Her rival’s eyes narrowed for a split second. “A pool out here in the middle of nowhere? How quaint. I suppose it is just a hotel, after all.” She strode alongside Celia, elegant nose high. “Salim said you were old friends. How did you meet?”
Her breezy tone didn’t fool Celia.
Who couldn’t resist turning the knife.
“Oh, we’ve been friends for donkey’s years. We met back in college.”
“That is a long time ago.” Her voice dripped with the first hint of deliberate malice.
Celia stifled a chuckle. “Yes, Salim and I are both ancient.”
That tinkling laugh. “Oh, that’s not what I meant at all! Though, I am rather younger.” She cleared her throat. “And you’ve kept in touch all this time?”
Ah. Now she’s getting down to business. “On and off. I guess that thread of connection has always been there.”
Though most of the time I’d have liked to strangle him with it.
“I don’t imagine you’ll see each other again once the project is over.” Nabilah stared straight ahead, at the dry concrete shell of the empty pool.
Celia’s stomach clenched. “What makes you say that?” she blurted, before she could stop herself.
“As a married man he won’t be gallivanting all over the world consorting with all kinds of people.” She said the last words with marked distaste.
But it was the words “a married man” that jolted Celia. Nabilah was laying claim to Salim, and warning her off.
“He didn’t tell me he was getting married,” she said, as calmly as possible. She walked around the curved pool, lined by lush palms, which would soon shade guests basking in lounge chairs.
Nabilah’s laugh echoed off the bare concrete. “Oh, yes, everyone knows that Salim and I are getting married. It’s a perfect match. A profitable union of two important families and two successful businesses.”
She turned her elegant profile to survey the guest cottages around the pool. Her perfect nose wrinkled. “I don’t imagine we’ll be spending much time here, though. No matter how much you paint and plant it, it’s still a howling wilderness.”
Celia frowned. “Thousands of people have lived and laughed and eaten and slept in this place. Soon, thousands more will come. Can’t you feel the energy?”
Her skin prickled with it. It wrapped itself around her as soon as she came to the site. The buzz and hum of humanity lingered in the air even when the workers had left for the day. Even the hot desert sand whispered with the bustle of life.
Nabilah laughed again, a tinny sound that hurt Celia’s ears. “I think the unaccustomed heat is affecting your brain.”
“Salim loves this place.” She said it slowly, watching Nabilah’s striking features for a reaction.
Nabilah simply waved her hand in the air. “Men fall in love with whatever wanders in front of them. Sometimes they make quite ludicrous choices.” She adjusted her headscarf. “Besides, we’ll be living in Dubai. Daddy is building me a house on one of the palm frond islands. I doubt we’ll spend much time in Oman.”
Celia stared, unable to formulate a response. She was pretty sure Salim had no idea of his future wife’s plans.
Then again, there was the possibility that if he married Nabilah, he fully deserved to be miserable.
Something he might deserve anyway, just for leaving her alone here with this woman.
An uncomfortable knot formed in her stomach. He’d been so shocked by her news he hadn’t been able to stay and act normal.
He’d just learned he had a daughter.
How would Nabilah Al Sabah react to that news?
Nabilah marched around the empty pool. “I think it will be good for Salim to get away from past associations and influences. The world of business can bring one into contact with all kinds of inappropriate people.” She cast a dismissive glance at Celia’s work attire.
“Like me, you mean?” She couldn’t help herself.
Nabilah raised a sculpted brow. “I hardly think that Salim’s association with you is significant.”
Celia’s lips parted in astonishment as the rude comment stung her.
Except that we have a child together.
She had to marshal all her self-control to keep the words in her mouth. She wanted desperately to whip out the picture of Kira and watch Nabilah’s reaction as the monkey wrench of reality clanked down into the perfectly oiled machinery of her future plans.
Then she recoiled at the very idea. Kira wasn’t a pawn to be played in a jealous game of one-upmanship. She was a little girl who depended on Celia to protect her and keep her safe.
