The Sheikh's Accidental Bride by Holly Rayner Read Free Book Online

the dress, hadn’t gone right ahead to their employer and told him she was just a commoner who had somehow slipped into their world and was pretending that she belonged there. It wasn’t just the dress; she didn’t belong here either.
     
    Nadya could feel the bubble that she and the prince had been in bursting. And as it did, she remembered her sister. She’d probably be worried sick by now.
     
    She slid back into her bed, feeling too defeated even to undress. He clothes were uncomfortable against the sumptuous softness of the mattress. She dug her phone out of her pocket and turned it on. The screen lit up the room with a phony artificial light that felt as much like it didn’t belong here as she did.
     
    The device took a long time to boot up – a symptom of its age – but when it did, the number of notifications by the phone and messaging apps was intimidatingly large.
     
    They would be from her sister, probably. And her parents. She didn’t want to look at them. She’d thought, only moments before, that she wanted to see them, but now that she only needed to tap a button, they didn’t seem quite so necessary.
     
    Nadya turned the phone off and set in on the night stand. She wouldn’t need to answer the messages if she didn’t go home tonight. And what would be the harm, she figured, of sleeping here for just one night? If Salman was a night owl, it made sense that she’d be able to wake up before him in the morning. She’d be gone before he woke, so what did it matter if she was here while he slept?
     
    The defeat she’d felt a moment before was lifting. She had a plan. It would be all right.
     
    The bed really did feel like a cloud, and the sheets had to be felt to be believed. She shimmied out of her clothes, still under the covers, and settled in. This was the night of her life. She might as well enjoy it.

 
    SIX

It was the sun that woke Nadya, filtering through the skylight above. She was confused at first, trying to get her bearings. Everything felt light and bright, soft and warm. Everything felt still, and right.
    And yet, everything was wrong. Panic shot through her. Whatever magic the dinner, the conversation, the stars and the moonlight might have had her under, the morning had released her. She knew where she was, and where she was, was in trouble.
     
    She scurried about the room, thinking she was lucky that she hadn’t packed that much for the trip. She only got the one bag, and the airline she’d picked had a strict weight limit for their checked baggage. Nadya almost laughed out loud remembering. The idea of caring so much about an extra $25 when she was surrounded by so much luxury struck her as funny.
     
    But she didn’t have time to laugh. She had to go. She didn’t want to turn her phone on. At least, not until she was out of the building. There would be frantic messages waiting for her, and she didn’t have the wherewithal to face them yet. One problem at a time.
     
    She put on the same clothes as she had been wearing last night. They were her traveling clothes – functional and comfortable. They’d have to do for now.
     
    She headed out to the hallway, and was immediately confused. Which way had she come, last night, nestled against his chest, safe in his arms? She’d been too sleepy to notice.
     
    But then she saw the double-doors, and she knew. She would head through them, hang a right, and then the elevator would be on her left. She opened the door and—
     
    Crash.
     
    She’d opened the door not knowing someone was on the other side, carrying a loaded breakfast tray. There were breaking dishes and glasses, and the sounds of the tray settling to the ground, crashing like a cymbal.
     
    And there, in the middle of it all, with orange juice down the front of his silk pajamas, was Salman.
     
    “You’re awake!” he said, his first proper words after all of the “oh”s they’d both uttered.
     
    Nadya tossed her bag, as stealthily as she could, behind the