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Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh
Kate Hardy
Red-hot nights with a desert prince! Karim al-Hassan can have any woman he wants, and sexy little waitress Lily Finch is in his sights. One glance leads to a searing kiss – and a hunger that Karim plans to satisfy with a temporary fling.But Lily is more than just a waitress. Successful and career-focused, she is determined never to mix business with pleasure again – until playboy Karim’s slow seduction breaks her resistance! Soon Karim is breaking his own rules: he wants Lily in his bed – for ever!TO TAME A PLAYBOY Hot, sexy, and double the pleasure! Modern Heat™ introduces Kate Hardy’s new playboy duet
Definitely an upper-class playboy.
Though his olive skin and amber-coloured eyes were just a touch too exotic for him to be English.
‘I really shouldn’t b—’ Lily began as he opened the French doors, guided her onto the balcony and closed the doors behind them.
‘Shh.’ He placed his forefinger against her lips, his touch gentle yet firm enough to tell her he meant it. No more protesting.
And then he held her gaze and traced the tip of his forefinger across her lower lip. The lightest, sheerest contact—and yet Lily couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move. There was something compelling about him, something that drew her to him. From the look in his eyes, she had a feeling it was exactly the same for him.
Instant attraction.
Spark to a flame.
A single touch would be enough to ignite it.
She should leave now.
But for the life of her she couldn’t walk away.
TO TAME A PLAYBOYHot, sexy, and double the pleasure!Modern Heat™ introduces Kate Hardy’snew playboy duetLook out forPLAYBOY BOSS, PREGNANCY OF PASSIONComing in May 2009 from Mills & Boon
Modern Heat™
Praise for rising star author Kate Hardy:
About BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S, winner of the Romance Novelists’ Association Romance prize 2008
‘BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S is simply terrific! Sexy, funny, tender, passionate and romantic, this engrossing tale features a loveable heroine and a gorgeous Italian hero who will make you swoon! Kate Hardy is a writer readers can count on in order to deliver an entertaining page-turner which they will devour in a single sitting, and BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S is certainly no exception!’
—www.cataromance.com
About ONE NIGHT, ONE BABY
‘Hardy’s ONE NIGHT, ONE BABY is a terrificattraction-at-first-sight story. He’s hot, sexy and vulnerable, and she’s patient because in the end she knows he’ll be worth it.’
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
‘Romantic fiction does not get any better than this! Fresh, funny, heartwarming and absolutely unputdownable, ONE NIGHT, ONE BABY is vintage Kate Hardy! Featuring a lovely heroine, a gorgeous hero, sizzling sexual tension, an adorable cast of secondary characters and steamy romance, ONE NIGHT, ONE BABY is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter night!’
—www.cataromance.com
Kate Hardy lives on the outskirts of Norwich with her husband, two small children, a dog—and too many books to count! She wrote her first book at age six, when her parents gave her a typewriter for her birthday. She had the first of a series of sexy romances published at twenty-five, and swapped a job in marketing communications for freelance health journalism when her son was born, so she could spend more time with him. She’s wanted to write for Harlequin Mills & Boon since she was twelve—and when she was pregnant with her daughter, her husband pointed out that writing Medical™ Romances would be the perfect way to combine her interest in health issues with her love of good stories. Now Kate has also ventured into Modern Heat™ Romance too, and SURRENDER TO THE PLAYBOY SHEIKH is her ninth novel for this series. Kate is always delighted to hear from readers—do drop in to her website at www.katehardy.com
Kate Hardy’s latest Medical™ Romance title, THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR’S SPECIAL PROPOSAL, is also available this month from Mills & Boon
Also by this author:
HOTLY BEDDED, CONVENIENTLY WEDDED
SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER
ONE NIGHT, ONE BABY
BREAKFAST AT GIOVANNI’S
Kate Hardy’s Medical™ Romance duet—The LondonVictoria:
THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR’S SPECIAL PROPOSAL
THE GREEK DOCTOR’S NEW-YEAR BABY
Dear Reader
There’s something about a playboy. It’s the charming smile, the sexy glint in their eyes, the fact that they know how to have fun… And I had enormous fun writing the To Tame a Playboy duo.
