He heard her walking through the garden. Satisfaction filled him. She was coming again. Despite their differences, he felt closer to her in the dark than he did anyone except Rashid. Theirs was an odd friendship; one that probably wouldn’t last through the years, but perfect for now.
“I wondered if you’d want to go walk,” she said, walking over and sitting beside him. “You were right, you know. I overreacted, but this was a perfect scheme to get rid of Antonio. You know, of course, that had this been real, the minute we married, he’d be hitting you up for money.”
“It crossed my mind,” Khalid said. Antonio didn’t know him well—nor ever would. But giving money away to people who wasted it was not something he did. Though he could understand family solidarity. Wonder if there were a different way to handle the situation.
He rose and reached out his hand to help her up. With one accord, they left their shoes and began walking to the water. Once on hard-packed sand, they turned north.
Khalid liked the end of the evening this way. Ella was comfortable to be around. With the darkness to cloak the scar, he had no hesitation in having her with him. She didn’t have to see the horrible deformity and he didn’t have to endure the looks of horror so often seen in people when they were around him. Not that he’d caught even a glimpse of that with Ella after that first day. She seemed to see right through the scar to the man beneath.
“At least we don’t have to worry about that. I’m still working on a catalog and will see if I can get a showing earlier than originally planned. Once I have a way to earn a living, I’ll be out of your way.”
“There is one complication,” he said.
“What?”
“My mother thinks we are engaged and is planning a party to announce it to the world.”
“What? You’ve got to be kidding? How did your mother find out?” She stopped walking and stared at him.
“She called me tonight. The minister wasted no time. He has it in for Rashid and I expect is trying to gain an ally with mother in getting insider info or something.”
Ella shook her head. “I can imagine how delighted she is to think we’re engaged. Did you set her straight?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He refused to examine the reason. He felt protective toward Ella. He didn’t want anything to mar her happiness—especially her family. It seemed she’d had enough grief to last a lifetime.
“Seemed better not to.”
“Well, tell her in the morning.”
“Or, let her think that for a while. What does it hurt?”
Ella thought about it for a moment. “Maybe no one,” she said reluctantly.
“If people think you are engaged to me, it’ll give you a bit of a step up when going to galleries.”
“I wouldn’t pretend for that reason.”
“But you would to keep your family out of your life.”
“I didn’t know my younger brother had a gambling problem. He was the cutest little boy. So charming.”
He took her hand and tugged her along and resumed walking. “I know. Family pressure can be unrelenting, however. If they think you are already out of reach, they have to look elsewhere for financial help. Personally I’d kick the man out and tell him to make a go of it on his own.”
“You talk a hard line, but I bet you would try to work something out if it were Rashid,” she said.
Khalid knew that to be true.
“I’m not sure it’s fair to you,” she continued.
“Why not? I’m the one who started the entire convoluted mess.”
“I know, which I think is totally off the wall. But no one who knew us would believe we could fall in love and plan to marry.”
“Because of the scar,” he bit out.
She whacked him on his arm with her free hand. “Will you stop! That has nothing to do with anything. I’m still grieving for my husband. I don’t want to ever go through something like that again. It’s safer to go through life alone, making friends, having a great career, but not putting my heart on the line again. It hurts too much when it’s shattered.”
“Safer but lonely, isn’t it?”
Ella glanced at him. Was he lonely? On the surface he had it all: good looks, money, family behind him. The downside would be the job he did. Yet because of the scarring on his face, he pulled away from social events, hadn’t had a friend come to visit since he’d been in the main house. And to hear him talk, he was shunned by others.
She’d seen some looks at the reception, fascinated horror. Her regret was he had to deal with rude, obnoxious people who didn’t seem to have the manners necessary to deal with real life.
“Come on,” she said, pulling her hand free. “I’ll race you to that piece of driftwood.” With that, Ella took off at a run for the large log that had washed up on shore during the last storm. She knew she couldn’t beat Khalid; he’d win by a long margin. But maybe it would get them out of gloomy thoughts. She felt she’d been on a roller coaster all day. It was time to regain her equilibrium and have some fun.
She’d taken him by surprise, she could tell as he hesitated a moment before starting to run. She had enough of a head start she thought for a few seconds she might win. Then Khalid raced past her, making it look easy and effortless.
Ella was gasping for breath when she reached the log. He was a bit winded, which helped her own self-respect.
“Do you often race at night?” he asked.
“No one can see me and I can race the wind. It’s better than racing you, for I can convince myself I win.”
He laughed and picked her up by her waist and twirled them both around. “I win tonight,” he said, and lowered her gently to the ground, drawing her closer until they were touching from chest to knees. He leaned over and kissed her sweetly.
Ella closed her eyes, blocking out the brilliant blanket of stars in the sky. Hearing only her own racing heartbeat and the soft sighing of the spent waves. Soon even they were lost to sound as the blood roared through her veins, heating every inch of her. She gave herself up to the wonderful feelings that coursed through her. His mouth was magic. His lips like nectar. His strong body made her feel safe and secure, and wildly desirable.
Time lost all meaning. For endless minutes, Ella was wrapped in sensation. She could have halted time and lived forever in this one moment. It was exquisite.
Then reality intruded. Slowly the kiss eased and soon Khalid had put several inches between them. She stepped forward not wanting to end the contact. His hands rested on her shoulders and gently pushed her away.
“We need to get back before things get out of hand,” he said.
She cringed and turned, glad for the darkness to hide her embarrassment. How could she so wantonly throw herself at him when he made it perfectly clear he was not interested in her that way. His gesture with the fake engagement was merely a means to offer some protection to her. If her brother had never shown up, never threatened her, Khalid would never in a million years have pretended that they were involved.
And that was fine by her.
She increased her pace.
“Are we racing back?” he asked, easily keeping pace.
“No.” She slowed, but longed to break into another run and beat him home, shut the door and pull the shades. She was an adult. She could handle this—it was only for the length of time to get to her cottage. Then she’d do her best from now on to stay away from Khalid al Harum!
That vow lasted until the next day. Ella spent the early hours working on a small bowl that would be the first of a set, each slightly larger than the previous. She concentrated and was pleased to note she could ignore everything else and focus on the work at hand.
It was past time for lunch when she stopped to get something to eat. In the midst of a project, she became caught up in the process. But once it was safely in the annealer, thoughts of last night surfaced.
Jalilah knocked on the door before Ella had a chance to fix something to eat.
“His Excellency would like to see you,” she said.
“I’m getting ready to eat,” Ella said. “Tell him I’ll be over later.”
Jalilah looked shocked. “I think he wants you now,” she said.
“Well, he can’t always have what he wants,” Ella said. “Thanks for delivering his message. Tell him what I said. Maybe around three.” She closed the door.
Who did he think he was, expecting her to drop everything just because he summoned her? He had delusions if he thought she’d drop everything to run to him.
In fact, she might not go at all.
Except her curiosity was roused. What did he want?
She prepared a light lunch and ate on her small veranda. The hot sun was blocked by the grapecovered arbor. The breeze was hot, blowing from the land and not the sea. She wouldn’t stay outside long.
Sipping the last of her iced tea, Ella heard the banging on the front door. Sighing, she rose. It didn’t take a psychic to know who was there. Dumping her dishes in the sink on her way to the front of the cottage, she wondered if she dare ignore him.
Opening the door, she glared at him instead. “What do you want?”
“To talk to you,” he said easily, stepping inside.
She moved to allow him. It was that or be run over. He was quite a bit larger than she was.