His Bought Fiancée (Wedded to the Sheikh Book 1) Read online

  “I dunno…” Alyssa shrugged. “Eleven.”

  That was partially true. She’d first laid down at eleven, snuggling under her covers with the cat and a book, but she’d gotten up several times after that to check her phone.

  You know, just in case Mystery Man had texted.

  “You weren’t out clubbing, were you?”

  Alyssa tried not to laugh. “I haven’t done anything like that in years.”

  “Oh! You know what I was going to tell you?”

  “What?”

  Laurie slid a hunk of lasagna onto a waiting plate. “Speed dating.”

  “Speed dating?”

  She added a scoop of salad next to the lasagna. “That’s what Marie’s daughter did, and she found a real nice man.”

  “I dunno, Mom…”

  “What?” She set the plate of lasagna and salad in front of Alyssa, even though she’d said she wasn’t hungry.

  “I just don’t know if that’s for me. How can you know if you connect with a person in one minute?”

  “It’s longer than that, Alyssa. Marie said you get about five minutes.”

  “Okay. Still.”

  “Think about it. Have you met anyone recently?”

  “Er, well…” Alyssa’s mind drifted to the handsome stranger.

  Her mom raised an eyebrow. “You have?”

  Yeah, he pretended to be my boyfriend so I could impress people from high school who I never even see anymore, and—oh yeah—I don’t know his name!

  Alyssa pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head.

  “That’s what I thought. I’ll get you the information for this speed dating event. And it’s right here in the neighborhood, by the way.”

  Alyssa stared out the window. Through the buildings across the street, she could see a sliver of Manhattan’s skyline. Was the guy she’d shared the evening before with over there? What was he doing?

  And would she ever see him again?

  Alyssa touched her lips. All she would need to do to feel his kiss again was just close her eyes. His touch had seared itself into her memory.

  Maybe she was idealizing him. It could be that, were they to see each other again, she would find out she didn’t like him so much after all. But that didn’t stop her from wondering, and it didn’t stop her from hoping.

  The tall, dark, and handsome man had appeared like a knight in shining armor, charging in on his horse to save the day. Alyssa just wished he would ride back in.

  Chapter 5

  Alyssa

  The clock ticked. And ticked.

  “Gah, does that ever stop?” Alyssa asked out loud.

  The people at the desks nearby looked over at her. Alyssa’s cheeks warmed.

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “The clock. It’s just, you know, so loud.”

  Rick snorted, shook his head, and turned away, getting back to whatever case he was working on.

  Alyssa checked a sigh and glanced at the wall clock. It was four o’clock on a Friday, and one week had gone by since the reunion. On Saturday and Sunday, the strange man had been on her mind almost non-stop. By Monday, she’d had to get a little firm with herself. No more obsessing over him. No more checking her phone every two minutes. As the week crept by, her hope had died, little by little.

  If he was interested in her, he would have at least texted by now. Just to say hi or something. Right? Instead, though, the week had passed in its normal way, the only texts Alyssa received being from Lucy and her mother.

  Looking away from the clock, Alyssa caught Lucy’s eye across the open space. Her friend waggled her eyebrows at her and mouthed something.

  What? Alyssa mouthed back.

  Again, Lucy mouthed something indecipherable. Alyssa frowned and glanced at the glass-walled boardroom to her left, where two of their bosses were talking.

  Shaking her head, Alyssa looked back at her computer. Lucy was probably the only person in the office who would be able to get away with murder. No matter how goofy she acted at work, everything was eventually forgiven on account of her being such a high performer at everything.

  Taking a breath, Alyssa did her best to focus on her work. One more hour left, and then she could go. Although, maybe she shouldn’t. With Lucy in class and all her other friends busy as well, Alyssa was looking at yet another Friday night with no plans.

  Something next to Alyssa creaked, and suddenly, Lucy was there, pushing her swivel chair close to Alyssa’s.

  Alyssa yelped a little. “Ninja,” she hissed.

  “Thank you.” Lucy smiled. “What are you doing?”

  “Working.”

