The Sheikh's English Bride Read online

  She turned to him and stroked the bare flesh of his shoulder thoughtfully Is this all happening too quickly, do you think'?'

  'No Do you?'

  She shook her head and smiled 'I want to be your wife, Xavier More than anything else in the world '

  He smiled, touched his fingertips to her lips 'Well, then—I want that, too I want to make you legally mine—to bind you to me for the rest of our days '

  Laura shivered as she heard his masterful intent and snuggled up to him, thinking that life couldn't get much more perfect than this.

  She had gone to Paris with the intention of finding her own apartment and her own job—but work had quickly come her way, courtesy of Xavier, and surely only a stubborn fool would have turned it away?

  She had tried looking for an apartment on her own, too—and, interestingly, the area she'd liked best was the Marais, where Xavier had grown up which was now one of the smartest areas in the city. But then she'd realised that she didn't want to spend nights apart, and neither did he. She wanted to be there in the mornings, and there in the evenings, and at all the other times in between. The two of them together seemed almost preordained—as if anything else but Xavier and Laura as a couple was unimaginable. And when Xavier had asked her to marry him one sunlit morning as they walked out to buy baguettes for breakfast, she had burst into tears of joy.

  It was soon—she knew that and he knew that—but there was a reason for that, unspoken but understood. His father was still alive, and Xavier wanted to show the Sheikh that there was going to be continuity in his illegitimate son's life. That he was marrying someone the Sheikh had met, and of whom he approved.

  At least the question of inheriting the kingdom was not an issue—Giovanni was older than Xavier.

  'Thank heavens for that,' Laura had murmured with genuine gratitude when she'd found out. 'I wonder if he's going to reply to the invitation to our wedding? I really hope he does come—I'd like to meet him '

  At the mention of Giovanni, his half-brother, Xavier felt his heart leap with a joy tempered by trepidation. But Laura had taught him not to fear his feelings anymore—to let them in and just go with the flow.

  She had taught him that, and so much else. But the most important thing she had taught him was how to love.

  ISBN 978-1-55254-943-8

  THE SHEIKH'S ENGLISH BRIDE

  First North American Publication 2007

  Copyright© 2007 by Sharon Kendnck

  All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S A