Her Older Sheikh (Sheikh Breaks My Heart #9)

Five

S tanhope Medical Center of Miami was already bustling with activity when Joelle walked past its doors at half-past seven. Even though she still had thirty minutes to kill before her shift officially started, Joelle wasn't surprised to find all the lights already on when she reached the clinic she worked in.

"You're late," her world-famous, internationally acclaimed surgeon boss drawled as he straightened off the doorway of his consultation room.

"No, I'm not." Joelle perched her butt on the high-backed stool behind the reception counter. "You just have a habit of coming to work freakishly early, which is so not my fault."

Her cousin only grunted, and Joelle studied him surreptitiously while she started sorting through the dozen or so letters and invitations addressed to Dr. Adam Al-Masri.

Adam would've usually said something mean by now, and the fact that he didn't was telling.

Two years had already passed since Cora Mitchell's death. The woman had been in her seventies, and it was by account of her age that various top surgeons had refused to operate on her. Adam had been her last hope, and while he was the type of man who would've willingly risked his reputation for a chance to save his patient—-

He had never been given the chance to do so, and all because his girlfriend in secret had bribed his assistant of five years to refuse new cases on the night of their anniversary.

Adam had not wasted time breaking up with Ilona and firing his assistant after what happened, and while it might seem to most other people he had moved on since then, it was here in his clinic, which Adam considered his most sacred space, that he stopped wearing a mask to hide his grief.

Joelle had been frequently tempted to ask him if he wanted to talk, but she had always decided against it in the end. She had known Adam since they were kids, and so she could understand why a perfectionist like him continued to hold himself accountable for what happened.

Still, she didn't think what he was doing was healthy. As a doctor, Adam had to know that drowning himself in work wasn't an effective long-term solution. At the rate he was keeping himself busy, it was only a matter of time before exhaustion forced him into making a costly mistake in the operating room.

Adam could sense his cousin's growing restlessness as Joelle peeked at him now and then. "Just spit it out, Jo."

Joelle looked at him in chagrin. "I'm sure you already know what I'm going to say, but...whatever. I'm still going to say it anyway."

As always, his little cousin was unable to resist the opportunity to nag at him.

"I know you still hold yourself accountable for what happened to your patient, and I get that. However... I think you also know yourself that it's unhealthy to keep dwelling in the past."

Joelle could see her words had hit a nerve, and this encouraged her to continue with her point. "Find a new hobby, a girlfriend, or even a one-night stand if that's all you're willing to commit to. It's not like you to waste your time brooding," Joelle pointed out, "and whether you admit it or not, that's what you've been doing the past two months."

Adam was saved from replying when the hospital's paging system sounded out.

"Dr. Adam Al-Masri, please report to the E.R. immediately."

All thoughts outside work were immediately pushed aside when he ended up performing emergency surgery, and Joelle had already left for lunch by the time he returned to his clinic.

His cousin's words came back to him as he settled behind his desk, and a grim frown marred his forehead.

It was true that Cora Mitchell's death still haunted him to this day, and what really ate him was how he had actually been seriously contemplating marrying Ilona prior to what happened.

But after what she had done, Adam now had a hard time trusting himself to choose the right woman for him.

He had thought his rules would help him avoid troublesome relationships, but it had only resulted in the opposite. His cousins, on the other hand, didn't have any such rules when it came to dating, and yet all four of them had seemed to find love in a matter of weeks.

Crown Prince Saif was now set to marry his American fiancée come winter, second-born Ilyas had fallen in love with his own secretary, while Khadem, the youngest of the Huznan princes, had already made arrangements for his Prue to continue her studies in Huzna. And when it had seemed Rashad would be the only bachelor left among his brothers, the third-born prince had then dropped a bombshell on his family by declaring he was already betrothed.

If his cousins had been able to find their respective partners purely by chance, then perhaps it was time to ditch his so-called rules. He would wait instead for fate to send the right woman in his way, but in the meantime...

Joelle was right , Adam thought broodingly. He needed to move on...or risk making costly mistakes in the operating room sooner or later. He needed to distract himself from the past, and was there any other greater distraction than having a woman to warm his bed?

Very well then .

A woman he would look for again, but since he no longer trusted himself to find the right one—-

He that plants thorns must not expect to gather roses .

It was a popular saying back in Huzna, and Adam thought it fitting for his current dilemma. The women he had been dating were all thorns while his cousins were now set to marry roses of their own.

If Adam wanted a rose of his own, it was time to do as his cousins did and allow fate to turn his world upside down.

Ball's in your court, Yahweh.

A rose for distraction he would look for this time, and while Adam was determined not to settle anything for less—-

The swiftness in which Yahweh answered his prayers caught him off guard, with Rashad approaching him that very night with an offer that had the handprint of fate written all over it.

"You want me to do fucking what?"

"A young woman will be waiting for you at your clinic," his cousin repeated. "Both of you will be wearing masks to protect your identities. You'll play the role of a conscienceless prick of a doctor, and she'll be the innocent little patient who believes every word you say."

"Are you fucking insane?"

Adam was in genuine disbelief, but in the back of his mind was a realization of undeniable clarity. What Rashad was asking for also happened to violate his most important rule, and that was to keep his personal life entirely separate from his work.

"Both of you will require medical clearance prior to meeting," Rashad went on to explain, "and the two of you will also sign a contract to ensure everything about this remains completely confidential."

"Do you think I'm some fucking stud?”

The other man rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. But you're not exactly a saint either."

"This is fucking insane." Adam rarely wasted time repeating himself, and the fact that he was doing so right now made him feel like his subconscious had already made a decision, and it was only his conscious mind that was presently grasping at straws.

"I can guarantee she's your type."

"I don't have a fucking type."

"Of course you do. The other party is not dumb, not easily intimidated, and not a gold-digger."

Adam's lips pressed in a straight line. Ilona had been all of those things as well, but it had still not worked out between them.

"And we both know that kind of woman is few and far between."

Actually, Adam had managed to find such a woman, but maybe that was the problem in the first place.

He was so used to being in control and not making mistakes, that he had thought finding himself a woman would be just as easy. But that was obviously not true, and wasn't that why his promise to Yahweh more or less meant trusting Him to make the next move?

Whoever this girl was could be the rose Yahweh had chosen for him, and Adam cursed under his breath when he realized there was only one way for him to find out the truth.