Tears gathered at the corners of Nina’s eyes, but she wiped them briskly away. No getting lost in her feelings. She could take at least one page from Matek’s book.
Nina stood in the closet and put away the clothes, piece by piece. She folded a shirt and put it back into place.
I love him.
She folded another shirt.
I love him.
Nina slipped a pair of pants into their spot on a shelf, and clarity came like a splash of the ocean against her skin. Folding the clothes, running her hands along the fabric, putting them away—
She dropped her hands to her sides. Putting the closet back together wasn’t an act of trying to earn Matek’s love. She did it because she loved him. Simple as that. As a finishing touch, she snugged the carryon suitcase up against the wall, straightened the clothes on the hangers, and closed the door softly behind her.
Nina looked back through all the years of her life, flickering up in her memories like an old-fashioned film reel. The hours she’d spent making a cake for her mother’s birthday, followed by the way her mom hadn’t had time to see it. She’d been too busy preparing for the main event of the evening: a date with Nina’s father at an exclusive restaurant. The two siblings out of seven who’d bothered to show up for her high school graduation. It hadn’t mattered that Nina got excellent grades or put the prettiest frosting on cakes. She still hadn’t earned their love.
And maybe...maybe life wasn’t about earning love. Maybe it was giving it, even if there wasn’t anything on the other side of the equation.
She looked down at the swell of her stomach and felt a rush of love as powerful as a hundred people all hugging her at once. She caught that love in her heart and sent it to the baby. Whoever he or she was. Whatever they accomplished or didn’t accomplish—it didn’t matter. Nina dropped a hand to where she thought the baby was, suspended peacefully in her womb.
“You don’t have to worry about being loved,” she said, feeling only slightly awkward. “The thing about love...” She took a big breath and released all the pent-up worry about Matek and the regret she held about telling him to leave. “The thing about love is that it’s either freely given, or it doesn’t exist. And mine exists for you. That’s all I know for sure.”
* * *
Matek stuck a finger in his collar and pulled it away from his neck. “I don’t know about this, Devra.” He stood next to his sister outside the door to his own apartment. It didn’t seem like his own apartment. He’d only been gone a few hours, but he felt for all the world as if he stood in front of a stranger’s house.
Devra’s hand on his elbow steadied him. “You can do this. And she’ll love the ring.”
“How can you be so sure?” The floor rocked beneath him, and he struggled to find his balance. He had to seize it bodily from the air and concentrate on the sturdy connection between his feet and the polished wood beneath them. “I’ve never asked Nina about birthstone jewelry.”
Devra arched an eyebrow, a smile flitting across her face. “I have. She’s admired my jewelry more than once. And before you say she was only being nice, she wasn’t, I promise you.”
Matek leaned hard into the past version of himself who had trusted Devra implicitly. That person had been a little boy, but he could bring back the feeling if he concentrated.
“All right.” He looked back at her one more time. “Are you sure?”
“It’s a family tradition, brother mine. If there’s anything your fiancée loves, it’s family traditions. She’ll love this one, too.” Devra rose up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Good luck.”
Then she left him, looking over her shoulder only once.
Matek went into the apartment and found Nina standing stock-still in the center of the living room, staring at him, her blue eyes standing out against her red cheeks and her hands resting on her bump. On their child. His heart exploded in a burst of regret and he slapped a hand to his chest.
“You’re here.”
“Where else would I be? I live here.” Her chin gave a telltale quiver. “Shouldn’t you be halfway to Germany by now?”
He went to her, remembering only at the last second that he had the teddy bear from the airport shop tucked tightly under his arm.
“I never left the country. I never left the airport.” Her lips pressed tightly together, and her eyes shone with tears. “I was a fool. I never should have set foot outside the palace. Not without you.”
“Yes, well.” Nina’s eyes darted to the side, then came back to his. “You wanted to leave, and I couldn’t stop you.”
“I should have stopped. I’m sorry, Nina. I was wrong. I was wrong about everything. I was wrong to think that professionalism—” A laugh burst out of him. How absurd was that? Unbelievable. “That professionalism was the answer in this situation. The answer’s love.” It sounded almost ridiculous, but the emotion welled from deep down, beneath everything else in his soul. “I was in the toy shop at the airport today, and I saw this little boy, holding onto a bear just like this one. And he—” The last of the walls around Matek’s heart crumbled and fell. “He loved it. Just the way I did when I was a kid. I—I had this same bear.”
Nina put her palms on his face, and at her touch, the awful sensation of being unmoored from the world disappeared. “I understand, Matek. I really do.”
“I thought holding you at arm’s length would make things easier. But I don’t want that. I don’t want it now, and I don’t want it for our baby.”
She grinned at him, a slow smile that lit up the room. “What do you want?”