Starting with my very first sheikh, in SURRENDER TO THE PLAYBOY SHEIKH. I’d had a yen to write a sheikh book for ages. So I pitched it to my ed. The deal was: no sand and no robes. So Karim’s a very modern sheikh. One who’s spent half his life in England. He’s tall, dark and handsome—and, being a Kate Hardy hero, he’s also clever and has a big heart. (Actually, that could also describe Luke, the hero in the second of the duo—Luke is Karim’s best friend, and has a completely different background, but he’s just as much of a playboy.)
Both Karim and Luke are strong. They’re in command (of a country and a company respectively); they’re movers and shakers in their world, respected by everyone who works with them; they work just as hard as they play. Both of them enjoy a challenge, and both of them have a personal set of rules—rules which their heroines recognise are holding them back from their full potential, because they’re rules which stop Karim and Luke from giving their heart to anyone.
And so we have Lily and Sara, who proceed to break those rules and show Karim and Luke that they can indeed have it all—with the love of their life right by their side.
I hope you enjoy reading their stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!
With love
Kate Hardy
For Liz Fielding— whose friendship I appreciate as much as her books (and her gorgeous sheikhs!)—with love
SURRENDER TO THE PLAYBOY SHEIKH
by
KATE HARDY
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
‘THANK you so much for your time, Your Highness.’ The journalist was practically curtseying to him. Something Karim really, really hated.
But he managed to stay polite. ‘No problem. Nice to meet you.’ He was aware that he was wearing just as false a mask as the journalist was.
No doubt she thought she had some great quotes to use in a diary piece. This was the kind of party that always made the gossip columns—high-level people from the business world, politicians and hotshot brokers and a sprinkling of actors and pop stars.
And he knew exactly what the spin was going to be where he was concerned. That His Royal Highness Karim al-Hassan had been partying hard, with a champagne reception every day for the last week and languorous lunch engagements that started before midday and never finished before three.
Five years ago, they might’ve been right. He’d partied with the best of them. Burned the candle at both ends.
But now…it was old news. Though in some respects it suited him—people were nowhere near as guarded with him when they thought he was just out for fun, a charming and sophisticated dilettante.
What the newspapers all missed was that Karim’s glass usually held sparkling mineral water rather than gin and tonic. That he had a retentive memory and didn’t need to make notes—he could recall every detail of a meeting and follow it up with letters or reports as necessary. And none of them had any idea that when he left a lunch meeting or a party, he’d be working on complicated figures or reading reports from focus groups until the early hours.
Since his father had entrusted him with such an important task—developing tourism and foreign investment in Harrat Salma—Karim had been more businessman than playboy. He’d done the research, met the right people, made the right contacts, written his business plans. And now he needed to make the most of it. He’d set up a series of meetings with people he knew would bring in investment that would help create more jobs, better infrastructures and the chance to develop sustainable energy sources in his country. All of which would help put Harrat Salma at the forefront.
Even as he chatted pleasantly among a group of people, smiling and making appropriate comments in the right places to show he’d been listening, Karim’s mind was working on his business plan. Though something nagged at him to turn round. Like a whisper in his head that wouldn’t go away.
Eventually, he gave in.
Turned round.
The woman across the other side of the room caught his attention immediately, despite the fact that she was clearly dressed to be invisible rather than to shine. Her hair was an ordinary brown, caught back at the nape. Her black shift dress was simple, elegant and very plain. Her shoes were low-heeled, rather than strappy high heels. She wore no jewellery, not even a watch. No make-up, unless she’d gone for the ‘barely there’ look that he knew from experience was incredibly high maintenance—though, given the rest of her appearance, he didn’t think so.
Odd.
She was the complete opposite of the women he usually dated. Given that she’d dressed to be ignored, he shouldn’t even have noticed her. Yet she was beautiful in her simplicity. And something about her drew him. As if there were some connection between them.
He’d never seen her before. He would’ve remembered her, he was sure. He had no idea who she was—but right at that moment he really wanted to know. And even though he was supposed to be networking, he could allow himself five minutes off. Just long enough to find out who she was and ask her out to dinner.
She was talking to Felicity Browne, the hostess. Karim quietly slipped away from the group and sauntered casually across the room towards the two women. When their conversation ended and she turned away, he quickened his pace slightly and intercepted her path. ‘Hello.’
