“I’d like to invite you to fly out to my home country in the Middle East and stay there for six weeks, traveling around and performing at various venues. I would take care of all the travel arrangements and would book all of the gigs. All you would have to do is perform.”
Six weeks? In the Middle East? Hannah’s face must have given away her worry because Sadiq went on quickly.
“Don’t worry, you will be compensated handsomely. I’m prepared to offer you 500,000 dollars in exchange for the six-week tour.”
Hannah blinked widely. Half a million bucks? For six weeks of her time? This guy must be on something. There’s no way this could be happening. She only made about $100 a night singing for Harvey. How on earth could this guy afford to pay her half a million? She did the math in her head quickly; even if she sang every night, that would be 42 nights, at $100 a night. That would only be $4,200—Sadiq was offering her more than a hundred times that.
This had to be a scam. There was no way this could be for real. Hannah remembered what her father had taught her. ‘If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.’
She smiled politely. “Sadiq,” she said gently, trying to let him down easily. “I appreciate the offer, really, I do. But I’ll have to pass. Thank you, though.”
“I understand that this might all be a bit overwhelming,” said Sadiq, and Hannah noticed that he didn’t even flinch when she refused him. “I mean, you probably don’t get offered 500,000 bucks every day of your life.”
Now Hannah was insulted. How did he know? How dare he assume that she didn’t have better offers than singing at the Blue Moon?
She let out a long breath. Who was she kidding? If she had better offers, she’d have taken them a long time ago.
“No,” she said finally, unsure whether to be mad, or embarrassed. “I don’t.”
“Well, if you’ll just indulge me and take some time to think about it. Jazz isn’t particularly popular in my country—at least, not yet—and it’s hard to find good singers. I know you would go down a storm.”
Hannah wondered again if this guy was for real or not. Maybe he was a record producer. Maybe he was an agent. Either way, she was too tired to figure it out now.
“Tell you what, Sadiq. Let me sleep on it. I’ll be singing here again tomorrow night so you can check back with me then.”
Hannah already knew what her answer would be, but it couldn’t hurt to flirt with this handsome guy a little more.
Sadiq’s eyes twinkled when he spoke. “Miss Green, I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow night. Until then,” he reached out and grabbed her hand and held it up to his mouth.
Hannah had to hold back the gasp of air that tried to escape as he pressed his warm lips against her skin and kissed her hand gently.
He released her hand, smiled and walked down the hallway, disappearing into the dark. Hannah just stood there, unsure of what had just happened. She brought her hand up to her face and smelled the deep, rich scent of the cologne he had been wearing. It was unlike anything she had smelled and filled her up with a sensation that was hard to describe, and like nothing she had ever known before.
THREE
“Oh my God! Were you just talking to that guy?” Chloe’s excited voice snapped Hannah out of her pensive spell.
“What? What guy?” Hannah looked down the dark hallway where Chloe had just come from. “Oh, him? Yeah, he—”
Before she could say another word, Chloe interrupted her. “Do you know who that was?”
Hannah raised her eyebrows and shook her head, shrugging.
“That was only one of the richest bachelors in New York! Sheikh Sadiq bin-something or other! What did he want to talk to you about? What did you say to him?” Chloe was beside herself and pumped Hannah for details.
“Um, he, well, he just told me that he liked my singing.”
“Oh my God, girl! I can’t believe that he came up to you by himself! He usually has his whole entourage with him. Haven’t you seen him in the society pages or the tabloids? He’s all over the place!”
“Uh-uh,” Hannah said slowly. A rich bachelor? A sheikh? That certainly explains the home country thing.
“You two, keep it down back there!” Harvey’s gruff voice came down the hallway. “How many times have I told you?”
Chloe grabbed Hannah and pushed her into the dressing room. Hannah flopped onto the sofa, her eyes wide. Now she understood. The offer he had made her was for real. He was legitimately rich. Holy cow!
“So what did you talk about? What did he say to you, exactly? I want all the details.” Chloe sat in the chair across from Hannah, fidgeting like an excited child.
“Well, first he told me he liked my singing.”
“Uh-huh. And then what?”
Hannah smiled. “Then, he told me my voice was, sensual.”
Chloe threw her hands up to her face. “Oh my God! That’s incredible, Han!”
“Yeah, I know,” Hannah said, beaming.
“Okay, what else? There’s something else, I know it.”
Hannah’s face turned serious and she looked straight at her friend. “He asked me to fly to his home country for a six-week tour.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me? Are you being serious? You’re serious, aren’t you?”