Modern Romance May 2019: Books 1-4 Read online

  She tried not to touch his things, except...

  There was a small silver bottle with Arabic engravings and, curious, Aubrey removed the silver lid and saw beneath that there was a glass stopper. There was a heady waft of his delectable scent, and though she longed to remove the stopper and deeply inhale, she replaced the lid.

  Aubrey had her first bath.

  Bubbles, oils she just could not resist.

  She thought she might never get out, and she was all pink and warm when finally she did and wrapped herself in a thick white robe.

  And so tired.

  If she could squeeze in a couple of hours’ sleep now, it would make a very long night at the airport far more bearable.

  Aubrey set her phone and then took time to close the drapes on the stunning view so that not a chink of light came in. The room was in such complete darkness that she had to put out her hands to feel the bed. Not wanting to mess it up for Khalid, she lay atop the coverlet and on her side, but no matter how tired she was it had been too eventful a day to switch off.

  She had never expected to get into the service, let alone that they’d know her name. Aubrey’s eyes were open as she lay there recalling the animosity from the Devereuxes. Did they know about Jobe and her mom? They couldn’t. Surely? Jobe had been adamant that the affair had never got out. It had been what had broken them in the end—Jobe himself had been ashamed of the relationship and had preferred to be seen with the coiffed Chantelle on his arm.

  No, Jobe had been utterly determined that that secret must never get out.

  They could not know about Jobe and her mom.

  But they might know about the money. The knot of anxiety that seemed to live in her chest these days tightened. What if they wanted to know how it had been spent and came after her? Had she duped Jobe? Deep down Aubrey knew the answer was yes, and that knowledge ate at her soul.

  Might she be in serious trouble?

  It was to that uncomfortable thought that Aubrey fell asleep.

  * * *

  And that was what Khalid walked into.

  When he’d returned, Khalid had assumed that she had gone, though he’d knocked on the guest bedroom door and when there was no answer had popped his head in and checked.

  Yes, Aubrey Jameson had left and perhaps that was just as well. He could well see how Jobe might have fallen under her spell, for even a few hours after their meeting she still closed around his mind. Tonight, back at the house, when Ethan had thanked him for stepping in and saving an awkward situation, Khalid had had to bite his tongue on a tart response—he had been saving Aubrey from them.

  She brought out something that he did not recognise—for he usually saved his protective side for his people.

  He tossed his jacket over a chair and kicked off his shoes and discarded the black socks, then did the same with his tie.

  Khalid rarely drank, but on days like today he chose to and poured himself a generous measure. He took off his belt, then removed the cufflinks and undid the buttons on his shirt then yanked it off.

  That felt better.

  He glanced at his phone and of course word was out he was here, which meant offers of company aplenty.

  It was perhaps his last night in New York as a single man, yet he had no desire tonight.

  Neither had he last night.

  Or rather he had a rarer desire. He thought of the blush spreading across Aubrey’s cheeks and how, when he had not so much as touched her, it felt as if he had, and he wished he knew her kiss and the sound she made when she came.

  Khalid usually cared little for details like that.

  He would hit the shower, and then his phone; he would push all thoughts of tenderness aside. Except the second he pushed on the door to his bedroom suite, before it had swung even halfway open he realised that she was still here.

  The room was in darkness and when he stepped in there was the soft presence of another person.

  She was deeply asleep.

  Khalid knew that for she did not stir and her breathing was gentle and even. His first thought was that he did not want to startle her so he turned on a side light.

  Aubrey was curled up on his bed, rather than in it, and wearing a robe.

  She looked incredibly peaceful and he wished that he felt the same. Today had been harder, far harder than he had either anticipated or allowed to show.

  ‘Aubrey,’ he said gently, and got no response. ‘Aubrey,’ he said again, and she opened her eyes. ‘I thought your flight was at nine.’

  Aubrey didn’t startle.

