mouth felt dry. Rina was her best friend. If anyone else dared to talk to her this way, she would walk away and never look back. “If you really believe that, why did you wait so long to say it?”
“I said all this before, Sage. You just weren’t listening. That you’re listening to me now ought to tell you something. Even if you don’t give in to your attraction to Jake, give what I said some thought. Give yourself a chance to find out what you really want out of life. Maybe you’ll find out it isn’t Phillip Stanton.”
Sage took a long drink of her tea and realized her hand was trembling. She respected Sabrina Eckhart, and she trusted her. Rina would never do anything to hurt her.
And yet hearing those things did hurt. And they made her wonder… .
“I’ll think about it—when all this Saudi business is over. Right now, I just don’t have the time.”
“Fair enough.” Rina reached out and caught her hand. “I didn’t intend to bring any of this up. It’s just that when you look at Jake, there’s something in your eyes I’ve never seen there before.”
Sage pulled her hand away. “It’s exactly what you said it was. It’s lust, Rina. I may not have felt anything quite like it before, but I’m smart enough to recognize it now. And I’m not going to let it ruin my life.”
Seven
The Saudis arrived right on schedule. Tuesday afternoon, Sheik Khalid’s Boeing 727 landed at Bush International Airport and taxied to the executive terminal.
Jake was there with Sage to greet them, along with her assistant, Will Bailey, and a man named Red Williams. Her assistant was a string bean of a kid in his mid-twenties, with dark hair and big horn-rimmed glasses. Will looked efficient, which Jake was sure he was, or he wouldn’t be working for Sage.
Red Williams was the man Sage had chosen to bring with her into the negotiations, the one she considered her best purchasing agent, and apparently someone she respected.
Red had reached the top of his profession by working his way up from the bottom. According to Sage, he was a hard-driving, hardworking man, and he had the calluses to prove it. It was Red’s job to fend off the minions willing to do just about anything, no matter how shady or underhanded, to sell goods to Marine Drilling. He had to ignore the tempting offers of all-expense-paid trips to the Caribbean, the bribes, booze and women, and actually buy the products that would serve the company best. Apparently, he did.
Yesterday, after they returned from lunch, Sage had brought him into the office. Jake had worked with him the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, teaching him the basic protocols he would need to know to negotiate with the Saudis.
Aside from asking questions and giving advice when it was needed, Red would remain in the background as much as possible. He seemed to have no problem with that.
Jake liked him right away.
The plane taxied up to the executive terminal and the jet engines shut down. A ladder rolled across the tarmac toward the door, and a few minutes later, the heavy portal swung open. The Saudi entourage descended the steps, crossed the asphalt and entered the building through a private entrance.
Jake stood just behind Sage, Alex Justice beside him.
Jake had brought his friend in mostly for appearances. Though everyone involved in the negotiations knew Sage Dumont was in charge, she was a woman and would therefore be seen as less important. Having two personal bodyguards left no doubt of her status.
The greeting was perfectly executed, all the protocols followed. Sage had done her homework, and so had everyone else.
“As-salam-alaikum,” she said, using the standard Saudi greeting. Peace be upon you. “Welcome to America.”
The sheik seemed pleased. “Wa alaikum as-salam,” he replied. And upon you be peace. “We appreciate your hospitality,” he added in perfect English.
His Highness Sheik Khalid Al Kahzaz was a tall, lean man with high cheekbones, olive skin and black eyes, dignified with his gray-speckled black beard and flowing white thobe. He wore the traditional Saudi headdress, as did his son, Roshan, the cousins, Quadim and Yasar, and their four male bodyguards. Dressed in black suits, the guards were all tall, silent and forbidding, giving the exact impression the sheik wanted.
His daughter, A’lia, walked behind him in a loose-fitting caftan that fell around her ankles. Instead of white cotton, the robe was made of delicate embroidered rose silk. A matching scarf covered her neck, head and shoulders and most of her face, but it couldn’t hide the girl’s stunning beauty—her fine, perfect features, delicate nose and small white teeth. Just before she was introduced, she pulled a thin black veil over the lower portion of her face. Her cousin Zahra, taller and blunt-featured, was even more fully covered, and though her garment was also embroidered, it was completely black. Zahra was a few years older, maybe twenty-four or twenty-five, brought along, Jake was certain, to make sure A’lia stayed in line.
As a former Saudi minister there to negotiate the sale, Sheik Khalid and his family had diplomatic immunity. They whisked through customs and outside into the bright Texas heat, pouring into the line of black SUVs Linc had waiting. The cars sped away while their vast array of Louis Vuitton luggage was loaded into more SUVs.
Riding in the lead car, Alex sat next to the driver, Jake behind them next to Sage, and Will and Red in the rear seat as Linc maneuvered the vehicle through traffic. The sheik rode in the second car with his son and daughter and two bodyguards. Zahra rode with the cousins and two more bodyguards in the third vehicle.
The cars reached the Four Seasons, the timing fairly close together and without incident. The Saudi group was welcomed by hotel staff and escorted up to the twentieth floor.
Sage accompanied them, walking into the entry of the elegant, richly appointed presidential suite, Jake taking a position behind her and to the right, Alex behind and to her left.
She smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle from the front of her pale yellow business suit. Jake’s gaze ran over her. Though the skirt reached well below her knees and the cream silk blouse was buttoned to the throat, she still made him think of sex. His pulse quickened and his loins began to fill. The fertility gods were definitely working overtime.
“I hope you find the hotel accommodations satisfactory, Your Highness,” Sage said.
He smiled. “The suite is quite lovely.”
“I’ve planned an itinerary I hope will meet with your approval and you will find interesting. While you’re here, if there is anything at all you need, please feel free to call my assistant or me and let us know.” She handed him their business cards, carefully prepared with the information on the front also printed in Arabic on the back.
The sheik looked down at the cards. “I am certain everything will be fine.”
Sage smiled. She was doing everything just right, Jake thought, oddly proud of her.
“Then rest and recover from your journey,” she said. “Take a look at the schedule, and if it is suitable, I’ll see you again on Thursday.”
The sheik gazed at the paper she handed him. “My daughter wishes very much to go shopping here in America, and my son would enjoy the IMAX. There is one at the science dome in Al-Khobar, but I have not been there. I understand the screen is several stories high.”
Sage’s smile widened. “That’s right. It’s amazing. There’s a movie showing at the IMAX here in Houston, a climb up Mount Everest. It’s quite an exciting film.”
“Yes, I would like to see that.”
Sage made her farewells and stepped out into the hall. As soon as the door closed behind her, she sagged against the wall. “Thank God that’s over.”
Jake smiled, relieved it had gone so well.
Alex grinned, flashing those damned dimples women seemed to love.