The Prince and the Working Woman (Desert Prince Book 1) Read Online Free

employee, not a corporate transferee.” Mona frowned. “I feel bad that we are leaving tomorrow. I could postpone…”
    “Your honeymoon? No. But I will need to get my stuff…”
    “We are going to the States anyway. I will pick up your things. Even the purple velvet couch if you want.”
    Both woman cringed and then laughed.
    “I couldn’t take it from Angie.”  Guilt tightened Mandy’s stomach. She hadn’t told their other roomie about the job yet.  Angie still had a semester of college left. Although they knew they would be going their separate ways this year, they never thought it would be seven thousand miles away.
    “Are you all right?” Mona asked.
    Mandy exhaled slowly. “I’m fine.”
    “Then you are aware you just agreed to bright green toe nail polish.”
    She rolled her shoulders. Did it really matter? “At least when I belly dance they will look at my feet instead of my hips.”
    “With that curvy body of yours?” Mona asked incredulously. “And you say I’m naïve? What planet do you live on?”
    “What do mean?”
    “I have six brothers-in-law alone who would give themselves whiplash to see you shake your booty on the dance floor. And they won’t be following your feet.”
    Mandy expelled an exaggerated sigh.  “You used to be such a sweet young thing. What happened to you?”
    “I got an education from my American roommates.”
    Mandy could debate who educated whom. The princess balanced feminism and femininity with utter charm. Perhaps she didn’t need to be militant to make her point.
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Hamid sat at a desk in the hotel suite. With all the fanfare at the royal residence, he passed on the breakfast invitation. He had never been a fan of weddings.  He didn’t see the point. Three of his brothers had married in their twenties. Two were divorced already and one should be. The truth about life in the palace was that women married for the money, popped out an heir or two to insure lifetime child support, and stopped showing any interest in their arranged marriages. Not that marrying for love had been any better judging by his friends.
    He blamed the West for the unreasonable expectation of women in Touzar. A closed society was not possible in the age of internet.  Seeing the freedoms in Europe and America had brought an upheaval in his homeland.  Granted, he was a proud chauvinist who felt a woman’s place was in the home, but he was a realist too. Freedom wasn’t free. Women in the West paid with their sweat and blood.
    Mandy came immediately to mind. Her application, sent over from his sister-in-law, revealed a woman who worked her way through college and she had not been adverse to taking menial jobs. Positions his countrywomen would never undertake in pursuit of an education. He had read through the resume both before and after meeting her, but his attention had never focused on her marital status until now.
    Widow?
    Not the checked box he’d expected for a 26-year-old woman. Did that hard as nails exterior develop as a result of a tragedy in her past? He didn't want to know. He didn't want an emotional bond with her. Only a hot and heavy physical one.
    After shoving the papers back in his briefcase, he grabbed his tuxedo jacket. Time to head to the party. Despite diplomatic plates on the car it took an hour to make the three-mile trip. The marriage of two royal offspring made for countrywide celebration and gridlock.
    Rashid, decked out in his penguin suit, met him at the side door near the entrance of the prayer room. "I thought you decided to skip it."
    "Traffic." Thankfully his brother did not remind him that he was invited to stay in the compound. He chose to distance himself. "Where's Mandy?"
    Rashid pointed across the room. "Over there."
    "Where?"
    "Right there next to Mona. In the black dress."
    He saw the woman next to the bride with her back to him. What he didn't see was the black-and-white ponytail. She turned and caught sight of him. Her