“Dani! I’m resting. Give me a minute.”
“Oh, come on. I’ll make your favorite snack. Anything you want.”
“Well, in that case...” He eased off the sofa. She held her breath as he glanced in her direction. The hallway was clearly visible behind her. Then he turned toward the kitchen and she followed him, hoping there was an unopened olive jar somewhere.
“What did I do with it?” She made a big show of clattering around in the pantry, trying to make as much noise as possible while straining her ears to hear if Quasar had made his escape. “Oh, here it is. I don’t know why it’s so stuck. I even put it under hot water. I couldn’t get it open.” She glanced over Khalid’s shoulder as she handed him the jar.
He opened it without a moment’s hesitation. At that exact moment the back door clicked shut.
“Did you hear that?” Khalid wheeled around. “It sounded like the door.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t hear a thing. Thanks so much for opening this. What would you like to eat? I could make halwa if you like. Aunt Nadia gave me a new recipe.”
“I swear I just heard a car engine start back there. I’m going to check.”
She grabbed his sleeve. “Wait, there’s a bottle of oil I couldn’t open, either. Just do that before you go. And do you want me to make the halwa?”
“Sure, halwa sounds good. But it takes a long time and I’m pretty starving so I’m going to grab something else while I’m here.” He dove into a packet of crackers. By the time she found a bottle of oil and looked impressed while he opened it, she’d quizzed him about his homework and he seemed to have forgotten about the door and the car and was telling her to make sure the halwa was sweet enough.
As soon as he returned to the living room she locked the back door and hurried to her bedroom to rearrange the disordered bed. The condom wrapper lay on the floor like a pointing finger of accusation and she quickly crumpled it up and shoved it down into the toe of a boot she didn’t wear often.
She sagged onto her bed as waves of guilt and relief crashed over her. Was she completely out of her mind? She’d let Quasar make love to her in her bedroom, only hours after promising her father she wouldn’t see him anymore.
He had a frightening amount of power over her. The worst part was that she was so willing to do all the inappropriate things he suggested. Her ex-husband had talked her into doing all kinds of things she didn’t want to because he’d pout and whine and make such a fuss if she didn’t. It was impossible to imagine Quasar doing that. He’d just smile and shrug and seduce her until she wanted to do it even more than he did.
Her body still tingled and pulsed with the sensations Quasar had created inside her. A quick examination of her face in the mirror showed her lips were pink from kissing and her hair messy. Lucky thing her brother wasn’t too observant, and she’d mentioned waking up from a nap. Still, she’d taken a huge risk that her father would discover her affair. He would go ballistic if he found out what she’d been doing. He might even throw her out of the house.
Quasar was making her careless. Reckless. Which was all well and good while he was there and she was having the time of her life, but she’d have to live with herself and what little reputation she had left when he was gone.
Her phone pinged. And she grabbed it out of her bag.
Made it.
She smiled. He hadn’t sent her a text before. Of course this was just one more piece of incriminating evidence, like the condom wrapper. She resisted the urge to respond and quickly deleted it. And now she had to go make halwa from scratch. At least creating the sticky dessert would keep her busy!
Another ping. I miss you.
Her heart seized. Did he really? She supposed he must or he wouldn’t be texting her. She couldn’t resist typing back, I miss you, too. She turned off the volume on her phone so her brother wouldn’t get curious.
Being apart like this is foolish.
She frowned. What we’re doing is foolish.
No, it isn’t. I need you.
The tiny words on her screen made her breath catch and she told herself to get a grip. It wasn’t as if he’d told her he loved her. Not that she’d even believe it if he did.
I need you, too. She wanted to type the words. But she didn’t. It was much safer to keep her feelings secret.
You have an alarming effect on me. That was less incriminating and no less true.
He responded immediately. The effect is mutual. I can’t stop thinking about you.
She glanced over her shoulder. You really shouldn’t text me. Someone might see it.
Come to the hotel tomorrow. Ten-thirty?
She paused, and inhaled very slowly. I can’t. I have to go see about a job. She’d gotten sidetracked today, but establishing her independence would be the first step to securing her own future. If she made money she could rent her own apartment and see—within reason—whomever she chose. Even Quasar, if he still wanted to.
After that, then. How about two?
Could she? Of course she wanted to. The prospect of going all day without seeing his mischievous smile was grim. But she had to be sensible. I won’t have time.
I can’t go a whole day without seeing you.
She couldn’t help smiling. Sure you can. You’ve been through many days in life without seeing me. She headed out of her bedroom, and down the hallway to the kitchen.
That was before I met you. Now everything’s different.
She bit her lip. She could almost swear he was sincere. Then she remembered the twinkle of humor that always hovered in his slate blue eyes. Was Quasar ever serious about anything?
