LITMIR.BIZ

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around.

      Eli stood there, wearing a broad grin. “Laurel, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

      Glancing at the dark figure beside her former fiancé, Laurel found herself confronted by the handsome man she’d exchanged that sizzling eye-meet with during the wedding ceremony.

      “Laurel, this is Rakin Whitcomb Abdellah.” Eli presented him with a flourish. “Rakin, meet Laurel Kincaid, my brand new sister-in-law.”

      Honest to goodness, she was going to kill Kara!

      Already she could feel a flush stealing up her throat.

      “I’ve heard so much about you.” Rakin held out his hand.

      “Funny, that’s exactly what I was about to say.” Laurel set down her glass and took his hand. Her lashes swept down as she became conscious of the strength of the fingers against hers. “I’m surprised we’ve never encountered each other before.”

      “In’shallah.” Letting go of her fingers, he spread his own hands wide. “What more can I say? The time was not right.”

      Her gaze lifted and sharpened. “You believe in fate?”

      “But of course. Everything happens for a reason. Today is the right time for us to meet.”

      Charmed, she started to smile. It looked like Eli’s friend might be the perfect candidate for a flirtation with a stranger. “It is?”

      “Yes.” His black-velvet gaze was intent … and Laurel felt the primal power of the man.

      To break the spell, she switched her attention to Eli and murmured, “You should be worried we might trade secrets—between us we probably know everything about you.”

      Eli chuckled. “I’m terrified.”

      “You’re anything but terrified.” Laurel glanced at Rakin, and found his dark eyes were bright with laughter

      The band swung into the first bars of the first dance.

      “Now there’s something I am terrified about messing up. That’s the bridal waltz,” said Eli. “Let me go claim my bride.”

      Laurel couldn’t help laughing as he hurried back to her sister. Conscious of Rakin’s very male presence at her side as Eli led Kara out onto the floor, Laurel fell silent and concentrated on watching the dance—not an easy task with Rakin still looming over her.

      A spotlight landed on the newlyweds. The guests sighed as they moved into the dance in perfect time, Kara’s white dress fanning out to fill the ring the spotlight had created. They glided to the melody, and a few beats later, Laurel’s sister Lily and her husband, Daniel, joined in, RJ and Brooke were next on the floor.

      Laurel could see Alan smiling as he sat beside his mother at the table on the edge of the dance floor. Jack had disappeared. Laurel wished he could’ve practiced the same civility as the Kincaid family—at Elizabeth’s request—were taking great care to show Angela and her sons tonight.

      “Would you like to dance?”

      Rakin’s deep tone caused her to forget all about Jack’s rudeness.

      Silently she gave him her hand. The warm strength of his fingers closing around hers caused the return of that renegade fantasy of crushed, kissed lips, and Laurel abruptly lowered her eyelashes before he might read any of her dizzy imaginings. “Why, thank you, I’d like that.”

      He led her onto the dance floor and took her into his arms. The sudden intimacy came as a shock. The music swirled around them.

      To break the seductive mood, Laurel said, “You met Eli at Harvard?”

      “Yes, we shared some classes and sometimes went hiking together—we both like the outdoors.”

      “Yes. You were on the rowing team together, too, weren’t you? I seem to remember hearing Eli talk about pre-dawn practices on the river.”

      He smiled. “Strange interest for someone from a desert country, hmm?”

      “A little.” She examined him. “Tell me about Diyafa.”

      “Ah, Eli has told you about my country?”

      “Just the name. Diyafa.” It rolled off her tongue. “It sounds so deliciously exotic.”

      “It is. The desert nights are warm and dry and the heavens above possess the brightest stars I have ever seen.”

      The whisper of his voice stoked her imagination. “How magical. I hate to confess this—but I’ve never been out of the United States.”

      “Never?”

      She shook her head. “Never. I always intended to travel.”

      Item No. 6 on the List involved traveling to some far-flung exotic destination. She’d had a fleeting vision of herself standing in the center of St. Mark’s Square in Venice or in front of the Sphinx in Egypt. Somewhere as different from Charleston as she could get.

      She pulled a face. “Now I just have to turn that dream into reality. I even got myself a passport.” Which she’d been carrying around in her purse, together with the List—and the letter from her father she’d received on that emotionally charged day when her father’s will was read.

      “Diyafa is a good place to visit.”

      Did he think she was trying to coax an invitation from him? Discomfort flooded her. “Oh, I couldn’t take advantage of our acquaintance.”

      “Why not?”

      Her lashes fluttered down. “We hardly know one another.”

      “I’m sure we can remedy that.” He sounded amused.

      Laurel’s lashes lifted. Heavens, was she actually flirting with the man?

      Then she examined her reaction.

      So what?

      Flirt with a stranger. It was on her list, and she was unlikely to ever encounter Rakin again. He might be Eli’s other best friend, but before today she’d only ever heard about him. It would be at least another ten years before they met again; after all he was a busy man. Worth the risk?

      Or was she going to chicken out? No. The time to act had arrived. Pursing her mouth into a moue, she gave what she hoped looked like a mysterious smile. “Maybe I will visit … one day.”

      An arrested expression settled in his eyes.

      “You can let me know when you do.” There was an intimate note in his voice.

      He was flirting too!

      Rakin was clearly a master at the art of flirtation. For once she was tempted to let herself go. To revel in the full power of her womanhood. This was a man she was facing, a real man with a wealth of experience with women.

      “To be honest I’m more likely to visit Las Vegas—” she began with a teasing laugh.

      “You like to gamble?”

      Had his voice dropped? Laurel’s heart beat a little faster. “I’ve never gambled seriously in my life. Certainly not in a casino.”

      Her mother didn’t approve of gambling. A roguish uncle, the black sheep of the Winthrop family, had lost a fortune at poker, contributing to the dire straits the family found itself in before her mother’s marriage into the Kincaid fortune. Gambling was seriously discouraged among the Kincaid children. No doubt that was why Gamble all night had made it onto the List….

      “We’ll have to change that—raise the stakes.”

      Yes, he was definitely flirting. If the intimate note in his voice hadn’t made it clear, the gleam in his eyes confirmed it. Laurel gave herself up to the heady rush. “I wouldn’t want to become addicted.”

      “That can only happen

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