And Salim had taken the picture with him.
“You must excuse me, but I believe my insignificant presence is expected back in Salalah,” Celia murmured. “I do hope you don’t mind me cutting our tour short.”
“Not in the least.” Nabilah lifted her neat chin. “I’ve seen enough already.” She brushed imaginary dust from her silk-clad arm with an expression of distaste. “I doubt you and I will see each other again.”
“I certainly hope not.” Celia flashed a bright smile.
As Nabilah turned, she regretted her rash rudeness. What if Salim did marry Nabilah? She’d be forced to endure that woman’s smirk as she shared her own child with her.
She shivered with revulsion.
The truth was out and the wheels of fate were turning. She bit her knuckle hard, hoping and praying with every fiber of her body that she and Kira wouldn’t be crushed under them.
Seven
C elia had barely pulled into the forecourt of the hotel when Salim appeared. Brows lowered, he approached the still-moving car.
She stopped in front of the valet and climbed out, trying to look normal while blood thundered through her veins.
“We must talk.” Salim’s low voice revealed nothing of his emotions.
“Of course,” she replied, attempting to sound businesslike.
“Come with me.” He turned and strode along a walk toward the beach. Bright blue sea glittered beyond the white sand. Paradise.
Except that it felt more like hell. “Are you still angry?” She kept her voice low, not wanting to cause a scene in front of the employees.
Or maybe she should cause a scene? She deserved one.
He’d used her again, with every intention of casting her aside.
He’d left her to entertain his future bride.
She certainly had every right to the anger that simmered in her belly.
“No, I’m not angry.” He turned and shot a glance in her direction. His stern gaze did nothing to comfort her. “It was my fault that you didn’t tell me. I can see that now.”
He waited for her to catch up with him. For an instant his arm twitched, as if he planned to thread it through hers, but he didn’t. “What happened and didn’t happen is in the past. We must talk about the future.”
Celia nodded. Her stomach tightened. The future shimmered with frightening possibilities.
“I apologize for abandoning you with Nabilah.” A wry glance softened his grim expression. “I suspect you two had a lot to talk about.”
“Not really.” Celia swallowed. “I didn’t say anything about Kira, if that’s what you mean. She did tell me you two are getting married.” She lifted her chin and braced for his reaction.
He frowned. “Nothing is formally arranged.”
His cool reply, so formal and unemotional, flipped the cap off her hurt feelings. “It wasn’t formal yet? You slept with me while you were promised to someone else!” Her rasped whisper shot through the air. “How could you do that?”
“I’m not promised to her or anyone else.”
“She seemed to think you were.” She wanted to mention the conversation she’d overheard on the beach, but that would reveal too much. “Did you know she expects you to move to Dubai and live on one of those dredged islands in the shape of a palm tree?”
The look of horror that flashed across Salim’s face should h
ave made her laugh. But she was in no mood for laughing.
He inhaled sharply. “What I did was wrong.”
“You were wrong to sleep with me? Or wrong to leave me to entertain your intended bride?” The words shot from her tongue. She glanced around to see if anyone heard. They were almost out on the sand now, and few people were nearby.
“Both.” Salim narrowed his eyes. “I apologize sincerely. Leaving you with Nabilah was terrible, but I didn’t have the mental reserves to pretend everything was normal right then.”
“Why pretend? What is normal, anyway?”
Salim stared at her. “Nothing is normal. Everything has changed.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair. “I don’t know where to start, or should I say, how to proceed, since everything between us started so long ago.”
He looked out at the ocean. Its blue, endless depths shimmered in the blazing sun. Then he turned back to her. “I must meet our daughter.”
The pronouncement, swift and certain, deprived her of speech. His dark eyes shone with excitement. “I’ve missed so much time with her already, and I ache to meet her.”
A throb of emotion echoed deep inside Celia. Excitement mingled with fear. “She’s so lively and curious and affectionate. And she’ll be so thrilled to meet you.”
