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“Only an idiot would think you’d commit such a crime.”

“That’s true,” Harper snapped. “Because if I had to commit a crime, it would be to choke the life out of you!” She threw her hands up in a fit of frustration. “Why do you get such a kick out of bullying me?”

“I’m not quite sure myself,” the sheikh answered truthfully. “All I know is that I like seeing you angry. Watching your face then is like reading a book. It’s quite expressive, and highly amusing—-” He had to break off after that, with Harper letting out an ear-splitting screech of anger.

“I am not here to be your amusement!”

And yet you have always been that to me, the sheikh thought.

And the realization almost gave him pause.

Harper Griffiths had been quite a refreshing source of entertainment to him for the past eight years, and she had held his attention without trying to, and far longer than any woman had ever done. The fact that it was so bothered the sheikh for some reason, and it almost made him think twice about what he was about to propose. But then he remembered that time was not in his favor, and the sheikh’s momentary hesitation dissolved in a flash.

He started walking towards her again, this time crossing the room with purposeful strides. Meanwhile, Harper was still ranting, enumerating his bullying pranks over the years and riling herself up in the process.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten that time when you said you only wanted to dance with me because you didn’t want just any guy to get his hands on your honorary little sister? Do you know how many hate letters were sent to my house after that? Thousands! And some of them told me to go fucking kill myself!

“Stop toying with me!” The shrillness of her voice made Harper mentally cringe, but she could no longer help it. Whirling around, she drew a deep breath, intending to tell the sheikh once and for all that he was never to mess with her life again—-

Whoa!

Harper jumped back, startled by his sudden proximity. “D-don’t sneak up on me like that!”And don’t look so handsome when you’re near me.The sheikh was now dressed in casual Western clothing, dispensing with the robe in favor of a gray V-necked shirt and a loose pair of trousers. It made him look very different—-

But it also still made him look sexy like usual, enough to make her heart sway like crazy.

Damn sheikh.

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you,” the sheikh said in his usual soft tone. “I just don’t make a habit of marching noisily like you do.”

“I do not!” Well, okay, she did, but a gentleman would never have pointed that out.

The sheikh gestured towards the seating area. “If you would make yourself comfortable?”

“Is that a command as well?”

“If that’s what turns you on.”

Harper’s jaw dropped.“Sheikh!” Where. The. Hell. Did. That. Come. From?

The sheikh laughed. “Aistajama.”Be at ease.“It is merely a joke.”

She gave him a wooden smile. “Funny.”Not.She hurried away from him and practically collapsed on the couch, red-faced and trembling. Had he really said that? Had he?

If that’s what turns you on...

Her cheeks burned hotter. The sheikh had never spoken to her like that before.Never!So why would he say such a thingnow?

Khalil took the seat opposite Harper. Her face was still as expressive as ever, and he was pleased with this. He had always liked Harper, had always enjoyed the way she spoke her mind and was never on her guard with him. But he had never let himself think of her as a woman. His mind had always shied away from the possibility, knowing that it could ruin the one platonic friendship he enjoyed with the opposite sex.

But it was different now.

The sheikh’s gaze ran over her slowly and thoroughly. Her hair was long, just like how he liked it, and he also knew from experience that it was soft to touch. He imagined fisting her hair as they fucked—-

And his pulse leapt.

Her face was lovely, attractive, her wide mouth just the way he liked it, because it was the kind of mouth that gave the best blowjobs.

As for her body—-