Page 76 of Earned Husband

“Nanna believes women should never have to buy anything themselves, so showering me, Jasmine, and my mom in gifts won’t hurt.”

“I can definitely manage that. What else?”

“Well, eating is the big one.” She sighed. “Nanna is old school. To her, a man who doesn’t eat his body weight at every meal could never be strong enough to be a provider.”

I winced. “I’ll try my best.”

She smiled again. “She’ll appreciate any effort as long as she can see that you’re making it.”

Our knees brushed under the table and my heart rate immediately spiked. For two weeks, I’d been thinking about that one little kiss beside the Nile and the almost kiss back in Chicago. It’d become worryingly difficult to think about anything else, and with Deja now right across from me, her dark hair moving slightly in the breeze and those golden eyes warm on mine, all I wanted was to lean in and do it again.

I was pretty sure at least one of her family members was watching us from nearby, though. They always were.

Deja let out a soft sigh, like she was thinking the exact same thing and was equally disappointed about it. She dropped her gaze to her hands. “We’re still getting our dinner date.”

“We are?” I asked, beyond surprised. “I thought our night by the Nile was the last date before the wedding.”

“Yeah, well, I owe you that dinner we never got around to back in the States and I have a plan.”

“Is it a good one?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong. I would like nothing more than to have dinner with you, but it seems unlikely that your dad will let it happen.”

“That’s why he’s not going to know about it,” she said smugly, turning toward the sea for a beat before looking back at me. “I know everything feels insane right now, but thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming here,” she said softly, the breeze blowing a lock of hair across her cheek as she smiled. “For staying.”

“I was always going to come, and I’ve already told you that if we do this, I’m always going to stay.” I folded my arms on the warm concrete table and leaned just a touch closer to her across it. “It’s been rough. I won’t deny that and I’m sure you’re feeling it too, but things will eventually calm down and once they do, we’ll have all the time in the world to breathe.”

Naturally, the back door opened back up before either of us could get another word out and Nanna reappeared, leading every Saad man behind her into the garden. It looked like our private time had reached its daily limit, but that’d been more than we’d had in weeks and at least we’d made the most of our brief time together by saying things we actually meant instead of just making small talk.

I was finding that to be a refreshing change of pace, if I was being honest. Usually, it took people months to start saying stuff that meant something, and while I knew it was mostly the circumstances with Deja and me, it also would’ve been easy for both of us to shy away from saying anything real. Especially considering how little time we had together.

But neither of us had chosen to go that route and I was enjoying the fact that we were both approaching this head on,balls to the wall. Even if it meant making ourselves pretty vulnerable for a few minutes at a time.

Nanna barked something in Arabic, waving the guys toward the vegetable beds. I glanced at them and saw Rami grab a basket and Tarek pick up pruning shears. Basel marched to the citrus grove with Khaled in tow, but then Nanna pointed directly at me before motioning at the tomatoes.

I stood without even thinking about it, but before I went, I leaned toward Deja. She looked up, surprised, but I didn’t let that stop me from pressing the fastest kiss imaginable against her temple.

It was over in a fraction of a second and I straightened up, walking away with my heart pounding and a smile on my lips. When I reached the tomatoes, Rami appeared beside me with another basket in his hands, but he twisted slightly as he handed it over, as if he wanted to hide his face from the family.

“I saw that,” he said, but at least it was playful, so I doubted he was about to rip me a new one for it.

Even so, he’d once again proven that in this family, someone was always watching. For the past couple weeks, I’d found that knowledge a little intimidating, but now, suddenly, standing in the warm sunshine with the sea glittering on one side and Deja watching me from the other, I was starting to realize that maybe it just meant it was time to get a little creative.

CHAPTER 32

DEJA

Iwoke before the rest of the house, knowing that Nanna never slept past sunrise and wanting to help her with breakfast. As soon as my eyes opened to the soft, early light touching the sky, I got up, already catching the scent of fresh bread wafting through the air.

I smiled and tied my hair in a loose braid before I headed to the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, she was already there. The windows were open to let in the sea breeze while she tended three pans on the stove. Two loaves of bread were already cooling while the dough for another rose under a cloth.

As I walked in, she glanced at me over her shoulder. “You’re late.”

I took a pointed glance at the windows, then arched an eyebrow as I reached for an apron hanging on a hook beside the pantry. “Even the sun is still asleep. I’m sure I can be forgiven.”

She chuckled. “We’ll see how helpful you are before we decide about that.”