It was the second time Nasser had asked after her health, and Anisa couldn’t be annoyed, not after he’d saved her from being plowed over by that reckless motorbike driver. To think she’d been a heartbeat away from becoming one big stain on the pavement—
She squeezed her eyes at the horrid image that last thought conjured.
If Nasser hadn’t been there…
She still felt his arms around her, his hands poised at her back, holding her to him while the imminent danger passed them by. Because of his quick actions, he’d rescued her from grave injury.
Possibly death.
A shudder raked through her. Now that the adrenaline had ebbed from her system, residual fear left her shaken up, and anxiety pressed down on her chest. Her next few breaths sawed out fast and almost painfully.
They were walking together, Nasser placing himself between her and the street. And yet every car passing had her nearly jumping out of her bones.
Funny. She’d thought she was doing fine enough, but it seemed that the initial shock had held her real fright at bay. Suddenly she couldn’t think of anything else except that she’d almost just died.
Ears ringing and heart drumming, Anisa hadn’t realized she’d been walking faster until Nasser’s hand came out of nowhere and alighted on her arm. Startled by his sudden touch, she stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him wide-eyed.
Meeting his gaze only reminded her of the close brush with fatality she’d just had.
“Anisa, you didn’t answer me. Are you all right? Because if you’re not doing well, I would like to know.” He spoke with such authority. It should have rubbed her wrong, but the unconcealed concern in his voice and the strain of it in his expression dispelled her irritation.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, not sounding at all like she was fine.
“Can you walk a little further? Otherwise, use my arm and lean on me.”
Anisa’s snort and eye roll had her feeling more like herself. Shrugging his hand off her arm, and ignoring the tingling heat his touch had left behind on her, she said, “I think I can make it, thanks,” and forced herself to walk away from him.
He wasn’t far behind her when he gestured across the street and instructed her to switch directions.
“We’ll ride le pousse-pousse from here. It will be quicker.”
Anisa wanted to ask what a pousse-pousse was, but she had her answer when Nasser crossed the street with her and stopped in front of a rickshaw, its gleaming red body, blue roof, wheel spokes and rims all looking freshly painted.
The rickshaw driver awaited them, his smile stretched wide as he flagged them over to take a seat.
Nasser spoke in rapid French to him. Anisa didn’t even bother to follow whatever was being said, simply interpreting that they must have come to some deal in the end. Nasser then offered her a hand she didn’t refuse and helped her to a seat on the hard but sturdy black bench of the rickshaw. He climbed in beside her. The driver crouched low, gripped the handles of the carriage and lifted them with an ease that belied his thin, wiry build and ashy bare feet.
As interesting an experience as it was, it wasn’t the mode of travel that she would have chosen right then with her stomach in knots and her head lightly pounding with an impending headache. Anisa held on to the side of the rickshaw, her fingers taut and her body tensing in preparation to be rocked back and forth.
Surprisingly, the ride was smooth.
Pleasant, she thought with a faint smile, tilting her head to the breeze that now stirred over her face.
Nasser didn’t miss it, not with the way he kept his eyes on her. But he didn’t broach the subject of her well-being for a third time, and Anisa was grateful for it, not really wanting to relive having nearly been flattened by a motorbike. She just wanted to forget it ever happened.
She shut her eyes for what felt like a second before rousing at the feel of warmth on her shoulder. She saw Nasser retracting his hand, so she figured he had woken her after she’d accidentally fallen asleep. The rickshaw had come to a stop. He wasn’t sitting by her anymore either. Standing outside the rickshaw on her side, he proffered his hand for her to climb out.
They stood before what she presumed was their intended destination, a restaurant with a lovely terrace view.
Nasser found them a table on the elevated terrace, pleasing her with his choice. The instant she saw the outdoor seating, she’d wanted nothing more than to sit down, enjoy a meal and soak in the postcard-pretty vista. She didn’t even mind that Nasser helped her order. He had the decency to let her point out what she wanted from the menu and translated whatever French on the laminated pages stumped her.
Their drinks arrived, and she heeded him when he passed her a glass and commanded, “Drink. You had a shock.”
