The Desert Prince's Proposal

‘We make our own luck,’ he said, staring at her intently as the waiter returned, filled their glasses with pricey champagne and left as unobtrusively as he’d arrived.

Though she couldn’t fathom the curiosity in his eyes, she agreed one hundred percent about the luck thing.

She might have been born into the richest family in Australia, but she’d shunned that life when old enough to escape her father’s clutches, had made her own way in the world, built her own company, and was still her own woman.

Picking up her flute, she raised it in his direction. ‘To luck.’

‘To luck,’ he said, clinking glasses with her ever so softly, his warm, melted-treacle gaze in stark contrast to the icy bite of champagne bubbles sliding down her suddenly constricted throat.

With an extremely handsome guy staring at her with ill-concealed fascination, she felt extremely lucky indeed.

Bria kicked off her stilettos as soon as she entered her room and, padding across to the king-sized bed, flopped back onto the plump pillows.

She was exhausted.

Not a totally foreign feeling, considering she felt this way most nights after the gruelling hours she kept and the way she pushed herself at work, but tonight was different.

Her weariness had nothing to do with work—it had been the furthest thing from her mind for most of the evening—and had everything to do with the suave man who’d held her captivated for most of it.

Sam was something else.

From the top of his thick, black hair to the soles of his polished designer shoes, he’d held her enthralled. He’d said all the right things, done all the right things, and she’d found herself hanging on his every word towards the end of dinner.

Not that he’d said terribly much. Instead he’d steered the conversation away from himself and had focussed it solely on her. She would’ve normally found such secrecy troubling, and intense scrutiny unnerving, yet when he’d stared at her with that melt-me gaze she’d quite happily blabbed away until she’d stuffed food into her mouth to shut up.

When Sam had talked he’d had a distinct way of speaking, a polite, almost formal intonation that leant weight to his words, and she’d wished several times during the course of the evening that they could spend more time together. It had been a long while since any guy had captured her attention so thoroughly, and she wanted to know more.

Groaning, she closed her eyes and flung her arm across them.

Well, she’d got her wish.

Before they’d parted at the lifts in the foyer Sam had said what a lovely time he’d had, and he would really like to spend tomorrow with her before conducting his business and flying out of the country.

She should’ve said no.

She should’ve mumbled some excuse about preparing her speech for Sunday.

She should’ve turned frigid like she had when any guy had come near her since Ellis.

Instead, she’d smiled and blushed and nodded and made a complete fool of herself.

What was she thinking?

‘You weren’t,’ she mumbled, wondering if she could plead a headache tomorrow morning, knowing that would be the wimp’s way out.

Since when had she ever done wimpy?

Determined to ignore the niggle of misgiving that she’d just made an impulsive decision with her heart rather than her head, she logged on to her emails, eager to bury herself in business and forget her fascination with Sam and their impending date.

Scanning through the usual requests for quotes, her gaze focussed on one bearing the heading ‘Welcome to Adhara’. Her best friend Eloise had been whisked away to live in the tiny desert country since her marriage to royalty, and had been begging her to visit ever since.

However, this email wasn’t another of Lou’s badgering missives. Instead, it had come from Ned Wilson, her biggest client in Australia—the media mogul who had a thing for Middle Eastern architecture, and who’d been hounding her every step to turn his Sydney-harbour mansion into a replica of something out of Arabian Nights.

Her finger slipped off the laptop’s mouse as she read the email. Ned wanted his mansion to be authentic, had discovered the only mosaics he’d consider having in his home, and had booked her a trip to Adhara.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she reread the email. It wasn’t a request, it was an order, and considering Ned Wilson could make or break careers—and had done so quite publicly in the past—it looked like she had little choice.

She hated any guy thinking he could control her, yet, with the promise of Ned’s renovated mansion sending her reputation through the glass ceiling, she’d swallow her pride for once and do what he wanted. Architecture was predominantly male-oriented and she battled for recognition with every job.