  It was almost a relief to hear him call her name, for it was as if she’d been chasing him in her dream, but when she opened her eyes it took a second to orientate to her surroundings. The bed felt like a cloud beneath her and there was Khalid, his torso naked, standing above her.

  She knew straight away she wasn’t dreaming and she also knew nothing untoward had taken place. In fact, bizarrely, for an odd second, Aubrey wished she were waking up having been made love to by him, but then she hauled herself from that thought. ‘I must have slept through my alarm.’

  ‘Have you missed your flight?’ Khalid asked.

  ‘No.’ She shook her head and sat up as he turned on another side light. ‘I had a bath. I hope you don’t mind.’

  ‘Of course not. Did you have something to eat?’

  ‘Some fruit. Thank you. How was it back at the house?’

  Khalid went to answer, to tell her how fraught it had been. How Chantelle had seemed determined not to leave. Yet he did not discuss his own private life, let alone the lives of others.

  He wanted to though.

  Khalid wanted to sit and talk with her, to tell her how his day had really been, but instead he offered a more generic response. ‘I think the day went as well as could be expected.’

  His words were delivered in a rich accent and his English was excellent, yet she felt as if there was something a little lost in translation, or rather withheld.

  There was that word again... Withheld.

  Possibly, she decided, if they were speaking in his native tongue there would be more elaboration.

  What she could not know was that this was more open than Khalid usually was.

  ‘He left me this.’ Khalid handed her the paperweight that Ethan had given him tonight.

  ‘It’s gorgeous,’ Aubrey said. ‘What is it?’

  ‘A paperweight,’ Khalid said as he handed her the stone.

  ‘I meant, what is it made of?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Khalid said, then asked her a question. ‘Aubrey, why didn’t you get into bed?’

  ‘Because I didn’t want to mess it up for you tonight.’

  ‘Oh.’ Khalid nodded. ‘That makes sense, except there is a guest room. You could have had covers in there.’

  ‘There’s a guest room!’ She was mortified and sat bolt upright. ‘I had no idea. I’ve never been somewhere like this before. I did everything to try and leave it as I found it...’

  ‘It’s fine.’ Khalid smiled.

  He smiled. It was the first time she had seen him do that and it was just so unexpected, and so nice, but Aubrey had to look away.

  He was naked from the waist up and he was completely divine. The light did not allow colour but she could see the flat lines of his stomach and that his long arms were muscular. She lay back on the pillows, holding the paperweight up so that it caught the glow from the side light and Khalid explained why he had it.

  ‘He was going to give it to me as a wedding present, but then, in Jobe’s words, damn time ran out.’

  ‘Are you getting married?’ Aubrey asked, trying to fight a curious disappointment, for it was surely irrelevant to her.

  He nodded. ‘Though my bride has not been chosen yet.’

  ‘Well, that’s good.’

  ‘Good?’

  ‘You don’t have to explain me if she calls.’

  He didn’t smile at her little joke.

  Khalid didn’t even know that it
was one. He would never be asked to explain. ‘When is your flight?’

  ‘At nine in the morning.’

  ‘And where are you staying?’

  ‘I’m not. I’ll just hang out at the airport,’ Aubrey admitted.

  He looked at her for a moment. Khalid did not take in strays and would not be offering her use of the guest room tonight. Yet he found out that where Aubrey was concerned it was easy to be kind. ‘Do you want to go for dinner before you head off?’

  ‘Dinner?’

  ‘Well, I need to eat, and I guess so do you. It would seem that you have a few hours to kill.’

  ‘Oh.’ Aubrey didn’t know what to say to his offer, but he amended it before she had a chance to reply.

  ‘I apologise,’ Khalid said. ‘It would give me great pleasure if you would join me for dinner, Aubrey.’

  She had been about to decline, but this uptight man had her smiling instead.

  ‘I’d love to,’ Aubrey said as her heart skipped off to pick roses, but she hauled it back to the confines of her chest. It wasn’t a date. It wasn’t a date, she told it.

