ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (128 page)

“It doesn’t matter.” She turned to face him, and she was proud when the tears didn’t fall. “It doesn’t matter that you didn’t sleep with her. You are going to be Sheikh one day, and you can do whatever you want. You can sleep with whomever you want. I am your wife, but this is an arranged marriage. I can admit that I was hurt, but we’ve only been married for a couple of months. You’re the only man that I’ve ever been with, so yes. I’m a little hurt. But we’re not in love. And we’re never going to be in love. So you do you, and I’ll do me.”

She felt the intensity of his gaze as he searched her, but she held her ground. She wasn’t going to let him know how she felt. That was the only way that she was going to get through this. She would pretend that the marriage didn’t mean anything, and he could be happy. She could pretend to be happy, and maybe one day she would actually be happy.

“Jada, I’m sorry. I’m not going to sleep with Sara. I know you think that…”

“Just stop. I’ve already said that we don’t have to do this. So let’s just make this easier on both of us and not do this. Now if you really want to make it up to me, you’ll tell the pilot to take me home. And I will let you finish your work here completely uninterrupted. Okay?”

He reached out and stroked her cheek. “Jada, you’ve been crying.”

“Like I’ve said. We’ve been married a few months, and I wanted it to be perfect. It’s a reality check. Now I want to go home.” She pulled away from him and crossed her arms.

She thought she saw a shadow of pain in his face, but it was gone. “Okay. Okay, I’ll make sure you get home. And I’m going to call you later.”

There was an immediately wave of pain and relief as he turned to speak to the pilot. She settled down in the seat and closed her eyes. Finally, she was going home.

* * *

It took all of three hours before his phone started blowing up. It didn’t matter. He’d been staring at the papers for hours without really even seeing them. His mind was on Jada, and he felt like his heart had just been ripped out.

“Mother,” he said tiredly as he answered the phone.

“What the hell happened? Your wife went there to surprise you, and now she’s back, and she’s not speaking to anyone. She locked herself in her suite, and I can see that she’s been crying for hours. So what the hell did you do?”

“Do not speak to me like that,” he hissed. She immediately felt sorry, and he sighed. Never before did he speak to his mother like that. “I’m sorry. I should not have said that.”

“Kamal, let’s be honest. You’ve not been yourself since you came back from America. You’re married to a beautiful woman, and you leave her the first chance that you get. I know it wasn’t a love match, but she is your family. And whether you like it or not, you have to think of her. I’m not saying that you did anything wrong, Kamal, but whatever you did, you weren’t thinking of her.”

“No.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I was thinking of her, but I was thinking of her too late. I saw Sara.”

“Sara? And I suppose Sara is the reason that you’ve been moping around all this time? Did you cheat on your wife before you even reached your six month anniversary? Kamal Al-Basir, I will come down there myself and…”

“I didn’t sleep with her,” Kamal interrupted. “And when Jada came in, she heard Sara talking. Sara wanted to be together, and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it because I didn’t want to be with her. But Sara kissed me, and I kissed her back, and Jada saw it.”

“Kamal.” He heard the frustration in her voice. “Why did you kiss her back, baby?”

“I’ve spent so long thinking that she was one. I wanted to validate that time. I wanted to believe that I hadn’t wasted that part of my life.”

“And how did you feel when you kissed her?”

“Nothing,” Kamal said softly. “I didn’t feel a damn thing, and Jada saw it.”

Ameena inhaled sharply. “She’s not leaving you, Kamal. She’s not leaving you. You just need to tell her what happened. It’s going to be rough, but you’re going to get past this.”

Rocking back in the chair, he ran his hands through his hair. He knew that his mother was disappointed in him, but there was nothing he could do to change the past. “She made it clear that it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t love me. I don’t love her. We’ll just live our married lives separate and being happy.”

“You love her,” Ameena breathed. “Kamal, you love her.”

“It doesn’t matter. I realized it too late, and she’s made it quite clear that she’s never going to love me.”

“I did not raise an idiot,” his mother hissed. “But you are acting like a complete idiot. Jada buried herself trying to make you happy. You think she’s doing that because she doesn’t love you?”

