Page 11 of Earned Husband

“Deja!” Alex called as soon as I stepped onto the deck, his grin as warm as if he was welcoming a long-lost relative as opposed to someone he’d met exactly once before. “We’re delighted you could make it.”

I smiled as I accepted his outstretched hand. “Thank you for having me. Your wife was absolutely spot on about the views. The city is breathtaking from here.”

He chuckled. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait until we’re out on the water.”

Turning away from me, he greeted Ashanti and Khaled with that grin still plastered on his lips, and my suspicion deepened as I watched their interaction. Something strange was definitely happening. No one was this excited to have almost complete strangers on their yacht just for the fun of it.

Business seemed the most likely explanation.

In many ways, Alex Westwood reminded me of my father. Even though I knew he’d inherited his company from the generations of Westwoods that had come before him, I also knew that he was taking it to all new heights.

Pretty much like my dad, who’d never given up either.

They were both sharply intelligent, and while I didn’t know Alex well at all, it felt like they shared the ability to make people underestimate them, while in reality they were calculating the game from three moves ahead. Both men were absolute sharks when it came to getting what they wanted, but tonight, Alex wasn’t acting like a ruthless corporate predator.

Instead, he was a doting, attentive host, like we might disappear if he didn’t shower us with warmth. We followed him to the upper deck, but my mind was racing with all the possibilities about why we were really here.

My best guess was that Alex was the connection Khaled had been referring to when he’d said he might have someone who could help us with manufacturing facilities in America. What bugged me was that it should’ve meant my brother licking Alex’s behind instead of the other way around.

Plus, they were all being incredibly secretive about whatever was going on. Surely, as the person who would be most affected by the expansion of our operations here, they should’ve just told me. There was no reason to act like they’d all become intelligence operatives.

Bad ones, at that. They certainly sucked at discretion.

My musings were interrupted when we boarded. On the deck, cocktail hour was already underway. Once again, it looked like this wasn’t just a quiet dinner. The deck was crawling with people, children darting between adults and overlapping conversations coming from at least four different seating areas.

When a baby began crying, no less than three adults responded. It was rather chaotic, but in a comforting, familiarkind of way that reminded me of our family gatherings back home. As soon as Alex started introducing us around, I realized why.

This was his family, some of his brothers with their wives and children. Jesse and Jacqueline, Zach and Adeline, and Nate and Kate. There was no way I was going to keep all these names straight, but I smiled my way through the introductions and made small talk about schools, summer camps, and what everyday life was like in Egypt.

I genuinely liked all these people, but after a while—and a very serious interrogation by a super cute, but super strict little girl named Lu—I needed a minute to breathe. With my cocktail in hand, I skirted around the edge of the deck until I had accidentally-on purpose left the party behind.

I wandered around the yacht, enjoying the relative quiet as I descended a staircase to a lower deck. At first glance, it appeared empty, but then I noticed someone standing at the railing, staring contemplatively at the city lights in the distance.

Colin must’ve heard my heels click when I took the final step onto the deck because he turned to look over his shoulder, blinking a few times when he realized it was me. I smiled, doing my best not to notice the way the breeze moved through his dark hair, making it just a little bit messy, which I liked.

“Hiding from your family?” I asked lightly as I joined him by the railing.

A guilty smile appeared on his lips and lit up his entire face. My heart tripped over itself as I stood there, absorbing the sight. The man was already handsome, but that sexy smile was going to get me in trouble.

“Maybe,” he admitted without even trying to hide it. “Hiding from yours?”

I let out a quiet laugh, forgetting to answer for a moment when the last traces of fading light caught in his gray eyes. Theywere especially striking, the color so rare that I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen it in the wild until I’d met Jane, but Colin’s were lighter, a grayish, glacier blue that made them impossible to ignore.

Mercifully, I remembered that he’d asked me a question as soon as that flash of light that had caught his eyes was gone, lost to the speed at which we were cruising and the evening fast approaching. “Maybe I am.”

When he smiled again, I edged closer to him without consciously deciding to. Soon, we were almost shoulder to shoulder, both looking out across the water rather than at one another.

The lake churned gently as the yacht moved steadily away from the shore, the sky above us clear and only just starting to reveal a star here and there. I rested my forearms against the railing and Colin did the same, both of us probably having escaped from the party for the same reason.

It was odd to think that he might be like me in some ways, this tall, beautiful American man who was somehow simultaneously mysterious and an open book. His facial features made him easy to read at times but there was also a depth to him that added a sense of mystery.

One I fully intended on unraveling.

Ever since I’d first met him at Jane’s party, questions had been lingering in the back of my mind. I knew Jane and Ashanti had been friends for years, but Jane’s history remained a bit of a puzzle to me. Whenever people referenced it, details seemed to become extremely vague.

Then there was the Thayer name itself.

I remembered hearing it years ago, back when Dad had first been exploring business opportunities in the United States, but those conversations had ended abruptly.