Taking a few calming breaths before she fired off a response, Bria checked out the information Ned had attached to the email. Though she hated his high-handedness in organising this trip without asking, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by the sweeping desert sands, the white-washed buildings and the quaint market places.

She’d always been fascinated by exotic places and their architecture, and it looked like she was about to get an up-close-and-personal view of Adhara whether she wanted it or not.

Sighing, she fired off a second email, to Lou this time, informing her of the upcoming visit. Her friend would be ecstatic, though considering the business nature of the trip she seriously doubted they’d have much time for doing what they loved best: lounging around, sharing gossip and packets of chocolate Tim-Tams.

All in all, this trip wouldn’t be too bad. Ned could’ve sent her to the outer reaches of the Sahara on a whim, rather than a country where she knew someone, and once she completed his house her reputation as an architect would soar.

Nothing like positive publicity to build a career, she thought, and, feeling more upbeat than she had a few minutes ago, Bria logged off and padded into the bathroom, her mind filled with images of endless stretches of desert—quickly replaced by a man with mesmerising dark eyes.

CHAPTER THREE

‘HOW gorgeous.’

Bria’s first glimpse of the Victorian rose garden took her breath away.

At least, that was her excuse and she was sticking to it.

No way could the slight breathless feeling tightening her chest have anything to do with the guy by her side, no matter how perfect he seemed.

‘I agree. Gorgeous,’ Sam said, his dark-eyed gaze fixed firmly on her, and not wavering towards the beautiful blooms for a second.

Heat crept into her cheeks, and Bria silently chastised herself for reacting like a blushing schoolgirl to a compliment from a suave man.

So, Sam had charm. She’d figured that out pretty quick-smart over dinner last night, and for guys like him paying compliments didn’t mean a thing. It came as naturally to them as breathing.

‘Shall we keep walking?’

She barely waited for his nod, eager to escape the enigmatic smile playing about his mouth as she headed into the garden. Losing herself among the stunning blooms would be infinitely better than losing herself in the seductive power of his smile.

‘There is so much colour, so much beauty,’ he said, his reverent tone stopping her in her tracks, and she turned, surprised to see him stooping low and inhaling the fragrance of a magnificent red rose the size of a fist.

She’d never expected an international businessman to take time out to smell the roses, literally, and seeing Sam softly caress the petals of the perfect blood-red bloom brought an unexpected lump to her throat.

Oh, no… No, no, no!

She didn’t do emotion when it came to guys, never had, and, considering she’d barely known Sam twenty-four hours, letting him breach the iron-clad barriers around her heart would be beyond foolish.

Men were great in the boardroom, so-so in the bedroom, and had no clues when it came to her needs. Which was why she’d eventually tired of Ellis, no matter how convenient it had been to share some of her life with him in London.

Considering his true colours, she’d been lucky she hadn’t let him into her heart despite the occasional yearning for something more, something beyond the rather cool relationship they’d had.

As for Sam, falling for a guy she barely knew would be the ultimate insanity, especially considering he lived on the opposite side of the planet and was a walking, talking advertisement for everything she mistrusted in a guy.

Clearing her throat, she grabbed at a nice, safe topic to clear her befuddled head.

‘I’m off on a really interesting trip once this conference is finished,’ she said, unable to stop her gaze drifting to his butt as he bent over the rose, knowing it wasn’t the tailored fit of his casual khaki trousers that held it but the perfection outlined beneath the cotton.

‘Where are you going?’

He straightened and she shifted her gaze in record time, the heat in her cheeks intensifying as he locked gazes with her, and she had the uncanny feeling he could read her mind.

‘You probably haven’t heard of it. It’s a tiny country called Adhara. One of my clients is mad for Middle Eastern architecture and wants his house to be perfect, so has basically ordered me to go over there. Plus, my best friend lives there, so it should be great.’

Sam stiffened, his gaze snapping to hers before he smiled, a genuinely warm smile which reached his eyes and turned them to molten chocolate, despite the flicker of something mysterious in their depths.

‘Actually, I have heard of it. It’s a beautiful country.’

