Chapter Two

      “Please…don’t,” Julia said faintly.

      “Shouldn’t I be honest?”

      It wasn’t Raoul’s honesty she was worried about. It was her own.

      Darn it all, she’d told him he didn’t need to worry about getting her pregnant, that it wasn’t a problem! She’d said they could enjoy being together without bothering to use anything. The conference had continued for another three days and her ploy had worked. One month later she’d woken up, sick to her stomach and counting the days since her cycle should have started.

      In other words, pregnant with a sheik’s baby.

      Her child would have all the advantages of Raoul’s splendid genetics without her having to deal with the father. She’d just conveniently forgotten that the world really was a small place and that he could end up knowing about it after all.

      “Perhaps Kane is correct, you do not look well,” Raoul murmured, concerned at the pallor in her face. “Sit down, Julia.”

      “I don’t need a mother hen,” she said, sending him a scathing look. But she did as he’d requested, sinking into her chair with a sigh. “You’re the last person I expected to see today.”

      “Kane made his selection for the position very quickly. It seemed best for the company.”

      Julia drummed her fingers on the surface of the desk. “How could you move to Chicago on such short notice? Don’t you have family commitments?”

      Raoul’s lips tightened.

      According to his family, his first concern should be to marry and produce children. His father was not so intolerable on the subject as his mother, but neither were pleased at his delay. They had fallen in love and married young themselves, and couldn’t understand why he resisted their happy fate.

      “My absence is not important. I have three brothers who help my father and grandfather in governing Hasan,” he said.

      “Oh.” Julia seemed to be thinking his comment over with more concentration than it deserved. “What about sisters—do you have any?”

      A smile eased the tension in Raoul’s face. “Two. They are treasures to us all.”

      “But not in helping to govern the country, right? I suppose they have to wear robes and masks over their faces and not say anything except when spoken to?”

      Perplexity creased the space between his eyes. He and Julia hadn’t spoken of their personal lives when they’d met before, so in the ways that mattered most they did not know each other.

      “There are many incorrect ideas about my country. Women in Hasan do not wear the chador,” he explained. “They are as free as their western counterparts. Perhaps more free, because our men do not have the same limited views of feminine beauty.”

      Julia didn’t look convinced. “Your sisters—”

      “Have no interest in ruling Hasan,” he said, having had this discussion with more than one American woman. “Jasmine is an artist who wishes to be left alone to work—she will not even act as our cultural minister. And Fatima is a doctor. She occupies a position similar to your surgeon general, but spends most of her time treating patients.”

      “I see.”

      Raoul glanced at his watch. He would prefer staying to talk with Julia, but he was expected in that meeting. “I’ll see you later,” he said. “Perhaps Kane will change his mind about going to dinner with us and we can be alone.”

      Color flooded back into Julia’s face with extraordinary speed and her eyes flashed in annoyance. “Oh, yes,” she mocked. “My ‘invitation’ to help you sample Chicago’s cuisine.”

      “You raved about your pizza and Italian beef sandwiches when we met in Washington. You said—”

      “I don’t care what I said,” she snapped.

      He chuckled. She had such fire, he adored that part of her. “You would not have agreed if I had simply asked.”

      “So true.”

      “So I ensured you couldn’t refuse.”

      Her eyes grew frosty, even remote, and Raoul looked at her in puzzlement. “I’ve already had enough men thinking they know what’s best for everyone else,” Julia said evenly, but she was plainly furious. “I won’t let anybody control me.”

      Obviously he wasn’t accomplishing anything by staying, so Raoul gave her a courteous bow and opened the door again. “It may have seemed that I was trying to do that, but I wasn’t. We will speak later, when you are feeling…better.”

      Something hit the door as he closed it behind him, and he wondered what Julia had thrown. Nothing too dangerous, he decided with a small smile.

      He liked this Julia even better than the temptress he had known in Washington. She was just as seductive, but there were depths he’d only glimpsed during their tempestuous few days together.

      Depths he wanted to explore.

      We will speak later, when you are feeling…better.

      Better.

      Julia practically snorted. He’d meant logical. Or sensible. Or some other male notion about the return of reason to an irrational woman. She willed herself to calm down, certain so much emotion couldn’t be good for either her or the baby. And the worst part was knowing she’d brought the whole thing on herself.

      Sitting back in her chair, she put a hand over her abdomen and practiced her deep breathing.

      Her life had changed so much since she’d had that June appointment with the gynecologist. She’d felt herself going cold while hearing the results of the tests, but the doctor just kept talking. Just kept explaining. Saying that endometriosis usually got worse, that a pregnancy might relieve the symptoms, or even eliminate them. But, as time passed her chance of conceiving a baby would grow less and less…that it was probably a condition she’d had since first starting her periods.

      Julia shuddered, thinking about her childhood.

      She’d been so frightened of