Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [73]
Johari couldn’t help but look over at the bar again. He was still staring at her as he sipped his drink. Although the man had an extremely handsome face, there was something about him that hinted at a degree of ruthlessness as well as a level of hardness and intolerance. There was a glint of danger that lurked in the depths of his eyes. What Johari found really unsettling was that she was drawn to him nonetheless. She found such aspects of his character intriguing and totally captivating, mainly because she believed he could also be gallant and charming if he chose to be. And as if to prove that particular point, he picked that moment to smile at her.
It was a slow, sexy smile that curved his lips and as his eyes bored into her, her body reacted in a way she couldn’t understand; a way she had never experienced before. Her heart began pounding against her ribs. Goose bumps were forming on her arms and she felt a definite stirring in her stomach. His gaze scanned over her body, analyzing every part of her. For some reason she felt he had a clear view of those regions that were fully clothed. It was as if her little short dress was invisible, and her body was totally naked to his eyes.
Johari thought Cel was right about him being a playboy. Lover of women. International jet-setter. Possibly a billionaire businessman. Thanks to her brother, she knew his type. There was something about him that reminded her of Jamal during his pre-Delaney days. She bet this man could have any woman he chose, wasn’t that easily impressed, and possessed the power to render any woman senseless.
Johari’s gaze was dragged away from the stranger’s when a waitress came to the table to refill her and Cel’s drinks. She glanced over at her friend to find Cel watching her. “What?”
A concerned frown marred Cel’s forehead. “I’m having second thoughts about flying out in the morning and leaving you here in New York alone.”
Johari smiled. Cel would be meeting Gary in Florida, where the two would be cruising to the Bahamas. “I’ll be fine and I promise to stay out of trouble.”
Cel tore her gaze from Johari to glance over at the man sitting at the bar. “Even with him?” she asked, returning her attention to Johari. “He’s still watching you and that can only mean one thing.”
Johari lifted a brow. “What?”
“He wants you.”
Something stirred within Johari at the thought. She stared at Cel. “He wants me?”
Cel nodded slowly “Yes, he wants you in his bed. I know that look, Jo.” Cel glanced back over her shoulder and then looked at Johari and said, “Yes, he definitely wants you. I can feel the heat.”
Johari didn’t want to admit that she could feel the heat, as well, and now that Cel had fully explained what his interest implied, she could actually feel blood gushing fast and furiously through her veins. Why? Why would the thought of being seduced by a stranger fill her mind with such naughty thoughts?
The answer was quick in coming. Mainly because she had been sheltered all her life. She had lived in a beautiful palace under heavy guard, with chaperones all around and a multitude of bodyguards. As the youngest daughter of King Ari Yasir she had been pampered, spoiled and allowed her indulgences. But she’d also been well protected, shielded and unexposed to certain things. She had attended private girls’ schools until the age of sixteen and then she had attended an all-female university in Dubai. At twenty-four she was still a virgin, an expectation by her family and the man she was to marry. Well, as far as she was concerned, the man she was to marry—with all his mistresses—didn’t deserve her virginity!
“What are you thinking about, Jo?”
She glanced over at Cel. “I was just thinking about how I’m expected to come to my future husband’s marriage bed as a virgin, yet possibly now even as we speak, he is somewhere in some woman’s arms since he is not governed by the