  Lucy checked her eye makeup in the mirror hanging next to Alyssa’s computer. The frame was ceramic, made at summer camp by her little cousin who lived in Pennsylvania. Painted in every color of the rainbow with flowers and butterflies, it reminded Alyssa of Emmy and always made her smile.

  “I’m about to go crazy,” Lucy said. “I need a break.”

  Alyssa stared. “You’re not skipping class tonight, are you?”

  Lucy never missed class. She even went one time with a temperature over a hundred degrees, took her “very important test,” and then—only then—promptly went to the doctor to get checked out.

  Lucy wrinkled her nose. “God, no. It’s canceled tonight.”

  “What for?”

  “The teacher’s wife is having a baby or something.”

  “Or something?” Alyssa guffawed.

  Lucy giggled. “Sorry. That last part was reflexive. And I’m excited. It’s my first night off in forever, and I want to do something. Even if it’s just go to a bar and flirt with guys. It doesn’t have to go anywhere.” She paused. “Yeah, I’d rather it not go anywhere. I just want to have fun.”

  “There’s a poetry reading at—”

  Lucy fake gagged.

  “Oh, come on,” Alyssa said. “It could be fun.”

  “Can we go to a bar afterwards?”

  Alyssa giggled. “For you? Yes.”

  Lucy went back to her desk, and the next hour passed much faster than the previous seven. The week had been one of waiting around, but no more. The man from the reunion might have been like someone out of a dream, but he was no longer.

  At least, that’s the way Alyssa figured she needed to look at it. If he did happen to call, then, okay, that was a sign that things were meant to be.

  Instead of heading back to her Brooklyn apartment after work, Lucy rode the train with Alyssa up to 96th street. Ralph met them at the door, purring heavily.

  “Hey, big boy,” Lucy said, picking the big orange cat up and flipping him on his back to hold him like a baby. “Where have you been all my life?”

  “Scratching on my couch and shedding in my bed,” Alyssa said drily, pulling off her heels and rubbing her aching arches for a moment before padding through to the kitchen.

  In the kitchen, which wasn’t much more than a square of linoleum and some appliances, she grabbed the bottle of red wine off the counter and poured two glasses, taking a sip from one and setting the other on the coffee table for Lucy. The apartment was small, even for New York standards, but Alyssa loved it. For her, the more compact the space, the more personal it felt.

  Lucy took a seat on the couch, Ralph in her lap. “I’m borrowing some of your clothes.”

  “I figured,” Alyssa said over her shoulder. She opened the bathroom door, switched on the light, and started undressing.

  Turning the shower on and testing the water with her fingers, Alyssa realized she felt better than she had all week. Half of her life, it seemed, she had always been waiting around. Waiting to finish school. Waiting to get a job. Waiting for said job to suddenly get better, or for another, better job to magically appear and take its place.

  Well, no more waiting. Not for a man, anyway. Tonight, Alyssa was going out, and she was going to have fun.

  Stepping into the shower with a smile on, Alyssa closed her eyes and turned her face into the spray. The war
m drops struck her skin and brought a wave of peace.

  “Alyssa!” Lucy called.

  Alyssa turned away from the spray and opened her eyes. “What?” she called back.

  Lucy shouted something else, but the shower and the half-closed door muffled her words.

  Alyssa stuck her head around the shower curtain. “What?” she shouted.

  The door opened and Lucy looked in. “Someone called you.”

  “Who?”

  Lucy shrugged. “Some unknown number. Hold on…” She cocked her head. “They’re calling again.”

  “If they’re asking for money, tell them I don’t have any.” Alyssa went back to her shower, soaping up her loofah with her favorite pomegranate body wash and inhaling the sweetness permeating the air.

  The door creaked as Lucy entered the bathroom again. “Alyssa, there’s a mystery man on the phone for you.”

  Alyssa choked over an inhale. “Wait. What?”

  Lucy giggled. “He said he met you last weekend. I assume it’s that guy.”

  “Oh my God, oh my God.” Killing the shower, Alyssa grabbed the towel off the rack and wrapped it around her torso.

