The Desert Princes. Jackie Braun
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for a moment. ‘But if it’s a royal khanjar, shouldn’t it be larger than the rest?’
‘Maybe I have another one I don’t show everyone…’
Ah, again.
‘I see,’ she managed hoarsely.
‘Why, Ms Michaels, I think you’re flirting with me.’
‘No, I’m not—’ Casey’s eyes cleared instantly, but before she had a chance to defend herself properly a guest appeared at Raffa’s elbow.
‘Ambassador, I’d like you to meet Ms Michaels, who has organised the auction for me this evening and is threatening to break all records…’
As he spoke Raffa gave Casey a look that made her tingle all over.
‘Allow me to wish you every success, Ms Michaels,’ the ambassador said, bowing low over Casey’s hand.
The surprise at having her hand kissed didn’t come close to Casey’s surprise at the expression in Raffa’s eyes. He was pleased at the honour paid to her by the ambassador, and yet he was uncomfortable with the other man touching her.
Raffa wanted her, Casey realised with a jolt, and was doing nothing to hide it. His fiercely appreciative look was daunting, and yet it made her feel empowered. Without her realising it he had given her confidence—something she had never thought to have.
It was good to be wanted. And to be wanted by a man she was already a little in love with was the most wonderful feeling on earth. She felt strong as a woman for the first time in her life.
But…
Could she finally live the fantasy? Casey wondered, stealing a look at Raffa. Could she sleep with him?
Her body responded eagerly to the thought, and the expression in Raffa’s eyes as he met and held her gaze said anything was possible if she wanted it badly enough. And as his eyes warmed and his lips tugged with just the suggestion of shared humour she knew she did want it. She wanted Raffa to make love to her more than anything in the world.
Casey surprised everyone except Raffa and his team with the form her auction took. Instead of standing at the podium, which she would have found difficult, she played to her strengths as he had advised and ran a silent auction. It left all the billionaires guessing. There could be no public showing off, and instead all the bids had to be written down in secret.
The buzz in the ballroom was electric. Would this prince or that ambassador offer more than another? Surreptitious glances flew as people tried to guess what bid they would have to place in order to secure the most coveted objects, while envelopes with sealed bids inside were placed in the huge drum Casey had ready.
Perhaps only he could accurately predict that his fellow Sheikhs would err on the side of caution and offer extraordinary amounts, Raffa conjectured, rather than risk being pipped to the post by some inferior rival. Whatever—Casey had guessed it right.
And so the evening progressed, until a new drum was called for and even that was overflowing. Through it all Casey remained modest and charming, and in his eyes more beautiful than any other woman there as she hurried about the vast ballroom working as hard if not harder than any member of the team. She had excelled herself, thinking of everything—gold pens for men who normally had others to write for them, and sparkly crayons for the flock of spoiled princesses. And as he watched her he thought Casey possessed something far more valuable than money. The ability to instigate change for the better. She had displayed courage and determination in turning something so alien to her into a personal triumph.
‘Running this event as a Dutch auction was a stroke of genius,’ he told her bluntly when, after what seemed to him an unfeasibly long time, she returned to his side. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were sparking with success, and he had never seen her looking more beautiful.
‘Thank you,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I think we’ve raised the record you were looking for, but I can’t be sure until it’s all been counted—there’s so much of it.’ She laughed, spreading her hands in innocent wonder that such wealth existed. ‘There’s a team working on it now. It’s a real headache for them,’ she confessed, ‘trying to fathom out who has won what when some of the bids have so many noughts on them they have to count the numbers twice to be sure. And some of the shrewder individuals have even stooped to offering a mix of currencies to confuse the outcome,’ she confided, as if she could not imagine greater shenanigans.
‘Blackguards!’ he exclaimed, taking her arm in his. He felt her immediate response to his touch and hoped she wouldn’t find some reason to pull away. ‘But I’m sure you’ll work it out,’ he said soothingly.
‘I’m sure we will,’ she agreed. ‘And I really should get back to lend a hand…’
‘Not yet.’ He felt the tremor run through her as he held her gaze.
She blushed and looked away, but then said with touching sincerity, ‘Just so long as we’ve done some good for your Bedouin project…’
‘You’ve done more good than you know.’
‘I’d like to think so,’ she said softly.
‘You will be the first to see the results of that. I promise you.’ Even as he spoke he knew he would take her to the desert to see the truth of those words—for how else could he reward someone like Casey?
Raising her eyes, she looked at him, and as she slowly smiled he saw that not only had he regained her trust, but she had grown in confidence again, and that gave him more pleasure than he could safely express.
‘You should be getting back to your guests,’ she reminded him quietly.
‘Yes,’ he agreed, ‘but then I’m going to take you home.’ p
She was instantly alert.
‘Unless you don’t want me to…?’
She stared at him for the longest time, and then said shyly, ‘Thank you…I’d like that.’
‘Go,’ he murmured, touching her arm to urge her on. ‘Go and enjoy your triumph, Casey Michaels. Tonight belongs to you…’
She had checked the pages of numbers so many times her eyes were blurring, but there was no mistake. They had raised a record amount of money—an astonishing amount of money— and she should be smiling. She wasn’t smiling. She might be inexperienced, but she hoped her integrity was unquestioned. Even she had placed a bid for something she could afford at the auction—a pretty shawl, hand-woven by Bedouin weavers. She had been thrilled to find it overlookped in the feeding frenzy for so many more costly items.
Throwing her beautiful purchase around her shoulders, Casey pulled it close like a comfort blanket. It was softest alpaca, woven so fine it would have passed through a wedding ring. The colours of sky-blue and honey pleased and soothed her—but not enough for her to forget that the one person who could have purchased everything in the auction hadn’t placed a single bid… Not enough for her to forget that her heart was broken, or that Raffa was not the man she had thought him.
Casey pulled herself together as members of the team clustered round to show her photographs of the latest mobile hospitals. She was determined to hide her feelings from everyone who had worked so hard alongside her. On the outside she was smiling, as they were, but inside she was cold with anger and disappointment—because Raffa, in his arrogance, had chosen not to donate a single penny to the scheme.
The trust between them was lost. The jolt out of her fantasy into reality was almost more than she could bear. Raffa had helped her grow in confidence to the point where sleeping with him had moved beyond an erotic fancy to a true desire for fulfillment. But now…
What hurt the most was that Raffa had made such a big deal out of her role in the auction. She wasn’t looking for praise, just for him to take a personal interest and join in. Perhaps Sheikhs didn’t do that. But it took a lot more than a bottomless pit of money to impress