If you don’t agree, I’ll come back right now.
Dani frowned. Part of her knew that the humor was still there and he was just teasing. The other part, that had been bullied and ordered around for nearly five years, coiled up ready to strike. That’s not funny.
“Who are you texting?”
Her brother’s voice made Dani look up with a start. She hadn’t noticed him there in the doorway. “A friend from the States.” Not exactly a lie. Not exactly the truth, either.
“Cool. I could end up at school there, too. Dad thinks I might be able to get into MIT.”
“Really?” She was surprised their father would even consider it after the way she’d gone off track. “That’s great. It’s one of the best schools in the world.”
“I know. They have an aerospace engineering program.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in rockets.” She could feel her phone vibrating, but she resisted the urge to look at it.
“I’m more interested in satellites. You’d be surprised how important they are these days. All our information is bouncing around in space. It’s the new frontier in information technology.” He glanced at her phone, which was vibrating. “I think you’re getting another message.”
“Oh.” She pretended to glance casually at it.
I’m still crazy about you even though you’re ignoring me.
“I can’t get used to people being able to contact me wherever I go. I’m not sure I’m ready for all these new frontiers.”
“I think it’s awesome. Tell your friend I said hi.” He smiled and headed off to do his homework. Dani blinked and felt another vibration.
I’m on your doorstep.
Her blood ran cold. He wouldn’t, would he? Did he have that little respect for her wishes and her reputation? Her heart squeezed.
Just kidding.
She narrowed her eyes. You’re really starting to tick me off.
You still miss me, though, don’t you?
She hesitated for a minute, and pursed her lips. Yes. But don’t come here. We need somewhere very discreet to meet. I’ll text you in the morning. What if someone saw this conversation on her phone? She
deleted the thread, shoved the phone into the pocket of her pants and pulled out the sugar and cardamom and rosewater to start her preparations for halwa.
* * *
The next morning Dani donned a conservative blue ensemble and headed for the university campus. She’d printed her resumé and intended to drop in on the administrative offices and ask about available openings. Her interview with the human resources coordinator was humbling. Although she had a Ph.D. and had published several papers, didn’t know any of the new database software and had no office or management experience. She’d been so successful, or lucky, at finding great mentors and work in her field that she’d never had to develop the peripheral “fall-back” skills most people her age had.
Although they had three administrative openings, none of them was “quite right for her.” Friends in college had teased her that a degree in art history was preparation for would-you-like-fries-with-that? jobs. Maybe they were right.
Keeping her chin in the air, she went to the history department, thinking that perhaps she could get her foot in the door by volunteering her time here. The older building was barely air-conditioned and looked neglected and run-down compared to the rest of the state-of-the-art campus. Apparently the school put more stock in the future than in rehashing the past—and could she really blame them for that? When it came to the modern world, her academic expertise was of limited use.
An older man in a rumpled dishdasha was pinning something to the cluttered notice board inside the door when she entered. “Excuse me, does this department have an art collection?”
He looked up slowly. “Art collection?” He snorted. “I think not. There used to be a collection of swords but I think it was sold off when the roof needed fixing.” He looked her up and down with some distaste and she got the distinct feeling he didn’t approve of her. “This department focuses exclusively on military history. Unless you’re looking for a collection of ancient battle maps, you’re in the wrong place.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Deflated by his hostile gaze, she turned and left. As far as she’d been able to discover, the other universities nearby were entirely science-and technology-oriented.
She stopped into a boutique selling pretty traditional dresses and asked about a job there. The owner, a rather glamorous middle-aged woman, was kind, but said that currently she didn’t need help.
As she walked through an unfamiliar souk in a neighborhood more than twenty minutes from her own, she realized it was a good place to meet Quasar. He answered his phone immediately and eagerly agreed to meet her there right away.
Feeling better already, and trying to hide her smile, she walked among the stalls, and tasted a sugary date. She even bought a bag of almonds so she wouldn’t look as if she were only there to meet her lover. She still couldn’t believe they’d made love in her bedroom. It was so wrong, and yet so exciting and exhilarating.
“Hello, gorgeous.” Quasar’s low voice in her ear made her spin around and her grin probably announced their relationship to anyone who was paying attention.
“Hi.” Her skin prickled with awareness in his presence. Something about him lit her on fire, even out here in the everyday atmosphere of the market. She noticed a lime seller eyeing them curiously. “We should probably go somewhere else.”
“I’ve been thinking about nothing but seeing you since yesterday.” His eyes glittered with a desire that echoed her own.
“Me, too.” It was hard to think straight with him around. Colors grew brighter and the sounds of the street seemed to blur into white noise. “I missed you.”