  Lucy stood on the bathmat, Alyssa’s phone in her hand and an amused look on.

  “Is he there?” Alyssa hissed.

  “It’s on mute.” Lucy shook her head and grinned wider. “Don’t freak.”

  “What did he say?” Alyssa asked, still whispering, afraid Lucy had made a mistake and not actually put the phone on mute.

  “He asked for you.” Lucy made a face like Alyssa was crazy. “What else would he say?”

  “Gimme that. Hold on. Wait.” Alyssa wiped her hand dry on her towel. “Okay.”

  Lucy handed the phone over, and it seemed Alyssa’s heart had beat its way all the way into the base of her throat.

  “Hello?” she asked, her voice coming out strangled and high-pitched. God, did she always sound like that?

  “Alyssa.” It was that familiar, smooth voice.

  “Hi. Yes. Hello.” Alyssa glanced at Lucy, who had put her palm over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

  “It’s Ali, from last weekend.”

  “Ali. Hi.”

  So that was his name. Alyssa liked it. Short and to the point. Strong.

  “How was your week?” Ali asked.

  “It was good.” With her free hand, Alyssa clutched the part where her towel bunched together. She’d spent all week thinking about this guy, and now that he’d called, she was suddenly at a loss for words. What was up with that?

  “I know this is kind of last minute, but I have a favor to ask of you.”

  Alyssa blinked, her mind racing. A favor? That wasn’t usually the way someone asked another person on a date. But they weren’t dating. Ali was a man Alyssa had randomly pulled off the street. He’d done her a favor, and now it only made sense that he should come to her asking for the same thing.

  “What do you need?” she asked.

  “Can you be available in an hour?” Ali asked.

  “Er…” Alyssa looked at Lucy. The phone’s volume was turned up, and Lucy had been shuffling closer through the whole conversation. At Ali’s question, she nodded vigorously.

  Go, Lucy mouthed.

  Alyssa hesitated. “Can you hold on just one second?”

  “Certainly,” he replied.

  Alyssa put the phone on mute. “It’s your one night off in months,” she said to Lucy.

  “And it’s your one opportunity for a date in months,” Lucy shot back. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll hang out here with Ralph and eat that leftover pizza in the fridge. Plus, wouldn’t wanna waste your bottle of wine,” she added with a wink.

  “When did you look in my fridge?”

  “When do I not?” Lucy gestured at the phone. “Go. Please.”

  Alyssa nodded, her excitement building, and unmuted the phone. “Ali? Yes. I can be free. Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise,” he said. “But if you could put a nice dress on, that’d be perfect.”

  “Um, okay.” Immediately, Alyssa began a mental inventory of her closet.

  Giving him her apartment number, she hung up. For a moment, she and Lucy just looked at each other.

  “It’s a surprise,” Alyssa repeated. “What do you think that means?”

  “I dunno. Text me when you get to where you’re going, though, and give me the address.”

  Alyssa padded to her bedroom. “I don’t think he’s gonna kill me.”

  “Text it, anyway.” Lucy took a seat on the end of the bed, and Ralph jumped up next to her.

  “I need your help. What on earth do I wear?” Flinging open her closet door, Alyssa stared at the clothes jammed in there. She’d been amassing dresses and skirts for years and hadn’t worn half of what she owned in that time. “Shoot. How am I supposed to know what to wear if I don’t know where we’re going?”

  “That’s easy.” Lucy jumped up and reached into the closet. “The classic little black dress. It works for everything.” She held the dress up and brushed off a bit of dust from its collar. “You still have those nude heels?”

  “Yeah. Not red?”

  “Not red. Those would be a little too…fun, and you don’t know where you’re going.”

  “A favor…” Alyssa took the dress and stared down at it. “I can’t imagine a guy like him ever needing a favor from me.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “If you saw him, you’d see.” Alyssa sighed at the sweet memory of Ali’s face. “Plus, that sports car he was driving…” She shook her head. “He clearly does well for himself. What could I possibly help him with?”

