Turkish Delights Series by Liz Crowe Read Free Book Online Page A

smelly crowd of workers, leaving him standing at the top of the steps. Tears stung her eyes, blurring her vision. She pushed the nearest metal door open onto the street and stumbled out into the teeming mass of mostly male Turkish citizens going about their business. The shocked noises and hands that reached out to grab her as she stumbled only made her angrier.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Levent had never in his entire life felt so helpless as he watched her walk away. He lowered his head, took a deep breath, and looked around. The entire construction site stared at him without seeming to stare at him. The maddening bundle of contradiction that represented the essence of Vivian had his chest in a vise. She’d gone out of her way to find him, which made his heart sing with joy. But she’d showed up here, unescorted, which made his teeth ache with fury.
    He grabbed her scarf from the floor and pushed through the men milling about who had surreptitiously watched the drama unfold. He hadn’t meant to miss class today. But the opportunity to meet with the businessmen he’d been courting for a year had been too good to pass up. The deal had been sealed. He was now the part owner of an elite rug shop, catering to the diplomatic set, visiting celebrities and millionaires. When his friend and business partner had shown up last night, breathless and eager, he’d been daydreaming of her, absently rubbing himself, mooning around like a teenager.
    “Levent, my brother, my brother, this is it! We’ve done it!” Burak had clapped him on the back and poured him a stiff shot of Raki from the small kitchen counter. “We have arrived! We have the money together. They are ready for us as partners.”
    Levent had grinned at his friend’s excitement. This and the big general contract he was about to get on the new Hilton hotel project would seal his fate—fulfill the dream he’d worked so hard to achieve for so long. This would make him able to speak to Vivian’s father. Until then, their future did not exist. Now, perhaps it did. He and Burak had met in the military, become fast friends, talking late into the night about their goals and dreams. But now, Vivian consumed him. His need to have her, be with her, gain her father’s approval, nearly choked him.
    He started to get frantic, realizing he’d lost sight of her. She’d probably escaped through one of the makeshift doorways in the fencing. “ Bok .” He muttered under his breath. The day his life started to take shape, he had managed to infuriate the woman he’d been dreaming about for years. He caught a glimpse of her brown hair and dark skirt a few yards ahead and pressed between two men carrying piles of freshly baked bread on their heads. As she started to disappear into the next throng of men, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back to his side.
    “Put this on and don’t speak,” he muttered between clenched teeth, handing her the silk scarf. She tied it under her chin but wouldn’t look at him. “Come. My home is just around this corner. Keep your eyes down.” She stared right at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears of anger. Dear God but she was the most beautiful creature in the universe.
    “ Pic .” She whispered. He frowned and kept a tight grip on her upper arm, reminding himself that he had taught her how to say “bastard” in Turkish.
    When they arrived at his shabby door, he pushed her inside, glancing around to make sure no one observed him taking a foreign woman into his bachelor’s building. She resisted about a second, before he gave her a shove out of the line of sight of the street. She stayed silent, following him upstairs and to the door of his flat. This unbelievably inappropriate moment, her being here, had his head buzzing with possibility. He could get in real trouble. He ignored her and flipped on the kettle for tea.
    “Who can we call to come and get you? From the Consulate?” He stood, trying not to get pulled into her amazing