by Leah Leonard
“I disagree.”
“How can you say that?”
“I have heard of the piece you spoke about and my contact assures me this is out there somewhere.”
“Look, I know what you’re trying to do, and believe me, I appreciate it. I do, but we need to move on from here. Like you said, let’s think about us for awhile and getting to know each other, because at some point, I have to go home, so let’s find out if this connection we have is real or not and—”
Khalil leaned forward, pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her until he became hard again. He grabbed her hand, scooted his chair next to hers, bringing her hand down under the table, he slid it up his leg, forcing her to feel him. “This is real.”
The look on her face said she wanted him.
“Come.” He grabbed her hand, and they left the balcony, crossed through the larger dining area to a side door that led up a spiral staircase to an upper level floor with a wide room, filled with structural supports that appeared like pillars. Once they were alone, he lifted Kelley into his arms and carried her across the room, kicking open the doors to his bedchamber, he laid her gently on his bed, removing her gown. “Oh my…”
Kelley was completely naked under the gown. The only other thing she wore was her diamond ring, and the earrings and necklace he gave her. What a delight! He gazed at the finger of her left hand, imagining the second wedding ring he would soon see there, and stiffened at the thought. His eyes slowly traced over every line of her perfect body as he slipped out of his tuxedo and into her.
Rolling around his bed, they moved their union to the sofa, the table, the rug in front of the fireplace, and back to the bed, until they both fell panting into each other’s arms, spent and satiated.
“Kelley,” Khalil turned to her, propping his jaw on the palm of his hand. “I want to go to Ephesus tomorrow. Let’s dig and see if we can find this artifact together.”
Forty-Six
Could this be any more of a dream come true? Not only was Khalil the greatest lover Kelley ever had, he appeared to truly care about her work and was willing to go with her to find out more about it. “Yes.”
They spent a beautiful evening sleeping in Khalil’s bed, never moving too far from each other, always having their hands clasped, or their legs or arms touching. Kelley woke feeling full and satiated in a way she had never felt before in her life.
They arose early the following morning, both refreshed. Khalil had the staff prepare another amazing breakfast for them and soon they were off, flying back to Izmir, where the driver took them back to Ephesus.
On the outskirts of town, the driver took up to the top of the highest peak anywhere around, where a gorgeous chalet stood atop the cliff with views of the sea and the surrounding peaks. “Welcome to our family home,” Khalil announced.
The home was modest, by Khalil’s standards, but still gorgeous, with white walls, one large living area with traditional Turkish tiles, and dome shaped doorways. Three bedrooms met in the common area, which featured floor to ceiling windows with spectacular views. One thing was certain – this was a huge step up from Safina’s family cottage. “I love it here.”
He put his arm around her shoulder, kissed her tenderly. “This pleases me more than you can know. This house belonged mostly to my mother. She would be pleased to know you like it.”
“I do.” Kelley smiled, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him, “and I love you, too.”
Khalil roared, frantically kissing her neck, tickling her with his whiskers. “Shall we?”
“I’d love to, believe me, but if we don’t leave now, we won’t ever get out of bed,” Kelley teased.
“Correct. Come.” He calmed himself, helped her put away their things and they got into the car. On the way, he asked, “Show me where you searched before so we can begin from that spot to find this artifact.”
Kelley took him to the site she never thought she would ever see again. She walked him along the walls where the signs of her digging were still fresh in the ground, explaining her research and her plan of action. “I was told the vessel is along this wall, and as I’ve made my way through the area, I have always believed it was up there somewhere,” she pointed to the northwestern corner where she had not yet dug. “I guess I could have started there, but there is something exciting about the hunt, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” he leaned in and nibbled at her neck.
Kelley gave him the look that said now was not the time.
Khalil raised his hands in surrender. “I know, not now.”
“Exactly.”
Khalil backed off and became serious, pulling his shovel and hand tools out, he put on gloves, handed a tool to Kelley. “Come. I shall start on this end, and you shall begin here and we will work together toward the center.”
She glanced at him and giggled.
“What?” he asked, looking over his clothing as if something were wrong with how he was dressed.
“Nothing, it’s just that you look so incredibly handsome.”
“I am flattered,” he said, raising his eyebrows flirtatiously and leaning in for another kiss. “Tell me more.”
“You look so…gorgeous standing there in that outfit with your shovel. Sexy.” She kissed his neck.
“I am pleased you think so, however I do not understand why this appeals to you.” Khalil purred and nibbled her ear.
“I guess it’s because I never imagined you doing any manual labor before. You’re a multifaceted man, Khalil. I like it.”
He smiled. “Nonsense. My father used to make my brother Ahmed and I work the gardens around the palace for our mother when we were children.”
“Really?”
“Indeed. I rather enjoyed working with my hands.”
Kelley shivered thinking about those hands and how good he was with them. “Even though I really don’t expect us to find anything, I do appreciate you and the fact that you think enough
about me to try. It means a lot.”
“Think nothing of it. I would do anything for you, love,” Khalil grinned.
“I just want to say thanks for helping, that’s all. You just became even sexier to me than you were before, and I wasn’t sure that was possible.”