Anisa expected the creamy beige concoction to taste sweet, but she was unprepared for the tangy punch to her taste buds. She pulled a face, and Nasser set a second glass by her. This one was plain ice-cold water.
“What did I just drink?” She pointed to the glass, the beverage still thick on her tongue. Though it was cool, and not terrible in taste, her pounding head and empty stomach hadn’t appreciated the saccharine kick to her mouth.
“Baobab juice. It’s milled from the seed of the baobab trees that are local to this area and along the island. It’s a quick fix to elevate your sugar levels, but if it’s not to your taste, I could send for the menu and you could pick something else.”
Anisa regarded the baobab juice with renewed interest. She wouldn’t mind having another sip, but she needed something in her stomach before she was willing to try again.
“Maybe I should have a real meal first.”
Nasser smiled. A genuine smile that didn’t disappear when she blinked and looked closer to see if she imagined it. As he called a waiter over, it stayed put on his handsome face, adding an extra layer of attractiveness. Now she had to sit across from him and endure the detrimental effect his dashing good looks had on her.
Anisa’s stomach swished nervously at that.
But she didn’t let it stop her from blurting, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
It wasn’t just that he saved her from being roadkill. He hadn’t once tried to hold her earlier lie over her head, and now all this concern for her well-being. She didn’t know what to make of it.
“You know I lied to you about leaving Antananarivo, right?” she continued, her word vomit not seeming to have an end. If she weren’t so bewildered by his displays of kindness, Anisa might have had the sense to be embarrassed. “I didn’t want you to follow me.”
“I figured as much.” Nasser’s smile was gone, but there was a humor and ease to his tone.
“And that doesn’t piss you off?”
“Piss me off?” he echoed, looking lost in translation.
“Angry. Doesn’t what I did—how I’ve been acting upset you?”
Nasser tipped his head slightly. “You already made it obvious that my presence isn’t wanted, and your behavior is consistent with that fact. So, what reason would I have to be angry?”
“I would be,” she muttered.
“Upset or not, my duty is to protect you.”
“Is that why you won’t tell me the reason I need protection?”
The long, heavy breath he heaved could have rattled their table and the tableware along with it. Nostrils still flared with his exasperated sigh, Nasser said, “Not all danger comes in the form of a careless driver on the road. Sometimes knowledge can be just as threatening. The difference is that at least if you’re run over, you might stand a chance of being put back together. But what you learn is harder to undo.”
“So,” she drawled, “that’s your way of saying that I’m better off not knowing anything.”
“I only say it because it’s true.” His face grew harder with his warning.
Anisa expected to be disappointed and irritated by his non-answer. Strangely though, she didn’t mind that he stonewalled her again.
At least he actually spoke to me this time.
It was progress—and progress equaled hope that she was a bit closer to uncovering how her safety was connected to Ara’s and Nasser’s secrets.
Excerpt from FALLING FOR HER FORBIDDEN BODYGUARD. Copyright © 2024 by Hana Sheik. Shared with permission from publisher, Harlequin Enterprises ULC.
FALLING FOR HER FORBIDDEN BODYGUARD by Hana Sheik
She doesn’t want or need a bodyguard. Especially not one so unbearably attractive… Discover what happens in Hana Sheik’s latest Harlequin Romance novel.
RESISTING HER OFF-LIMITS PROTECTOR…
Independent and strong-willed Anisa is furious. Her estranged brother has hired a bodyguard to follow her all the way to Madagascar, supposedly to protect her from hidden enemies! But as their eyes lock, she can’t deny it would be easy to fall for the gorgeous stranger. Clearly Nasser feels the same, yet he’s grappling with guilt from a painful past. Anisa knows they mustn’t give in to their forbidden attraction…only their connection is too powerful to ignore!
From Harlequin Romance: Be swept away by glamorous and heartfelt love stories.
Romance Contemporary | Women’s Fiction [Harlequin Romance, On Sale: August 20, 2024, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781335216076 / eISBN: 9780369757500]
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About Hana Sheik
Hana Sheik falls in love every day reading her favorite romances and writing her own happily ever afters. She’s worked as a data entry operator, customer service rep, telemarketer, and ghostwriter–but being a romance author is hands-down the best job ever! She calls the Great White North (Canada) her heart and home, and lives there with her family.
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