Innocent In The Sheikh's Palace (Mills & Boon Modern) by Dani Collins

Author:Dani Collins [Collins, Dani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Modern
Published: 2020-10-29T17:53:53+00:00

Hannah was lost in a cowboy catching a barrel-racer under some mistletoe when a tingling awareness had her absently glancing up.

Akin had appeared from seemingly thin air and stood watching her.

A jolt of electric surprise shot through her. She had been thinking nonstop about him and his unexpected kiss. How he’d cupped her cheeks as though sipping from a china bowl yet managed to shatter every thought in her head.

She’d been so shocked that she had hurriedly stammered right past it, using Qaswar as a shield, talking about anything but their kiss, but the memory hadn’t left her. It rushed to the forefront of her mind now and caused an acute blush to sweep over her. She lowered her gaze.

The image of him stuck in her brain, though. He wore black trousers and a light gray tunic that closed with three snaps at his shoulder and half a dozen down the side. It was long-sleeved and plain, but it clung to the contours of his shoulders and upper chest, accentuating his physique.

“Where is your maid?” Akin moved to glance at Qaswar sleeping in his cradle.

“I gave everyone a few hours off.”

His cheek ticked. “Because it’s Christmas?” He eyeballed the pile beneath the tree that had been reduced to three small boxes. The trays on the sideboard held mostly crumbs.

“The guards are still at the door. They have even more adherence to duty than you do. Help yourself.”

He did, demolishing a square of shortbread in one bite, then used one hand to stack the remaining gingersnaps and dealt them into his mouth, one by one.

She plucked the envelope from where it sat in the branches of the tiny tree and rose, suddenly deeply self-conscious about the gift she’d prepared. It had seemed like a nice gesture at the time, but that had been before their strange blowup and makeup the other day.

Was their kiss part of the former or the latter? She still didn’t know.

She cleared her throat and said, “Merry Christmas” as she offered the envelope.

He turned over his free hand. She hadn’t realized he was holding anything, but it was a small box with a silver wrapping.

“You don’t celebrate Christmas.”

“In the interest of diplomacy, I reciprocate gift-giving when it seems appropriate.”

“Ah. This must be a lapel pin of your flag, then?” She shyly accepted it.

“Crib notes on your Constitution?” he guessed as he took the envelope.

He had to know how disarming he was when he showed her those glimpses of humor beneath the intimidating mask. He probably did it specifically to disarm. The way he watched her might have been designed to make her aware of herself as a woman. She became hyperconscious of every small thing about herself, from how she stood to the fit of her bra to the faint tremble of nerves in her fingers as she began to peel the gift open.

She watched surreptitiously as he broke the seal on the envelope with a practiced flick of his finger and withdrew the pages. It would take him a moment to realize what it was, so she quickly finished unwrapping hers.

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