Khalil stepped closer, kissing her neck. “And you are sexy yourself in this environment.” He patted her bottom. “Ready?”
“Sounds like a plan!”
The heat of the day rose in full force as the midday sun beat down on the couple, who worked patiently around opposite ends of the wall for over two hours.
“Darling?” Khalil approached, put his arm around her waist and pulled her close for a kiss. “Any luck?”
Kelley stopped and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Not yet. You?”
“No, but I believe we will succeed. I shall go find our driver to fetch us some drinks.”
“Thank you,” she kissed him.
“I shall return shortly.”
Kelley watched Khalil’s sexy backside as he climbed up a hill. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have such a supporting partner. Even if they found nothing, the fact he was willing to come and put this to rest once and for all was enough to make her realize she had found a treasure in this man.
In the past few hours, she had managed to work her way about ten feet further on the wall than she had before. Khalil had been a bit slower, but that was okay. By the end of today, she would know, one way or another, whether or not there was any truth to Josh’s fabrication. Either way, thanks to Khalil, she wasn’t calling things quit for nothing. She would leave here with her answer, and even if the entire situation was based on a lie, she followed through with Khali’s help and could look the committee in the eyes if she had to and tell them that without a doubt her research was finished. She felt at peace about the whole project. Success or failure didn’t matter, because for once, the work wasn’t the most important thing in her life.
She couldn’t believe all she had to
go through to finally come to that conclusion. Love was all that mattered, and in Khalil, she found the perfect partner at long last.
Kelley turned back to her work and began digging with even greater fervor than before.
Busy on her hands and knees digging through some particularly tough rock with her metal garden claw, Kelley paused when she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder.
“So this is it, is it?”
That voice. So familiar, and yet such a distant memory.
“All that you’ve been working for. Is it worth it, love?”
No, it couldn’t be!
She realized the heat must be getting to her and that this was likely Khalil, returning with the drinks. She turned and stared into the sun, shielding her eyes with her hands, and almost tipped into the hole she was digging when she saw literally the last person she ever expected to find all the way out here, so far from home. “Ian?”
“Hello, love.” He smiled with his horse-like British mouth, his lanky body bent like a willow in a windstorm, shading her from the sun.
Kelley climbed to her feet, brushed the rock and debris off her clothes, slapped her hands together and removed her gloves. “I don’t get it. How did you find me?”
“I’m in Greece, you see. The funding for our research arrived after all. Thanks to you, we are set to make a new discovery in the Acropolis.”
Despite all of Josh’s lies, he’d been right about one thing – Kelley’s research into ancient Greece was likely the only reason Ian got to go there in the first place. She had to let all that go now though and remind herself that she had Khalil. Life was good, despite Ian’s betrayal. In fact, she felt thankful for it now. If not for his perverted obsession with his young students, Kelley would never have met Khalil. Hands on hips, she squinted into the sun, “Like I said, what are you doing here? The Acropolis is in Athens.”
“Precisely,” Ian snorted.
Kelley couldn’t help comparing him to Khalil, wondering what in the world she ever saw in Ian in the first place.
“I am here to collect you, or I should say, once you finish with your little pet project, I request you join me in Athens to complete our dig.”
“I told you when I left Boston I want nothing to do with you anymore. The Greek research is yours, not mine. I gave it back, remember?”
“Precisely. Had it not been for you, I would not have this funding, and after reviewing my conscience, I realize you deserve credit. Here.” He handed her a cardboard folder.
“What’s this?”
“Your plane ticket, and a copy of our accepted grant.”
Kelley could hardly believe her ears, or her eyes. She glanced at Ian’s proposal, and sure enough, he had them both listed on it as recipients of the funding. Amazing! Maybe he wasn’t such a selfish jerk after all.
Still, Ian deceived her. All that time she spent slaving away on his Greek projects, pouring over documents and notes, Ian was out bedding and impregnating a young girl, and knowing him, probably sleeping with others as well.
Hadn’t Josh warned her about this? Hadn’t he told her that Ian would never receive funding without her? And still she didn’t care. She wanted Ian out of her life and she told him so, to his face. She gazed over her shoulder at the nearly completed project she and Khalil were working on and realized that to her dismay, she would likely never find a single tangible or authentic scrap of evidence here that would prove her false theories. Khalil was a gentleman to help, but the harsh reality was she would not be making her fame and fortune in Ephesus. She considered how much she had changed since coming here. Pregnant girlfriend or not, to achieve her objectives in her chosen field, Kelley would have had to take on this Athens project, especially with nothing happening in Turkey. But now, things had changed. She didn’t want anything to do with Ian, nothing at all. She stared at him and wondered if she ever loved him and realized that compared to Khalil, she absolutely did not.
She sifted through the papers Ian handed her, having forgotten what the Athens project was even about since she wrote the proposal nearly nine months ago. The grant writing business was so fickle and unpredictable, you could never count on any actually coming through. She read the pages, reflecting on the memory of happier times with Ian and how pleased she had been with herself for putting this together. Other than her Ephesus proposal, this was perhaps her best work to date. So this she knew for sure – her grant writing skills were improving, so even when she turned Ian down and found nothing in Ephesus, his visit here today proved there were still more funding sources where these came from, and with a little work, she would surely find another worthy future. Before she verbalized any of this to Ian, who patiently waited for her to tell him when she would join him in Greece, Kelley was interrupted.
