Sleeping with the Sheikh: The Sheikh's Bidding / Delaney's Desert Sheikh / Desert Warrior

She stuck out her hand for a formal introduction. “I didn’t catch your name.”

He glanced at her hand then reluctantly took it for a brief shake. “Mr. Rashid.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Rashid. You’re welcome in the house, you know.”

“It is best I remain here to allow you and the sheikh some privacy.”

Andi shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I’m sure this won’t take long.”

Rashid executed a slight bow. “As you say, Miss Hamilton.”

Andi yanked open the door, prepared to face whatever might come, yet she couldn’t have prepared for Sam sitting on the living room sofa, dressed in casual slacks and knit shirt, his dark head bent as he thumbed through a photo album containing pictures of Chance from birth to the present day. So engrossed was he in the task, he didn’t bother to look up. His preoccupation gave Andi a chance to study him while he journeyed through the pictorial history of their child.

Leaning back, he propped the album on one crossed leg and smiled. His smile faded and his expression turned melancholy, wistful. Andi closed her eyes and willed away the threatening emotions, the regrets.

Once she felt more composed, she approached the sofa. “He was such a beautiful baby.”

Startled, Sam looked up and erased the tenderness from his features, but it didn’t quite leave his eyes. “Yes, he was.”

Andi joined him on the sofa, leaving as much distance between them as she could and still be able to view the pictures with Sam. How many times had she dreamed of this? How many times had she hoped that one day he would return? More times than she could count. And now that the moment had arrived, she wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“What made you decide to call him Chance?” Sam asked.

“Other than I like the name, I guess you could say he was my chance to have someone who loved me without conditions.” Her chance to have part of Sam that she could have with her always, but she wouldn’t admit that to him.

She pointed to the photo of Chance on his first birthday, a mound of icing on top of his dark head. “He really tore into that cake. He wore more than he ate.”

He turned the page to a picture of Chance on a pony. “I see that he has inherited his mother’s love of horses.”

“Yes. That’s Scamp. She’s still with us although I’m not sure for how long. She’s about twenty years old now. I don’t know what he’ll do when we lose her.”

“I’ll buy him another.”

“Some things can’t be easily replaced.”

He kept his attention focused on the photograph. “I have learned that to be a strong truth.”

Now seemed like a good time to tell him her greatest concern. “I can’t let you take him from me, Sam.”

He closed the album, slipped it onto the coffee table and leaned forward, hands clasped between his parted knees, but he failed to look directly at her. “Is that what you think I’ve come to do, take him away from you?”

“Is it?”

“No, Andrea. He belongs here with you.”

Although he sounded certain, doubts still hounded Andi. “So now that you’ve seen him, you’re going to turn your back and walk away?”

He pinned her with his fiery dark eyes, his expression hard, angry. “I have no intention of turning my back on him. I will set up a bank account in your name to pay for his expenses. As I understand it, his medical bills have been a burden on you, according to Tess.”

Damn Tess. “He’s doing okay, and I’m managing to pay the bills a little at a time. So it’s really not necessary for you to give us any money.”

His features softened. “I insist that you let me do this for him. For you.”

“I’ll think about it.” And she would, but not for herself. After all, Sam did have an obligation to their son, and she could use the extra money for his expenses. Not to mention, the sheikh probably had several fortunes to spare. Because of Chance, she would put away her pride and allow him to help.

Sam walked to the shelf across the room and ran a fingertip along the edge of the frame that held the most recent picture of Chance, as if trying to connect to the child he’d only known for a few hours. “Do they know why he has this diabetes?”

“No. It just happened. It’s not anyone’s fault.”

He glanced back. “And he’s doing well?”

“Most of the time, now that we have his insulin and diet regulated. He’s so brave. He doesn’t even complain when he has to have his shots.”

“I hate that he has suffered.” Turning his attention back to the photo, he released a long sigh. “Has he asked about me?”

Andi rose and stood behind him. “Yes, several times in the past few years.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“I told him that you couldn’t stay, that you lived far away in another land. I told him that you loved him and you’d be with us if you could.”

Slowly Sam faced her. “Then you did not lie to him.”

“I don’t know. Did I?”

He lowered his head. “It’s true. I couldn’t stay in America, Andrea. And now that I have seen him, I know that I would die before I let any harm come to him.”

Andi swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. “I’m glad you feel that way, but I’m also worried about what we should tell him.”

Sam raised his dark eyes to her. “I will leave that up to you, but I would like for him to know that I’m his father.”

In a perfect world Andi would consider that to be a good idea. But this wasn’t a perfect situation by any means. “Then what? ‘Hey, Chance, I’m your dad and I’m sorry about this, but I have to go back and do my princely duties’?”

“I can return to visit during the summers when he’s not in school.”

“Is that enough, Sam? Will that ever be enough for him?”

He streaked a hand over his nape and sighed. “Would you have given up the opportunity to have spent time with Paul and your father even knowing they would be taken from you?”

Andi cursed his logic. “No, I wouldn’t take anything for that time with them. But that’s different. You’d be absent by choice, not death.”

“Sometimes choices are made for us.”

“You mean your duty? I’m not sure he’d understand why your position takes precedence over him. In time he might come to resent you.”

“As his mother does?” Sam asked in a low, steady voice.

Andi had to admit that she’d resented his sudden departure. Resented that he had made love to her, created a child then left her alone to raise their son, left her alone to deal with her grief over her brother’s death. But she couldn’t fault him, at least when it came to Chance, since he hadn’t known about him until now. He also hadn’t made that possible because of his loyalty to a way of life that Andi couldn’t even begin to understand. Worse, he hadn’t even tried to explain or to stay in touch.