The woman had a peaches-and-cream complexion Farah would never achieve even if she stayed out of the sun for a decade, and the way she was looking at Zach made it very clear that, if she could, she would trade places with Farah in a heartbeat. Feeling about as attractive as a desert shrub in a French garden, Farah smiled. ‘I’m pleased to meet you.’
‘And you,’ Amy said with a warmth Farah wasn’t sure reached her eyes.
‘How long ago did you break up?’ she asked a little dully as the beautiful Amy finally wandered off into the crowd.
Zach grimaced faintly. ‘Was it that obvious?’
Farah felt old beyond her years. ‘A woman knows these things.’ Not that she ever would have thought she would.
‘Five years ago.’
Five years ago? Farah frowned. Was that because he’d had to return to Bakaan? Had she inadvertently broken up his relationship when she had tried to implement change with her little magazine? It seemed impossible.
She wanted to ask if he had been in love with her but she knew that he must have been if he’d nearly married her. Did he still? The sick feeling she had experienced on her wedding day thinking about the exact same thing balled in her stomach, but there was no way she would ask him because she really didn’t want to know the answer. In fact, she didn’t want to think about the answer.
As if reading her every thought, he took her chin gently between his fingers to bring her eyes to his. ‘If you’re worried that I’ll cheat on you, Farah, I won’t. I’m not like that. Amy is in my past.’
Deep down she knew that he was telling the truth but it didn’t change the fact that he had once wanted to marry Amy and he had never wanted to marry her—and why was she so fixated on that all of a sudden?
‘I’m not worried, I—’
‘Prince Zachim.’ A large man in a cream suit that stretched across his ample belly and a matching Stetson stopped beside them, an overconfident smile on his face. ‘Not interruptin’, am I?’
‘I’ve never known you not to interrupt, Hopkins,’ Zach said mildly, making the man laugh.
‘Always did enjoy your sense of humour, Your Highness. This is Cherry, my wife. And you must be Zach’s new wife.’
‘Farah,’ Zach supplied grudgingly.
‘Good to meet you, ma’am.’ The man took her hand in that deferential manner men did when they were putting women in their place before dismissing her in favour of Zach. ‘I was hoping to talk to you about building hotels over in that country of yours, Your Highness, and there’s no time like the present.’
‘Actually, there is. And now isn’t it.’
‘Oh, come now, we fly back to Dallas tomorrow. Cherry will take care of your little lady for a spell, won’t you, sugar?’
‘Of course!’ the vivacious redhead exclaimed. ‘I’d be glad to.’
‘Some other time, Hopkins. Farah and I were just leaving.’
‘It’s okay, Zach.’ Farah put her hand on his arm, knowing from an earlier conversation they’d had how important new investments were to Bakaan and not wanting to be the reason he missed an opportunity, even if the man was a bit of windbag. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘See? She’ll be fine.’ The man gave her an oily smile. ‘You got to let ’em either sink or swim, don’t you, sugar?’
The look on Zach’s face told her he wanted to make this man sink or swim and it gave her the urge to giggle. Instead she moved away from him and murmured a greeting to the man’s nubile wife who was spilling out of a red polka-dot bikini top above white jeans that looked tighter than her own.
Within minutes Farah found herself amidst a small knot of Cherry’s chic friends, including the beautiful Amy, who all wanted the gossip on how she had landed the prince—gossip Farah had no intention of giving them because it would only show them how little she really meant to her husband!
‘At least tell us if he’s as hot in the sack as they say he is,’ one of the women whispered.
‘Tia! You can’t ask that,’ another woman admonished.
‘Oh, don’t pretend you’re not dying to know, Pansy, you tried to get him yourself once without any success. I heard he was into threesomes, as well. Is that true?’
Threesomes? No way was Farah naively going to ask what that was.
‘Tia, you’re so naughty!’ Pansy giggled and took Farah’s arm. ‘Please ignore our friend. She’s had too much champagne and she’s had some seriously bad dates.’ She glanced down at Farah’s empty hands. ‘Oh, Lordy, you don’t have a drink. Waiter, champagne, por favor!’