Page 26 of The Sheikh's Fake Bride Scheme

“It isn’t as if there’s nothing in this for me,” she said.

“You seemed to feel that way back in Qalmar!”

“I felt that way when I thought you weren’t going to include me in things. Now that you are, of course it’s different. Of course I feel like this is all going to benefit me as much as you.”

“Well, I’m glad,” Kareem said. “But I’m also going to ensure that you enjoy yourself as much as possible every step of the way, Keira. Remember, you are only going to be a sheikha for a short time. I’m going to be in this position for the rest of my life, but you should take advantage of the luxuries we’re afforded as much as you possibly can while you have the chance. So take the master bedroom.”

“All right,” Keira agreed, finally swayed. That argument made a great deal of sense to her. “Thank you, Kareem.”

“Thankyou. I haven’t lost sight of the fact that you’re helping me to achieve my dream.” He grinned at her. “Go get yourself ready for the party. We have an exciting evening ahead.”

Keira nodded and went into the master bedroom, pulling the double doors closed behind her.

Once inside, she saw that the room was even more luxurious than she’d realized. There was a balcony on the far side that looked out over the city, and when she went to take in the view, she saw that there was a jacuzzi on the balcony. Her body shivered with excitement at the thought of relaxing there later. She hadn’t brought a swimsuit, but that was all right. She could buy one in the hotel gift shop, maybe, or— well, this was a private balcony, after all. Maybe she didn’t need swimwear.

She opened the drawers of the ornate wooden dresser that stood on one side of the room, unzipped her suitcase, and began to load her things into it. It felt odd to do this — they were only going to be here for a few days, after all, and ordinarily she would have simply lived out of her suitcase for such a hotel stay. But it didn’t seem appropriate to do that on this trip.It’s not what a sheikha would do.

Keira smiled wryly to herself. Maybe she was getting more accustomed to her temporary title than she’d realized.

With her suitcase emptied, she stowed it under the bed. Then she flopped down on her back and stared up at the ceiling. Above her, a wide-bladed fan rotated lazily, stirring the air in the room and adding a bit of pleasant ambient noise to the space.

I can’t believe Kareem gave me this room. He didn’t have to do that. He’s more caring than I’ve given him credit for.

She thought about what he’d said about the two of them — how they made such good friends. It certainly wasn’t anything she had expected to hear from Kareem. Neither one of them hadgotten into this arrangement out of a sense of genuine friendship for the other one. And yet… well, there was something to it.

Keira could relate to what he had said about not having anyone who appreciated the same thing she did. Her whole family loved racing, of course — she and Kareem were opposites in that way. But none of them appreciated what went into planning an event, staging a race. None of them could appreciate the hard work Keira put into everything she did. Now that she knew Kareem, she felt as if there was someone in the world who truly saw her for who she was and how hard she worked, and that was a wonderful feeling.

She closed her eyes. It would be good to take a quick power nap before tonight’s festivities. She had no idea what a VIP party in Monaco might entail, but she did know that she was going to need to be at her best. This might be the event that would make or break their entire plan. If the right people were present, and if she and Kareem were able to persuade them of the benefits of a race in Qalmar, there would be nothing to stop them from achieving success.

If enough high-profile drivers get on board, even the king won’t be able to shut us down.

A smile crossed her face at the absurdity of the fact that she was even having such a thought. Here she was, lying on a bed in Monaco, thinking about the best way to thwart a king.

How had this become her life?

One thing was for sure — Keira was determined to enjoy it as much as possible for as long as she could.

CHAPTER 12

KAREEM

“You look beautiful,” Kareem told Keira as they rode the elevator up to the event center at the top of the stadium.

She fidgeted. “I can’t believe you had a dress sent in for me to wear.”

“Do you not like it?”

“I love it. It’s beautiful. Of course I like it. It’s just… so fancy. This is nicer than anything I own, Kareem.” She bit her lip. “Which I guess is why you had it sent — because nothing I own would have been nice enough.”

“I didn’t mean it in an unkind way,” Kareem assured her. “I’m sure your clothes are lovely.”

“No, don’t worry,” she said. “I didn’t take it personally. You’re right. Everything I own comes from department stores. I don’t own any of the kind of thing anyone would expect to see a member of the royal family wearing.”

“And that would be perfectly fine with me,” Kareem said. “I don’t want you to feel as if anything you did wouldn’t have been good enough for me. I just wanted you to have this option so that you would feel as if you fit in at the party. You would have been fine to come to this party in jeans and a T-shirt, if that was what pleased you.”

Keira chuckled. “I don’t know what I was expecting to find in Monaco, but this certainly wasn’t it. Maybe we should just stay here.”

“If only we could!” Kareem said. “I’ve often thought that it would be easier just to move to a country where motorsports are already a part of the culture and do my best to become a part of the racing scene there. It would certainly be easier than trying to build a whole racing culture in my father’s country against his wishes. But I can’t leave Qalmar. Even though I’m not in line to rule, I am passionate about my home country, and I could simply never bring myself to leave it behind.”

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