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She’d always admired the vast family from afar, eagerly reading about them in the paper, envying them for their closeness, their love, their incredible devotion to one another. The Coltons were, in her mind, what the definition of what a true family was, the kind she’d never had.
But her affection for the Coltons went far deeper than what she’d read in the society pages. The Coltons were a philanthropic family, giving to a great deal of needy causes. They had, in fact, funded the Hopechest Ranch, where she’d spent some of her teen years. Without the ranch, she would have probably ended up on the streets, just another lost kid.
She owed a lot to the Hopechest Ranch and, ultimately, the Coltons for making such a place possible for children who either had nowhere to go or had no one who wanted them.
She’d been just such a child. But she wasn’t about to tell this man any such thing. Someone like Ali El-Etra would never understand what it was like to be alone in the world, never knowing where your next meal was coming from, never knowing if you’d have a roof over your head.
He had minions who did nothing but hand-paint maps for him. Obviously he’d never understand where she came from.
Ali continued. “My father is a descendant of the Kuwaiti royal family, and our family is the largest land-holder in our country, land that is rich with oil. Oil my country was not even aware of so many years ago, nor did they have any experience extracting that oil from the land. Joe Colton, on the other hand, had equipment, experience and an oil-rigging company.” Ali shrugged, not mentioning how close the El-Etras and the Coltons had become over the years. They’d been like a surrogate family to him, particularly during the years of unrest in his country, when his father, fearing for his safety, had sent him to America, to the Coltons, to live.
It was a painful time for Ali, a time when he’d been separated from his family, and when he’d lost his beloved Jalila.
Ali shook away the memories, preferring not to think of them. They were still far too painful.
“Together, Joe Colton and my father became not just partners and very close friends, but very, very successful men.” He shrugged, his massive shoulders moving beneath the custom-tailored suit. “It has worked out quite well for all concerned.”
Faith glanced around at the room. “Apparently,” she said with a nod and a smile. Her initial assessment of him had been accurate. He was an impossibly spoiled man who had no idea what it meant to work. A man who’d been handed everything in life. A man she could never relate to or understand.
She was proud of all that she’d worked for and accomplished on her own, without any help from anyone.
But then again there’d never been anyone to help her, she thought. She had no choice but to do everything on her own.
She shifted her gaze back to him. “So it’s daddy’s money you’re pledging to cover your investors.” She nodded thoughtfully, trying not to feel envious. “Now I understand.” Cocking her head, she met his gaze. “I imagine it’s easy playing at being successful when someone else is footing the bills.”
“My father’s money?” The words boomed out of his mouth. His face darkened, and an unrecognizable emotion swept through his eyes as he shot to his feet like a cannon.
“On the contrary, Ms. Martin. It is my money,” he corrected firmly, coming around the desk to stand in front of her. He was so close she caught a hint of his aftershave. It was something discreet, masculine, and absolutely intoxicating.
At a distance, he was impressive; standing so close, his presence was nearly overwhelming. She could see the tiny pinpoints of annoyance glinting from his dark eyes, eyes that were nearly hypnotizing. She could see the way his mouth tightened, thinned.
“Ms. Martin, I came to America and started El-Etra Investments on my own nearly ten years ago, without any assistance from my father or my family, financial or otherwise.” Feeling defensive, Ali glanced around the spacious room. “The only assistance my father has provided to me has been advice and counsel, something I value tremendously since he is not only successful, but a man of quality and integrity.”
He paused to level her with a gaze that almost had her quaking in her shoes. “My father was one of my very first clients, but make no mistake, Ms. Martin, my father is not a fool. He would never have entrusted or invested part of the family fortune in this firm if it was not a viable business enterprise.”
Faith watched him warily, the way she would eye a hungry rabid dog she’d suddenly stumbled upon.
Apparently she’d hit a nerve, one that was particularly sensitive. He was fairly quaking with anger, and his dark, fathomless eyes were hot enough to singe the hair on her head.
Apparently she’d really put her foot in her mouth this time.