  It was Khalid being incredibly nice.

  ‘My driver will take you to the airport afterwards so bring your things. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to make a phone call before we head off.’

  She put down the paperweight, climbed off the bed and set about retrieving her shoes, dress and things and then thanked him again for letting her rest here. ‘It really was nice of you. I felt utterly drained.’

  ‘Funerals tend to do that to you.’

  ‘Really? I’ve never been to one until today.’

  ‘Then you are...’ He’d been about to say she was lucky never to have lost someone close to her till now, but then he looked at her scrabbling to find her things, and something halted him, for lucky did not seem the right word for the situation. ‘You did well,’ he said instead.

  ‘Did I?’ she checked as she bent to retrieve her shoes. ‘I’m worried I made a bit of a fool of myself when I cried.’

  ‘No.’

  It sounded as if he had thought about it, as if his answer came with thought. So few people could reassure with just one word, yet he did.

  ‘Get ready,’ he told her, and when the door closed on her he dragged a breath in.

  She was the enemy.

  Not his enemy, of course, but she was capable of causing trouble for the Devereuxes, yet he was taking her to dinner? Khalid had promised to keep an eye on her, but even he knew that it shouldn’t extend to this.

  And he was not thinking now about dinner.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  AUBREY STILL HAD no clue where the guest room was and so she took her clothes and things into the powder room to change for her first ever date, which wasn’t a date.

  She had to keep reminding herself of that as she got ready to be wined and dined!

  The dress looked a smidge better without the black shawl and stockings, then she ran a comb through her hair. Aubrey really didn’t have much to work with but then she found the lipstick sample that Vanda had given her, as well as some mascara. She darkened her lashes and pinked her lips and decided it wasn’t a problem that she didn’t have any perfume—after all, scent-wise she could never compete with Khalid.

  As Aubrey stepped into the lounge, she could hear Khalid’s voice coming from the bedroom as he made his phone call. He spoke in Arabic so she didn’t have a clue what was being said, she just liked the deep of his voice.

  Her bag was over her shoulder and, deciding she might look a bit eager, she placed it by an occasional chair but did not sit down; instead she stood by a window, watching the New York world go by. Khalid came out and retrieved his discarded clothes and started to dress, still talking on his phone.

  He poured her a drink, and she smiled and took it. Then he sat on the chair, his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder as he put on his socks and shoes.

  Aubrey got back to looking out of the window, trying to be polite and give him space for his call.

  But Khalid did not need space.

  It was impossible to put on cufflinks with one hand, and, keen to get to dinner and more than used to being assisted, he went over to Aubrey and when she turned, he held out his upturned arm.

  Aubrey had no idea what he meant, until she looked at his outstretched hand and saw the cufflinks.

  Still he spoke in Arabic and she looked up with confused eyes.

  ‘Could you?’ Khalid broke his conversation and spoke briefly in English.

  ‘Sure.’

  Aubrey took a heavy cufflink from his palm and what neither was quite ready for was their first contact.

  Her fingers in his palm were so light that it felt as if a bird had briefly landed there and Khalid found that he was not listening to his assistant, Laisha, give her long summary of all that had taken place while he’d been away.

  Instead he was looking at Aubrey.

  Her hair fell in a pale curtain as she fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt. Her hands were cool and her touch light. She was perfection to him right now. But, no, she was a chameleon, Khalid reminded himself.

  Yet she entranced him.

  Aubrey had no idea what she was doing with his cufflinks and it was very hard to concentrate when he was so close, but finally she got one of them in.

  ‘The other way,’ he said, and she stilled at the depth of his voice when it switched to English.

  ‘Oh.’ She removed the cufflink and the cuff of his shirt fell apart again and so too did her nerves. His hands were long-fingered and the fine, dark hairs of his arms made Aubrey’s insides shiver. She tried to tell herself it was just a hand, just a wrist as she slid in the gold cufflink the other way, yet he affected her so much. And still she did not know what to do.

