The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress Page 0,3

over his shoulder and carried her right back to her room.

There were five different body guards that protected her, drove her to and from school since the reckless driving incident had her license revoked for two years, and worst of all, rode with her on her very few dates that happened after that night.

In college, they slept in a dorm room across the hallway from her and followed her to all her classes. They waited outside the rooms for her to re-emerge, sat at other tables in the library, close but not too close. They tailed her on her dates and made her life safe, but utterly miserable.

She went through college and graduate school, all with perfect grades since none of her friends could convince her to defy her guards and non dared to contradict the men who forced her to study when they thought she was mis-behaving. They tested her on all her classes, pushing her harder than the professors to succeed.

Now, it was all down to this meeting with a man she"d never met and had grown to hate over the years. She had learned to accept her guards, had even grown to understand their position and respect their abilities. But she"d never liked the fact that they were there, always with her, always protecting and pushing her. They were all wonderful men, but she hated the imposition they were putting on her lifestyle. She"d just wanted a normal life and that had been impossible with personal body guards two feet away.

And now that she was ready to enter the workforce, she couldn"t very well go to a job interview with one of them tailing behind her. She"d never get a job. Every employer would be completely intimidated by the fact that she was protected around the clock.

“Electra! I"m over here,” Susan Reyes called out from the small coffee shop, waving her hand.

Electra spied her friend and walked through the tables, a bright smile lighting up her face. “Look at you!” she exclaimed, eyeing her friend"s business suit and name plate that announced she was a lead clerk for the hotel. “I"m so impressed!” she cried out, swallowing the jealousy that surged up. She was genuinely happy for her friend, but also wished for the same kind of opportunities.

Susan laughed. “Don"t worry. You"ll get your chance. You"re going to be wonderfully convincing in your meeting in a little while.” She smiled as she looked across the small, linen covered table at her friend. “And let me just say that your choice of outfits is smashing! The pink color looks wonderful with your skin tone and brings out the green in your eyes.”

Electra glanced down at her suit and smoothed the pink wool covering her lap. “Are you sure it"s okay? I changed about four times, the outfits ranging from defiant jeans to a severe black pant suit.”

Susan nodded her head emphatically and poured Electra some coffee from the decanter already on the table. “It"s perfect. The pink will show him you"re not afraid of your feminine side but the cut of the suit demonstrates that you"re smart and mean business.”

Electra sighed and grimaced slightly. “I"m not sure I wanted to show him my feminine side. That might be a mistake.”

“Nonsense. You look great.” Electra smiled at the encouragement and changed the subject. No matter what she was wearing, it was too late to change now. She was meeting King Abbas in an hour and it had taken her forty five minutes to get here as it was.

Knowing that worrying about her outfit was a futile exercise, she quickly changed the subject. “So tell me about this new boyfriend of yours,” she said, adding cream and sugar to her coffee.

Susan"s eyes closed as if she"d just taken a bite of rich , darkchocolate. “Oh, he"s just wonderful. His name is Barry and he"s an accountant for one of the big firms. We met at last week"s happy hour and I have found over the past seven days that he"s a wonderfully charming man, full of intelligence and humor and makes me feel all giddy inside.”

Electra sighed with longing. “Was that the one at O"Hooligan"s? I didn"t notice you with anyone last week,” she said.

Her friend"s eyes shuttered. “You left early,” Susan replied carefully, knowing this was a touchy subject.

Electra grimaced again. “I had to. Micha was scaring everyone away.” Her comment only made her more resolute to make sure the meeting today worked out the way she planned.

Susan nodded