“Wow, Mom. That’s great. I’d love to meet him sometime.”
“Maybe we can all have dinner in a few weeks. I can make a reservation somewhere.”
“Why don’t we get together at your house, or at mine, and do dinner there? It would give us more time to talk.”
Patricia nodded. “All right then. I’ll talk to Richard and find a good time.”
The server brought their food, and Lauren hoped that eating would distract her mother even further. Picking up her fork, Patricia gave Lauren a pointed look.
“And what about your love life, Lauren? Are you seeing anyone?”
Lauren really didn’t know how to answer that question. She and Hakim weren’t dating—she wasn’t even sure what to call their situation. But she did like him.
She spoke carefully. “I’m not dating anyone. There is someone I’d like to get to know better, but I’m not sure it would even go anywhere if I did.”
“Why not?” Patricia asked.
And that was the question she didn’t want to answer, so she shrugged. “Call it a hunch.”
Patricia accepted that answer, and Lauren was relieved when their conversation turned toward safer subjects.
But later that night, curled up on her couch at home, Lauren couldn’t stop thinking about what her mother had said. She wondered if the night before with Hakim was a fluke. They were both tired, there had been wine… Maybe it didn’t mean anything.
It didn’t feel like nothing, though. Lauren felt a definite spark there, and if he were anyone else, there would be no question about wanting to explore it.
She was going over and over it in her head, trying to decide what to do, especially after her week of servitude was finished. The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
Lauren checked the phone before answering. “Speaking of,” she said as she hit the answer button.
He didn’t even give her a chance to say hello. “Lauren, I need you to pack a bag and be ready to travel.”
“I’m sorry, but what?”
“We’re flying to Al Asaab tonight. My assistant isn’t available over the weekend, and since you still have a few days on your contract, you’ll be accompanying me as my PA.”
“Hakim, I can’t just leave. I’ve got work to do.”
“Yes, you do. And since you’re working for me this week, I expect you to be ready at midnight. I’ll pick you up on our way to the airport.”
He didn’t wait for her to agree, he simply hung up without saying goodbye. Lauren stared at her phone in shock.
“Of course, he wants to fly halfway around the world. Tonight. Of course, I have to go with him. Of course, he’s an arrogant, demanding jerk about it.”
Since there wasn’t anything else she could do, Lauren packed her bag.
Chapter 11
Hakim
Hakim was too wired to sleep. He napped here and there during the fourteen-hour flight, but mostly he checked his work email and talked with the pilots and steward.
And the rest of the time, he sat, thinking, catching glimpses of Lauren as she slept.
She had not been happy with him when he’d picked her up at midnight, and had barely spoken to him the whole ride to the airport. Even though he saw she was impressed by his private jet, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she made a point of carrying both his bag and hers up the stairs onto the plane. Hakim had tried to take his bag, but she’d stopped him with a sharp glare.
Insisting that she travel with him as he personal assistant may not have been the right strategy, Hakim thought, as they flew through the night. All he wanted was to show her his home, to wine and dine her in the manner she deserved, and show her how much he appreciated her company.
But he’d fallen back on an arrogant attitude to get what he wanted. He knew it would have been better to ask and explain, but once he had made the decision to go, he was too excited to think about tact.
He was so rarely impulsive, he hadn’t known how to contain his excitement. And so, he’d assumed and ordered where a request would have been the wiser course.
Hakim vowed that he would make it up to Lauren when they landed. She’d been such a good sport all week. Maybe all he really wanted to do was show her that he wasn’t a bad person.
Lauren had fallen asleep almost immediately after the plane took off. She was stretched out on a couch in the back of the cabin where it was dark, with two blankets tucked around her. Hakim had given her the blankets and a pillow after she made it clear that she intended to sleep instead of talk to him on the flight. She’d also made it clear she didn’t want to fall asleep on the same couch as him again, taking the seat farthest from him.