“Mom, don’t do this. Don’t make me think that there’s something there when there isn’t.”

“Kamal Al-Basir, stop being an idiot. You are married. You have a wife, and if you don’t fight like hell to keep your wife, then you are going to married to a shell for the rest of your life. You are going to be a shell. Is that you want? You want to be a shell? You want her to be a shell?” Ammena’s voice raised a few notches, and Kamal winced.

“What about you and Dad. You weren’t in love when you married. What happened?”

His mother chuckled. “I guess we don’t ever talk about it, do we? I hated your father when we first married. I resented him, but what could I do? He was going to be Sheikh one day, and I was raised to be his wife. But unlike your beautiful wife, I didn’t hold my temper as well. He was such a good man. He let me rant and rave, and somewhere in that time, I realized that I loved him. I knew that all that patience came from him loving me.”

“Mother, Jada doesn’t fight with me. She catches me kissing another woman, and she doesn’t even blink an eye.”

“Kamal, you have to make a decision. If you love your wife, and if you want your wife, then you have to choose her and you have to choose her now. But if want to believe that she’s never going to love you, then you don’t choose her. You stay there and you do your work, and you let her suffer.”

He moved his chair back up and leaned over. “It’s not that easy. Mom, it’s not that easy.”

“It is, Kamal. You just have to choose. Baby, I love you. And I want you to be happy, but it has to be your decision. I’m going to go, baby. I’m going to check on Jada.”

“Will you call me? Will you let me know how she is?”

“You know how she is, Kamal. I don’t have to tell you that.”

The line went dead, and Kamal pressed the heel of his palm to his eyes. A million things ran through his head. This job was important, but he could just a break. He could take a week and fly home and spend time with his wife. But she said that she didn’t love him. Why would she say that if she didn’t mean it?

In frustration, he thrust out his hand and swept everything off the desk. As all the papers went flying, he let out a low growl of rage. They fluttered around him, and he sank to his knees. How did he get here? And what the hell was he supposed to do now?

Jada walked aimlessly around the suite. She had a cake baking in the oven and a pie cooling on the counter. And in a few days, she was probably going to eat both of them in its entirety. She was pregnant. She was pregnant and in an unhappy marriage. She might as well get gloriously fat and happy.

There was a knock on the door, and she moved slowly across the floor. Ameena had checked on her several times over the past week, and no matter what she told the older woman, Ameena kept coming over.

“Really, I’m fine,” she muttered as she swung the door open. Surprised, she blinked. “Sheikh. What are you doing here?”

“It’s Nahid, Jada. I’m not here as your Sheikh. I’m here as the father of the stupid fool that you married. Can I come in?”

She stepped back and swept her hand aside. “It’s your place. I’m just living in it.”

“It’s like that, huh?” he said dryly. “I know that you’re upset, but for the first time in a long time, I’m finally seeing you. And you are magnificent.”

Jada chuckled dryly. “You’re not wrong. We’ve both made mistakes. The only difference is that he tried to find his happiness, and I kept my mouth shut and tried to be the dutiful wife.”

“Ameena tried to be the dutiful wife. It didn’t work out so well for her either.”

Jada lifted her eyes to meet his. “What are you talking about? You’re still married.”

“Of course we’re still married. We’re still married because after all the dancing that we did in the beginning, we were finally just honest with each other. And that’s all it took. My wife loved me, and I loved her.”

She went to the drawer and grabbed a knife. Cutting open the pie, she served two slices on plates. “I think the difference is that Kamal is in love with someone else, and you were not. That’s why it works. But he married the wrong woman because he didn’t think that she loved him. She does.”

“Pie.” Nahid gave her a brilliant smile. “I love pie.”

“I love to cook. Actually, I really just love to bake. I’m not really that great of a cook, but I try. I’m a good baker.”

He took a bite and nodded. “Yes. You are an excellent baker. Jada, I don’t know what’s going to happen to you two. I know that I raised my son to be like me, and I’m not always the best husband. And I didn’t raise a good husband. But I believe that you can change that if you were honest.”

