The Sheik’s Promise Introduction

Husband Hunt – Date #1

“I think we should have six children,” Harry Burgdom said in a nasally voice. 

Unfortunately, Oreylia had just taken a sip of her ice water and the choking sound was heard by several of the patrons at the nearby table.  She was aware of their curious glances and quickly used her napkin to try and stifle the sounds. 

When she’d finally recovered, she looked at Harry.  He was a bland, looking man.  There was nothing special about him.  No muscle tone, no intensity in his gaze, no intelligent conversation…just meh. 

“Six children is…,” she tried to suppress her amusement, “…a lot!” 

Harry put his knife down, reaching over to pat her hand.  “You have good birthing hips, my dear.  I noticed that first off.  When you walked in tonight, I carefully examined your hips.”  He nodded again, then resumed cutting his chicken into very precise morsels.  “Your breasts are quite adequate as well.”  He gestured with his knife towards her breasts.  “My children will be well fed.”

After that comment, Oreylia knew that her mouth was hanging open in stunned shock, but she couldn’t seem to pull herself back together.  Her hips…and her breasts…would be “adequate” to feed HIS children? 

Oreylia snapped her mouth shut and regrouped.  She started to reach for her ice water again, but stopped, pulling her hand away.  She’d made enough of a spectacle of herself tonight.  Throwing her glass of ice water on the pathetic man would be over the top. 

“So, you want your wife,” she purposely didn’t imply that she would be his wife, “to birth six children for you.  What would be your role in this family dynamic, Your Grace?”

Harry chuckled as he took a sip of his wine.  “I would of course vacate the home and play cards at my club while you birth them, my dear.”  He carefully set his wine glass back down on the table. “I won’t interfere in the birthing.  I will however require weekly updates of your progress in their development.  I have very strong opinions on child rearing.  So whenever you go off track, I will, of course, nudge you back in the right direction.”  He added a patronizing smile as if he needed to…what?  Soften his condescension? 

“So you don’t plan on helping in any way with the rearing of your children?”

He sputtered with outrage.  “Of course not!  That’s not my domain.”  He wiggled his fingers in the air.  “Women are much better suited to child rearing.”

“That’s very generous of you, Your Grace.”

“I know.  Silly of me, to give you so much freedom, but I know that you are a well-educated woman.  That education will be ideal when you are home schooling our children.  I can’t abide by stupidity or laziness.”

“I see,” Oreylia replied with a slow nod as understanding dawned.  “And what do you do during the day, Your Grace?”

“I have many pursuits.  I won’t be hanging about my house while you’re attempting to coral our brood.  I have a  private office in my house, of course.  There is a special lock so that my children won’t be able to bother me.”

“You work from home?” she asked, no longer using his title.  He wasn’t bothering to use hers.  Why should she give him any sort of respect when he wasn’t offering her any? 

“I have an office where I review the financial reports from my advisors.”

“You work in investments?”

He chuckled and started to pat her hand. But Oreylia quickly hid her hand under the table.  “Of course not, my dear.  I leave that up to the hired help.”

“So…what do you actually do, Harry?”

He looked startled by her question. “I network, my dear.  Of course, that’s what all of my friends do.  We network.”

“Towards what goal?”

He sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly and he tilted his head to the right.  Oreylia braced for his next comment.  She knew it was going to annoy her. 

“Dear, people in my class don’t work.  We set the standards for the rest of the world.  We are what everyone aspires to.”  He chuckled.  “We’ll honeymoon in Cannes, of course.  I’m fairly certain that I’ll be able to get you encient by the end of our month-long honeymoon.”

Oreylia shuddered at the thought of spending thirty days alone with this man. 

 

Husband Hunt – Date #13

 

“Thank you, Lord Meyer,” Oreylia said as she scooted her chair closer to the table.  When the man continued standing behind her, she glanced over her shoulder.  He was staring off into space.  That was odd, but when he glanced down at her, she smiled.  His reaction was also weird.  It was almost as if he’d just remembered where he was. 

“Right!” he snapped and sat down opposite her.  

Oreylia smoothed the napkin over her lap and smiled.  “This is nice,” she said, trying to start the conversation.  “I understand that you work with your father.  Is that correct?”

The man stared down at his plate. 

“Lord Meyer?” she prompted after an awkward silence.

The man’s head jerked up and there was another startled look in his eyes.  “What?”

Oreylia pulled back, shocked by his abrupt reply. “I’m sorry, but…are you okay?”

The man sighed.  He was handsome enough; about her height when she wore heels, brown hair and nice, blue eyes.  He had a job, which was a big plus after the last few dates she’d been on.  What was it about aristocrats who thought that holding down a job was repulsive? 

