She couldn’t mistake that voice.
“Khaled?” She turned in surprise and delight, a wide grin sweeping her face. “What are you doing here? I thought you were sending a car.”
He shrugged. “I decided it would be polite to meet you myself.”
He indicated something to one of the uniformed security guards behind him, and the man stepped forward to take Olivia’s luggage.
“Thank you. And thank you,” she added to Khaled. “It’s nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar place.”
He smiled briefly. “It’s good to see you, too. Will you come out to the car? I thought we might take a brief tour of the city before we go to the palace.”
Olivia frowned a little, wondering at Khaled’s excessive formality and stilted tone, but she followed him willingly enough. Maybe this was how it would be in Saqat. He had warned her things would be different. I’m not even sure we can be friends, he’d said.
Once they were seated in the back of the luxurious car, Khaled pressed a button. Olivia watched as a screen slid up, separating them from the driver.
“He can’t hear us now,” Khaled muttered.
“How is your father?”
His face froze. “Not well.”
She reached out a hand to offer comfort, then remembered, stopped, and awkwardly withdrew the gesture. “I am so sorry.”
“Thank you,” he said dispassionately.
“It’s good to see you.”
He made a sharp gesture with his hand. “I am sorry, Olivia, but I thought I had made it clear that what we had together was finished.”
“Yes, you made that quite clear. However, we are here to do business and I believe we will need to be able to communicate civilly for that to happen.”
Khaled took in a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. There was no need for me to speak so harshly. As you say, we must be able to continue working together during your stay.”
Olivia murmured her assent.
“I am afraid, however, that it will not be possible for us to visit the research center until the weekend. I have duties that require my presence in the city for the next few days.”
“That’s fine.”
“If you like, I will arrange for someone to show you the city. And of course you will have whatever facilities you need to ensure that you can continue with your work.”
“Thank you. When can you schedule a meeting with me? We need to finalize details of the contract before you sign it.”
“I haven’t yet agreed to sign anything.”
“But you will.”
He glanced out of the window, in the direction of the sea. “I will mention the meeting to my secretary and he will find a suitable time.”
Olivia nodded and turned to stare out the window on her side of the car. She’d known this would be hard, but she hadn’t realized it would be this hard. Sitting next to Khaled, so close she could reach out and curl her hand into his dark silky hair, and yet unable to. It would be so easy to tug his face down to hers and taste once again the delicious warmth of his mouth against her lips. Such a small gesture, and yet so utterly forbidden. Even if Khaled hadn’t told her how it would be, back in Aberdeen, he was making it perfectly clear now. His body was stiff, his legs crossed away from hers, and his arms folded across his chest.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at an impressively ornate building.
“Police station.”
“And that?”
“Department store.”
Olivia glanced at him. Khaled wasn’t even looking where she was pointing.
“Sorry,” he said roughly. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to do this.”
“I know. I don’t want to make things difficult for you, Khaled, but you’re going to have to deal with me being here.”
He sighed. “Yes. Fine. I’ll try. We’re going to drive along the beach road.”
“Lovely. Are there beaches all the way along the Saqati coastline?”
“No. Here and a few miles further north. Most of the coastline is mangrove swamps.”
“Where the dugongs live?”
That drew the first smile from Khaled. “Yes. Where the dugongs live.”
“Can we see them?”
He laughed properly then. “It’s obvious you’ve never been to a mangrove swamp. I don’t think you would enjoy it, and we almost certainly wouldn’t see anything.”
“What about the research center?”
“What about it?”
“Will I see any dugongs there?”
“You’ve taken quite a fancy to them, haven’t you?”
She shrugged. “Someone has to. They don’t have the cute factor.”
“No. No, they don’t.”
The chauffeur held the door for Olivia to step out of the car when they reached the Golden Palace.