Faith wanted to sigh as regret swept over her. She realized she needed to pull back, get some distance, emotionally and physically, and apologize.
She didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize this job. Not because he was of royal blood, or rich. Neither meant a hill of beans to her.
But his business did.
She needed it in order to secure the bank loan that would help her expand into larger offices and hire a few more consultants. But none of that was possible if she ticked off El-Etra and lost this account.
In spite of her own apparent disdain for the man and his lifestyle, she needed to remain emotionally uninvolved, not let her own personal feelings about his life, his reputation or his wealth affect her business sense.
Detached. Completely and totally detached. She had to remember that. Looking at him, she had a sinking feeling it was going to be easier said than done because he represented all the things she detested in a man.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, vividly aware that he was still standing just a few inches from her, far too close for comfort. Close enough for his male scent to tantalize and tease her senses. Close enough for her to see how attractive he really was. It was totally unnerving. “I didn’t mean to insult you or your family.”
“Family is a very sacred thing to me, Ms. Martin,” he said quietly, sincerely. Still, it sounded like a warning.
“I’ll try to remember that,” Faith said with a nod.
“Please do.” His eyes had cleared and his face had softened into a small smile. The man was far too gorgeous to be allowed to smile in public.
He looked at her carefully, as if studying her. “It would be a pity if I had to reconsider my position on beheading, don’t you think?”
Two
“T he thing I don’t understand, Ali, is how you’ve managed to stay in business this long?” Shaking her head, Faith took a sip of her soft drink and glanced across the conference table at him.
She’d been working on his systems nearly round-the-clock for the past three days, trying to navigate her way through the problems.
Lack of sleep, lack of food, and a headache had left her hot, tired and more than slightly irritable, but patience wasn’t her strong suit even on her best day.
She hoped this meeting didn’t take too long. The man still made her nervous, with his dark good looks and his impossible smile. Several times during the past few days she’d found her thoughts drifting back to their initial meeting.
The fact that she also found herself scouring the society pages each morning to see if his picture was there—invariably it was, with a different beautiful woman each day—had become a mild irritant, something she didn’t understand.
She was not the type of woman to spend her time mooning over a man. But she consoled herself with the thought that it was only natural for her to be curious about a man who held her financial future in his hands.
The pictures each morning only confirmed and emphasized their differences and her rather jaded opinion of him.
He apparently had a different date every night. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a date. By choice. She much preferred machines to men—machines didn’t lie, they didn’t leave you and they couldn’t hurt you.
“What do you mean?” he asked with a frown.
Faith sighed, realizing she’d been staring at him. The sun coming through the windows glinted against his facial features, highlighting the plane of his cheeks, the curve of his jaw, already dark with an early afternoon stubble. The total effect was irresistibly sexy. No wonder women swooned at his feet, obeyed his every command and begged to do his bidding.
Annoyed by her own train of thought, Faith shook her head, averted her gaze, then glanced back down at her notes, trying to get her mind back on business.
“Okay, Ali, let me explain what I’ve discovered so far.” She struggled to concentrate, took a breath so her voice would be calm. “First and foremost you need a new server. The one you have is not only hopelessly outdated, but not nearly adequate for your needs. I’m surprised you haven’t had a serious problem before this.” Carelessly, she flipped through her notes with a frown, then glanced up at him, surprised to find him watching her intently.
The way the man focused his total attention on you made you feel as if you were the only person in the world. It was unnerving, and a bit annoying.
She wasn’t accustomed to being scrutinized so closely by a male, particularly such a potent male. It was definitely having an effect on her, and only increasing her nervousness and irritability.
“Second, you need a completely new operating system, something you’ll be able to use not just today, but in the future as well. In addition, each workstation needs new, updated monitors, keyboards and programs that will complement the new operating system.” She stopped, rubbed the throbbing in her forehead, then sighed, wishing she could read her own handwriting.
“And above all, Ali, you have to install anti-virus programs on each and every workstation. With the proliferation of viruses out there, you’re far too vulnerable without it. I think that’s what happened to your system. I think you picked up a virus somewhere, probably in an e-mail attachment from someone, the kind that sics itself onto your hard drive, and then begins eating your files.” She sipped her warm soft drink, wishing for a hot sandwich and a colder drink.
