Home > Tempted by the Prince (The Raminar Family #4)(2)

Tempted by the Prince (The Raminar Family #4)(2)
Author: Elizabeth Lennox

But Tarin enjoyed being responsible for the infrastructure of Izara. He loved inspecting bridges and buildings, commissioning road projects and water systems. The job called to his long passion of architecture and suited his personality perfectly.

Gaelen dropped a file on his desk. “These are the consultants you asked me about last week.”

Tarin looked at the thick folder and groaned. Just the thought of going through all those reports made his shoulder muscles tighten, because he knew that he should hand off the task to his assistant. And he would…as soon as the lovely, shockingly sexy Rachel arrived. Which would be in…he looked at his watch and sighed…two days, four hours, and sixteen minutes.

“I heard that Rachel is coming back to take care of this mess,” Galen continued, slouching into one of the leather chairs in front of Tarin’s desk.

Tarin turned away, frustrated beyond measure. “Right. I just got off the phone with Talia.”

“So, when is Rachel arriving?”

Tarin had the sudden urge to punch his older brother. Not for any valid reason. Just because he couldn’t handle the almost unrelenting desire that he’d be forced to endure as soon as Rachel arrived. “I don’t know,” he lied.

Gaelen chuckled, and once again, Tarin ignored him.

His brother slapped his knees as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “Well, hang in there. Rachel will get here soon and she’ll fix all of this stuff, organize it into a well-oiled project machine.”

With that, Gaelen pushed out of the chair and walked out of Tarin’s office.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.

“What the hell are you afraid of?”

Tarin leaned his head back in frustration as Amit, his oldest brother, walked in. “What do you want?” he demanded with absolutely no respect for his brother, despite him being the Sheik of their fair country.

Amit chuckled and Tarin turned to find his brother leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “I heard that Rachel was coming back. Any word on when she’ll arrive?”

Once again, Tarin had to restrain the urge to swing. Physical release might be exactly what he needed right now. But Amit didn’t deserve it, and besides, there was only a fifty percent chance that Tarin’s fist would connect.

“I have no idea. I just got off the phone with Talia. Rachel will need an apartment, arrange to have all of her furniture moved back here, pack up her house, and…”

“She shouldn’t have to worry about all that. Just put her in one of the executive apartments. That’s why we have them, after all. They are fully furnished, two bedroom apartments. Rachel would just need to pack up her clothes and she could be here tonight.”

Tarin glared at Amit, but his older brother only smiled. Amit didn’t used to be this happy. He used to be the grump of the family. That was before Harper, his wife and the mother of his two children, arrived and told the ass to get over himself.

“That’s a good idea,” he grumbled, but didn’t pick up the phone to make the call. The longer he could delay Rachel’s arrival, the better. He needed time to mentally prepare.

Apparently, Amit wasn’t going to give him that time, the bastard! “I’ll have Rashid work out the details. We’ll fly her up in the private jet tonight, so she doesn’t have to take a commercial flight.” With that, Amit left, whistling annoyingly.

Tarin glared daggers at his older brother’s back, wishing that he could come up with a viable reason to stop him. But everything Amit had said made perfect sense and was actually far more convenient for Rachel. If she’d had to find her own apartment, she’d need to look around for at least a weekend. And because Rachel was so careful, she’d look at several apartments before making a decision. She’d weigh the pros and cons of each building and the property’s amenities, calculate the commute time, and locate the grocery stores and dry cleaners in the area. He smiled, knowing that Rachel would even drive to her preferred location at night, listen for sounds, walk the streets to make sure she felt safe and comfortable.

Rachel was one of the most detail oriented women he’d ever met. If she hadn’t been so loyal to Talia, and if Tarin didn’t lust after her so badly, he would have tried to steal Rachel away from his baby sister by now. But having Rachel around was…painful. She was so damn beautiful and everything about her, from the way she smiled to the way she walked…it all turned him on! Before she’d moved to Padar after Talia married that ass Santos, Tarin had been in an almost constant state of arousal, just because he’d see Rachel around the palace hallways.

So, what the hell was he going to do now? Rachel would be on a plane, most likely by tonight and, because she was such a dedicated employee, she’d report to work in the morning.

“Hell!” he groaned and turned around.

He remembered the first time he’d seen her. She had been so shy, so tentative and worried that she’d mess up somehow. Talia had raved about Rachel’s brilliance from day one. When he’d stepped into Talia’s office during the first week of Rachel’s employment, he’d seen her drop papers, break a pencil, spill coffee all over her desk, and even trip over her chair.

When she’d looked up at him with those huge, green eyes, blinking back tears of embarrassment, he’d smiled, trying to ease her fears. “It’s going to be okay,” he’d told her gently.

Even then, he’d felt something. It had been strange, like a tingling sensation that had started in his groin. Tarin had tried to ignore it. Rachel was pretty, with delicate features, beautiful green eyes, and hair that…damn, his fingers ached to explore those auburn curls, to see if they were soft or coarse, to twirl one around his finger and see how long her hair really was.

But her hideous flowered dress with the lace around the neck and the full skirt wasn’t anything to draw a man’s eye. She was…pretty but…like a librarian. A sexy, naughty librarian!

That night, he’d had the most erotic dream of his entire life. He’d been taking off that flowered dress, stroking her soft, full thighs and…he’d woken in a cold sweat, his body rock hard and his muscles tight with lust. He’d looked around that night, searching for the soft, warm, female body. But his bed had been empty.

That had been two years ago. His bed had been empty ever since! Tarin had tried to find another woman, searched for someone that might temper this painful lust he felt for Rachel. But no other woman had tempted him even slightly. It was almost like…like Rachel’s damn flowered skirts had ruined him for other women.

He cursed the fact that Rachel was coming back and he blamed his brothers for the speed at which his life was about to careen out of control.

 

Rachel lugged her heavy suitcase out of the back of her small, economical SUV, dumping it onto the tarmac. “Ugh!” She took a deep breath. One of the ways she’d learned to deal with the intense heat of the desert climate here in Padar, which was similar to that of Izara, was to never work outside during the middle of the day. The cool mornings were lovely and the chilly evenings almost magical. But the heat of the afternoon was truly unbearable.

If she’d had her way, Rachel would be right back in her precious Atlanta, Georgia, where the grass was a soft green at this time of the year. The roses would be in full bloom and the air would be languid with the balmy summer breeze.

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)