“Ahem.” Khalil walked up behind Ian carrying two tall frosted glasses.
“Khalil!” Kelley said nervously, taking a glass from him. “This is Ian. Ian McAllister.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, good sir,” Ian said, “and if you don’t mind, I’ll take two more of those when you have a minute.”
Kelley’s jaw dropped. Surely Ian didn’t think Khalil was the hired help! Before she could run interference, she saw Khalil’s jaw clench. Not good!
“Excuse me?” Khalil took an aggressive step forward. “Who do you think you are speaking to me like that, or addressing Ms. Jones Smith in such a fashion?”
“Uh, it’s my fault. Ian, this is Sheikh Khalil.”
Ian proceeded to laugh like a hyena. “Yeah, right!”
Before Kelley could intervene, the unthinkable happened.
Khalil lifted his free arm, formed a fist and punched Ian right in the nose, sending him to the ground with a thud.
Kelley laughed at first, because Ian kind of deserved it after all the nonsense he put her through, but when he didn’t get up right away, she fell to the ground to make sure he was still breathing. “Khalil? What are you doing?”
Grabbing the papers she dropped, Khalil began reading. “I should ask you the same. It seems that you and Mr. McAllister have some dealings together. Has he been with you this entire time? Hiding out with you at the other cottage, I presume?”
Kelley wiped the blood off of Ian’s nose and stood up. “No, of course not. He’s my ex boyfriend who—”
“Ex boyfriend? Ah ha! Now things are clear,” Khalil fumed.
“He’s my ex, like I said. I dumped him in Boston before I ever left to come here. His new girlfriend is pregnant. I would’ve told you about him, but it’s not like we’ve had much time to talk.” Kelley realized this was sounding worse and worse. “Look, you were married when I met you and I just broke up with Ian, so how is that any different?”
“According to this,” Khalil pointed out the paperwork Kelley had yet to finish reading, “the two of you are business partners and your signature is all over these documents.”
Kelley smiled. She loved that Khalil was jealous, she found it more than flattering and a little cute.
“You find this amusing?” Khalil fumed.
“I know I do!” Ian sat up, wiped his face on his sleeve, stood and grabbed the papers from Khalil.
Actually, Kelley did too, but at this point she wished Ian would shut up before he got a black eye to go with his bloodied nose. “I worked on this project in Boston, with Ian, but I told him before I came to Turkey we were finished dating and working together. I turned the project over to him and I was about to tell him no, I’m not going to Greece. I’m staying here with you, to finish what we started.”
Khalil gazed at her, and then at Ian, who was still rubbing a sore spot on his nose, tilting his head back trying to get the bleeding under control. He turned back to Kelley. “Is this true?”
She sighed. “Yes. Tell him Ian. Am I going to Greece or not?”
“She said no, she wants no part of anything I am involved with, okay you crazy bloke? Give ‘em here.” Ian scrambled to his feet, yanked the file from Khalil, turned back to
Kelley and shouted. “Fame and fortune could have been yours, only now, it’ll all be mine and mine alone. You’ll be sorry for this!”
“Oh yeah?” Kelley shouted. “Like you were when you introduced me to the mother of your child?” She knew to keep her mouth shut, but she simply couldn’t resist. By the grace of God, this might be the last time she and Ian ever set eyes on each other again.
“She left me,” Ian admitted. “The crazy girl gave our baby up for adoption. Can you believe that?”
“Well thank God. They both deserve better.”
Pain registered in Ian’s eyes. “I’ll have a lawyer draw up papers for you to sign when you get back to Boston saying you relinquish rights to the discovery I am about to make without you.”
“Fine.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Kelley watched while Ian limped slowly up the hill and out of sight. She tipped back the drink Khalil brought her. “Khalil, I’m sorry. I had no idea Ian would be. He can’t be trusted and I want absolutely nothing to do with him ever again. I only pray this is the last time we ever set eyes on each other again.”
An awkward moment of silence ensued. Kelley didn’t know why her ex decided to show up out here. It was unexplainable, to say the least. Damn Ian! Why did he do that? If only he showed up the day before, she wouldn’t have been here and could have avoided this uncomfortable situation altogether.
Ruminating over the heated exchange, Khalil said nothing for the next several minutes. Finally, he broke the silence. “So this Ian…?”
“Means nothing to me! He dumped me, okay? He was a snob, an absent partner who cared about nothing but himself, and now that I’ve found you, I know that the life I lived with Ian prior to meeting you was a lie! Okay? A lie! Sound familiar?” Kelley knew she should calm down and stop acting so emotional, but she couldn’t help herself. “You were married until a few days ago, remember? And what about the fact you were engaged to someone who I still considered one of my best friends in the entire world? I mean come on, Khalil, I know this is a mess, but it’s far less complicated than what I’ve had to deal with in your life.”