‘Hello,’ she said politely.
She had a faint South London accent, he noticed. And up close he could see that her eyes were a serious, quiet grey-blue.
Serious and quiet. Definitely not like the women he usually dated.
‘You don’t have a drink,’ he said, shepherding her over towards a waiter bearing a tray of glasses.
‘Because I’m not really here,’ she said.
Although she was obviously aiming to sound cool and collected, Karim had trained himself to notice the little things—and he noticed that she was very slightly flustered.
Given that she’d been talking to Felicity, it was a fair bet that she was a member of Felicity’s staff. So it followed that she was probably worried about getting into trouble for hanging around at a party she really wasn’t dressed to attend—or invited to.
Well, he could fix that.
‘Let’s go somewhere quieter,’ he said. ‘I’ll get you a drink first.’
‘Thank you, but I don’t drink.’
‘Then have a mineral water.’ He took two glasses from the waiter’s tray and handed one to her. A quick check told him that the reporter had indeed left the party: good. Now he could relax. He tucked her free arm through his before heading for the French doors he knew led to a balcony.
Oh, help, Lily thought.
She’d only slipped into the room for a few moments—very quietly and discreetly—to check that Felicity was happy with everything. Then she’d intended to go straight back to the kitchen and sort out the puddings. She certainly hadn’t intended to let herself be waylaid like this.
Even if he was the most stunning man Lily had ever seen.
He was dressed like the rest of the male guests, in a dinner suit teamed with a white, wing-collar pleated-front shirt. His black silk bow tie was hand-tied rather than ready-made. A swift glance at his highly polished black shoes told her that they were handmade, and the cut of the suit was definitely made-to-measure rather than off-the-peg. Expensive made-to-measure, judging by the feel of the cloth against her fingers. Everything about him screamed class.
Well, it would. Felicity Browne was posh with a capital P, and her guests were the same.
Lily had met a few of them before—cooked for them, even—but she’d never met him. She would’ve remembered. He had the same accent as most of the men in the room—one she recognised as public school followed by Oxbridge—and his almost black hair was cut slightly too long with a fringe that flopped over his eyes. Definitely an upper-class playboy.
Though his olive skin and amber-coloured eyes were just a touch too exotic for him to be English.
‘I really shouldn’t b—’ she began again as he opened the French doors, guided her onto the balcony and closed the doors behind them.
‘Don’t worry. If Felicity says anything, I’ll tell her I kidnapped you and it wasn’t your fault,’ he reassured her.
‘But—’
‘Shh.’ He placed his forefinger against her lips, his touch gentle yet firm enough to tell her he meant it. No more protesting.
And then he held her gaze and traced the tip of his forefinger across her lower lip. The lightest, sheerest contact—and yet Lily couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move. There was something compelling about him, something that drew her to him. From the look in his eyes, she had a feeling it was exactly the same for him.
Instant attraction.
Spark to a flame.
A single touch would be enough to ignite it.
She should leave now. If she acted on her heart instead of her head, it would be a disaster. She couldn’t afford the kind of gossip that would undoubtedly follow—gossip that would insidiously eat away at the foundations of the business she’d worked so hard to build, and bring it crashing down.
But, for the life of her, she couldn’t walk away.
‘What’s your name?’ he asked softly.
‘Lily.’
‘Karim,’ he introduced himself.
Exotic—and yet he had that very English accent. Intriguing. And she wanted to know more.
‘One question,’ he said softly. ‘Are you married, involved with anyone?’
She knew instinctively that if she said yes, he’d let her go. Then she could escape back to the kitchen. She actually considered lying to him; although dishonesty was something she usually despised, in this case she knew a white lie would be the most sensible course of action.
But her body wasn’t listening to her head. She gave the tiniest, tiniest shake of her head, and saw relief bloom in his expression. Followed quickly by a hunger that made her body tighten in response.
He put his glass down on the table, then took hers from her hand and placed it next to his, all the while keeping his gaze fixed on hers. He captured her hand and raised it to his mouth; as he kissed each fingertip in turn she couldn’t help her lips parting and her head tipping back slightly in offering.
He saw the invitation and took it, dipping his head so that his mouth just brushed her own. The lightest, sweetest, erotic whisper of skin against skin.
