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Socially awkward then!

I used to believe that, until I realized you’re just socially lazy.And her court tutor had glared at her.Which is why I’ll be watching you like a hawk this weekend.

Remembering this made her glance over her shoulder—-

Her court tutor was indeed there, a nondescript figure in gray standing at the edge of the crowd, violet eyes trained on the queen.

Ugh.

Harper hurriedly looked for someone to talk to, lest the damn tattletale report to the sheikh she was being “socially lazy.” Unfortunately, the first woman she chanced to talk to turned out to be a hedge fund manager, and when the other woman started discussing the potential economic ramifications of Brexit, her eyes started to glaze—-

From across the hall, Rayyan’s blue eyes started shooting daggers at her.

Oh, shit.

Harper straightened and forced herself to concentrate on the conversation. It lasted another five minutes before the woman’s husband thankfully called her away.Oh, thank God. Another minute there and her brain might have started hemorrhaging.

Turning around, she bumped into aYouTube vlogger,who then asked her opinion aboutDCEU vs. MCUbut later on appeared surprised when she answered him in all seriousness, saying, “DCEU might win it for me if they let CW’sArrowjoin them in the silver screen.” And when the guy’s jaw dropped, she couldn’t help adding, “But what I’m really more interested in is seeing who wins theChris Wars.” She had only meant this as a joke, then a hand suddenly curved around her waist from behind, and Harper almost yelped.

Oh, shit, she knew that touch.

Turning around, she saw that it was indeed the sheikh, along with all four of his vassals.

Shit, shit, shit.

Had they heard—-

Tarif was openly smirking. Altair was shaking his head. Malik was grinning, while Rayyan, as always, was glaring at her.

Harper slowly looked at the sheikh, her husband.

One dark eyebrow arched at her.Are you certain you want to talk about other men?

OH SHIT.

He inclined his head to the side.Because if you do, I’ll start talking about Wonder Woman and the Black Widow—-

SHIT.

Since having the sheikh merely think of another woman was already unimaginably tortuous for Harper, she backpedaled immediately, turning to the vlogger as she stammered, “I w-was, umm, just joking. Whoever wins theChris Warswouldnevercompare to my husband. He’s thehottestof them all.”

She could feel the sheikh’s gaze boring through hers, and she nodded vehemently, stressing with all the piousness of a devoted wife, “The hottest, ever.”

By now, even the YouTube vlogger had caught on with her little tête à tête with the sheikh and was doing his best to keep a serious face. When she was done singing praises to the sheikh’s hotness, the vlogger coughed, saying, “I’ll,umm, make sure to let all the fans of Chris Wars know that, ma’am.”

He would?The words caught her off-guard, and Harper cringed before she could stop herself.

Behind her, the other sheikhs burst into laughter.

Khalil pulled his wife close, murmuring smoothly, “See that you do. My queen will appreciate it.” He looked down at Harper. “Won’t you?”

She bared her teeth at him. “Oh, I will.”Not! Never! Ever!

The sheikh’s dark eyes laughed at her, telling Harper that he knew perfectly what she truly meant to say.

When the vlogger left, she muttered, “I should go,” but the sheikh only pulled her closer, and Harper stiffened. “People are loo—-” Her voice trailed off. A quick look around them told her that this wasn’t the case for the other sheikhs, along with the AFK this time, had once again formed a circle around them, preventing anyone from seeing them.

“Still angry with me?” the sheikh asked softly. When she didn’t answer, he asked, “Is that a yes then?”