Page 30 of Earned Husband

“It wasn’t,” Isaac agreed immediately. “I was an idiot.”

Basel laughed. “Most twenty-year-olds are. Especially boys.”

“Amen to that, but at least in my case, it worked out.” Isaac lifted his coffee in Basel’s direction, clearly happy to keep sharing his entire career journey while we waited for Alex to arrive.

I left him to it, noticing both Basel and Khaled glancing at me every so often. My phone was on silent in my pocket, but while I kept wanting to check it, I refrained, not proud of how much of my attention belonged to a woman who wasn’t even present.

Instead, I studied a spot at the center of the table, only half-listening to them talk while I kept mentally replaying my day with Deja. She’d been way too casual to have found out what they had in mind for us yet. I was sure of it.

“You’re overseeing mining now as well?” Basel asked at one point. “That’s important work.”

“It keeps me out of trouble,” Isaac said. “Mostly, anyway.”

The other two men chuckled, segueing into the topics of technology, sustainability initiatives, and mineral extraction. Ijust kept quiet, studying the arrangement of small white flowers in a vase in the middle of the table.

For possibly the first time ever, I found myself wondering what those flowers actually smelled like. Whether Deja would’ve been inspired by them if she’d been here and if, perhaps, tiny little flowers just like those might be used for her next scent.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I barely even noticed when Isaac finished explaining his involvement in a reclamation project in Minnesota. Basel nodded at him, but then, without any warning whatsoever, turned to me.

“Do you want children?” he asked.

I looked up, so stunned that for a second, I wondered if I’d hallucinated that question. “Excuse me?”

Basel reached for his coffee, patiently holding my gaze with an expression on his face that suggested he thought of this as a perfectly ordinary and acceptable conversation topic with a virtual stranger at brunch. “Children. Would you like to have any or not?”

I glanced at Isaac, but he just shrugged at me, so I turned back to Basel and finally nodded. “Yes, I would very much like to have kids someday. It’s actually incredibly important to me.”

As random as the question had been, it wasn’t complicated. I’d never doubted the fact that I wanted a family. It was something I longed for, if I was being honest, but I wouldn’t say that out loud. Especially not to a man whose motives were still unclear.

Basel simply nodded in response, then took a sip of his coffee without comment or explanation. While I would have liked to know why he would ask something like that, I had a feeling I’d be finding out soon enough anyway.

All of this was leading up to something. Of course, I already knew that he was considering a marriage between Deja and me, but something about the whole thing still felt off to me.

Before I could just come out and ask, the door opened and Alex finally arrived. Alone. I waited for Jane to appear next, but she never did.

Alex crossed the room and shook hands with Isaac, Khaled, Basel, and me, exchanging pleasantries as he sat down, but as soon as he’d ordered a coffee of his own, he finally got the ball rolling for real—still without Jane being present.

“Alright,” he said, his gaze sweeping across the table. “Are we ready to get down to business?”

Thank God. But also…

“Is Jane joining us?” I asked, glancing at the door again. “Possible merger discussions usually involve the CEO.”

Basel waved a dismissive hand. “That’s not necessary for today.”

I frowned, but Alex and Khaled both seemed amused. Only Isaac was with me on the confusion side of the fence.

Leaning back in my chair, I smoothed my tie and once again dug in my heels. “It is necessary. If we’re meeting to discuss?—”

“My people are already talking to your people,” Basel said. “Our lawyers have been in contact with yours and Jane is well aware of the offer we’re making.”

My eyebrows inched up, surprise mingling with the uncertainty in my veins. When Khaled had asked for this meeting, I’d been sure that they wanted to pick up where we’d left off last night, but clearly, it wasn’t that.

Mentally bracing myself for finally—hopefully—getting some of the answers I knew I’d been missing, I looked directly into his eyes and nodded. “Okay, but if that’s true, then why the hell am I here?”

CHAPTER 14

DEJA