Synopsis
Mustafa DuBois- Arazi exists to expand and solidify his family’s legacy. The brooding Moroccan CEO of Grand Armor Luxury Spa & Resorts works with dedicated precision to anticipate and eliminate whatever threatens to taint its stellar reputation. His latest menace is the potential loss of the eco-friendly rating of the Botswanan location. An unpredictable ecosystem isn’t an easy opponent to take on, but his money can hire the best environmental consultant agency to turn things around before the six-month deadline.
Zaina Bakari is over trying to gain the respect she deserves in the male-dominated field of environmental consultancy. With her current assignment complete all she wants is to move back to London. However, the closing debriefs with her boss don’t go as planned. Instead of a well done, he offers her a new assignment with the promise of a promotion. With everything she desires offered on a silver platter, Zaina jumps at the opportunity. Her joy at finally heading in the right direction dampens when she finds out who the client is.
Coming face to face with the woman whose betrayal brought Mustafa to his knees dredges up bitter memories and triggers trauma that’s haunted him for years. During that time, Zaina’s done the work to heal from the self-sabotaging ways that cost her the love of her life. Mustafa never gave her a chance to explain, now Zaina was determined to take it. When the ugly truth is exposed, will they have a second chance at once in a lifetime?
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Excerpt
Zaina decided to create distance between them. She turned but Mustafa grabbed her arm. He pulled her closer to him. A feat she didn’t think was possible with how close they already were. Her eyes moved from their point of contact back up to his eyes. He loosened the grip on her hand and bent toward her ear. It was only the two of them in the room, so he didn’t need to whisper. His being so close to her neck was him playing dirty. He remembered. “Don’t flirt with my staff to get a reaction out of me.” Zaina shook him off. “Then don’t try and regulate who I can and cannot spend time with.” “You’re not allowed to spend time with my staff outside of business.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Not allowed? Are you kidding me?” “You know I don’t kid.” “It must be something new for you because you can’t be serious.” Mustafa stared at her for a few second then sauntered to the door. “It will be in your best interest to heed my warning.” He threw the words over his shoulders. She was so frustrated with this man that she wanted to scream. Of course, she wasn’t going to date anyone while she was here. But what made him think he had a say in what she did? He didn’t want her but was upset that somebody else did. This was part of their problem, communication. She wasn’t going to just go with the flow anymore. Mustafa placed his hand on the doorknob when Zaina decided to try one last time.
“Musa!” He froze but didn’t turn around. She continued. “For the millionth time. I’m sorry. But this is where I draw the line. You can’t have it both ways. It’s clear you don’t want me, but you can’t regulate who does.” He turned. His fiery eyes roamed her body before landing on her face. “People here have families to feed or people who depend on them. I’ll hate for you to be the cause of someone…or two losing their jobs.” Her brows came together. “You wouldn’t.” “Try me.” “Ugh!! I can’t believe you.” “Believe it, Chérie.” Mustafa’s eyes dared her to challenge him. However, she was stuck on him using the French term of endearment he used for her years ago. She wasn’t lost on the fact that nothing about this moment was endearing but to hear it come out of his mouth was something she longed many nights for. Despite that fact, she was tired of fighting with him. She had to think of a way that she could monitor the work from Garborne and come to the resort only once a week. This wasn’t going to work for her. She had done a lot of work to get to where she was mentally and emotionally. Too bad, he hadn’t done the same.
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