She knew she was admitting too much, letting him know the power he had over her. He knew already, though. How could he not? She melted like butter in the hot sun whenever he was near.
“Let’s walk.” He gestured along the road that led south, toward the ocean. His hand twitched slightly and she could swear he wanted to put it around her waist, but was resisting.
They rounded the corner out of sight of the market stalls, and were now alone on a dusty street of modest houses. Quasar took her in his arms with a swiftness that almost pushed the breath from her lungs, and kissed her with intensity.
When their lips finally parted she was shocked for a moment at how bold he’d been to kiss her in public. “We shouldn’t do this. Someone might see.”
“Let them.” His blue eyes flashed defiance. “I don’t care who knows how crazy I am about you.”
“You’re not the one whose reputation is already in tatters.”
He laughed. “That’s where you’re wrong. You should see what the media says about me.”
She’d forgotten about that. “I did. I looked you up on the internet after I learned your full name, remember? All the more reason I shouldn’t be seen smooching you in public. If I had any sense I’d stay far away from you.”
“Don’t believe everything you read.” He had the decency to look somewhat concerned. “They make most of that stuff up to sell magazines.”
“Where there’s smoke there’s usually at least a spark of fire.” She raised a brow. “The most recent stories were about you and Laura Larson. Apparently one minute you were planning your wedding, the next she was telling everyone she prefers to be single. Did you dump her?”
His mouth quirked into a wistful smile. “She dumped me.”
“Were you heartbroken?”
He looked at her for a moment, then shook his head gently. “No. I enjoyed her company but I didn’t feel the same kind of...intensity I feel with you.”
“She’s very beautiful.”
“You’re more lovely than she is.”
“Okay, now I know you’re toying with me.”
“You are. She gets this weird wrinkle between her eyebrows when she’s thinking. And she always glances to the left when she’s telling a fib. She’s almost always acting and I realized over time that she’s not as interesting as most people think.”
“Really?”
“Really. She’s nice, but pretty kooky. Far too much drama on a daily basis.”
“More than, say, my father calling your family sons of dogs?”
He laughed. “I asked for that by going to see him when you told me not to.”
“Or maybe you actually like drama, and seek it out.”
He was silent for a moment, contemplating what she’d said. A little frisson of alarm crept through her when she realized there might be more than a grain of truth in her words.
“I am something of a thrill seeker, but in sports, not in romance.”
“Or so you’d like to believe.” Were things getting too dull and predictable with their romance, making him want to stir the pot by approaching her father? “I told you to leave my house and promised I wouldn’t see you again. Next thing I know, you’re making love to me in my own bedroom. You’re a bad influence.” She was kidding, but only just.
She glanced up and down the street. A white car drove by. “We shouldn’t hang around here. Let’s walk like we have somewhere to go.”
Quasar put his arm through hers and started walking. She wanted to tug her arm back, but he resisted when she tried. His powerful muscles were hard to argue with.
“I’m a good influence. I’m here to help you out of your cloister before you spend your life locked away in it.”
“I’d probably be a lot safer locked away in a cloister.”
“Safety is overrated.” He shot a teasing glance at her. “Adventure is a lot more fun.”
“Until you end up in the jaws of a lion.”
He squeezed her gently. “I’ll protect you.”
“Unless you are the lion.”
“Even then.” He pressed a warm kiss to her cheek. Then he stopped and spun her to face him. “Come back to the United States with me.”
“What?” She let his words echo in
side her brain. His arms were now around her waist, possessive, holding her steady so she couldn’t move. Couldn’t leave.
“I mean it. I’m planning a move to the East Coast. Most likely Boston. There’s some top technical talent there that I want to leverage for one or other of my newest business ideas.”
“MIT is there.”
“Exactly. And Harvard. Harvard must have an art program or museum of some kind where you could find a job.”
“Oh, I’m sure I can walk right into a curatorial position at Harvard.” She chuckled. His idea was so outrageous that it was funny rather than scary.
“You think I’m kidding? If you worked at Princeton, you can work at Harvard.”
“I was very lucky to get the position at Princeton. I was an idiot to give it up.”
“Have you ever been to Boston?”
“Sure. I’ve attended a couple of conferences there. I even lectured at one. I talked about Mesopotamian metalworking techniques.”
“Did you like the city?”
“Uh, sure.”
He was serious. At least the look in his eyes said so. “It’s not as big and bustling as New York or L.A., but I like that about it. And there are some lovely neighborhoods in the older parts of the city.”
She blinked, still not really sure this was happening. “So, in your vision, we’d live together in Boston?”
“Yes.” He squeezed her. “I can see us in a pretty brick house with a garden.”
Her Desert Knight Page 12
