The next morning, Laura spent a few hours going over all her photos and video clips from the day before. Walking through the underground tunnels and caves with Raheem had been educational, to say the least. He knew so much about the landscape and the native species of his home and his pride in both were obvious. If she’d ever doubted his sincerity before, she didn’t any longer.

But his reaction to that spider had been something else.

When she’d pressed him about it later, on the way back to the palace, he’d explained how his brothers had forced him to watch a movie back when he was a kid and it had given rise to his intense fear of spiders. Seemed pretty outlandish, but then again, she’d never really trusted again after her mother had died and her father had tried to control every aspect of her life. So, yeah. Who was she to judge?

A knock at the door jarred her back to the present. Laura got up and walked over to answer. A white-robed servant stood on the other side, bowing low while holding out a silver tray with a white box on it.

“Is this for me?” she asked.

The servant nodded and Laura took the box, frowning as the servant hurried away again before she could thank him. She closed the door then wandered back to the bed, staring down at the box. She held it up to her ear and it wasn’t ticking. Always a good sign. There were no markings on it to indicate who it was from or what was inside.

Slowly, she removed the lid and found a new, top-of-the-line Apple watch inside. She’d always wanted one, but couldn’t afford it. Beneath it was a small hand-written note.

Laura laughed. Okay, sure. She’d chased away the big bad spider, but honestly. This watch had to cost over a thousand dollars. There weren’t big enough bugs to chase for that. At least she didn’t think there were. If so, she didn’t want to see them.

She slipped on her shoes and checked her reflection in the mirror before putting the watch back in its box and heading downstairs with it. Raheem was being far too generous and she couldn’t accept it for doing nothing. The fact he was paying her an outrageous amount to film the natural beauty of his country was already more than enough.

Once she reached the foyer, though, she had no idea which direction to take to find him. This place was huge, with so many halls and passages it was easy to get lost. She stood for a moment and heard the distant sound of voices echoing from the left, so she decided to start there.

Her wandering paid off and she found Raheem discussing something with his brothers in Arabic. She understood basic words, but nothing beyond that. She waited discreetly outside the door until they finished, then caught Raheem on his way out.

“Hey,” she said, tucking a stray auburn curl behind her ear. “Um, thank you so much for the watch, but I can’t accept it.”

He looked down at the box in her palm then back up to her. “Why not?”

“Because it’s too expensive. Seriously. All I did was chase away a spider. No big deal.”

“It was a very big deal to me.” He gave her a curt bow. “Please. Take it. I want you to have it.”

“Really. I can’t.” She tried to hand the box back to him, but he walked away. Laura rushed to catch up with his longer strides. “Here.”

“I won’t take it.” He gave her a side glance. “Did you ever stop to think that it’s in my best interest to make sure you don’t end up lost in the desert again? I’m paying you an exorbitant amount to film my homeland. I wish to see a return on my investment. That won’t happen if you end up dead of heat stroke on the side of a remote sand dune.”

“Oh, well.” She balked. “I didn’t think about it like that. But still. It costs too much.”

“What price do you put on your safety, Laura?” He stopped and raised a brow at her. “There may be times during this assignment where I can’t accompany you to a location. My country is not known to be overly dangerous, but it would give me peace of mind to know that you are taken care of. Besides, it will be one less thing I have to worry about. Do this. For me.”

He’d stopped short of commanding her to take the watch, but the implication was there in the rigid set of his broad shoulders and the imperious glint in his eyes. Laura forced herself to take a breath, calm down, reassess. It really was a lovely watch and she had been planning on getting herself one someday. And the last thing she wanted to do was insult the man who’d be paying her salary so she could live debt-free for once. Hell, with the amount he was paying her, she could live debt-free for the next decade, if she was smart about her spending.

“Fine,” she said at last.

“Fine.” Raheem turned on his heel and continued onward, leaving Laura to catch up once again. “Are you busy right now?” he asked.

“Uh, no.” Other than chasing you around. “Why?”

“How would you like to accompany me to see my brother’s newest five-star luxury monstrosity?”

“Okay.” She ran upstairs and grabbed a sweater, her camera, and her cross-body bag, then headed back to the foyer where Raheem waited. “Where exactly are we going?”

