade. There were dozens of details, not the least of which was how she’d gotten her hands on his Lamborghini. The irony was that he’d been so caught up in Heidi’s game, he’d barely noticed he was driving his new car when he finally got into it. Not once in his life had a woman ever had that kind of effect on him.
Which didn’t answer the question of how she’d done it.Which meant she probably hadn’t done it alone.
He paced past his desk and paused by the large window overlooking the rear gardens. Who would have helped her? Two names came immediately to mind—Fatima and Dora. In fact, he vaguely recalled hearing stories about how Fatima and her husband, the late king and Jamal’s grandfather, had come to fall in love. Something about her tricking him into thinking she was a part of his harem and a woman he couldn’t live without. Yes, his grandmother had had a part in this. And she would also have all the answers as to why Heidi had felt the need to play this game.
He walked to his desk and picked up the phone. After calling the harem, he requested that his grandmother come see him at her earliest convenience. She readily agreed—after all, he couldn’t go to her. Even though she was the only resident of the harem and had been since she was a young bride, no man was allowed beyond the golden doors unless he was a eunuch. Not even the king had seen that part of his palace.
He told himself to get some work done while he waited, then wondered who he was kidding. He wasn’t in the mood to do anything but find out the truth. Then he wanted to spend some time with Heidi to discover more about the woman who had gone to such effort to get his attention. The question was, did he want to see Heidi first, or the sexy, if slightly inept, Honey?