“To be better. To do better. With you. For you.” He took the ring box out of his pocket and opened it. “Pearl. Your birthstone. It’s the same kind of jewelry my sister loves, that her family buys for her. I wanted to start a tradition with it for us. And I wanted to propose something to you.”
“Technically,” Nina said with a laugh, “we’re still engaged, I think.”
“A bigger proposal than that.” He took her hands in his, the two of them cradling the bear between them. “I want to spend our summers in Hamari, with the other side of my family. I want to spend most of our time here. No more moving. There’s plenty of security work to be done right here in Damarah. I don’t have to go anywhere until you’re ready.”
Nina looked deep into his eyes. “I accept. And now there’s something I want to show you.”
She led him down the hall to his guest bedrooms and paused outside one of the doors. “Ready?”
Nina hadn’t mentioned anything about this room, but his heart was so light and free he couldn’t imagine that anything behind the door would disappoint him. “I’m ready.”
She opened the door, grinning even wider. “Here.”
Matek stepped into his child’s nursery. He and Nina were both represented here, by the clean, white walls he liked. The colorful accents she liked. And the sensation that nothing could hurt, and everything was soft—and that was perfectly acceptable. Nina took his hand, and together they looked into the crib.
“I have the perfect place for that bear. Right here.”
Epilogue
Matek hefted his glass high, and all the guests at the party focused on him in a wave of heat. The royal ballroom was full, and even more guests spilled out into the auxiliary ballrooms and the hallways. It was a good thing they’d hired Matek for security. The event had ended up being much larger than anticipated. It turned out that despite Matek’s feelings about the way his father ruled, lots of people thought very highly of him.
“To my father, Armon,” he said into the handheld mic his own team had installed. “A blessed birthday, and many happy returns.”
“Many happy returns,” echoed hundreds of voices from the tables in front of the low stage where the head table sat proudly. Every table had a gleaming white tablecloth and an arrangement of flowers, designed by Devra and Nina and the other women of the household. Against the stark white of the cloth underneath, they looked like miniatur
e riots of joy.
The guests drank to Armon. Matek was cocooned in their affection, here with his family. Here with every part of his family, other than his mother. His sister. His brother Jaleel, who sat at his father’s right hand. His father himself, smiling over all of it and pretending that he hadn’t wanted the party.
And Nina. She was radiant in a wine-colored dress that reminded him of late nights in Hamari and even later nights in Damarah, though they’d had to replace the wine with grape juice. Nina talked about grape juice constantly. “I haven’t had it since I was a kid,” she’d say, every time he had the kitchen staff bring up a new pitcher. Next to Matek, she lifted her sparkling water and joined in the toast.
The dinner service passed in a blur of laughter and congratulations and old stories that Matek soaked in as if he’d never heard them before. In a way, he hadn’t—not from this perspective, anyway. They didn’t have the sharp edges they’d once had.
And then he and Nina found themselves at a table in the corner, listening to the music ramp up for dancing. The DJ shouted enthusiastically into the microphone, and Nina laughed at his terrible puns.
Matek held out his hand in invitation, but she shook her head. “I’m good,” she said. “No dancing.”
“What’s this I hear about no dancing?” Kishon, king of Hamari, put a hand on both their shoulders. He had come in three days earlier on his private jet, ready to celebrate. “Surely you two aren’t going to leave us on the dance floor alone.”
“Leave her alone,” chided Chloe. “She’s pregnant.”
“I am,” said Nina. “I need to put my feet up.” She fanned her face with her hand, then laughed. “But not quite yet. I can dance, if the rest of you are going to.”
Matek took her hand under the table. “Only if you’re up for it.”
Hannah and Chakir were the next to arrive at the table, faces already pink from a hasty turn at the center of the dance floor. Hannah dropped into a seat next to Nina and leaned in close.
“Is everything good?” Matek heard her say. “You can tell me if it’s not.”
“It’s good. It’s very good.” Nina shot a look at him, and Matek gave her a quick nod. “In fact, now that—Devra, come over here. Jaleel.”
Devra made her way over from the next table, where she’d been chatting with some of the other guests. Jaleel did the same, hooking his arm through Armon’s on the way.
Matek marveled at them all around the same table. His cousins. His siblings. His father. Now was the perfect time to give them the news. The feeling of being surrounded by people who cared about you overwhelmed him all over again. He cleared his throat. “Nina and I have some news to share. We had some testing done to make sure the baby’s healthy, and—”
Chloe clapped, rising up on tiptoe. “Oh, tell us, tell us.” She clapped her hands over her mouth. Matek could see the smile shining through her eyes.
“The baby is a girl,” burst out Nina, and the family cheered. Every single one of them.
Kishon pulled Matek into a hug, pounding him on the back. “A girl! Congratulations, Matek. You’ll be an excellent father.”
“I’ll try my hardest,” he said, and then Chakir, Hannah, Chloe, and Devra embraced him one after the other. His brother Jaleel stepped in next, shaking his hand hard, then pulling him in, too.
