The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder (The Friendship Series) by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

shoulders and moved to the door, wondering what she could do while she waited for…well, for whatever was going to happen next.  Maybe she could find Nazar and ask him…Ugh!  She had no idea what to ask him!  She couldn’t figure out what was going on here.  This was crazy!  Why was she in the palace?  Why was she stashed in someone’s room?  And what was going on with Brianna? 
    For some bizarre reason, she believed Nazar when he’d told her that Bri was okay.  Why Nikki believed him now, she had no idea.  There was just something in his eyes that radiated his honesty. 
    She thought about the press conference and his reaction to her question.  Could the market manipulations and Bri’s disappearance be completely unrelated?  It was such a huge coincidence.  And how could Nazar have found her friend so quickly?  What did he know?  What wasn’t he telling her?
    Her head fell onto her hands as the entire situation really started to overwhelm her. She couldn’t believe what a mess her life had become.  Just a few days ago, she’d been working at school, teaching classes and running tedious errands like a normal person.  Now she was trapped in a palace in a foreign country, avoiding the relentless, aching need one tall, strong man created within her and trying to figure out how to ride a horse.
    A horse! 
    Goodness, Rachel and Brianna would laugh themselves silly if they could see her on a horse! 
    Oh, what had she gotten into?! 
     

Chapter 6
     
    “Relax more!” Nazar called out from the opposite side of the ring.
    Nikki gripped the reins and refused to glare at him.  “I am relaxed,” she mumbled, trying to convince Nella to turn to the right.  This was only her second lesson but her legs made it feel like it was her tenth. 
    A whistle behind her caused the horse to turn and Nikki wanted to scream out because Nella was following Nazar’s orders and not her commands!  “Darn it!” she mumbled, furious with him.  She just couldn’t look at him, not able to face the smirk in his eyes.
    “Nicole, why are you so tense?” he asked, taking Nella’s reins under the horse’s chin.  “You have to move with the horse.  You’re so stiff, she’s not sure what you’re telling her.
    Nikki had a few things she wanted to tell him, but she kept her mouth shut. 
    “Take her back through the barrels,” he commanded.
    With a groan of resignation, she turned Nella around, bracing herself for another round through the barrels.  The horse was still walking because Nazar wouldn’t let her go any faster.  Not that Nikki knew how to get the horse to go faster!  Nella simply plodded away while Nikki struggled to get the enormous animal to turn right or left.  Maybe it was better that Nella remained at a walk, but that didn’t help her with her goal of a stupid posting trot.
    “Relax!  Move your hips!” he called.
    Nikki hadn’t realized how far away she was until she heard his voice in the distance.  She immediately turned Nella around, heading back towards the other end of the ring.  She wasn’t going to admit that she didn’t like being too far away from Nazar.  And even if that were the issue, it was only because she was learning something new and was still terrified.  Not that she liked being near him.  That wasn’t it at all! 
    “Your hips should roll more.  It helps Nella to walk easier.”
    She turned to the right, heading through the middle of the ring instead of coming closer to him.  “Roll my hips!  Relax.  Walk easier!” she grumbled, turning away so he couldn’t even see her mouth moving as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.  “How in the world does one roll hips?  What does that even mean?”
    And suddenly he was right beside her!  She just about jumped out of her skin when he moved closer on Midas.  “It means, you need to move with the horse like this,” he said with a glint in his eyes.  He didn’t have to raise his voice in any way