Dedicated to AgentofDreams989.

Previously.. 

The smile on Selena's face grew a little bigger when she recalled that one lyric from the 1991 animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast:

"With a dreamy, far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book."

Well, that certainly speaks volumes about me, Selena thought. Belle and I sure have something in common there.

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A high roller even when the chips are down
To win her over, I'd seen the tables turn around
She's ten the hard way, I can feel it in my bones
She'll be makin' my day and not another night alone
'til it's time for a windfall and not a single moment too soon
I've been too long overdue, now I'm gonna shoot the moon

I'd bet it all on a good run of bad luck
Seven come eleven and she could be mine
Luck be a lady, and I'm gonna find love comin' on the bottom line
~Clint Black, A Good Run of Bad Luck

Pushing open the doors of the library, Selena flicked on the light before heading over to one shelf.

Running her fingertips over the spines of the books, she soon stopped when the paperback edition of the 1919 novel The Sheik by E.M. Hull caught her eye. She'd read the Wikipedia article about that very novel, and found it to be something extraordinary.

Selena was even more intrigued by the concepts found in the novel when she found out about the 1921 film adaptation of the novel, and then got the double feature DVD of both it and its 1926 sequel The Son of the Sheik, which both were based on the E.M. Hull novels of the same names and starred the late, great Rudolph 'Rudy' Valentino as the titular Sheik, Ahmed Ben Hassan.

Selena still recalled the rush of excitement and intrigue that rushed through her blood when the Sheik first came on the screen of her laptop, and how she sucked in her breath at how he was striking in his looks. Now I can see why he was said to be known as both the "Latin Lover" and a sex symbol back in his day when he was alive.