Prince Nadir's Secret Heir(56)

                He had? Her surprise must have shown on her face because he ran a hand through his hair and his jaw set hard.

                ‘Water would be nice,’ she said softly, her mind struggling to adapt to the return to normality between them. She shook her head at that. It struggled to adapt to what passed as normality between them since Nadir had stepped back into her life. A normality that was still defined by past hurts and an uncertain future.

                ‘Here.’

                She blinked as a glass of water was thrust in front of her.

                ‘Thank you.’

                ‘You’re welcome.’ He nodded and took it back when she’d drained the glass. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

                ‘No, no.’ She placed Nadeena on her shoulder to burp her. ‘No, everything should be—oh!’ Imogen squirmed as she felt warm baby spew slide down over her bare shoulder and the top half of her dress. ‘Oh.’

                She heard Nadir chuckle. ‘“Oh” is right.’

                The look on his face made her suddenly feel like laughing and groaning at the same time with embarrassment. Then Nadeena grew fussy and started crying, jamming her tiny fists into her mouth.

                ‘What’s wrong with her?’

                ‘I suspect it’s her teeth.’ She touched her hand to Nadeena’s forehead. ‘She’s not overly hot so...’ She scrunched her brow. ‘It could be that she’s just tired and out of sorts because it’s late. It’s hard to figure out what’s wrong with babies sometimes.’

                ‘Not just babies.’

                His rueful comment hung between them and just when she might have asked what he meant by it he held out his arms. ‘Here, give her to me.’

                ‘No, no...it’s fine, I can—’

                ‘I know you can, Imogen,’ he agreed flatly. ‘But you need to go clean up and I can settle her while you do it.’

                ‘Oh, right.’ Clean up. She’d completely forgotten about the sour milk on her shoulder and dress. She handed Nadeena to him and watched as he confidently tucked her into the crook of his muscular arms. ‘Come on, habibti,’ he crooned, ‘let’s get you settled.’

                Again Imogen was momentarily struck dumb by the sight of them together but unfortunately Nadeena didn’t stop crying and it made her hurry into the shower, where she quickly rinsed her hair and washed herself.

                Pulling on the oversized T-shirt she had used the night before, she hurried back to her room to find Nadir pacing back and forth and singing what sounded like an Arabic lullaby in his soft baritone.

                ‘She’s nearly asleep. Should I put her in the cot?’

                ‘I need to change her first.’

                ‘I’ve done it already.’

                Imogen stared at him. ‘You have?’

                ‘I’m not completely useless, Imogen. I can change a baby’s nappy.’

                Given that Nadir was the most capable man she had ever met, she didn’t know why she had ever doubted he could. Maybe because her father had never shown much interest in his duties as a parent. It made her realise just how low her expectations had been on the night that Nadir had walked out after discovering that she was pregnant. Maybe they had been low all along.