‘I won’t be comfortable wearing anything too revealing.’
‘Don’t worry. The true secret of allure is not to show all but to hint at what you are hiding.’
Layla gave a choked laugh. ‘You want him to unwrap me?’
‘Well, that’s one alternative.’ Avery stood up. ‘Personally, I have a preference for a scenario where you unwrap yourself and make him watch but not touch. The theme of tonight’s ball is Desert Nights. It has so much potential, don’t you think?’
CHAPTER TEN
RAZ PACED THE length of the royal rooms that had been allocated to them for their stay and glanced at his watch for the sixth time in as many minutes.
Of Layla there was no sign, and he wondered how she’d coped with being plunged into the centre of a big working palace with people she didn’t know. From the little he’d learned about her past he knew she’d had little exposure to glittering social gatherings such as the ones run by the Sultan and his wife. And he’d known Avery long enough to be sure she would have extracted every last scrap of detail from Layla, and suddenly wondered if it had been unfair of him to leave them together for so long.
The Desert Nights Ball—an annual event organised by Avery as a fundraiser for disadvantaged children—was about to begin and their presence was expected.
He pulled out his phone and was about to call Avery when Mal appeared in the doorway of his suite, flanked by his security team.
‘I have been sent by my wife to tell you that they will meet us downstairs.’
Raz slid his phone back into his pocket. ‘I expected Layla to be here.’
‘She’s spent the day shopping and lunching with Avery, so expect to find her exhausted.’ Mal dismissed his guards with a discreet gesture and walked into the guest suite, closing the door behind him. ‘Apparently they want to surprise you. And by that I mean that my wife has taken over, as always. I hope that isn’t a problem?’
‘I appreciate Avery’s help. Layla isn’t used to large social gatherings and she’s quite shy. I’m worried she’ll find it overwhelming.’
Mal gave him a speculative look. ‘You care about her?’
‘Does that surprise you?’
‘Does it surprise you?’
‘Yes.’ Seeing no reason not to be honest with his friend, Raz paced over to the window. ‘Yes, it surprises me. She is nothing like I expected her to be. I admit it. I made an assumption about who she was based on what we know about the rest of her family.’
‘Most people would have done the same.’
‘Perhaps, but it isn’t something I’m proud of.’ He knew now how desperate things must have been for Layla to choose to ride a strange horse into the desert with no fixed destination. She was careful, cautious—and with reason. Those were the qualities that had kept her alive. ‘I suspect her life was hell.’
‘Now, that comes as no surprise to me.’ Mal’s voice was hard. ‘If you want my honest opinion, she is lucky to now be married to you and is probably feeling nothing but relieved.’
Was she? He realised he knew very little about what she was feeling because she kept her thoughts to herself. Except for that single occasion when she’d lost control and spoken out about the secrets he’d kept from her, she’d made no comment on her new life. He knew that much of what she did was driven by her desire to please him, to compensate in some small way for the sins her father had committed.
‘She is very brave. She rides even though she hates it, and although she is scared of the dogs she insists they are allowed to roam free. She refuses to be beaten by fear.’
‘Then hopefully it will not be long before she realises that with you there is nothing to fear.’
‘I think tonight might be stressful for her.’ And he realised he didn’t want it to be. He didn’t want it to be another task she had to endure, another challenge. He wanted her to relax. He wanted her to have fun and enjoy herself without constantly looking over her shoulder.
Mal was watching him. ‘And what about you? This is the first time you have made a public appearance with another woman.’
It was something else that hadn’t occurred to him. ‘I don’t care what people think, but she will care.’ And people would be speculating about their relationship, his feelings about being married to the daughter of his enemy.