Sheikh's Stand In by Sophia Lynn Read Free Book Online

respectfully engaged to a good man."
    "I see …" Her mind was spinning with the possibilities. It would do amazing things for her brand if she could add prospective princess to her list of accomplishments, and she couldn't deny that the opportunity to do some good wasn't enticing. She and Charlotte had talked about the conditions that some of the women in Khutal labored under, and she would love to see that changed.
    "What happens when we need to end it?" she asked. "Do I dump you, or do you dump me? What's that going to do to your credibility?"
    "After the legislation goes through, I'm not going to worry about it," he said with a shrug that was surely far too casual. "My priority right now is to make sure that it gets passed."
    She thought about it, and then she glanced up at Mikal. He had been handsome dressed and playing his brother's best man. Now, naked and fired up over the change he wanted to bring to his country, he was positively devastating.
    "I'll want to see the legislation," she said warningly, but she knew that she was in.
    ***
    She awoke to find him gone, but there was a note telling her to be ready, plus a small map to the dining room. Viviana smiled at their first meeting and dressed casually, pulling her hair back in a knot.
    She made her way to the dining room, and found a young woman there who asked her what she wanted for food. After the rich food from the night before, an egg-white omelet was about all she could handle.
    When the woman left with her order, she checked her phone. With an alert up regarding her own name, it only took a few seconds for her to realize how very fast Mikal intended to work.
    Sheikh's Brother Takes a Bride!
    Hidden Romance for Mikal ben-Arie and Foreign Lover!
    The Scholar and the Model, How Did They Meet?
     She laughed a little to herself, shaking her head as she started reading. Mikal must have given an interview first thing in the morning, and the details he gave were brief and vague. They had met years ago at school. She had come to Khutal for the wedding, and they had fallen in love. They were going to be wed at some point in the future, and she was very supportive of the reforms he had proposed.
    Reading over them last night, she had been impressed by their scope and depth. Everything from making sure women's health was covered to ensuring that young families received parental leave from work was included.
    "Progressive," she had mused. "You really thought this out."
    "I've done some traveling, and I have spent a lot of time with people who know their stuff," he had responded with a shrug. "If you want to invest in a future, you invest in mothers, you invest in children, and you invest in families."
     He and Aladdin were similar in looks, both very good-looking, powerful men. However, there was something in Mikal that captivated her, a kind of thoughtfulness that made her smile. She didn't know where this little charade was going to take them, but she knew that it was certainly going to be a wild ride.
    The door to the dining room opened, and instead of the girl returning, it was Mikal, bearing a plate with her omelet on it.
    "Good morning, beloved," he said, taking the seat next to her and sliding the eggs in front of her. "I caught the girl on her way here, and I offered to take it to you."
    There was something different about him this morning, and it took her a moment to figure out what it was.
    "You're wearing glasses again," she said with a smile. "I hadn't noticed until they came back. You didn't wear them for the ceremony?"
    "Or leading up to it, no," he nodded. "When I have long days, I prefer contacts that can't be knocked off of my face. At home, the glasses are what I prefer."
    "Hmm, I like them a lot. They make you look …"
    "Adorably nerdy?" he suggested, and she shook her head.
    "No. Elegant, maybe a little approachable. I don't quite know, but I like it."
    She reached over to touch the rim of his glasses, but at the last moment, he tilted his head and