Chapter 1

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“Why do handsome men always have something wrong with them?” said CJ as she burst into Blake’s office. Blake was sitting at her desk looking at some work files. She looked up at her colleague and best friend CJ.

“What are you talking about?” Blake asked as she leaned back in her chair.

“It’s this new client.” CJ approached Blake and sat on her wooden desk.

“What is wrong with him?”

“He is handsome and rich.”

“But?”

“He is so fussy! I swear there is no way of pleasing him.”

Blake raised her perfectly shaped dark brown eyebrows and smiled a little. She knew what it was like to work with difficult clients.

“What does he want?” Blake asked.

“A house.” CJ’s brown curls bounced as she shook her head.

“That’s simple enough.”

“Except he rejected every sketch I have shown him. You’re up next.”

“What do you mean?”

“Michaela wants you on this,” she said. Michaela was their boss. CJ and Blake had gone to the same university and now they were working at the same architectural company.

“Me?” Blake raised her eyebrows. CJ nodded. “Why me?”

“The client has already refused to work with four other architects before me. So Michaela asked me to call you over,” said CJ.

“You should have started the conversation with that.” Blake rose to her feet.

“Michaela is talking to the client right now. The client is a rich sheikh. He wants to build a house here in Austin,” said CJ.

“I see, where are they now?”

“In conference room six.”

“Okay.” Blake straightened her black skirt.

“Good luck,” CJ said to her. Blake smiled and nodded.

“Hopefully he isn’t too bad.”

CJ sighed. “He is so handsome and so serious. He is the type of man that would take charge.” She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows. Blake laughed and shook her head. She headed for the exit. She felt curious as she headed towards the conference room. She wanted to see how handsome this sheikh was because CJ had emphasized it.

Blake reached the conference room moments later. She knocked on the thick glass door before she walked in. Her manager Michaela was sitting at the table with an unfamiliar man. He was sitting in the seat facing the door.

“Excuse me, Michaela; did you call for me?” Blake said softly.

“Yes, come in,” Michaela replied. Blake nodded and walked into the room. The sheikh looked at her as she walked in.

CJ was right, Blake thought to herself. The man was wearing a crisp white shirt with two buttons unbuttoned revealing his tanned skin. The shirt hugged his bulging muscles. He had a very neat beard that did nothing to hide his strong jaw. He had dark eyebrows and a straight nose. He had dark eyes and thick eyelashes. His hair was cut neatly in a short back and sides style.

“Blake, meet Sheikh Bassem Sedarous,” Michaela said to her.

“Hello, sheikh.” Blake extended her hand for a handshake but the serious sheikh looked at her hand and then he looked at Michaela.

“Who is she?” His deep voice almost startled Blake. She wasn’t expecting it to be so deep.

“She is one of my best architects,” Michaela replied. Blake awkwardly pulled her hand back. She couldn’t believe the sheikh had left her hanging like that. She pulled out a chair for herself and took a seat.

“If she is one of the best, why are you only bringing her to me now?” the sheikh asked Michaela.

“She was busy on other projects but now, one of those projects has been completed. So I believe she has some availability.”

“I need the person on my case to be fully accessible to me. I do not want to work with someone that will have divided attention.”

His words echoed in Blake’s mind. He needed someone to be fully accessible to him only. That showed Blake that he was the type of man that did not share, and wanted things his way.

“That will not be a problem.” Michaela smiled. The sheikh barely reacted. He just kept his straight face on.

“I came to you because this is one of the best architectural companies in Texas. If this architect fails to deliver something that is up to my standards, I will take my business elsewhere.”

Blake raised her eyebrows. He was quite a strict and demanding man. She turned her head and looked at Michaela as she replied to the sheikh.

“I assure you that Miss Gordon is very professional and good at her job. She will do her best to give you what you want,” said Michaela. The sheikh looked at Blake and sighed.

“That is what she said about the last five architects she put on this project,” he said to Blake.

Blake wanted to tell him that he was probably the problem but she was not going to do that. “I can and I will deliver exactly what you need,” Blake said confidently. The sheikh raised an eyebrow.

“What makes you so confident?”

“I have been successful in all my projects and have had no complaints from my previous clients.”

The sheikh did not look impressed or convinced. “You look young, how long have you worked here?” he asked.

“I am twenty-six years old and I have worked here for two years,” she replied.

“That is not enough experience.”

“It does not mean that I am not good at my job.”

“Which university did you attend?”

“MIT.”

The sheikh raised his eyebrows slightly. Blake wondered if the fact that she had graduated from MIT impressed him. It was a good university, one of the best in the world. Her clients usually found it impressive.

The sheikh said nothing for a moment. He kept his gaze on Blake. He seemed to be studying her. Michaela had been watching their exchange. Her gaze had shifted back and forth between the sheikh and Blake.

“So, will you work with her?” Michaela asked.

“Sure.” He did not sound enthusiastic about it at all. He rose from his seat. He was quite tall. “I do not like wasting my time. If I don’t get results then I will take my business elsewhere,” he added. Blake and Michaela rose to their feet.

“I will give you results,” said Blake. The sheikh headed for the exit. Michaela bowed her head.

“Thank you, sheikh,” she said. Blake crossed her eyebrows. Michaela straightened up and looked at Blake. “I want you to stop working on all your other projects. Give them to Cora and James,” she said.

“Why would I do that?” Blake asked.

“I need your full focus on this project.”

“I can handle multiple projects.”

“We cannot lose him as a client. Do you know how much this would make us?”

“I don’t know but I know that I don’t want to give up my projects.” Giving up her projects meant giving up her commission.

“Blake, forget your projects. The sheikh wants to build a massive house worth over fifteen million dollars. You will earn a lot of commission, more than all your other projects combined.”

Blake raised her eyebrows. “Who is he and why can he afford to build such an expensive house?” she asked.

“Sheikh Bassem Sedarous is the crown prince of Al Huddah, and his family owns one of the largest oil companies in the world,” Michaela explained.