In The Sheikh's Service. Susan Stephens
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Charlie called out sharply, reminding both girls that there was work to be done. ‘Get that order for the Sheikh’s team together now!’
Flashing a willing smile in Charlie’s direction, Isla hurried to obey. The Sheikh’s office had called ahead to make sure that an order of coffee was delivered to site as soon as the Sheikh’s team arrived.
‘I don’t think he’s with them,’ she whispered to Chrissie as she squeezed past her friend behind the counter. ‘I expect he has more important things to do.’
‘More important than supervising the building of his new facility?’ Chrissie’s expressive mouth pressed down with amazement as she shrugged. ‘Seems to me, he should be here, if only to make sure his billions aren’t wasted on coffee.’
Isla laughed. ‘They won’t be wasted. The new vet school is going to be amazing. I’ve seen the plans in the university library.’ And it was Isla’s dream to be part of those plans. Endangered species were her passion, and she was aching to do what she could to help out. The thought that very soon she would be flying thousands of miles to the magical-sounding kingdom of Q’Aqabi to visit the Sheikh’s nature reserve still seemed like a fantasy too far—
‘Isla!’
‘Coming,’ she promised Charlie.
‘I’ll take it,’ she added to Chrissie, grabbing the cardboard tray that was waiting to be loaded with coffee.
‘Knowing your luck, the Sheikh will be there,’ Chrissie complained, pulling a comic face. ‘I can just see the drama unfolding now: the fast-food flirt and the autocratic Sheikh. That should be a fun ride, shouldn’t it?’
‘After last night?’ Isla grimaced. ‘I’m all for the quiet life. I don’t want any more hunter-gatherers pushing me over the threshold from safe to insanity.’
‘It wasn’t so bad,’ Chrissie pointed out. ‘You met a great guy—’
‘I said, I met a guy—’
‘Don’t tinker with the detail. Main thing is, we got paid a fortune.’
‘Danger money.’ Isla laughed, hiding the fact that it had taken more than Chrissie would ever know for her to shed her clothes in front of a room full of men. The fact that Isla’s brush with the sickening danger of a sexual assault had happened years ago had left her no less wary. ‘And I’m not a flirt. I’m just friendly,’ she teased before Chrissie could see the shadow of that memory in her eyes.
‘Whatever,’ Chrissie intoned with a wry look. ‘You get bigger tips than me, that’s all I know.’
‘Which I share,’ Isla reminded her friend with a laugh. ‘And, as for the Sheikh—I doubt we’ll ever see him. If he comes to cut the ribbon when his new building is opened, I’ll be surpri—’
‘Will you girls stop gossiping and get back to work?’ Charlie rapped impatiently.
Exchanging glances, both girls quickly returned to their duties. Chrissie busied herself with the orders on hand, while Isla reluctantly shoved all thoughts of the exciting projects and sheikhs to one side so she could concentrate on finishing the coffee order for the building site.
‘Isn’t your shift almost over?’ she asked Chrissie as they bustled past each other.
‘Yes, Mum,’ Chrissie teased with a wink. ‘But I’m happy to stay on while there’s a rush and you’re taking that outside. I can’t afford to lose this job.’
‘I can’t afford to lose any of my jobs,’ Isla agreed.
They shared a rueful grin. Juggling studies and holding down multiple jobs wasn’t easy for either girl, though, while Chrissie had the looks and figure to strut her stuff for loads of money at the pole-dancing club, Isla’s second job was working quietly in the university library. That was when she wasn’t working her third job, teaching basic gymnastics to keen youngsters in the gym. Not that she was complaining. She loved the quiet of the library, where she could snatch a study break along with her lunch, while the children in the after-school gym club kept her fit and motivated with their enthusiasm—
‘Isla!’
‘Yes, boss!’ Conscious that Charlie was watching her, she quickly loaded the last of the coffees. ‘The site order is ready to go.’
‘Then, get it out there before the coffee gets cold,’ Charlie grumbled, doing his best to look as if he’d just sucked on a lemon.
Glancing at the rain battering the windows, Isla grabbed her jacket and tugged it on. ‘Yes, boss—’
‘This is a coffee shop, not gossip central,’ Charlie grouched, deepening his frown as she walked past him.
She countered Charlie’s bad mood with one of her usual cheery smiles. ‘You know you love me, really.’
‘The only reason I employ you is for that smile,’ Charlie grudgingly admitted.
‘That man,’ Chrissie exploded. ‘Who does he think we are? Smiling puppets?’
‘Employees?’ Isla suggested with her usual good humour. ‘We need this job, Chrissie,’ she discreetly reminded her hot-headed friend.
‘You’re going to get soaked,’ Chrissie objected, brow wrinkling thunderously as she stared out of the window.
‘Yes,’ Isla agreed, ‘but, the sooner I get out there, the sooner I get back.’
‘Okay, Ms Capability—say hi to the Sheikh, if you see him.’
‘Like I’m going to get close.’
‘If he’s there he’ll have security surrounding him,’ Chrissie agreed. ‘Oh, well, you can still drop a few hints to his team that you’re a star student at the university, and you’ll be over in Q’Aqabi very soon, when you’ll be only too glad to offer your services—’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Isla acted shocked.
‘Okay, Miss Prim—you know what I’m talking about. Get out there before the coffee goes cold. And don’t forget to drop that hint,’ Chrissie called after her.
Was she wrong to hope that, if the Sheikh had chosen to visit his billion-dollar building site, the white-chocolate mocha with the extra caramel shot and a double squirt of cream wasn’t destined for him? Isla smiled as Charlie opened the door for her. A girl had to have her fantasies, and Isla’s involved real tough-guy sheikhs—impossibly handsome, riding imperious white stallions... The Sheikh would be clad in flowing robes, and he would live in a Bedouin tent that billowed gently in the warm desert breeze—
‘You’re lucky I don’t dock you girls’ dreaming time from your wages,’ Charlie rapped as she went past him. ‘If you don’t watch out, I’ll charge you for breakfast.’
Charlie was a kind old thing really, with a bark that was far worse than his bite. And no way was she going to lose out on breakfast, when it was her one decent meal of the day.
Head down, she speed-walked through the driving rain to the mud bath next door. There was no easy way to walk across a building site other than to do it as fast as she could without spilling the coffee.
‘Stop!’
She stopped dead and almost dropped the tray. She had reached a steel mesh gate manned by an unsmiling security guard, but, as the gate was open, she had walked straight through.
‘You’re not allowed on the site,’ the guard informed her brusquely.
‘But I have instructions to be here,’ she tried to explain.
‘No one is allowed on the site without protective clothing. And I have to check your identity—’
As the guard reached towards her she flinched. An instinctive reaction. Just one of the many leftover side effects