Chapter One

      Outside Kane’s office…

      “Are you available this afternoon?”

      “For what?” Twenty-seven-year-old Julia Parker smiled at Maggie Steward, administrative assistant to the company’s president.

      “The new Chief Financial Officer is arriving today. His name is Raoul Oman. You met him at that D.C. conference last June, remember? Kane will be tied up in a meeting and he asked if you would show Mr. Oman around.”

      Raoul Oman.

      Julia stared, the blood draining from her face.

      Oh, yes, she’d met Sheik Raoul Oman. The man was permanently engraved in her memory. Instinctively, her hand went to her stomach. The morning sickness she’d suffered from for her entire pregnancy threatened to go out of control, and she took several deep breaths, trying to calm her queasy tummy and racing heart.

      Maggie’s eyes were compassionate. “I guess you do remember him.”

      “Y-yes.” Julia swallowed and shook her head to clear it. She’d never expected to see Raoul again, and the shock was a bit more than she could absorb—not to mention the embarrassment and a healthy dose of guilt.

      “You aren’t having trouble with the…uh…?” Maggie’s gaze flicked to Julia’s rounded stomach, then back to her face. The question didn’t need to be finished. The baby was seriously underweight, and so far she’d been able to camouflage her tummy with heavy sweaters, despite being almost seven months along. Most of her co-workers didn’t even realize she was pregnant, or else they’d just been polite and not said anything.

      “I’m fine,” Julia assured quickly.

      It was a lie, but she could hardly explain. She gulped again when she saw Kane Haley staring at her from the door of his office. He’d been acting strangely for the past few months, though as president of his Chicago-based company he could act any way he darned well pleased.

      “Uh…I’ll be happy to show Mr. Oman around,” she told Maggie, snatching her hand away from her stomach. She fled to her own office on the 16th floor and sat for several shattered minutes, trying to decide what to do.

      Her family plans were getting ready to fly apart, and there was nothing she could do to fix them.

      The phone on Julia’s desk buzzed, and she gratefully pushed her lunch aside—milk and a package of crackers—and picked up the receiver. “Yes?”

      “This is Trudy, in reception. I was told to notify you when Mr. Oman arrived.”

      Swell.

      “Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

      “I’ll tell him, Ms. Parker.” Trudy sounded star-struck, which wasn’t surprising. One look at Sheik Raoul Oman and she must have melted in her chair. The man had sex appeal that could bring the dead back to life.

      Julia glanced in a mirror and smoothed her fingers over a stray lock of hair. She didn’t care if she looked attractive, just neat and professional. Then, squaring her shoulders, she went to the elevator and punched the Down button. A minute later she stepped out and saw the back of Raoul’s dark head.

      Flutters hit her midsection even harder, and she gulped down another wave of nausea.

      “Sheik Oman,” she said, congratulating herself on the cool, even tone of her voice. “Welcome to Kane Haley, Inc.”

      Raoul turned with catlike grace, one eyebrow lifting. “As you know, Ms. Parker, I do not use my title in America.”

      She knew. She also knew that nothing could make Raoul anything other than what he was—a member of the royal family in his own country of Hasan…and the father of her baby.

      It was the father-of-her-baby part driving hordes of butterflies through her system. Or was it the memory of the way he’d made her feel? She hadn’t wanted to lose control during their brief, explosive affair, but he hadn’t allowed anything but her complete surrender in the bedroom.

      Julia’s mouth tightened.

      The pleasure had been extraordinary, but you couldn’t live on pleasure. If anything, he’d proved that a man, particularly from his exalted family background, had trouble letting a woman be equal. Even in the most private of circumstances.

      “Mr. Haley is tied up in a meeting this afternoon. He asked me to show you around,” she said.

      Raoul inclined his head and smiled. “Kane has already explained this matter. I requested that you might take his place.”

      “Oh.”

      Any hope that he’d forgotten some of the more intimate aspects of their relationship vanished at the dark heat in his eyes. He remembered everything. And he seemed to be reminding her that she was the one who’d chosen to say goodbye. That it was her decision not to prolong the time and passion they’d shared.

      But didn’t men prefer temporary relationships?

      Even men from other countries?

      She wasn’t the most experienced woman