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see some of them right over there, so if you'll excuse me …”
    Before she could slip by him, he grasped her wrist, pulling her close with a gentle tug. She was so surprised by his assault that she couldn't stop herself before she fell heavily against his chest. Fear and anger warred in her chest, and she stared up at him.
    “Hey, hands off,” Ella growled. “This is not my idea of a good party.”
    “Oh, it doesn't need to be very long,” he assured her. “I just want to spend a little time with such a beautiful American woman. We don't see women like you here …”
    He bent his head down, and if his lips landed on hers, Ella was committed to screaming. As it was, she raised her heel to stomp on his foot, but before she could do that, he was pulled away from her, plucked up as if he were an errant puppy.
    “I think that you are needed elsewhere,” said an ice-cold voice. “Aren't you?”
    The man who had been menacing her looked as if he were going to offer a protest, but then something about the newcomer made him turn on his heel and leave very sharply. The man who had just helped her out of a very bad situation turned to her.
    “Are you all right?”
    She started to say that of course she was, but then she started to shake, quite ruining her poise.
    “I'm fine, I'm fine,” she tried to say, but the trembling wouldn't stop. With a soft curse, the man stepped into the alcove with her.
    “Here, come here, sweetheart.”
    She started to wonder why she trusted this man, why he comforted her and the other man had only panicked her, but then she recognized him. For a moment, she barely understood what was happening, and then she sank into his arms in relief.
    “Oh, Nasim,” she murmured. “Thank you.”
    He didn't say anything. Instead he only held her firmly until the shaking stopped and she was able to step back.
    “Is that really you under there?”
    He flashed a sharp white grin at her. Even in her heightened state, she could see how handsome he was. He had always been a confident man, but she had to say that spending time as the Sheikh of Khayyam had given him an air of control that was distinctly different.
    “It is. I'm actually pretty startled. I showed up about twenty minutes ago, and so far no one's recognized me.”
    She blinked. “Is it a problem that you're here?” She looked around. It was a slightly silly book release party. There was nothing really scandalous about it.
    He shrugged. “Well, let's just say that a middling publishing house's release party is not really a place where you tend to find the royal family,” he said. “And if they learned that I came here only to pursue one woman, well, that would certainly give the gossip hounds far too much to chew on.”
    Ella bit her lip, aware that she was likely getting lipstick on her teeth and not caring. She wondered who it was, whether it was the dark and dramatic literary agent she had chatted with earlier or perhaps the bright journalist who was covering the event.
    “Oh. Well, good luck, and your secret is safe with me. I need something to take the taste of that last encounter out of my mouth, so I'm going to go grab some food. Good luck with the woman you're pursuing.”
    She almost made it past him before he grasped her elbow gently and tugged her back. Startled, Ella looked up at him in surprise. “What?”
    “Are you serious?”
    She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
    He made a frustrated sound that still managed to be quite attractive. At the very least, it sent chills through her body.
    “Are you truly so unaware? I came looking for you, Ella.”
    Her brain refused to understand what he was saying. “For … me?”
    “Yes, Ella, I can't get you out of my mind.”
    She was already shaking her head. “Nasim … we've tried this before, remember? We've already done this, and we've already gone through the heartbreak that goes with it. Or at least … I did. Maybe you didn't feel the same way?”
    He recoiled as if