Armon’s turn came last. The older man’s eyes shone with emotion. He took both of Matek’s hands in his and clasped them tight. “There’s something wonderful about having a daughter,” he said, in that gravelly voice that was familiar and strange all at once. “I’ve loved having sons, but—” Over Armon’s shoulder, Devra looked down at the floor, face flushed. “Having a daughter is something special indeed. I’m so happy for you.” Armon paused, then seemed to make a decision. “Do you think you’ll stay in Damarah? At least until the baby is born?”
“Yes,” Nina said, slipping her arm around Matek’s waist. “You don’t have to worry, Armon. We’re staying right here.”
End of The Sheikh’s Pregnant Nanny
The Sheikh’s American Lover, 21 May 2020
The Sheikh’s Fake Marriage, 28 May 2020
The Sheikh’s Pregnant Nanny, 4 June 2020
Do you love playboy billionaires? Then keep reading for an exclusive extract from The Sheikh’s Surprise Twins.
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About Leslie
Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.
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BLURB
Holly Remington can’t believe the burning chemistry she feels with Sheikh Malik Abdul-Rahman. It’s like getting knocked in the head with a baseball bat—except far more pleasant. Though she’s supposed to be all business while her company tries to win a lucrative development contract in the oil-rich country of Qadir, Holly simply can’t stop herself from happily succumbing to his charm. When she’s called back home after her father suffers a stroke, thoughts of her sheikh romance are never far away. It’s only when she’s ready to return to Qadir to continue her work that she discovers Malik gave her more than sexy memories. She’s pregnant—with twins. And when she sees him again, Malik makes it painfully clear he’s not only rejecting her development proposal, he’s not interested in any other formal proposal either. He wants all of her.
But Holly isn’t sure that’s available, or ever will be.
Sheikh Malik has never reacted to another woman like he does Holly. She’s all business—at least in the beginning—and he finds himself oddly compelled to get to know her other side. Intimately. When he finds out she’s pregnant with his children, he find himself wanting her more. But when Holly begins to talk about how she wants to develop his oasis herself—the one that her company had been desperate to buy and the very one his mother loved and hoped one day would belong to Malik’s future wife, he pulls the breaks on their whirlwind romance. How can he love a woman who seems so out of touch with everything he values?
And yet, how can he not love the only woman whose ever touched his soul?
Grab your copy of The Sheikh’s Surprise Twins
(Qadir Sheikhs Book One) from
www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
* * *
EXCERPT
CHAPTER ONE
“Stunning. Absolutely stunning.”
Malik looked out over the oasis and wracked his brain for the name of the man who stood next to him at the edge of a tent. Whoever he was, he was right—the oasis was perfection. Malik had always thought so, ever since he was a boy. He’d been visiting all his life and still considered it to be the most beautiful place in all Qadir.
That was true even in comparison to all the other properties that belonged to the royal family. Back in the old days—the truly old days—the ruling family had taken a trip around the country once per year, staying at many of their smaller palaces and estates. Some had since been turned into museums. Some were still private vacation getaways.
The oasis was none of those. The jewel in the center of the desert sprung up around a crystal pool fed by an underground reservoir deep beneath the surface. Date palms and green plants surrounded the pool, all of it looking so lush it could have been a mirage on the dunes.
Malik, standing at the edge of the enormous white tent perched on a dune overlook
ing the pool, had been thinking of his mother when the CEO from the French firm came to stand next to him. Name. What was his name?
“It is,” he agreed, and the name came to him in a flash. Enzo Raphael. One of France’s premier property developers, and one of ten the royal family had invited to this gathering near his late mother’s oasis.
“I could see using it as inspiration for another property,” commented Enzo, lifting his champagne flute to his lips. “There’s something raw about it. I could strip it down to its essentials and create something utterly modern. A new form.”
A new form—all right. A vision of some pointed spire with an unnatural bend to the building flashed into Malik’s mind, and he mentally crossed Enzo off the list of potential contractors.
“Interesting,” he told Enzo. “Keep us apprised of your thoughts, would you?”
“Of course.” Enzo inclined his head and stepped gracefully aside.
Whatever Malik thought of ultra-modern buildings and new forms, the man did have excellent manners.
Malik turned to face the inside of the tent, which buzzed with conversation. His brothers Baqir and Zaman sat at a table with two developers from Germany, plates heaping with the catered meal. It had been no small project, Malik knew, to bring all the food out to the oasis, but he’d wanted the developers to gather here first before they came to him with their proposals.
His father, King Hasim, had put him in charge of the first five development locations. This was only the beginning of his increased responsibilities as crown prince, and Malik knew it for what it was—a test.
The Sheikh’s Pregnant Nanny: Sheikhs of Hamari Book Three Page 11