His brow furrowed. “What does she know about me?”
“Nothing, really.” Celia’s voice sounded thin. “She’s been too young to understand until lately. Now she’s noticed that her friends have daddies and that she doesn’t, but I don’t think she’s figured out the right questions to ask.”
“She’ll be able to ask me any question she likes.” His expression brightened. “I’ve had plenty of practice with little Ben. He has a very inquisitive mind.” A smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. “Can I keep the picture of her?”
“Sure. You can have it. I’ll print out another.”
Salim pulled the now-crumpled image out of his pocket and held it gingerly, like something precious.
“She has your smile. And I think she has your infectious optimism.”
“Me? I don’t think I’d call myself that optimistic. If I had been, I’d have told you about her.” She glanced up at him, wary.
He rubbed his other hand over his mouth, staring at the picture. “You wanted to protect her. I don’t blame you. I hurt you and you didn’t want her to experience that pain.” He glanced up at her, eyes black with emotion. “I promise you I won’t do anything to hurt her.” Or you.
She read the words in his gaze.
“Would you join me for dinner tonight? Somewhere private. We can talk and…figure things out.”
“Or try to figure things out.” Celia crossed her arms over her chest, which swelled with some relief that he was at least being honest and admitting the situation was tricky and the way forward unclear. The future was all any of them had, and it was her responsibility to make Kira’s future as bright as possible, regardless of her own reservations. “Okay.”
“I’ll pick you up at your room.”
Celia was scrubbing the last of the day’s grit from under her fingernails with a nailbrush when she heard a knock on the door of her suite. Was he early? She hadn’t finished getting ready. She strode toward the door. “Come in.”
She heard someone struggling with the handle. The kids? She hurried to open the door and was greeted by a wall of flowers.
“Delivery for Miss Davidson,” came a muffled voice behind the barrage of lilies and orchids. Celia’s eyes fixed on a particularly rare speckled orchid just center left of the design. The delivery man staggered into the room and carefully lowered the enormous bouquet onto a polished table. “There’s a card.”
He handed it to her, bowed and vanished, before she thought to tip him.
They’ve got to be from Salim. She should be mad at him for having rare orchids yanked from their habitat just to mollify her, but oh, boy…. Lush leaves wound through stunning specimen blooms, creating a magical garden that rose like smoke from a hand-painted vase.
“Celia, I can’t apologize enough for my behavior this afternoon. Please accept these flowers as an offering of contrition.” Handwritten in a familiar black script.
She couldn’t resist a smile. What an offering. And a detailed note from the florist explained that these were hand-raised blooms, not wild specimens. It also gave a detailed history of each unique flower—further investigation revealed that their roots were in water so they could be repotted and kept alive—that kept Celia riveted for a full fifteen minutes, almost causing her to forget about getting ready. How well he knew her!
Another knock on the door made her drop the note card. “It’s me, Sara,” she heard through the heavy wood.
Celia tugged open the door to see Sara grinning. “You told him.”
“I finally did. Thank you for pushing me.”
“He admitted to Elan that he refused to believe you, then he abandoned you in the desert with Nabilah Al Sabah.”
“All true.” She tried not to smile as she gestured to the flowers. “This forest is his idea of an apology.”
Sara raised a brow. “I’m glad it’s big. It should be. Still, he’s very excited.”
“I know. It took a while for the idea to sink in, but I think he’s really warming to the idea of being a father.”
“He’ll be an awesome dad,” Sara said with a smile.
Celia’s shoulders tightened. How would that work? Could one be an “awesome dad” on occasional visiting weekends, or even extended summer vacations?
“I’m having dinner with him tonight,” Celia said. “Hopefully we’ll figure out some of the details. I know he wants to meet her as soon as possible.” Her stomach contracted again. There was so much to worry about.
