Elena stared at him, eyes round. This all had to be a joke—some kind of crazy, incomprehensible joke. She was being propositioned by a Lebanese man to be his pretend fiancée, while his mother flitted around like the Wicked Witch of the West with those stony eyes and terrifying grimaces.

“Are you serious?” Aubrey’s voice was shrill, which snapped Elena out of her stupor. She blinked up at Asim, struggling to find the right words.

“We’re traveling, buddy,” Aubrey went on. “We have a schedule and a timetable and purchased tickets and a lot of places to go.”

“She’s right,” Elena added. “We’re just visiting. We still have five more countries to visit. We’re leaving for Cyprus tonight. We can’t afford to miss the boat, either. We only budgeted so much money for this trip.”

“I can absolutely help with that,” Asim said. “Once this is all over, I’ll purchase your tickets again. Whatever tickets you like, in fact. If you want to go to Hong Kong instead, I’ll send you there. Or Thailand. Maybe even Russia. Whatever you want. No questions asked.”

Elena cocked a brow. This guy had to be nuts. There was no way in hell a man with a face like that needed a pretend wife. “I don’t get it.”

“Let me explain,” he said, reaching for her arm. His touch sizzled through her, but he dropped it quickly.

“You sound like a nutjob,” Aubrey said, in the way that Aubrey always managed to cut to the core of whatever Elena really wanted to say.

“Just hear me out,” he said, raising a hand. “I promise there’s an explanation here.”

Elena narrowed her eyes at him. What explanation could possibly make sense, other than he was here filming for the Lebanese version of Candid Camera? It had to be a prank. And humiliation on a reality TV show wasn’t part of her itinerary.

“My mother has been pressuring me to get married for…years. Since I turned eighteen, which means she’s been waiting for a decade. She wants me to marry the daughter of a family that we do business with. The girl is fine, I suppose. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with her. I’m simply not ready for the commitment. Not with her—not with anyone.” He paused, eyes flitting between her and Aubrey. “I must sidestep it. And the only way to do that is to prove to her that I am already engaged.”

When Aubrey sighed, Asim added quickly, “If you agree to this…you will be doing me a favor I could not possibly repay. I would be forever in your debt. And I assure you—I am a man that many people wish could be in their debt.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t Candid Camera. But it reeked of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She opened her mouth to respond, but Aubrey jumped in.

“Are you some sort of rich oil sheikh or something?”

Elena turned to her, sending her a stern look. “Aubrey.”

“What?” She shrugged. “It’s just a question.”

Asim grinned—he looked more amused than offended. “Well, no, I’m not. Though I am rich, and I am a sheikh.”

Elena’s stomach tightened. Rich and a sheikh. Slight pluses in the whole matter.

“My family’s oil holdings are quite small,” he went on. “Mostly we deal in technology and renewable energy. We have plenty of money, and we live in luxury.”

“Yeah, we heard—the palace,” Aubrey said.

“If you choose to help me, I promise you the accommodations will be vastly better than anything you’ve probably experienced thus far.” He glanced at their backpacks, and embarrassment shot through her limbs. What must he think of her? Of common people like them? “If you’re on a budget trip, I assure you, this will be the end of cramped hotel accommodations and pinching every last penny.”

“Lebanese Pound,” Aubrey corrected.

Asim laughed a little. Elena crossed her arms over her chest, glancing at Aubrey. “Asim, can Aubrey and I have a minute in private?”

“Of course.” His sly smile made her knees weak. This man was too handsome. He stepped aside, and Elena turned to Aubrey, narrowing her eyes.

“Listen, why are you hounding him like you’re the one about to pretend to be his fiancée?”

“I just want to make sure he’s on the up and up,” Aubrey said.

“So, whatever happened to not getting into strange cars?” She lifted a brow. “I thought this idea would be out of the question. Now you’re basically haggling for my selling price.”

“Hey, plans change, right?”

“Not ours.” Elena crossed her arms tighter, gnawing at the inside of her lip. She couldn’t possibly be considering it. And yet, somewhere deep inside, the idea churned hot and curious. What would it be like to go along with his scheme? It might not be smart…but damn, she wanted to find out. No matter how little sense it made.

“I’m just saying it would be nice to change things up a bit,” Aubrey went on. “After six weeks of budget hotel rooms and scrimping on meals…I wouldn’t be opposed to a luxurious break. They probably have a crazy awesome house! I mean, talk about exclusive tours. This is a trip that not many other people get to take.”

“Even if it means I have to dupe his mother and get fake engaged to a sheikh.”

Aubrey grinned a little. “Right.”

“This is nuts.”

“Well, he’s hot as fuck, which I’m sure you’ve noticed, so the eye candy is kind of like your prize.” When Elena’s narrowed eyes turned into a glare, Aubrey continued. “Besides, if we go with him, it’ll be an adventure. Off the beaten path. Something neither of us planned or budgeted for!”

“And when we end up sold into slavery?” Elena leaned closer. “What then?”

