Heidi glanced up then jumped when she saw Jamal had entered her bedroom. She looked around guiltily to make sure she hadn’t left out any “Honey” clues.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Just working.”
“In your bedroom? Don’t you like your office?”
He lounged in the doorway of the bedroom, a tall, handsome man in a perfectly tailored suit. The gray material emphasized the gleaming darkness of his hair, while his white shirt made his tan seem deeper.
She’d always thought he was nice-looking, but now that she knew how it felt to be in his arms, to have his hand on her breast, she found herself responding even more strongly than usual. Her heart rate increased, and if she’d been standing, she would have felt a definite weakness in her knees.
“The office is very nice,” she said, answering his question and hoping she didn’t sound too stupid.
“So why are you working here?”
She glanced toward her dressing room and prayed the secret phone wouldn’t ring. Then she remembered that if Jamal was standing in front of her, he wasn’t about to be calling his mistress.
So why was she working here? Heidi hadn’t expected him to come looking for her, so she didn’t have an excuse prepared. She also wasn’t much of a liar, so she would have to think quickly.
“I, um, really like, the um, view,” she said feebly. “You know, the ocean and all that. It, uh, helps me think.”
Jamal took a step toward her, then glanced around. “Heidi, your window faces the garden.”
She looked to her left and saw that he was right. Argh! “Oh, not in here,” she amended. “When I need a break, I walk into the living room and look from there.”
Feeble, she thought to herself. That was one pitiful excuse.
He didn’t say anything for a long time. Then he shrugged in what she hoped was confused acceptance of her tale.
“I have something for you,” he said, then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a computer disk. “Do you remember that general you were talking about? The one who was away from his pregnant wife?”
Heidi put down her papers and sat up straighter. “Of course. I’ve been through dozens of documents, but I can’t find anything more about him.”
He waved the disk at her. “Turns out the defense department has been interested in preserving El Baharian history as well. They’ve already started a computerized archive file for historical military figures. Your general is in the database.” He smiled and held out the disk.
“I can’t believe it,” Heidi said.
“You should. He did make it home to see his wife and was there for the birth of the first of his eight sons. In fact, his oldest granddaughter married a prince of the royal family. I don’t have all the details yet, but I suspect he’s a distant relative.”
She didn’t know what to say. His warm, caring gesture touched her deeply. Not only that he remembered what they’d talked about, but that he’d taken the time to find out the information.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as she took the disk and turned it over in her hands. “You’re very thoughtful, and I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I was happy to do that for you.”
A strange light entered his eyes. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but it made her think of their kisses from a few days before. She wondered how shocked he would be if she threw herself at him and begged him to do it again. Except it wouldn’t be “again” for him because he thought he’d been kissing someone else.
“You might want to talk to the historian in the defense department,” he continued. “I suspect you’ll have places where you overlap. You might be able to help each other.”
“I’ll do that.”
She bit her lip, not sure what else to say. Jamal hovered by the side of her bed as if he was ready to leave at any moment.
“Do you have to go back right away?” she asked nervously. “I mean, I could order coffee or something. Unless you’re busy.”
“I’m not so busy,” he said and startled her by taking a seat on her bed. The mattress dipped under his weight, and she felt herself sliding toward him.
He was close enough that she could feel the heat of him. She liked that. She also liked the way he smelled—so clean and masculine. She didn’t think he wore any kind of aftershave. Instead, the scent was his alone. Heidi smiled at the thought that she could probably recognize her husband in the dark, simply by sniffing.
“How are you adjusting to being back in El Bahar?” he asked.
His question was so at odds with what she’d been thinking that it took her a minute to gather her thoughts together enough to answer.
“I love it,” she said simply. “It’s where I’ve always wanted to be.”
He flashed her a smile. “No complaints about the heat?”
She laughed. “I have a college friend who came from Arizona. She always complained about the summer humidity in the East. When we pointed out that it was even hotter where she was from, she went on about how it was a ‘dry heat,’ as if that made a difference.”
“We have a dry heat here.”
“Exactly,” Heidi said with a giggle. “But a hundred and twenty degrees is still really hot, dry or not. It’s going to take me a while to adjust. But I will.”
“We talked about you riding with me. I leave about an hour before sunrise. Would you like to accompany me?”