Sheikh in the City

‘Emily Merit gets her man in the end, but I still feel bad for saddling her with such a horrid younger sibling. If I’d treated my three older sisters a tenth as rotten, I wouldn’t have survived childhood.’

—Jackie Braun

“Please, call me Dan.”

Emily felt her mouth drop open. God, he was gorgeous. Drop-dead so. The monosyllabic name, however, didn’t suit him. It was too simple, too…Western.

Which was why she frowned and said, “Dan?”

“It is what you would call a nickname.” His words were adorned with an accent she couldn’t quite place, but its effect was potent. It had her hormones threatening to start snapping and sizzling like vegetables sautéing in hot oil.

“I find that when I travel in your country it is easier for some people to pronounce than my given name.”

That made sense, she supposed. Still, he didn’t look like a Dan. He was tall, with a lean, athletic build that accentuated the clean lines of the expertly tailored suit he wore. His face was angular and masculine, and slashes of dark brow set off a pair of enigmatic brown eyes. His hair was the color of onyx, cut short enough to be respectable, but still long enough to make a woman’s fingers itch to weave through it.

That was when Dan offered a smile that was every bit as warm as his hand had been. Forget the sauté—her temperature was reaching broiler status.

Dear Reader

I have a confession to make. When I decided to write SHEIKH IN THE CITY I was a little nervous. I’d never written a story about a sheikh. For that matter, I’d never created an entirely fictional country. But I was excited about the challenge.

Along the way I discovered the same thing my hero and heroine ultimately do: no matter the titles, customs or cultures, it all comes down to love.

Madani Tarim isn’t only a sheikh. He’s a man who falls in love with one woman despite his parents’ plan for him to wed another. Both he and Emily Merit have to decide if their love is big enough to compensate for what they must give up to be together.

I hope you enjoy this special story.

Best wishes

Jackie Braun

Jackie Braun is a three-time RITA® Award finalist, a four-time National Readers’ Choice Award finalist, and a past winner of the Rising Star Award. She worked for nearly two decades as an award-winning journalist, before leaving her full-time job to write fiction. She lives in mid-Michigan with her husband and their two sons. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.jackiebraun.com.

For “the greats”: Madison, Timmy and Morgan Kaiser; Nathan and Brandon Tedder; and Brady Fridline.

Cover Page

Praise

Excerpt

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Copyright

“I THINK I’ve finally figured out who the guest of honor is,” Arlene Williams said from the kitchen door, where she was peeking into the Hendersons’ well-appointed dining room.

Babs and Denby Henderson regularly entertained powerful lawmakers, renowned academics, award-winning playwrights and European nobility at their Park Avenue soirées. Emily Merit, who’d been their caterer of choice for the past five years, didn’t doubt tonight’s guest of honor was any less impressive.

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” she replied, tongue-in-cheek, as she plated the evening’s desserts.

Her sous chef shot her a black look before saying, “I think he might be the hunky model in those underwear ads.”

Emily glanced up at that. “The ones that are plastered all over the city’s bus stops and subway stations?”

“And you claim to have sworn off men.” Arlene grinned.

“I have, but those ads are impossible to miss.”

Arlene peeked out again and her tone turned thoughtful. “Or he could be the actor who plays the CIA operative on Restless Nights. They both have that same sensual mouth.”

Emily rolled her eyes. Where she’d sworn off men, she couldn’t keep track of the number of guys Arlene had drooled over in the past month alone. “Get away from the door already and give me a hand with dessert.”

“Uh-oh. He’s…he’s coming this way.”

Emily frowned. Great. Just what she needed, an audience. She didn’t like people in her kitchen when she worked, especially if they were only coming in to flirt with her assistant. Technically this wasn’t Emily’s kitchen, but the same principle applied.

“He’s with Mrs. Henderson,” Arlene added and let the door swing fully closed.

Emily relaxed a little upon hearing that. She figured she knew why they were coming to the kitchen. She’d met Babs five years earlier through her then-boyfriend, Reed, who had a business relationship with Bab’s husband, Denby. One day when a catering company left the Hendersons in the lurch just hours before a dinner party, Reed had volunteered Emily’s services. At the time, she was just out of culinary school and her only catering jobs had been casual gatherings for family and friends. She’d been scared to death, to put it mildly. But her cooking that evening was a huge hit, and the Hendersons proved to be the launching pad for her career.