The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online

dress for an evening with a man like you. Shopping took up all my afternoon, except for the portion in which I was getting into the dress,” she explained, her eyes twinkling at his curious expression.
    He smiled back at her. “That is an occupation I hope to encourage,” he said and took a sip of his own martini. “Were you able to fix your meeting?” he asked.
    “No. The odious man wouldn"t even return my phone calls. One of his aides was screening all his callsalthough I"m pretty sure I have the man"s personal cell phone.” “Perhaps I could help with your mission if you"d care to explain it to me. I have many connections. Maybe I could reach this person for you.”
    Electra shook her head sadly. “Thank you ve ry much for the offer but this is something I have to do on my own,” she said, not willing to go into the reasons for that. “What did you do this afternoon?”
    “Met with boring, pompous men who tried to sell me things,” he replied.
     
    “What kinds of things?” she asked.
     
    “Buildings,” he answered.
     
    Electra almost chocked on her martini. She had to cough and take a deep breath before she could reply. “Did you say building?” she asked.
    He pulled his hand away that had been patting her back and smiled down into her stunned face. He wasn"t bragging but this was a normal part of his life and hadn"t thought anything of it before he"d opened up about his afternoon meetings. He hesitated for only a second with the realization that he"d never discussed his life with any other woman before. In his mind, women were a pleasant diversion but nothing more and certainly not part of his business world. Why had he said something like that to this one? And why was he going to continue to give her insight into his world? “Plural actually. A conglomerate is hoping to entice me into buying a packet of land and, in addition, they want me to build several sky scrapers on it.”
    Electra nodded sagely, as if she understood. But the idea of someone building sky scrapers, much less buying the land and more than one building, simply boggled her mind. “Well, of course,” she replied. “Why not go for the volume discounts,” she teased, still gasping slightly from the alcohol going down the wrong way. She fanned her face in the hopes that her embarrassment wouldn"t show.
    “Why not?” he laughed with her.
    “So, what exactly do you do? Are you some sort of property developer?” she asked, afraid that whatever he might reply would put him way out of her league. She didn"t want him to be that wealthy although this penthouse certainly screamed immense wealth.
    “I do many things,” he said ambiguously. He didn"t want to reveal his identity to this woman for some reason. Too many times, he"d been desired for his wealth or his title. He wanted to be desired for himself. Why he cared in this instance was beyond him but he did and he wasn"t going to question it at this point. Once he"d worked her out of his system and moved on to the next woman, he didn"t care if she found out about him. But he"d do all he could to keep her from learning of his real identity until that point arrived.
    “Such as?” she encouraged. “Think of ways to get you here tonight,” he replied.
    Electra blushed. She suspected that he"d meant to say “into my bed” but he"d held back at the last moment. If he"d said those words, she"d probably have stood up and started stripping right there and then, needing him so much she thought she might burst into flames at any moment. But she held back, sipping her martini in the hope that it might cool down her desire somehow.
    Something off to the side caught his attention and he nodded. “Are you ready for dinner?” he asked and stood up.
    Electra stood herself and turned in the direction of his nod, gasping when she caught three men in white chef uniforms with trays walking onto the terrace. They placed a plate in front of each chair at the table, then another in the center. One