‘You’ve been there?’

He hesitated a moment before nodding.

‘My business takes me to many places in the world. It’s one of the perks.’

‘Same here,’ she said, wondering if she could pump him for more information than she’d gleaned from the stuff Ned had sent through last night.

Adhara piqued her curiosity, and from what she’d seen of the desert land on the Net she knew designing the perfect house for Ned Wilson would be a challenge she was more than up for.

‘Though I must admit travelling to a place like Adhara wouldn’t have been my first choice, unless I was practically ordered to go.’

‘Why?’

Bria shrugged, somewhat disconcerted by Sam’s penetrating stare, more so by her compulsion to divulge her thoughts to a man she barely knew.

‘Honestly? From the snippets I’ve gleaned from Lou, my best friend, I have this vision of a tiny country something along the lines of Monaco. You know, the type of place ruled by an insular, powerful family controlling everyone and everything. I guess I’ve never gone in for that sort of thing.’

Sam’s lips thinned, as if he didn’t approve of her thoughts. Not surprising, considering he was an influential businessman living in London who probably thrived on controlling everything, from his work to his social life.

‘If you haven’t been there how can you judge the country?’

If his grim expression hadn’t been a dead giveaway that he didn’t approve, the bitter edge to his words would.

‘I suppose you think I’m way too judgemental, huh?’

She deliberately kept her tone light, not wanting anything to spoil the special day they’d had.

It had definitely been far too long since she’d spent any time with a guy, let alone one as impressive as Sam, and she’d lost her ability to keep things cool.

‘Everyone is entitled to their own views,’ he said, the tension in his shoulders relaxing as he stepped to her side. ‘But I will be interested to hear what you think of Adhara once you’re there.’

‘Uh-huh,’ she mumbled, knowing that wouldn’t happen.

She wouldn’t keep in touch with Sam.

What was the point?

London and Sydney were poles apart. She’d already tried living on the other side of the world once before, and look where that had got her.

‘Shall we have our picnic now?’

Glad to hear Sam’s jovial tone, she nodded and looked up, surprised by the glint of purpose in his eyes.

His gaze was too potent.

He was standing too close.

And when she took a deep breath to clear her head his subtle scent, faintly reminiscent of sandalwood mingled with the heady rose fragrance surrounding them, had her leaning towards him to savour more.

‘Bria?’

He reached out and placed a finger beneath her chin, gently tilting her head up till she had no option but to stare into his eyes, mesmerised by the flicker of excitement in their obsidian depths.

A sizzle of heat licked along her veins, making her want to close the short distance between them, plant her lips against his and see if they tasted as good as they looked.

He had a finely shaped mouth, the type of mouth made for delivering important news, for imparting smooth words, for soul-deep, soul-destroying kisses…

‘Shall we eat now?’

He spoke so softly she barely heard, and through the fog of insane need clouding her brain she registered several fleeting thoughts at once.

I want to kiss him.

I want to know more about him.

I want to spend more time with him.

Instead, she stepped away, breaking the tenuous contact between them, knowing what she wanted and what she got were usually at opposite ends of her life’s spectrum.

‘Sounds good. I’m starving,’ she said, heading for the picnic blanket they’d set up under a nearby oak tree, more than a little annoyed this man had the power to breach her emotional barriers without trying.

‘Your country is beautiful.’

Bria tore her gaze from the magnificent setting sun and turned towards Sam, as dazzled by his gorgeousness as the purple, ochre and golden dusk descending around them.

‘It is. They don’t call Australia “the lucky country” for nothing.’

An indefinable emotion flickered in the dark depths of his eyes before he smiled.

‘At this moment I am the lucky one.’

Bria returned his smile, revelling in the splendour of the moment, knowing it was too late to play coy or pretend she didn’t understand what he implied.

She’d spent the most incredible, magical day with Sam, and the sparks sizzling between them had been difficult to ignore. He hadn’t overstepped the mark once, and she’d had to physically refrain from launching herself at him several times.

