Her desert knight(31)

"But if the contract is genuine you'd be giving it up in return for  outright ownership of the land. Ten rials is a lot cheaper than the  thousands of rials you'd have to pay to your lawyer to take your claim  all the way through the courts."

"That is certainly true." Her dad rubbed his mustache with a finger.

"What would you do with the land?" Now that ownership of the property  was within reach, her father seemed oddly lackadaisical about it. Which  was strange, since he'd been gnashing his teeth over being "robbed" for  as long as she could remember.

"Sell it, of course." His brows lifted, probably as he contemplated how much he could get for it.

"Maybe you could sell it back to Salim Al Mansur."

Her father's brows lowered. "Why would he give it to me for free only  to buy it back? Maybe there's something I don't know. Maybe he's  contaminated the land. He could have buried toxic waste on it. It seems  too good to be true."

Like her relationship with Quasar. Too sudden, too easy, too fabulous,  too far, too fast. She sighed. "I'm not sure we can ever truly  understand other people's motivations. You just need to decide if you  still really want it, and if you do, then get in touch with a lawyer and  make sure all the documents say what they are supposed to say. If they  do, then sign them, take your fishing rod to the land and catch some  fish." She attempted a half smile. It couldn't really be that easy,  could it?                       
       
           



       

No way. Nothing ever was.

* * *

Quasar didn't want to go back to the United States. His visit to Oman  was stretching into its third week, but now that Dani wasn't coming with  him, the prospect of moving to Boston and exploring the intriguing  business opportunities there had palled. For one thing he'd miss these  jovial breakfasts on the hotel veranda, where the whole family gathered  together to start the day. Elan and Sara still showed no signs of  returning to their home in Nevada, and he felt the same way about  leaving.

He watched Celia's long fingers deftly wind a hair tie around the  bottom of Kira's fishtail braid while the little girl munched on a  blueberry muffin. Would he ever have children of his own to take care  of? Since he'd met Dani, he'd thought about the prospect more than once.

Celia glanced up. "Salim told me about the land deal. When are you going back to propose marriage?"

Quasar ripped a croissant in half. "It's not a done deal yet. Dani's  father has had the contract for two days and I haven't heard a word.  Maybe he's so difficult he'll refuse to take the land back as a gift  because he'd rather win it in court." His chest tightened as he thought  about it. Could he lose his chance of a lifetime with Dani due to her  own father's stubbornness?

So many pieces had to fall into place for this to work.

"It may well be a done deal, brother. A courier left a big envelope at the front desk for you this morning," Salim said.

"What?" Quasar leapt from his chair. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did." Salim smiled enigmatically.

Quasar felt like punching him. Salim still hadn't cashed the damn  check, either, which made the whole deal feel rather illusory since the  contract gifting the land was between Quasar and Mohammed Hassan. He  dialed the front desk and asked them to bring any mail to him. He glared  at Salim. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Enormously. Who'd have thought that my baby brother would be so madly  in love with a woman that he'd part with fifty million dollars for the  chance to win her favor."

"It is adorable." Sara smiled and smoothed a cowlick in Ben's hair.  "But then you Al Mansurs are the biggest romantics once you finally fall  in love."

One of the front-desk staff brought the envelope to the table and  Quasar ripped into it with his heart pounding. There was the  contract-signed and notarized-and a letter from Mohammed Hassan thanking  him for recognizing his long-held claim to the land and returning it to  its rightful owner. Quasar smiled. "It's all signed, sealed and  delivered."

Salim shook his head. "I've never seen anyone so happy about parting  with fifty million dollars and a prime piece of oceanfront real estate."

Quasar winked. "Thanks for making it possible."

"So now you can go back and propose." Celia looked at him down the length of her elegant nose.

"Not so fast!" Sara exclaimed. "Dani just extracted herself from a  miserable marriage. It might be quite some time before she can be  persuaded to go down that road again. If ever. Why does marriage have to  be such an important part of every relationship? It's as if you can't  enjoy being a couple until there's some legal paperwork saying you own  the rights to each other in perpetuity."

Elan laughed. "See what I have to deal with? I did finally persuade her to marry me, though."

"How?" Quasar couldn't hide his curiosity.

Sara leaned forward. "By proving to me, day after day, that he really  wanted to be with me, and enjoy my company, and share a family with me,  not own me and control me and run me. You Al Mansurs may be successful  but you've been raised with some bad habits that can need breaking."

"I don't want to own Dani or run her life."

"You don't think you do, but you do expect her to fall neatly into your  plans. What if she wants to stay in Salalah rather than moving to  Boston?"

He frowned. "I'm pretty sure she wants to move back to America."

"But if she didn't you'd be willing to stay here with her even if it  means giving up on that biotech company you're all excited about  acquiring?"

He thought for a moment about the considerable sacrifice required, then  answered with conviction. "Yes. I have a strong feeling about it. Call  it intuition, or a hunch, or maybe even destiny, but I truly believe  Dani and I are meant to be together."

Elan leaned forward and clapped him on the back. "Then take your time  and make sure you don't screw it up like I nearly did. Sara scared me so  good I waited through her entire pregnancy with our son, and half of  our first year as parents, before I even dared ask her again."                       
       
           



       

Sara looked at him lovingly. "Luckily by then I was ready to say yes."

"How soon before I can try to buy the land back?" Salim cocked his  head. "I have plans drawn up and was waiting to resolve the title issues  before submitting them for approval."

"If I can hold my horses, brother, you can, too." Quasar let out a  sigh. "Patience may not be our strong suit but it builds character for  us to apply it."

"Finding the right woman is what builds character most of all," Salim  said quietly. "I was bulldozing my way through life trying to get  everything so perfect that I almost destroyed my one chance at  happiness. I consider myself the luckiest man alive that Celia was able  to find it in her heart to forgive me for being such an utter ass."

Celia laughed. "The whole situation was character-building for me, too.  I kept your daughter secret from you because I was too afraid you'd  tried to seize control of her." She squeezed Quasar's arm. "But as you  can see he managed to win me over, so hang in there and keep your goal  in sight."

Elan leaned back in his chair. "It certainly sounds as if you've found a  woman strong and steady enough to handle you, so take her needs  seriously, and don't blow it. What do you plan to do next?"

"Propose to her."

* * *

Quasar guided his silver Mercedes through the now-familiar streets of  Dani's quiet neighborhood, past the silent houses with their shuttered  windows. Unfamiliar trepidation quickened his heartbeat. The next step  was a big one, and he wasn't entirely sure how to handle it. Since he  wasn't used to such uncertainty, the effect was decidedly unsettling.

Despite his brothers' experiences, he'd decided that Dani was obviously  uncomfortable with the idea of accompanying him to America with her  status in his life uncertain. So it was important to clarify that  status. Which meant proposing marriage.

And since this was Oman, he also needed her father's permission. Right  now he had no idea how either of them would respond to his proposal.

He parked his car directly in front of the house, announcing his  arrival to anyone who happened to glance out a window. He half hoped  someone would open the door and say something, so he could avoid the  suspense of climbing the doorstep and knocking. He still remembered how  badly his last visit had gone.

The difficult part was that he had to ask Dani to marry him first. He'd  deliberately chosen to come here in the early evening, when her father  and brothers were home, so everything would be proper and aboveboard and  he couldn't be accused of sneaking around or trying to seduce her into  bed. The snag was that if her father answered the door, how did he  explain his purpose and ask to see Dani without either giving the game  away or getting thrown out on his ear or...both?