She shrugged her slender shoulders. “That’s the only thing I can figure out right now. It’s the only explanation I can find. I’ve checked and rechecked everything else.” And she had the headache to prove it.
He leaned forward in his chair, his concentration total. “Do you mean that perhaps someone has done this deliberately?” Concern etched his words and she sought to soothe his worry.
“Deliberately?” She considered. “No. Not necessarily. Certain software is particularly vulnerable to this type of virus. Hackers think it’s cute to send viruses out that disrupt businesses and destroy data.”
“This type of thing is done for fun?” He looked so shocked, she laughed.
“Believe it or not, yes.” She cocked her head. “Guess you’re not in Kansas anymore.” At his frown, she realized he didn’t have a clue what she was referring to. She laughed. “Never mind, it’s just an expression.”
“An expression?” He continued to frown. “What does Kansas have to do with my computer system in California?”
Amused, Faith realized she was going to have to give him a crash-course in American pop culture. “Did you ever see the movie The Wizard of Oz?”
He looked both suspicious and skeptical. “No. Should I?”
“Yeah.” She smiled and leaned her arms on the table. “It’s a great flick. Anyway, ‘you’re not in Kansas anymore’ is merely an expression, a takeoff on the movie’s theme. It just means someone’s being particularly naive about something.”
“And am I being naive?” he asked carefully, wondering if she was once again making fun of him.
Uh-oh, she had a feeling she was about to put her foot in her mouth again.
She chose her words carefully, not wanting to insult him further. She rather liked having her head where it sat.
“Ali, I know it’s hard to believe, but some people do deliberately try to disrupt businesses and destroy data merely for their own pleasure.”
“That is a very sad state of affairs.”
“I agree.”
“But because of them, you have a job, correct? Then perhaps you should show some appreciation?” The amusement glinting in his eyes made her realize that he was teasing her. It took her by surprise.
“You’ve got a point there,” she admitted with a smile.
“But if you think or even suspect this was deliberately done to disrupt my business, I shall need to get my security people on it.”
The way he said it made her think he was about ready to call out the royal national guard.
“Now wait a minute, Ali, don’t get your shorts in a crimp. I don’t think this was deliberate. I think someone was just careless.” She held up her hand before he could speak. “Not necessarily one of your employees.” She didn’t even want to go there, fearing his reaction. She certainly didn’t want to be the cause of someone losing his job. “Sometimes you pick up a virus and you don’t even realize it until your system is affected. So for the time being, I think you’ll need to be very, very careful. I’d instruct all of your employees not to open any e-mails from anyone who is not known to them.”
“Okay.” He nodded slowly as if deep in thought. “I shall have Kadid attend to it immediately.”
“Good.” At least the man was taking her advice, something she was certain he had difficulty doing normally. She wasn’t certain if it was because she was a woman, or simply because he was a royal. In either case, she had a feeling Ali was more accustomed to issuing orders than to taking them.
“Now, once I install the anti-virus software, it will run automatically every time the system is booted up, and every time one of the workstations is turned on. It’s not foolproof, but about as close as you can get. Once that’s done, about once a month, you should have your systems people do a sweep for viruses of the entire system. Do you understand what I’m saying, Ali?” He looked blank as a blackboard.
Ali shook his dark head, his eyes bemused. “Viruses. Servers. Systems. Boots.” He held up a hand. “I do not understand all this technical jargon.” He watched her, entranced by the intensity in her vivid green eyes.
Faith was a woman, he’d discovered in the past few days, who appeared to be passionate about everything. There was so much about her that was different from the women in his life. She was proving to be a refreshing change. And a challenge.
With her back against the windows, sun spilled into the room and over her, glinting off her hair, making the reddish gold strands shimmer like spun gold.
He found himself wondering if her hair was as soft, as silky as it looked. He laced his hands together on the table to prevent himself from finding out.