“A famous world-wide hotel and resort chain has purchased land near the royal family’s holdings and they have filed plans to put up a five-star resort on the site. Before they can break ground, however, royal approval must be given. Feraz is far too busy to do it and Rehaj is only concerned about the financial aspect and not the aesthetics, so that leaves me.”

“What about your sisters?” she asked as they walked out to the Range Rover once more.

“Oh, they could care less about the hotel at this stage. Wait until the spas are up and running, though, then look out.” He sighed. “Besides I asked them all and they turned me down.”

“Oh.” Laura chuckled. Twenty minutes later they pulled up to a barren piece of land cordoned off with yellow caution tape. Heavy machinery and workmen dotted the area. Raheem got out, then helped her down. The air was warmer today and the sun was out, heating her skin even more. Good thing she’d put on extra sunscreen this morning, otherwise she’d be in trouble.

They entered a small construction trailer set up near the perimeter of the site and three men—all Scandinavian and blond—rushed over to shake Raheem’s hand and bow to Laura. They introduced themselves as the architect of the project, a representative from the hotel corporation, and the on-site project manager.

“Let us see what you have in store, gentlemen,” Raheem said, leading Laura over to a table in the back of the trailer covered with architectural drawings and schematics.

“These are so cool,” Laura said, staring at the mockups of the exterior of the hotel and the sketches of the rooms. At Raheem’s inquisitive stare, she said, “My mom ran her own interior design business, before she got sick.”

“Interesting.” He handed her more drawings to look at. “What do you think of these, Miss Bliss?”

She went over everything from lighting fixtures to wall coverings to carpets. It was fun, reminding her of when she’d been little and rushing around at her mother’s side as she’d gone on buying trips for her store or consulted with clients about decorating their homes. Surprising how much of that stuff stuck with her after all these years. Fond memories swelled inside her. As if maybe her mother wasn’t truly gone. Maybe a part of her lived on inside Laura.

“Thank you for your help with these,” Raheem said to her during a break. “Takes beauty to know beauty.”

Warmth spread through her again, but of a completely different kind this time.

Once they’d gone over and approved all the interiors, they moved on to the exteriors of the building. And here is where the problems began.

“We’ve had to make a few adjustments from our original plans submitted, sir,” the architect said. “Unfortunately, once we were on-site and able to see the land up close, our first choice of placement for the hotels’ foundations has turned out to be completely unsuitable. Too much sand and not enough supporting bedrock beneath. Thus, we’ve chosen to move the foundations to this spot here.”

He pointed to a spot on the map in front of them.

“No. That’s unacceptable.” Raheem frowned. “If you put it there, that will block the family’s view of the lake from our private wing of the palace. I’m sorry, you’ll have to choose someplace else.”

A heated discussion between the two men began and soon Laura and the others had drifted to the opposite end of the trailer to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. To help ease the awkwardness, Laura turned to the hotel representative and smiled. “Have you begun working on the marketing for the project yet? Prince Raheem has hired me to help with a project to build tourism in the area. We might be able to collaborate on some things to mutual benefit.”

“Ah, yes. That sounds wonderful,” the man said. “Our goal is to team up with local vendors to give our guests a one-of-a-kind travel experience they can only get here in Djeva.”

“Oh, that sounds fantastic.” She told them about the caves and Raheem’s planned wildlife refuge and how both might be good locations to add to their roster of excursions for guests. She was just finishing up her conversation with them, when Raheem appeared at her side.

“Ready?” he asked, checking his watch. He looked aloof and stern. “I need to get back to the palace for another meeting.”

“Uh, sure.” She said her goodbye to the men, noticing that Raheem gave them all only a curt nod, then followed him back to the Range Rover. “How’d things work out with the foundations?”

“He told me Feraz has basically already assured him that we would go along with whatever they chose to do. So, my hands are tied, it seems.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Laura said, climbing into the backseat beside him. “It will be a shame to lose your view of the lake.”

“Yes. Well, we’ll see about that.” They took off in a cloud of sand and dust. “I have things I need to discuss with my brothers when I get home. But at least my wildlife refuge is safe.”