“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” Harrison responded as they made their way toward the veranda.

Julia kept her voice even, determined not to let her nervousness show. “I don’t understand. Why not?”

He stopped and turned to look down at her. “Because I don’t know who you are, or what you’re after or who you’ll call.”

She glanced pointedly to where her small purse was tucked under his arm. “You’ve seen my passport, my driver’s license, my Lexington library card.”

He didn’t respond.

“People will start to worry,” she pointed out. Hopefully Melanie was worried already. “They’ll be out looking for me.”

Harrison paused. “Give me a list of names. I’ll have Darla make the calls.”

It was Julia’s turn to hesitate. She didn’t want him connecting her with the Prestons. He might have heard about the Leopold’s Legacy scandal, and he might already know Millions to Spare was the spitting image. Melanie and Robbie’s names could give her away.

Harrison arched a brow. “Problem?”

She stalled. “What’s she going to say to them?”

“That you’re safe.”

“You don’t think they’ll ask questions?”

A sly smile grew on his face. “She can tell them you met a man.”

Annoyance shot through Julia. “You think my friends are going to believe I came home with you?”

“Why not? You’re a modern, twenty-five-year-old American-”

“Watch it, buster.” Sure, there was a social conduct divide between the East and the West, but that didn’t mean she was sleazy.

He slowly perused her sleeveless blouse, short skirt and high-heeled shoes. “I saw your personal effects, remember?”

“You think because I wear a thong I’ll jump into bed with a man I just met?” Of all the insulting, stereotypical assumptions. She wore a thong today to stay cool, because the weather in Dubai was nearly a hundred degrees.