Page 58 of Earned Husband

“No.” She tugged again, but as she moved her foot to bend over far enough to extricate herself, her sleeve snagged on the branch behind her. “Why have the plants turned on me?”

A second later, she yanked her shoulder free and ripped at the fabric at her knee, freeing herself with brute force, but I liked it. She always seemed so composed that it was nice to see this slightly more frazzled side.

As she straightened up, she glanced over at me again. “We’re pretending that didn’t happen.”

“I fully support your decision.”

She smiled. “I’ll come find you later, okay?”

“Watch out for bushes.”

She pushed through the shrub with another curse and disappeared down a winding garden path. A couple seconds later, she was swallowed by palms, flowering plants, and lush greenery, vanishing into the gardens.

One part of my brain was still struggling to wrap itself around the fact that her family was this serious about us not beingalone together. She was almost thirty years old and about to get married, yet she’d sneaked out of my room like a teenager afraid of getting caught.

The mere thought of it was slightly ridiculous. Even before my father’s arrest, my parents hadn’t really been the hands-on type. From a very early age, they’d left us to fend for ourselves at home, in the care of nannies until Jane and I had been old enough to keep the house from burning down by ourselves. It became our job to watch the younger brothers.

I couldn’t remember a time when any of us had had to sneak friends or significant others into or out of the house. We’d simply used the front door.

The other part of my brain, however, was completely obsessed with the fact that the gorgeous woman who’d just disappeared out of my room was going to be my wife. I was still in serious danger of actually falling for her and I hadn’t been back in her company for a full twenty-four hours yet.

Before I could even begin to process the fact that somehow, Alex had managed to arrange my marriage to the only woman I’d ever met who could make me laugh in less than five minutes, three sharp knocks echoed through the room.

I nearly jumped out of my skin but spun toward the door. “Come in!”

Khaled opened strode into the room. “Are you settling in okay?”

“I’ve been in my room for like five minutes, but yeah, everything’s great so far.”

He nodded slowly, glancing toward the open patio doors, but then looking back at me. “Do you need anything?”

“Just a few minutes to catch my breath. Take a shower.”

A smile that was a little too knowing for comfort appeared on his lips as he glanced at the patio again. “Alright, well, whenyou’re ready, it’s time for lunch.” He paused for a beat. “After that, my father would like to speak with you.”

“Can’t he just talk to me at lunch?” I asked, started to get annoyed with the old man’s theatrics.

“I’m just the messenger,” he said.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. “I know. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready in no time.”

Khaled disappeared after arching an eyebrow at me, and I shut my eyes when I realized that this was what my time in Cairo was going to be like. I’d come here to earn Basel Saad’s daughter and he really wasn’t going to make it easy on me, the old bastard.

The thought of seeing Deja’s pretty smile again made it all worthwhile.

CHAPTER 26

DEJA

After spending most of the day evading what felt like everyone in Cairo, I sat behind the dressing table in my suite, more relieved than ever that night was finally falling. Colin was still stuck with Dad and the men, but the constant echo of voices and laughter from downstairs had been fading for the last hour or so, the ebb and flow of family and friends arriving and leaving all day long seemingly easing for the night.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean that it was quiet in here. Jasmine stood in front of my closet with her arms crossed and her eyes wide with exasperation. “I’ll only borrow it.”

“No.”

She sighed. “Come on, Deja. I’ll bring it back tomorrow. First thing.”

“No, you won’t, because you’re not borrowing it.” I looked up at her in the reflection of the oval-shaped mirror in front of me. “You have an entire wardrobe of your own. Why do you even need one of my dresses when you have enough clothes to outfit a small nation?”