Sharon De Vita - I Married A Sheikh

“An expression?” He continued to frown. “What does Kansas have to do with my computer system in California?”

Amused, Faith realized she was going to have to give him a crash-course in American pop culture. “Did you ever see the movie The Wizard of Oz?”

He looked both suspicious and skeptical. “No. Should I?”

“Yeah.” She smiled and leaned her arms on the table. “It’s a great flick. Anyway, ‘you’re not in Kansas anymore’ is merely an expression, a takeoff on the movie’s theme. It just means someone’s being particularly naive about something.”

“And am I being naive?” he asked carefully, wondering if she was once again making fun of him.

Uh-oh, she had a feeling she was about to put her foot in her mouth again.

She chose her words carefully, not wanting to insult him further. She rather liked having her head where it sat.

“Ali, I know it’s hard to believe, but some people do deliberately try to disrupt businesses and destroy data merely for their own pleasure.”

“That is a very sad state of affairs.”

“I agree.”

“But because of them, you have a job, correct? Then perhaps you should show some appreciation?” The amusement glinting in his eyes made her realize that he was teasing her. It took her by surprise.

“You’ve got a point there,” she admitted with a smile.

“But if you think or even suspect this was deliberately done to disrupt my business, I shall need to get my security people on it.”

The way he said it made her think he was about ready to call out the royal national guard.

“Now wait a minute, Ali, don’t get your shorts in a crimp. I don’t think this was deliberate. I think someone was just careless.” She held up her hand before he could speak. “Not necessarily one of your employees.” She didn’t even want to go there, fearing his reaction. She certainly didn’t want to be the cause of someone losing his job. “Sometimes you pick up a virus and you don’t even realize it until your system is affected. So for the time being, I think you’ll need to be very, very careful. I’d instruct all of your employees not to open any e-mails from anyone who is not known to them.”

“Okay.” He nodded slowly as if deep in thought. “I shall have Kadid attend to it immediately.”

“Good.” At least the man was taking her advice, something she was certain he had difficulty doing normally. She wasn’t certain if it was because she was a woman, or simply because he was a royal. In either case, she had a feeling Ali was more accustomed to issuing orders than to taking them.

“Now, once I install the anti-virus software, it will run automatically every time the system is booted up, and every time one of the workstations is turned on. It’s not foolproof, but about as close as you can get. Once that’s done, about once a month, you should have your systems people do a sweep for viruses of the entire system. Do you understand what I’m saying, Ali?” He looked blank as a blackboard.

Ali shook his dark head, his eyes bemused. “Viruses. Servers. Systems. Boots.” He held up a hand. “I do not understand all this technical jargon.” He watched her, entranced by the intensity in her vivid green eyes.

Faith was a woman, he’d discovered in the past few days, who appeared to be passionate about everything. There was so much about her that was different from the women in his life. She was proving to be a refreshing change. And a challenge.

With her back against the windows, sun spilled into the room and over her, glinting off her hair, making the reddish gold strands shimmer like spun gold.

He found himself wondering if her hair was as soft, as silky as it looked. He laced his hands together on the table to prevent himself from finding out.

Today, she was once again dressed in her beloved T-shirt, well-worn jeans and tennis shoes.

Instead of a braid, though, her hair was caught up atop her head in a knot, but some tendrils had escaped and now framed her face in a riot of red and gold. She had the most incredible skin, like the tip of a rose before the first bloom.

He sighed, trying to get his thoughts under control. “You will have to explain what I need to do in a language I can understand. Preferably English or Arabic.”

“Arabic’s definitely out,” she admitted with a shake of her head. “I’ll stick with English. In layman’s terms your system is having a…” She searched for a term he could understand. “A techie tirade.”

His brows slowly drew together over confused dark eyes. “A tirade?”

She nodded. “You know, a temper tantrum.” She smothered a chuckle at the look on his face. Obviously no one had ever thrown a tantrum on the sheik before. Well, there was a first time for everything. Faith sought to soothe him, instinctively reaching out to pat his hand. “But you don’t have to worry about it, Ali, or understand it. That’s what you’re paying me to do.”

And paying her well, she thought. His offer of a very generous bonus if she could get his new system up and operational within ten days was a challenge she simply couldn’t resist. It might prevent her from having to go to the bank, hat in hand, and beg for another operating loan.

The bonus would go a long way toward giving her the financial cushion she hadn’t hoped to have for at least another year. And when she added her regular fees on top of that, she’d be able to not only expand her offices and hire two consultants, but she might even be able to swing some new equipment as well.

The promise of the financial windfall had caused her to bury herself in her work, barely leaving this building except to stagger home for a few hours of sleep. All in all this was turning out to be a dream job.

Now all she had to do was control her mouth and her temper, not to mention her inbred annoyance at what this man represented to her.

She probably should have considered a gag, Faith realized. It might have been easier.

Ali sighed. “I don’t know how much longer my staff can continue to work the enormous hours necessary to do everything by hand.” To say nothing of the hours he’d spent on the phone trying to soothe clients. “Can you complete all this in a week?”

“Once I go over all the financial concerns and get your permission to order the necessary equipment, I should have you up and operating at full speed in less than a week.” That was with her working nearly round the clock, but she was counting on that bonus. She frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve been testing the system this morning, so it’s up right now, but I don’t suggest you use it for anything important, at least not until all the new equipment is ordered and installed.”

Ali nodded, listening to her. He shifted his weight, then loosened his tie. In spite of the fact that it was late September, someone had apparently forgotten to tell Mother Nature, for the temperatures were still hovering near the 90s. In spite of the excellent air-conditioning system, it was getting warmer by the minute in his office.

“It’s not necessary to go over the finances, Faith.” He waved away her concern. “Purchase anything you need. Kadid will take care of all the necessary paperwork.” Ali got up, went to his desk and pressed the intercom. “Kadid, could you come in please?”

Faith had learned that the elderly assistant had been with Ali since his birth. She and Kadid had become fast friends.

In the past few days, she’d found Kadid to be helpful and cooperative, not to mention exceedingly kind and totally devoted to Ali, which, she had to admit, she found surprising.

Kadid readily kept her supplied with cold colas during the day while she worked; something she considered fuel to keep her going. And she praised him regularly for it.