How ironic she was emotionally frigid yet so responsive physically to his potent presence.

‘Are you flattering me?’

He shrugged, the simple action pulling his white polo-shirt up, and displaying a tantalising glimpse of flat, tanned stomach for an all-too-brief second.

‘I am merely stating the truth.’

‘So you’ve enjoyed today?’

His steady stare sent a ripple of awareness down her spine.

‘More than you could possibly know.’

‘I’ve had a good time too,’ she said, turning back to lean on the elaborate balustrade of the Mansion, concentrating on the view before she burned up from the inside out.

Not dating for so long had been a stupid move, if this was how she reacted to a guy after knowing him for less than two days. She never behaved like this, she usually made sure of it.

Isolating her heart, protecting her emotions, were learned responses and they’d served her just fine. No use tampering with a foolproof survival mechanism, no matter how tempting the guy.

‘It is a shame it has to end.’

She couldn’t agree more but, the sooner she put an end to her whimsical, nonsensical yearning where Sam was concerned, the better.

Instilling the right amount of regret into her voice, she said, ‘Yes, but I must prepare my presentation tonight.’

‘Your work is very important to you. I understand.’

The surprising thing was she could tell he did understand. There was no censure in his tone, no judgement, and she wished for the hundredth time that day that things could be different.

‘Would you like to walk back to the hotel now?’

She could add ‘intuitive’ to his list of already growing, impressive attributes.

Fiddling with a patch of peeling paint-work on the balustrade, she furiously marshalled her thoughts, knowing she should end this now and walk away alone.

She hated goodbyes, hated the awkwardness that accompanied them, and she knew without a doubt that saying goodbye to Sam would be harder than she could’ve thought possible when they’d first met at the airport yesterday.

‘Bria? Is something wrong?’

Sighing, she turned to face him, torn between wanting to make a run for it and prolonging their parting for as long as possible.

‘Honestly? I’ve enjoyed your company more than I expected, and I’ve always found saying goodbye difficult.’

He raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curving up into a smile.

‘I think you just paid me a compliment.’

‘You bet,’ she muttered under her breath, wishing her pulse wouldn’t accelerate at the slightest glimpse of his smile, all too aware she’d never had this instant attraction to any other man before, and totally thrown by it.

‘If saying goodbye is so difficult, maybe we should agree to meet again?’

Her heart turned over in hope before plummeting. She may be in the throes of forgetting every sane reason why she usually held guys like Sam at bay, but that didn’t mean she’d lost it completely.

Keeping in contact would be futile, considering this was a flying visit to Australia for him and she had no plans to return to London any time soon.

Not to mention the unshakeable fear that her interest in him, and the incredible speed at which it had developed, could breach the finely honed defence mechanisms she’d taken a lifetime to establish.

Shaking her head, she said, ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen, so maybe it’s best we say goodbye now?’

Rather than his smile slipping, it widened into a confident grin of a guy used to getting everything he wanted.

‘I asked you yesterday if you believed in fate.’

‘And I’m pretty sure I told you what I think of it,’ Bria said, finding his philosophising strange in a man who obviously dealt in concrete deals on a daily basis.

The businessmen she liaised with were firmly rooted in facts and figures, relegating fate to the hands of those unlucky enough to lose out to their mega deals. Yet here Sam was, implying there was something more to their meeting than a chance encounter—weird.

‘Do you want to know what I think?’

Her breath hitched as he took a step closer, filling her personal space with his potent presence, drawing her towards him like metal to a magnet.

‘Uh-huh.’

‘I think we’re going to meet again. Soon.’

She chuckled at his prediction, her forced laughter a cover for the riotous nerves pulsating through her body at his proximity.

She wanted to flee.

She wanted to stay.

She didn’t know what the heck she wanted!

Sam took the decision out of her hands when he reached out and captured her face between his palms.

‘This has been a special time for me, Bria Green. And I think you feel the same way.’

She couldn’t nod, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, and when he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers in the barest of kisses her eyelids fluttered shut as sensation exploded like a fireball.