  “You never know.” Lucy dove back into the closet to extract the nude heels. “Everyone has their secrets.”

  “Secrets?”

  “Yeah.” Lucy shrugged. “You’re a stranger. Or close to one, since you guys only met once. He’s choosing to ask you for help, rather than go to family or friends. Don’t you think that means something juicy is going on?”

  “Huh. I didn’t think about it that way.”

  Lucy nodded. “I did.”

  Alyssa took the dress off the hanger. “Yeah, well. You’re the one who’s gonna join the Supreme Court one day.”

  Chapter 6

  Alyssa

  The buzzer sounding made Alyssa suck in a nervous breath.

  “He’s here!” Lucy sang out, practically flying across the room to press the button for the front door.

  Alyssa stood from the couch and checked her dress for cat fur. The last hour of waiting—though she’d also been busy doing her hair and makeup—had been torturous. It had been months since she’d been on a date, and she felt out of practice.

  But this wasn’t really a date. Or maybe it was. Or, more specifically, maybe it was some kind of weird hybrid.

  Alyssa shook her head. She was thinking too much. Ali would be at her front door any moment, and then she would need to focus on acting like a normal human being.

  Slinging the chain strap of her black, beaded purse over her shoulder, Alyssa checked her makeup one last time in the bathroom mirror. A moment later, a knock on the door made her pulse race.

  Lucy whipped the door open. “Hi!”

  Alyssa stepped out of the bathroom to find Ali standing in the doorway in a dark blue suit. His wavy black hair was swept back just like it had been the week before, and a gold watch gleamed on his wrist.

  “Hello,” he said, briefly glancing at Lucy before looking at Alyssa. His eyes dipped to her dress and widened the slightest bit.

  “Is this all right?” Alyssa asked, looking down at her dress.

  “It’s perfect,” Ali said.

  Alyssa and Lucy grinned at each other.

  “Oh!” Alyssa lightly smacked her forehead. “Sorry. This is my friend, Lucy. Lu, this is—”

  “Ali,” he introduced himself with the slightest bow.

  Lucy offered her hand, and he shook it.

  “Nice to meet you,” she s
aid. “Where are you guys off to?”

  “A friend’s party,” Ali said. “Nothing spectacular.”

  “It must be a nice one,” Lucy commented, “if you’re so dressed up.”

  He smiled a little. “My friend likes the…extravagant life.” He looked to Alyssa and extended his arm. “Shall we?”

  “Sure.” Passing Lucy, Alyssa gave her friend’s shoulder a squeeze. “See you later.”

  “Text me,” was all Lucy said, but she added a wink that only Alyssa caught.

  “So, I’m your date to a fancy party?” Alyssa asked in the elevator. “Is that the favor I’m doing you?”

  “Is that all right?” Ali looked worried.

  “Yeah,” she hurried to answer. “I mean, I yanked you off the street and asked you to pretend to be my boyfriend, so…an eye for an eye. Not that this is painful or anything.”

  Alyssa pressed her lips together and made herself stop talking. Ali, however, didn’t seem annoyed.

  “You look very nice,” he said.

  “Thank you. So do you.”

  Outside, Alyssa looked around for his sports car but didn’t find it.

  “We’re right here,” Ali said, his fingers barely brushing against her lower back. He gestured at a black limo idling in front of the building.

  A driver got out of the front and came around to open the back door for them, and Alyssa climbed into the backseat feeling dazzled. Why a limo? Were they really going to a regular party?

  It was hard to tell. Alyssa hadn’t spent more than a couple of hours total with Ali, but she already got the sense he came from a world she knew nothing about. One full of money and opportunities—the kinds of things she only read about in books.

  In the limo, Alyssa slid to the far end and looked out the tinted window. She wondered if Lucy stood at her living room window watching them go.

  Ali took a seat next to her, and the limo left the block.

  “The venue’s not far from here,” he told her.

  “The venue?” Alyssa raised her eyebrows. “This doesn’t sound like a regular party.”

  Ali sighed and adjusted his suit. “It’s…not. Is that all right with you?”