“We won’t. Look at this guy.” She gestured to Asim, who strolled the curb of the street, looking out toward the sea. “He doesn’t need to get into the slave trade to make money. You heard him. He deals with renewable energy. If anything, he spends his cash on hookers.”

Elena snorted. “And fake wives.”

“Exactly. Besides, we have the GPS feature on our phone. Anything happens to us, people are gonna know.”

Elena watched her friend, nibbling on her lip. The pieces were clicking into place, and the puzzle was entirely different than the one she’d started out putting together. “We can also maybe set something up with some friends. Some check-ins. If we don’t call in every few days, they’ll know to send help.”

“Very practical,” Aubrey said.

“And we can sign a contract,” she said. “That sounds smart, doesn’t it?”

“Incredibly.” Aubrey smirked. “Your first binding legal agreement with a sheikh. This is a big moment in a girl’s life.”

Elena rolled her eyes. “Or something. We’ll google him too. Find out all the dirt.” She glanced behind her. Asim scrolled through his phone, his dark eyebrows furrowed. His mouth parted slightly, which made his lips look plump. Delicious. Kissable. She shivered. Would it be so wrong to spend a little time in the proximity of a sexy sheikh?

“OK. Let’s do it.” Elena searched Aubrey’s gaze, finding the same swirl of excitement and disbelief that she felt inside herself. “I don’t know why, but let’s.”

Aubrey nodded. “Let’s. After you, Sheikh-ess.”

Elena spun on her heel, heading for Asim, who jingled some coins in his pocket as he chatted on the phone. When he spotted her coming near, he hung up the phone and straightened, smiling at her.

“Do you have some news?” His perfect teeth glittered in the sunlight.

“I’ll do it,” she said, brushing some loose wisps of hair away from her eyes. “But only under a few conditions.”

“Do share.”

“We sign a contract of some sort. An agreement. But I can back out of this whenever I want.”

He nodded. “I think that’s fair.”

“And we have our GPS tracking on,” she added. “So no funny business. No kidnapping. No slavery.”

Asim hefted with a little laugh. “Were those even options? My God.”

“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.” She smoothed back a few more wisps of hair that escaped in the boisterous breeze. “I mean, this is the first time I’ve posed as anyone’s fiancée. I don’t know you.”

A sexy smirk overtook his face, one that made her insides clench. What if you fall in love with your fake fiancé? The thought made her blink, like stumbling over an unexpected step in the sidewalk. That seemed ludicrous.

“How long will I be…doing this, anyway?”

“I envision a week,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I can’t imagine it would take much longer than that to derail my mother’s carefully laid plans.”

Aubrey snorted. “Great. So where are we going first?”

Asim swiped at something on his screen and then pocketed the phone again. “To my house. Let’s get you both settled in.”

A moment later, a sleek black sedan pulled up, similar to the one that had whisked his mother away. Shiny rims snagged her attention as it rolled to a stop. A driver hopped out of the front seat, heading to the trunk.

“Shall we?” He gestured toward the back seat, leading the way. Just as Elena opened her mouth to ask about the backpacks, the driver appeared, holding out his hands to receive her bag.

“Thanks.” She handed it over, as did Aubrey. “That was fast.”

Asim pulled open the rear door, waving them in. “Please, get in.”

Aubrey scooted inside first, all the way to the far window. Elena climbed in next, prepared to grumble about getting the middle seat. Except this middle seat was far finer than most middle seats. The leather was plush and soft. The car itself seemed wider, inherently more comfortable, like it had been covered with a final coat of elegant gloss. Even the middle console seemed to shine and glisten. Asim slid in next to her and shut the door, a pleasant silence settling in the idling car. The heat of him pressed up against her. Her heart fluttered, like maybe this was her high school crush instead of a literal stranger she’d met a half hour ago.

“This is Mohammed, my driver,” Asim said, smiling as the older man slid into the front seat. “He takes me everywhere. He’s been driving me now for ten years.”

“Do you know how to drive?” Aubrey said, leaning forward to look at him.

“No.” Asim shook his head, laughing a little. “I tried once, when I was in Germany on vacation. It ended very poorly.”

Elena lifted a brow. “Like, people-didn’t-live-to-tell-about-it poorly?”

“Oh, no fatalities. Only dented roofs.” He glanced down at her, the sly smile sending her heart racing. Combined with the heat of him pressed against her, she wondered if this was truly a good idea. How could she keep herself away from a man like him?

“The roof?” Aubrey arched a brow. “Where were you, a wild animal park?”

“You should learn how to drive,” Elena said softly, patting his knee. “It’s a good skill to have. If you ever need to be a getaway driver, or something like that.”

“I’d undoubtedly be the worst,” he said, shifting a little beside her. Cologne wafted toward her, igniting her senses. His firm thigh pressed into hers, making her wonder exactly what he looked like under that suit. Maybe he was hairy…or maybe not at all. Caramel skin, or interesting tan lines from the Beirut sun. She shivered a little, looking away, out the window on Aubrey’s side.

At the very least, the coming week would be interesting with Asim at her side. And maybe a little irresistible.