‘That is fate’s way of sealing our future meeting,’ he murmured, his deep voice washing over her in a sensuous wave, low, warm, intimate, and she all but melted against him.

His lips grazing hers had sent her lingering doubts of a proper goodbye up in flames and she opened her eyes, determined to imprint this man, this moment, in her mind.

However, the instant her eyes opened her resolution to make their farewell short and sweet vanished and she covered his mouth with hers, pouring her incredible, uncharacteristic desire for him into the swift, heartfelt kiss.

She didn’t think.

She didn’t rationalise.

She didn’t excuse.

Instead, the minute he responded by parting his lips a fraction she deepened the kiss, eager to taste him, to tease him, to drive him wild with wanting.

As much as she wanted this kiss, as much as she wanted him.

Fire streaked through her body as their tongues touched, tentatively at first, before growing more eager, more demanding.

He tasted of the sweet strawberries dipped in chocolate they’d shared for their picnic dessert, an intoxicating combination she’d never forget.

Sam infused her with sensations she’d never dreamed possible. She wanted to taste him, to feel him, to hear him moan her name…

He groaned and slid his fingers into her hair, pushing her hard up against the balustrade as he showed her exactly how much their attraction was mutual.

Bria had no idea how long they stood there, mouths frantic, bodies entwined, but the moment he broke the kiss reality came crashing down with a finality that left her more breathless, if that were possible.

She’d thrown herself at him.

She’d practically devoured him.

What had she been thinking?

Racking her brain for the right words, for any words, she gnawed at her bottom lip.

‘You do not need to say anything,’ Sam said, placing a finger against her lips for an all-too-brief moment, before dropping his hand.

Cursing her ineptitude with men, she said, ‘Sam, I—’

‘We will meet again. Trust me.’

Shaking her head, she said, ‘You’re a very confident guy, but I have to disagree with you on this one.’

He shrugged and she fisted her hands to prevent herself from reaching out and feeling those broad shoulders one last time.

‘Then let us agree to disagree. Shall we return to the hotel now?’

Hating that the inevitable moment had finally come, Bria squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye in the same way she’d faced any unpleasant situation for as long as she could remember.

‘I’d rather head back alone, if that’s okay with you?’

He inclined his head in a strangely formal gesture. ‘As you wish.’

Taking a steadying breath, and battling an annoying burning at the back of her eyes, she said, ‘Take care. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Melbourne.’

His eyes glittered with pleasure, and she took a small step back to stop launching into his arms again.

‘I most certainly did. Thank you for spending time with me.’

‘It was fun.’

Fun? Fun? Could she be any more understated if she tried?

‘Farewell, Bria Green.’

He took her hand and bent over it, placing a soft, lingering kiss on the back of it, and she sighed, wishing she could prolong this moment for ever.

‘Bye, Sam.’

Smiling into his handsome face for the last time, she couldn’t fathom his triumphant expression or the mysterious gleam in his chocolate eyes and, forcing her legs to move, she walked away.

Her kitten heels tapping against the polished veranda-boards echoed in the eerie silence, and she willed herself not to look back despite the overwhelming urge to do just that.

‘This is not goodbye,’ Sam said, his tone sure and commanding, and her steps faltered as a shiver ran up her spine.

She might not believe in fate or premonition, or any of that stuff, but in that second, with the taste of Sam lingering on her lips and the precious memories of their brief time together in her heart, she almost wished she did.

CHAPTER FOUR

‘BREE, over here.’

Bria’s head swivelled to the tall, elegant brunette stepping out of a gleaming silver limousine, excitement making her forget her luggage as she flew across the scorching concrete.

‘Lou! You look amazing!’

Lou laughed and cried and squeezed the life out of her as they hugged, and stepped apart for a second before hugging again.

‘It’s so good to see you, Bree.’

Lou held her at arm’s length, her mischievous blue stare travelling over Bria’s mint-green shift dress and matching shoes in record time.