Читать книгу The Desert Prince's Proposal - Nicola Marsh - Страница 9

CHAPTER FOUR

‘BREE, over here.’

Bria’s head swivelled to the tall, elegant brunette stepping out of a gleaming silver limousine, excitement making her forget her luggage as she flew across the scorching concrete.

‘Lou! You look amazing!’

Lou laughed and cried and squeezed the life out of her as they hugged, and stepped apart for a second before hugging again.

‘It’s so good to see you, Bree.’

Lou held her at arm’s length, her mischievous blue stare travelling over Bria’s mint-green shift dress and matching shoes in record time.

‘And wearing Prada, no less.’

Bria laughed and slapped her hands away. ‘You haven’t changed a bit. Still the label queen, huh?’

Lou pouted and stuck out a hip.

‘Does this look designer to you?’

‘Actually, no, but it looks divine all the same.’

‘It’s a salwaar kameez. They’re super-comfortable.’

Bria had never seen her friend wearing Middle Eastern clothing, and the long, loose trousers with matching tunic in ice blue brocaded with silver accentuated her elegance.

‘I can’t believe you’re actually here.’

Lou’s eyes welled for a moment, and a shaft of guilt pierced Bria’s happiness.

The two of them had been through a lot, from surviving the strict rules at the stuffy Swiss boarding school her dad had insisted she attend to tearing up London on a yearlong fun fest.

Lou had been there for her through the Ellis break-up, she knew how bad things were with her dad, yet Bria had held off visiting her best friend because of her constant quest to be the best in her career.

Pretty selfish.

‘About time, huh?’

‘Way past time.’ Lou rolled her eyes and enveloped her in another bear-hug. ‘Now that you’re here, what do you want to do? We can spend the night at Burl Al Arab, the most amazing hotel in the world right here in Dubai, or we can head straight to Adhara. Your call.’

‘I’d rather make tracks to Adhara. After all the research material I’ve seen, I’m curious.’

‘Great.’ Lou clapped her hands in a classic excited gesture Bria remembered from all their school exploits—and there’d been many. ‘Bet you’re glad I’m still living at the royal residence.’

‘Too right. I’d much rather stay there than the hotel Ned organised. It’s not every day a girl gets to live in a palace.’

Images of tall, white spires, soft rounded domes and curved mosaic-framed windows set against the backdrop of endless desert sprang to mind. Despite her initial anger at being forced to visit Adhara by a pushy client, she had to admit that seeing the palace pictures Lou had emailed her after she’d told her of her visit had whetted her architectural appetite.

‘Will the prince mind me staying?’

Lou shrugged. ‘I have no idea. We barely see him. Yusif handles some of his business interests here in the Middle East, but the Prince spends most of his time abroad. He’s a real go-getter.’

‘What’s he like?’

Not that Bria was particularly interested, but if she happened to run into royalty while she was here she’d like to be well prepared, and not make any faux pas or cause any international incidents.

To her surprise, a blush accompanied her friend’s smirk.

‘You’ve heard of princes and their playboy reputations? Well, His Royal Highness is something else.’

‘In what way?’

Lou’s grin widened. ‘If you’re lucky enough you’ll find out.’

Bria knew that smile. It was the same goofy smile her friend had worn for years whenever a hot guy had hovered around.

‘So he’s not old, decrepit and wrinkly?’

‘Far from it!’

They laughed and leaned into one another like they had a million times before, and once again Bria was struck by how much she’d missed this, how much she’d missed Lou.

‘Come on. Let’s hit the road. We’ll need to change from the limo to four-wheel drive on the outskirts of Dubai, and it’ll take us another six hours to get to Adhara.’

‘Lead the way.’

Bria froze momentarily as she slid into the limo’s cool leather interior, assailed by recent memories of how refusing to do just this had resulted in a memorable meeting with a man she couldn’t forget, no matter how hard she tried.

‘What’s up?’

Lou turned an ever-astute gaze on her, and Bria briefly wondered if Sam was worth mentioning.

‘Come on, Bree, we’ve got hours to kill, so you may as well spill the goss.’

Sighing, Bria leaned back against the comfy leather headrest.

What could she say—she was interested in a guy she’d barely known for two days? A guy she’d probably never see again, despite his prophesising to the contrary.

Lou squealed. ‘You’ve met someone, haven’t you? Come on, I want to hear every last, juicy detail.’

Smiling, Bria said, ‘There’s not much to tell, actually. We met briefly at the conference I told you about. Had dinner the first night, spent a pretty romantic day together the next, and that was it.’

Apart from that one scintillating farewell kiss she couldn’t forget…

‘What do you mean, that was it? Aren’t you going to see him again?’

Bria shook her head, wishing she didn’t feel so lousy at the thought of not basking in the heat of Sam’s chocolate gaze ever again.

‘He lives in London. I live in Sydney. End of story.’

Lou rolled her eyes. ‘What is it with you and London guys?’

‘You promised me you’d never refer to him again, remember?’

The mere thought of Ellis and the time she’d wasted trying to make a go of their relationship had her ready to run screaming into the desert.

‘Good point.’

Lou paused for a second but Bria could tell it wouldn’t be for long, not with her friend’s blue eyes gleaming.

‘But as for this new guy… I haven’t heard you mention a guy in the last two years, let alone go on a date with anyone, so he has to be something. As for the distance thing, ever heard of email, phone calls, even flying to visit?’

Bria waved away the suggestions, hating the fact she’d contemplated them all herself many times on the long flight from Australia to Dubai.

‘Too complicated. Besides, long-distance relationships aren’t my thing.’

‘Relationships aren’t your thing full-stop, since that dweeb Ellis. Not every guy’s like him, and it’s about time you gave yourself a break.’

‘It wasn’t all his fault, you know. I basically went into that relationship to test the waters, to see if anything could develop between us.’

Lou snorted. ‘The guy was a cold fish and had dollar signs in his eyes. You wanted to make a go of it, he wanted the prestige the Green name could bring him. He was a creep.’