“Perhaps mistresses use their partners as well as they are used. Have you ever thought about that?”
“I never looked at it from that perspective. Either way, I’m sure that role doesn’t suit me.”
“And a girlfriend?”
Stop talking, Maddie. You must be crazy!a voice pleads, but I ignore it.
“For a month?” I ask directly. “I’m assuming the question is about the two of us, of course. By the way, why this one-month deadline, Kamal?”
“To avoid unrealistic expectations,” he responds without hesitation.
His answer irritates me, and I can’t help but speak out. “From me?”
“From any woman who’s with me. So yes, it would be from you.”
“So, if one day I agreed to be your ‘girlfriend,’ as you say”—Stop, Maddie!— “would you set, like, an alarm to remind you when it’s time to end it?”
Instead of answering, he says, “It would be a very pleasurable month.”
“And what would happen afterward? I need my job. Who can cohabit with an ex?”
“We’re adults,” he answers without hesitation, showing that he has done it many times before.
“Have you ever been involved with an employee?”
“Never. You would be the exception.”
“And when our affair ended, what would you do? Ask me to send flowers to your next conquest?”
“I would never ask you for something like that,” he replies, but he doesn’t deny that there would be someone else.
“It’s quite tempting, my Sheikh. You’re handsome and you make my skin tingle and heat up, but I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror ever again if I agreed to that.”
Chapter 12
It’s a crowded event, but I hardly notice the people around me because all my attention is focused on the beautiful woman by my side.
Madeline is the perfect companion. The perfect hostess. She speaks with the ease of someone well-trained in social gatherings.
Smiling and being kind to her is as easy as breathing, although I’ve noticed that she occasionally seeks my eyes.
That’s the girl the world knows. The obedient, sweet daughter.
Socialite with exquisite manners.
Beautiful but repressed.
I want the other one. The one who shivers when I’m near, with a body that calls to me.
Most of the businessmen, even those with partners by their sides, have monopolized her with pointless conversations for most of the evening. I know that every single one of them desires her in their beds.
However, if Madeline was serious about not accepting the role of a mistress, and I believe she was, they are wasting their time.
Dinner is over, and I don’t intend on staying much longer. Just long enough not to be rude, as my beautiful assistant advised me.
I get distracted for a moment, and when I look back into the hall, she is no longer around. Then I spot her hair amidst the crowd, heading towards the terrace.
I follow her, and when I step outside, she is alone. Leaning on the railing.
