Page 65 of Earned Husband

I didn’t ease my grip on her hand. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain, but we’re going to be super busy.” She hesitated for a beat. “You and I probably won’t be alone again until, well, probably after the wedding.”

I inhaled a deep breath but nodded. “Yeah, I know. I didn’t realize how very true that was until I got here, but if today taught me anything, it’s that your family takes this stuff pretty seriously.”

“We’re modern in most ways, but these traditions matter to us,” she said. “Even to me. In that way, we’re very traditional.”

“I respect that.”

She ran her hand from my chest to my shoulder, those eyes drinking in my own like this would be her last chance. “So this is it, our second and last date until after we get married.”

Although I’d known that, I hadn’t really realized what it meant until this very moment. Hearing her say it out loud kind of drove it home that we’d be living in the same house, under the same roof, but I wouldn’t get to be anywhere near her in any real way until she was mywife.

It was crazy to think about it like that, but it also meant that I had to make every second of tonight count. Before I could think better of it, I leaned in and kissed her, pressing my lips to hers for just a peck, but it felt like my world rearranged itself in that brief second of contact.

Deja’s lips felt like heaven and coming home at the same time, and I had the almost overwhelming urge to haul her into me so I could kiss her properly, but instead, I pulled back. My self-control would only go so far, and what I wanted right now wasn’t fit for public consumption.

As I lifted my head away from hers, she stared up at me as if she was just as shocked by the effect of that one, tiny kiss as I was, but before I could even apologize for having initiated it, Tarek’s voice echoed through the gardens like a gunshot.

“Found them!” he yelled.

Deja jerked backward and I stepped away from her so fast that I nearly went over the railing, but Rami appeared too, and just like that, we were no longer alone.

CHAPTER 28

DEJA

It turned out I’d been right about how insane things were going to get. Since I’d never been through this personally before, even I had slightly underestimated the chaos coming our way.

Today had been the first of several very important days for the Saad and Thayer families, and Colin glanced at me now across the private dining room. He looked devastatingly handsome in a charcoal suit that fit like a glove, his broad shoulders held with that quiet confidence I was coming to know so well.

I could tell he was anxious too, though. While I doubted anyone else would notice, I saw the slight flex of his jaw and the way he kept adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. Considering what he was facing, it was completely understandable that his nerves might be about to betray him despite his exterior depicting a picture of calm confidence.

Colin crossed the room toward my father, who’d gathered every male member of my immediate family around him like an execution squad. Our marriage might’ve been my dad’s idea, but Colin had to formally ask for his blessing tonight.

My parents had booked out an entire restaurant exclusively for the event, and it was actually a pretty intimate gathering in comparison to the sea of people that would descend upon us for the next engagement ritual. There were no strangers or curious diners, just the parents, siblings, and Colin.

I leaned closer to Jasmine, but my eyes never left him as he approached the hit squad. “I almost feel bad for him. Why is Dad acting so tough when he’s the one who’s insisting that we get married?”

“You’re a really bad liar,” she whispered back. “I know you’re loving this, and Dad is acting like he’s about to lead the Spanish inquisition because he can. He’s been training for this his whole life. Let him have his moment.”

I sighed, but our conversation was cut off when Colin reached our father, smoothing a hand over the front of his jacket as Dad rose. My brothers stood too, falling into perfect formation around our father and all wearing identical, hilariously serious expressions.

They were five enormous guys and they crossed their arms almost in complete unison, but as funny as I found the whole tough-guy act, even I had to admit that they cut a pretty intimidating picture like this. Invading armies would turn around and run home if faced by them, but Colin simply glanced at the lineup before returning his attention to my father.

“I understand you have something to ask me, Colin,” Dad said somberly, folding his hands behind his back.

My teeth sank into my lower lip to keep from laughing at the absurdity of it all—or pointing out that we really could’ve bypassed this particular tradition under the circumstances. Dad had practically handpicked Colin himself, but he was acting like the man had appeared on our doorstep uninvited.

Colin cleared his throat. “I actually have a few things I’d like to say.”

My father inclined his head, keeping to the script like it was tattooed on his brain. “You may proceed.”

Colin drew in a quiet, careful breath, but he never broke eye contact with my dad. “Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Deja, and while it wasn’t under ordinary circumstances, I’ve sincerely come to admire her, sir.”

Mom lifted a hand to her chest, but Dad remained impassive as Colin kept going. “I respect her immensely as a businesswoman, a daughter, a sister, and a person.”

Jasmine leaned in again, quietly whispering, “Oh, he’s good.”