“Of course he does. And she’ll have him wrapped around her plump pinky in seconds,” Sara added.
“Speaking of seconds, he’ll be arriving in a few and I’m still not ready. I’d better at least put some aloe on my sunburn.”
“You look radiant.”
“I suspect being on the verge of hysterics has that effect.”
Sara chuckled. “You can’t fool me. You’re a tough customer who can handle whatever life lobs her way.”
“Yeah, like a dozen rare orchids in a froth of lilies.”
“Or an Al Mansur man.”
Celia shot a doubtful glance at her. Just then, a knock sounded on the door.
“You look ravishing,” whispered Sara. “Enjoy your evening.”
“Hopefully I’ll survive,” murmured Celia with raised brows. She turned to face the door. “Come in!”
Sara smiled and waved as Salim entered. “Yes, there’s a conspiracy in progress,” she confessed.
“What nonsense!” protested Celia.
Salim looked unfortunately devastating in crisp, dark pants and a collarless linen shirt.
Celia drew in a silent breath. “I’m almost ready. I just keep getting interrupted.” She shot a wry glance at Sara. “Will you excuse me a moment?”
Without waiting for a reply, she darted to the bathroom and slammed the door. The enormous mirror revealed a face that was indeed glowing, with either good health or total panic.
She slapped some mascara on her sun-bleached eyelashes and brightened her lips with gloss. There was no need for blush on her hot, pink cheeks, so she quickly twisted her hair up into a knot and stuck a couple of pins in it.
Ack. I look like I’m getting ready for a date.
This was not a date. This was dinner with a man who’d trampled on her heart and smashed it flat. Again.
At least she was one hundred percent sure she wasn’t going to sleep with him tonight.
She burst out of the bathroom, a cheery smile fixed to her face. Sara had gone. Salim stood alone, apparently relaxed and pleased to see her, in front of the elaborate arrangement of flowers.
“The flowers are lovely,” she said.
“You know they’re alive? I suspected you’d hate cut flower
s.”
“You’re absolutely right. Plants are only beautiful when they’re alive and growing.”
That bouquet had probably cost as much as the GDP of several developing nations, but she managed not to comment on that. It was the gesture that counted. “Do you want to see more pictures of Kira?”
“I’d love to.” His voice was gruff with enthusiasm.
She reached for the mini-album she took on trips. It was freshly updated with pictures from her last return home: Kira rolling in the snow; building a tower of blocks; playing a toddler game on the computer and—her favorite thing—talking on her pink cell phone. In each picture her eyes glowed with joy and interest.
“She’s a busy girl. She makes the most of every moment. And have you noticed she has far more fashion sense than me?” She gestured to a picture of Kira in an outfit composed of four different kinds of stripes. “She likes to set a trend.”
“She’s perfect.” Salim sounded almost breathless. “Anyone can see how happy she is. You’ve obviously given her a warm and nurturing family environment.”
“You’ve met my parents. They’re sweethearts. And they have a lot of energy for people in their sixties. Which is good since they need it to keep up with Kira. She loves the outdoors. She told me this morning that she’s building a garden in the snow for me.”
“She’s thoughtful, too.” A smile tugged at his mouth. He stared at each picture for a long time. He was enchanted. “She’ll be great friends with Ben.”
Celia frowned. How would Kira meet Ben? Would she have to bring Kira here? She wasn’t sure such a long flight was a good idea—or even survivable—with a toddler. Though Sara and Elan had obviously managed. It was probably easier when there were two grown-ups.
Salim apparently noticed her hesitation. “Let’s go to dinner.”
Celia had never seen the roof garden. Available for rental by the day or hour, it was a popular spot for lavish weddings. As she left the elevator—which opened directly onto the roof—she could see why.
White marble glittered in the last rays of sun. Porticos of pointed arches ringed the wide terraces, framing a stunning view out toward the watery horizon, where colorful fishing dhows returned to port with the day’s catch, or set out to cast nets under the moon.
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