  Khalid watched her.

  Laisha was asking for his response to a statement, but he could not answer, for he was captivated by Aubrey.

  He wanted her to rest that mouth in his palm, he wanted the softness of her kiss and not to mind that she had been with Jobe. He wanted her touch and to indulge himself in her skin, yet he stood silent and watched her small smile of triumph when the cufflink was in.

  Now the other.

  He was about to switch hands with his phone so that she could tend to the other, but he changed his mind and concluded the call with Laisha and inserted the second cufflink himself.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, deciding that dinner and his driver taking her to the airport was the far more sensible option. His duty today was to the Devereuxes and the murky complications he did not need. And so, when he opened the door to the penthouse suite and Aubrey headed out, Khalid gave her no excuse to return. ‘Aubrey,’ he said, assuming it was one of her many tricks. ‘Don’t forget your bag.’

  They took the elevator down and she could smell his incredible cologne and the soapiness of him and she felt self-conscious by his side, but nicely so.

  ‘Okay?’ he checked, just before the elevator hit the ground floor.

  She nodded, and gave a smile, a slightly uncertain one.

  ‘Good,’ he said, ‘let’s eat.’

  It was a beautiful restaurant with a pianist playing. There were a lot of patrons, some still in funeral attire, and that flutter of nerves turned into a surge as they entered, but Khalid ensured that things went smoothly.

  He dealt with the greeter and then walked ahead to their table, heads turning as they passed, but really she only had eyes for Khalid’s broad shoulders as they were guided to a candlelit corner table that was beautifully dressed with gleaming silverware and a small vase spilling over with ivory peonies. The window looked out to a night-time view of Central Park that, had she not been sitting opposite Khalid, would have been to die for.

  Yet she sat opposite Khalid. So elegant, so poised that Aubrey felt like a lady for the first time in her life.

  Well, not quite. She was so hungry that she wanted to fall on the bread roll like a savage and tear it apart with her teeth, but she resisted
and instead she sat there as the waiter went through the menu and Khalid ordered drinks.

  ‘Champagne?’ he enquired, but Aubrey shook her head.

  ‘What was the drink upstairs?’ she asked, for though she’d had only had the tiniest sip she could still taste it on her lips.

  ‘Cognac.’

  ‘I’d like that, please.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ Khalid said, not caring if it was more an end-of-dinner drink. He turned to waiter. ‘I’ll have the same. And could we have more bread?’

  That he was starving too made her smile and he noticed. ‘Why are you smiling?’ Khalid asked.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  He took his roll and sliced it open and then smeared half with golden butter as Aubrey did the same.

  ‘I haven’t eaten all day,’ Khalid said.

  ‘At all?’

  ‘No, and neither did Ethan or Abe. I said to them before I left that those who organise the feast never get a chance to indulge.’

  ‘Is that an Arabic saying?’

  ‘No.’ Khalid smiled. His second for her. ‘It’s a fact.’

  Now she buttered the second half of her roll and he watched her lovely pale hands tremble as they held the silver knife, just as they had with the silver pen.

  The strappy dress revealed slender arms and clavicles and even her sternal notch, yet despite her delicacy there was nothing feeble about her.

  Aubrey was strong.

  And Khalid admired strength.

  Yet there was an air of vulnerability too and it saddened Khalid that she might have been taken advantage of by Jobe.

  When Aubrey looked up he was no longer smiling and there was a pensive look on his face.

  ‘Did you have breakfast?’ she asked, carrying on the conversation, just so intrigued by him she wanted to glean what she could. Whatever she could. Did he eat down here in the morning? Was he served breakfast in bed, or at the gleaming table in his suite? He fascinated her so much.

  ‘No,’ Khalid said. ‘Well, breakfast was served but I was...’ He shook his head for he had not examined his thoughts this morning.