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“Your name,” he prodded gently.

“Harper,” she answered reluctantly after a beat.

“Harper.” He spoke as if tasting her name on his tongue, and she scowled, just so she wouldn’t accidentally blush.Why did hearing this guy saying her name make it feel like he was tasting...her?

The guy’s gaze moved towards the book she was holding. “What are you reading?”

“History.”

“How surprising.”

“Why?” Harper felt defensive.

“Because most girls your age would probably be into Teen Vogue, I suppose.”

“Well, I’m not like most girls.”

“I’m beginning to realize that.”

She smiled stiffly then pointedly returned her attention to her history book, hoping that he would leave her alone after that.

Unfortunately, it was only the beginning. She knew that most people would see what happened afterwards was Jeremy Raybourne taking her under his wings, but that was not the case at all. Every time they bumped into each other, he would make it a point to greet her warmly, like they were long-lost friends. And when the public began to take notice, and a bold member of the press had dared to ask about their relationship, Jeremy had said smoothly,I see her as a sister, as Harper is an honorary daughter of our kingdom, by virtue of her father’s heroics and her own allegiance to our history.

And life changed forever after that, Harper thought grumpily as she angrily jabbed another piece of lamb on her plate before popping it into her mouth. Men hadn’t stopped flocking to her side since then, all of them hoping to gain the future king’s favor by dating his so-called honorary sister. And since turning them down continued to be a daily struggle even now, Harper was gloomily aware that her chances of finding her first boyfriend were dwindling close to zero.

And it was the damn sheikh’s fault, no one else’s.

Even now, the way the sheikh had so easily turned her life upside down for his amusement annoyed Harper to no end, and she found herself spearing the cuts of meat more quickly than usual. Before she knew it, she had finished the entire plate, and the other women on her table were whispering and making a not-so-subtle fuss about how quickly she was done eating.

Yeah, well, sorry for that, Harper apologized sarcastically in her mind,but it’s what you get when you have Howard Griffiths for a dad. Instead of letting her play with dolls, she and Howard had played cops and robbers, and later on instead of letting her have ballet lessons, he had taught her Army Survival 101, and one of the first lessons was to eat well and eat quickly – because one never knew when the next battle would start and how long it would last.

A server appeared by her side to whisk the dinner plate away while another asked if she would like to have coffee.

She shook her head. “No, thanks.” An unusually cool breeze played with her hair as she spoke, and Harper absently pushed the loose strands away. For today’s lunch, an outdoor barbecue party had been set up outside the palace, affording the guests a sweeping view of Ramil’s breathtaking desertscape. Great setting, really, but it did cause her hair to nearly poke her eye once too often. If tomorrow’s luncheon was still al fresco, she’d just cut a strip out of Howard’s tie and use it as a hair ribbon—-

A shadow fell over her, and when Harper caught a glimpse of a man in a dark suit in the corner of her eye, she didn’t bother looking up, hoping that whoever it was would take the hint. Did she really have to send a damn memo just to have everyone understand that she and the sheikh werenotclose and so there was no point trying to get on her good side? It was such a bother, and it was the damn sheikh’s—-

“Ms. Griffiths? We have been instructed by the Emir Sheikh to take you into custody.”

“Thanks, but no—-”Wait a minute, had she heard him right?Harper jumped to her feet, gaping. “Excuse me?”

The three men in front of her remained expressionless.

Harper’s teeth started to gnash. The damn sheikh was at it again.

****

KHALIL COULDN’T HELPgrinning as Harper stalked into his office and angrily slammed the doors behind her. “You damn bully!” Her green eyes shot sparks at him while a lovely flush stained her cheeks. She was panting, too, like she had run all the way here just so she could start yelling at him as soon as possible.

And knowing Harper as he did, the sheikh was certain this was the case.

Rising to his feet, he said smoothly, “Thank you for coming, Harper.”

“Like you gave me a choice! You do realize that your goons only lacked a pair of handcuffs and everyone would think you had me arrested, don’t you?”

“Is that so?”

“Ha! Don’t you dare pretend that wasn’t exactly what you planned to happen! Everyone was looking at me like I had stolen the silver or something!”