The Duke's Runaway Princess Page 0,2

the tiny apartment and the contents that might be better off in a trash heap that in his baby sister’s apartment. She was a princess! She shouldn’t be living in a closet and wearing a tee shirt and jeans, regardless of her student status. Besides, her exams were now over, her thesis paper had been approved with high praise from her professors and she should be packing up to move back home.

Zarah nodded eagerly. “For you? I’m always available for dinner. Let me go change.”

Rashid watched carefully as his sister walked through one of two other doors in the apartment. Sidra watched him watching her and her concern grew. As soon as Zarah had disappeared behind her bedroom door, she turned to face him, her eyes looking up into his concerned features. “What’s wrong?” she asked, placing a gentle hand on his chest to get his attention.

Rashid looked down into his beautiful wife’s face and sighed. “She’s going to fight it.”

Sidra nodded, sadness growing in her eyes because she didn’t want her husband to go through the confrontation she knew was brewing with his baby sister. “I know.” She put a hand to his cheek to comfort him and he covered her hand with his larger one.

“She can’t.”

“She will.” She smiled gently, praying that it wouldn’t tear him up too harshly. He was strong and knew how to handle his family. And she’d be there for him the whole way.

He pulled her closer and gently hugged her, mindful of her protruding stomach. “Any ideas on how to change her mind?”

Sidra laughed and hugged him back. “Personally, I wouldn’t even try. But I didn’t grow up in Tasain so I’m not as close to the culture as she is.”

“She knows what her role is. We can’t fight it.”

She stood up on tip toe and kissed his jaw. “Do you have a groom in mind?”

Rashid shook his head. “Several men have asked for her. But I haven’t responded. I wanted to put the names to her and let her decide.”

Sidra glanced over at the closed door. “And what if she rejects all of them?”

His face hardened. “Then I’ll choose the one that can protect her the best.”

She knew that was coming, but it still made her heart ache that he would have to make that kind of a decision. Sidra didn’t fully understand his position, but she trusted him to do the right thing.

Inside her bedroom, Zarah leaned against the door, her stomach churning with the conversation her brother and sister-in-law were having on the other side of the paper thin door. Several men had already asked for her? Who were they? And how long did she have to decide? Would Rashid take her preferences into consideration? Or would he choose the one he wanted even after she’d met all of them?

She had so many friends from classes and various activities, all of them were dating and having a grand old time. She’d been on a few dates, but no man had piqued her interest so far. She supposed that she couldn’t imagine being with a man who wasn’t as strong and powerful as her father was, or her brother currently is. They were both physically imposing men with a brilliant intelligence and a great sense of humor. The men she’d met here in New York were smaller and shorter than her father and brother by several inches and none had the muscles she was used to in a man. Having been raised in the palace, surrounded by body guards and her brother or father, she had high standards for men and so far, none that she’d met had lived up to those expectations.

And now her brother was going to sell her off to any man who could protect her adequately? What exactly did that mean? She could protect herself! She didn’t need a man to do that. She was strong, capable, intelligent! She could damn well make it through this world on her own.

Opening her closet, she surveyed the clothes hanging to one side. There were two sides to her wardrobe. The majority of the clothes were jeans and tee-shirts, things she could wear to class and blend in with the rest of the student population. The other side had less outfits, but they were still just as useful. Hanging to the back and covered with plastic covers were her “princess” clothes. They were designed and tailored especially for her, with matching accessories and shoes. She pulled out a soft, purple