“I’ll try. When he comes back, I’ll try to be honest.” She gave him a small smile, and she knew that he was right. She needed to be honest with Kamal. He deserved that much. No matter how much it hurt, she would have to tell him. She would have to tell him about the baby. And she would have to tell him how she felt about him.

* * *

“Where is she?” Kamal shouted when he burst into the palace. It was well after midnight, but she wasn’t in the suite. His heart hammered in his chest as he searched for her. “Where is she?”

“What in the world?” His mother walked in and wrapped the tighter around her. “Kamal. What are you doing here? Why are you shouting?”

His chest heaved as he shook his head. “She’s gone? She left me? Why didn’t anyone call me and tell me?”

His mother cocked his head. “She’s hasn’t slept well these days. I think she walked out in the gardens and by the lake sometimes when she can’t sleep.”

“Thanks.” He turned and raced out of the palace. The moon light filtered along everything as he moved as quickly as he could. Deep into the gardens, he found her leaning against the tree and staring at the water. Stopping short, he could only stare. His entire body reacted to her. It wasn’t just carnal desire. His body knew her. Seeing her was like coming home. How could he have not known before?

“Jada,” he said softly. Her whole body tensed, so while she didn’t turn around, he knew that she could hear him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I’m so sorry that it had to take kissing another woman for me to realize what I wanted. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, so I didn’t come here asking for it. I came here to tell you that I’m an idiot.”

She turned around and stared at him. “You’re not the only one who’s an idiot,” she said with a soft smile. “I’ve spent all this time trying to be the perfect wife, and somewhere along the way, I lost myself. I haven’t been honest with you, Kamal. I’m not the woman who waits for her husband to come home. I’m not the woman who slaves over the stove for her husband. I’m the woman who stands by his side and works with him. I’m the woman who argues for what I believe in and tells you when I think you’re wrong. I hate shopping. Shopping is the absolutely worse, and I don’t love the simpering cocktail parties and I hate the party dresses and I loathe waiting by the phone for you to call.”

Everything inside him melted as he stepped towards her. “Good. I hate women who love shopping and simpering cocktail parties. And while I love it when you’re dressed up because you look beautiful, I’ll hate it if you hate it. And you don’t have to wait by the phone because I want you by my side. I know that you don’t love me, Jada. And I can work with that, but I love you, and I’m not going to give up until you’re comfortable with the fact that I love you.”

“Oh, Kamal.” She reached up and grabbed his hand.

“I’ll never ask you to love me. That’s not something that you can ask someone, but I want you to be okay that your husband loves you. I need you to know that I don’t love Sara. I spent a long time thinking that I loved Sara, but I don’t. And I need you to be okay that I don’t Sara. Is that okay?”

“You’ve said okay quite a few times, Kamal. Can you let me talk now?”

He blinked and nodded. “Of course. Okay. Sorry. I do keep saying okay.”

“I lied, Kamal. I do love you. I’ve been terrified to tell you, but I’m trying something new called honesty. And honestly, I love you.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “Are you okay with that?”

With a whoop, he reached down and swooped her up and twirled her around. She shrieked with laughter, and he bent down and kissed her. This time he wasn’t kissing the woman he found beautiful or his lover or the wife that he’d married out of obligation. He kissed the woman that he loved, and it changed everything for him.

“Oh,” she staggered. “Wow.”

“Wow indeed,” he murmured. “Everything is going to be different now, darling. Everything is going to be wow from now on.”

Jada wrapped her arm around his neck and buried her face in his chest. “I have something that I need to tell you.”

“What?”

“I’m pregnant.” She gazed at him, and he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. He took a deep breath and gently lowered them both to the ground. He couldn’t even begin to tell her how he felt, so he tried to show her as he loved her. Hovering over her, he gently pressed his hand to her abdomen and kissed her.

Sliding her hands through his hair, she whimpered softly. “Kamal? Is that how you feel?”

“This is how I feel. I want to hold you in my arms for the rest of my life, and I want to hold our child. This is our family, Jada. I couldn’t be happier.” Once again, he reached down to taste her.

“Kamal, if you don’t stop, I’m not going to want you to stop.”

He gave her a wicked grin. “I’m not going to stop.”

“Kama! What if someone comes out? What about the guards!”