The Sheikh's Virgin Bride(56)

“I’m an actress. I think I can mimic genuine.”

“Of course you can. But we want everything to be as real as possible. That’s not easy to do in a semi-scripted show like this one.”

“Semi-scripted,” Kaye mumbled.

The plane came to a stop, and Merle opened the cabin door, lowering the staircase.

“How does he know how to do that?” Kaye asked Amir as Jesse walked off.

“I heard he started out as a flight attendant. Got into film after that and never looked back.”

“This has been one of the strangest trips of my life. Next time, can we fly commercial for real? I feel like we just took a black-market airline.”

Amir’s lip twitched, but he simply nodded as he stood and removed their baggage, still carrying it for her. Neither of them brought up the cuddle session they’d had on the plane ride over, though Kaye assumed that was for the best. She had no intention of letting her guard drop again. She was a professional actress. She had to start acting like it!

When she stepped out of the plane, a blast of hot desert air whipped at her face, her hair flying in a myriad of directions.

“Whoa,” she said, holding tight to the railing.

“Yeah, we get a bit of wind around here,” Amir said, turning back to check on her once their bags were safely placed on the ground.

Looking around them, she saw that they had landed in another private airport, a set of nearly identical black cars waiting for them on the tarmac.

“Merle certainly knows what he’s doing,” Kaye observed.

“Every once in a while,” Amir agreed.

Kaye found herself removing Amir’s jacket as they walked to one of the town cars, and she handed it back to him as he opened a door for her to slide in.

“Thanks for this,” she said.

He nodded, accepting the jacket. His fingers slid along hers for a fraction of a second, but that touch alone was enough to set her heart racing.

What was wrong with her?!

“Any time,” he replied, waiting for her to get into the car.

She did, gazing once more out the window. When he sat next to her, she kept her eyes on the horizon.

“Where are we staying while we’re here?” she asked.

“With my parents, I would assume. I asked them a while ago, and they seemed okay with the idea.”

Jesse ran up and knocked on their window. Amir rolled it down so they could speak.

“Okay, I’ve been in touch with your parents. We want to get a good shot of you both arriving and meeting them for the first time, so I’m going to place some cameras in here first. Let’s have some good dialogue about how nerve-wracking this meeting is going to be, yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill.”

Jesse opened the door, making them get out so that cameras could be strategically placed around them before they could get back inside. Turning them on, the crew confirmed they had decent angles before the procession was allowed to leave the tarmac. As the car pulled away, the lights went from red to green, and they were live.

“What if they hate me?” Kaye asked, her eyes filled with worry.

Amir reached over and grabbed her hand.

“They’re going to love you. Just don’t do any of the annoying American things you do, and we’ll be good to go.”

“Annoying American things? Like what?”

“Kaye, we’ve talked about this. Just remember to give a respectful bow to my mother and shake hands with my father, then recite the Al Rayyan national anthem as we greet one another.”

Kaye blanched.

“The national anthem? You never taught it to me!”

“I emailed it to you last week. You never looked at it?”

“What?!”

Kaye pulled out her phone and looked through her emails, knowing that the one he was talking about wouldn’t be in there.

“It’s not here, Amir. I’m going to look like a fool in front of your parents, and that’s a best-case scenario! At worst, I’m going to offend them, and they’ll never approve of this marriage! How could you let this happen?”

They carried on like that the rest of the way, Kaye creating little conflicts and minefields for Amir to get out of in a stilted, masculine way. At one point, she stared angrily out the window, then her eyes widened.

Before them, a sprawling palace stood encased by clay walls. The towers glittered in the sun, their golden tops shining with nearly blinding light. Beneath the shimmering domes, the palace was painted a very light blue color.

“Is that…” Kaye stuttered, unable to finish her sentence.

Amir looked in the direction of the palace, and grinned.

“Home sweet home,” he finished.

Kaye stared in stunned silence, which she hoped translated into abject despair and nervousness on camera. In reality, she was amazed by the palace’s beauty, and wanted to know more.

“Why is it painted that blue color?” she asked.

Amir looked down at her, impressed.

“No one ever thinks to ask that question.”

“Why? Does it have meaning?”

“Of course. Every inch of that palace has meaning. The blue is meant to symbolize hope for everlasting peace. It is a soothing color that is meant to inspire calm.”

“It’s not working,” Kaye mumbled, still in character.