Today, she was once again dressed in her beloved T-shirt, well-worn jeans and tennis shoes.
Instead of a braid, though, her hair was caught up atop her head in a knot, but some tendrils had escaped and now framed her face in a riot of red and gold. She had the most incredible skin, like the tip of a rose before the first bloom.
He sighed, trying to get his thoughts under control. “You will have to explain what I need to do in a language I can understand. Preferably English or Arabic.”
“Arabic’s definitely out,” she admitted with a shake of her head. “I’ll stick with English. In layman’s terms your system is having a…” She searched for a term he could understand. “A techie tirade.”
His brows slowly drew together over confused dark eyes. “A tirade?”
She nodded. “You know, a temper tantrum.” She smothered a chuckle at the look on his face. Obviously no one had ever thrown a tantrum on the sheik before. Well, there was a first time for everything. Faith sought to soothe him, instinctively reaching out to pat his hand. “But you don’t have to worry about it, Ali, or understand it. That’s what you’re paying me to do.”
And paying her well, she thought. His offer of a very generous bonus if she could get his new system up and operational within ten days was a challenge she simply couldn’t resist. It might prevent her from having to go to the bank, hat in hand, and beg for another operating loan.
The bonus would go a long way toward giving her the financial cushion she hadn’t hoped to have for at least another year. And when she added her regular fees on top of that, she’d be able to not only expand her offices and hire two consultants, but she might even be able to swing some new equipment as well.
The promise of the financial windfall had caused her to bury herself in her work, barely leaving this building except to stagger home for a few hours of sleep. All in all this was turning out to be a dream job.
Now all she had to do was control her mouth and her temper, not to mention her inbred annoyance at what this man represented to her.
She probably should have considered a gag, Faith realized. It might have been easier.
Ali sighed. “I don’t know how much longer my staff can continue to work the enormous hours necessary to do everything by hand.” To say nothing of the hours he’d spent on the phone trying to soothe clients. “Can you complete all this in a week?”
“Once I go over all the financial concerns and get your permission to order the necessary equipment, I should have you up and operating at full speed in less than a week.” That was with her working nearly round the clock, but she was counting on that bonus. She frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve been testing the system this morning, so it’s up right now, but I don’t suggest you use it for anything important, at least not until all the new equipment is ordered and installed.”
Ali nodded, listening to her. He shifted his weight, then loosened his tie. In spite of the fact that it was late September, someone had apparently forgotten to tell Mother Nature, for the temperatures were still hovering near the 90s. In spite of the excellent air-conditioning system, it was getting warmer by the minute in his office.
“It’s not necessary to go over the finances, Faith.” He waved away her concern. “Purchase anything you need. Kadid will take care of all the necessary paperwork.” Ali got up, went to his desk and pressed the intercom. “Kadid, could you come in please?”
Faith had learned that the elderly assistant had been with Ali since his birth. She and Kadid had become fast friends.
In the past few days, she’d found Kadid to be helpful and cooperative, not to mention exceedingly kind and totally devoted to Ali, which, she had to admit, she found surprising.
Kadid readily kept her supplied with cold colas during the day while she worked; something she considered fuel to keep her going. And she praised him regularly for it.
Yesterday, Kadid had even sat for a moment and shared a cola with her, no doubt breaking some sort of royal protocol.
A moment later the double doors opened and Kadid came in. “Ms. Martin.” Smiling, he gave a slight bow in a way she found totally charming.
While Ali dressed in Western business clothing, Kadid dressed in traditional garb. Flowing cotton pants, shirt, loose moccasin-type shoes, and a long, almost floor-length sleeveless robe all in a sedate shade of beige.
She smiled in genuine warmth. “Hello, Kadid.”
“Kadid, Faith will be purchasing some computer equipment for the company. Please see to it that she has the clearance to spend whatever amount necessary.”
Kadid nodded. “Of course,” he said, turning to Faith with another smile. “I shall take care of it immediately, Ms. Martin.” In spite of her insistence that he call her Faith, he retained his thoroughly formal manner.
