‘I thought you might like to keep Nadeena close.’
She hadn’t expected him to show her that level of thoughtfulness.
‘Thank you,’ she said stiltedly, rubbing her arms against the chill in the air. ‘Is it usually so cold?’
‘Always.’
Startled by the gravity of his tone, Imogen stared across at him. His hands were shoved into his pockets and the hard planes of his face seemed even more austere, the grimness of his expression making her think he was talking about more than just the air temperature.
‘I’ll have the thermostat adjusted. Get some sleep. You look tired.’
Excellent. She looked exactly how she felt.
‘I have organised clothing and baby-related items for you which should be through the dressing room. If there’s anything the staff has missed just let me know.’
‘How could you arrange this so quickly?’
‘Bakaan might be somewhat of a backwater compared to the Western world, but it does have retail outlets. And Dubai is an hour away by plane. Anything we didn’t have they would have.’
‘It seems you’ve thought of everything.’
His eyes were shuttered as he looked at her. ‘Let’s hope so.’
* * *
With a brief glance at Nadeena, who was wide awake and taking in her new surroundings with open curiosity, Nadir left and closed the door softly behind him.
So civilised, she thought, feeling anything but civilised herself.
‘Okay, baby girl. What now?’
Deciding to check out the items Nadir had supplied in the dressing room, she was shocked when she saw just how much he had bought.
She lay Nadeena on her tummy on the floor, watching as she slowly pulled herself towards a row of shoe boxes. Curious herself, Imogen lifted the lid on the first box and gasped at the sight of an exquisite pair of designer shoes nestled amongst the tissue paper. They were her size and she wondered how he had known and then she remembered the day he had taken her shopping in Paris. Did he still remember? Probably not. Probably, it had just been a good guess. He did know women, after all.
Not wanting to dwell on that disagreeable topic, she next checked the clothing hanging on the rack. Most of them were Western, with a few traditional-looking dresses amongst them.
There were more clothes on the hangers than in her own wardrobe and she felt uneasy at why he would have supplied so many. Not that she’d wear them. But she would need to change Nadeena and she couldn’t suppress her delight at each of the baby outfits his staff had provided. Gorgeous soft cottons and silks, the like of which she hadn’t been able to afford herself.
‘All this for one day,’ she said to Nadeena. ‘The man has clearly never had to work to a realistic budget in his life.’
Nadeena answered with a litany of ga-ga noises and upended a box of shoes. Saving the shoes and confiscating the tissue paper, Imogen let her have the empty box, which she immediately started banging on the floor.
Feeling suddenly weary and lost, she changed Nadeena into a soft cotton sleeping suit and fed her. Then she laid her in the cot and grimaced when she saw how wired she was. Sleep looked like a long time coming. Deciding it would be a waste of energy to try to sing her to sleep, she rang Minh instead.