“I’m fine.  Why do you ask?”

The waiter arrived before she could answer and Lord Thomas Meyer, Tom to his friends as she’d been informed when this date had been set up by her assistant, ordered a beer.  “Coors, if you have it.”

The waiter was so stunned by that request, he didn’t move for several seconds.  Finally, the man bowed.  “I’ll bring something out to you, my lord,” he said and bowed.  Thankfully, he turned to Oreylia.  “And for you, Your Highness?”

Oreylia wasn’t sure what to order.  Usually, she and her date shared a bottle of wine.  But since she didn’t drink much, ordering an entire bottle seemed wasteful.  “I’ll just stick with water, thank you,” she replied with a tight smile. 

“I saw your pics in the news the other day,” Tom said, chuckling and shaking his head.  “You didn’t look very happy.”

Oreylia blushed, remembering the less than flattering picture of her expression when she’d walked out of the quaint bistro after her date the previous week.  “Yes, well, it had been a long day.”

Tom barked a laugh.  “It was because old Murph,” he started, referring to Count Murphy von Vusten of Austria, “is an old piss in the mud.”

Oreylia very nearly laughed.  The man was right.  Count von Vusten was very much a stick in the mud, but somehow, she refrained from commenting.  And laughing or agreeing.  After every one of these dates, she found herself in the tabloids with an odd, usually stunned, expression on her features.  How the paparazzi knew when and where she was dining was a mystery, but they were relentless in their pursuit of her lately. 

Probably because there were online bets as to which man she’d choose for her husband.

“So what do you do with your father’s company?”

He was staring down at his plate again.  Silent.  Then the man nodded his head as if agreeing with her.  However, Oreylia hadn’t said anything to which he should agree or disagree, so she was confused. 

“Tom?” she prompted again. 

“Yes!” he hissed, lifting his fist in the air.  Once again, the man looked around as if remembering where he was.

Oreylia was starting to understand.  Bundling up her napkin, she stood up and walked next to him.  Tom leaned away, but his eyes told her that he was trying to hide something. 

She bent down, peering carefully at his ear.  It was very small, but the wire trailing out of his ear before going down underneath the white collar of his dress shirt.  Angry now, Oreylia tugged at the wire.

“What the hell!” Tom grumbled, still trying to pull away.  But by then Oreylia had the microphone out of his ear.  She lifted it up to her own ear and listened.  Moments later, she tossed the microphone onto his lap. 

“You’re listening to a soccer game?” she hissed, leaning forward.  This time, she had his full attention since her breasts were now on full display due to the V of her dress. 

“Um…,” he replied with pathetic brilliance. 

“Right,” she snapped and turned on her heel, walking out of the restaurant, her head held high.  She didn’t even care about the paparazzi outside of the restaurant this time.  She was hurt that the jerk couldn’t even fake an interest in dining with her!  What a monumental waste of her time!

 

Husband Hunt – Date #34

“Did you know that the male alligator has a permanently erect penis?”

Oreylia was proud of herself for not taking a bite of scallop before that question.  Carefully, she pulled her fork away from her mouth and stared across the elegant table.  “Excuse me, Lord Sheffield?”

“Call me Mike,” the man said and chuckled, leaning forward.  “And it’s true!  The male alligator is always ready for sex!  Isn’t that fascinating?”

It was, actually.  She wondered if that little factoid was true though.  She’d never heard much about alligators, but…wow! 

“Oooh!  The female giant panda is fertile only a couple of days a year.”  He giggled.  The man actually giggled!  Oreylia was charmed by the guy, but didn’t think he was “the one”.  He was more like a thirteen year old teenager instead of an adult man. 

“That’s crazy,” she replied, leaning forward.  “Only a few days out of the year, huh?”

He nodded, excited now that he had her attention.  “And the male giant panda is so uninterested, that scientists have to inseminate the females.”  Another giggle.  “Can you imagine being so uninterested in sex?”

Oreylia smiled, not bothering to day that, yes, she truly could imagine being very uninterested in sex. 

Suddenly, a strange, noxious odor permeated the table.  She looked down at her plate, then around at the other patrons.  Had someone…?  Surely not!

“And the ostrich!” Lord Sheffield started to say something about the bird’s knees, but Oreylia struggled not to gag at the smell.  What in the world was going on?

“Wait until I tell you about the duck’s penis!” he continued.  Then another whiff of the odor hit her.  That’s when she realized why His Grace, the Duke of Sheffield, was still single after all these years.  The man had no idea that he was farting!!