Page 104 of Hired Husband

I trailed off and Isaac came over, taking my hands and squeezing them as his gaze held mine. “Take your time. I’ll handle whatever is happening out there, okay?”

I nodded, half-stumbling into the bathroom and stripping off the engagement gown like it was burning me. To be fair, it kind of felt like it had been, my skin feeling strangely raw until I stepped under the hot spray of the shower and stayed there for ages, using the soap the hotel provided to scrub off how close I’d come to being doomed.

Thankfully, the hotel also provided robes, so once I was finished in the shower, I slipped into one of them and towel-dried my hair. My makeup had mostly washed away, but I didn’t care. I had some eyeliner and lip gloss in my little purse. If push came to shove, I could use that to touch up.

For now, however, I padded out of the bathroom with the robe pulled tight around my body. Our suite had a view of the Pyramids, the desert glowing gold in the late afternoon light as Isaac sat and dealt with the fallout of our getaway. He was on a little armchair in the sitting room with his back to me, his eyes on the windows and one hand in his hair while the other held the phone against his ear.

As I walked past the bed, I picked my phone up from where I’d left it next to my purse, unlocking it to find thirty-seven missed calls, and messages coming in faster than I could read them. There were three new news alerts too, but I didn’t open any of the notifications.

Instead, I just held down the power button until the screen went dark. Not tonight. I’m not dealing with any of this tonight.

“Hi, Deja,” Isaac said as another call came in barely a full second after he’d ended the last one. “No, we’re alive.”

He must’ve heard me striding toward him because he suddenly glanced over his shoulder and smiled, then pulled the phone away from his ear and hit the speaker button without waiting to be asked. “Go to Alexandria for a few days. I’ll make the arrangements for you. You’re not going to want to be in the city until the fervor dies down at little bit.”

“That’s a good point,” he said. “Yeah. Okay. I agree. Let me run it by Jasmine and we’ll call you back in a few.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she said. “Colin is handling the fallout at the party, but he’s going to want to talk to you when he’s done.”

Isaac nodded. “Of course. I’ll be here. How’s Ryan holding up?”

She chuckled. “Oh, he’s just stoked to have been a part of it. You should see his face. It’s hilarious. I’m also not sure he’s ever going to be leaving Cairo again, though. So there’s that. We might have to work on him a little bit.”

Isaac smiled. “Let him look around for a few days until all this dies down. If he’s still not willing to leave by the time you guys have to go back, we’ll kidnap him and put him on the plane.”

She laughed. “We seriously might have to, but okay. Talk to Jasmine about Alexandria and let me know. I’ve got to go.”

“Sure thing. Talk to you soon.”

He ended the call and looked over at me, reaching for my hand and pulling me down on his lap when I took it. I went willingly, winding my arms around his shoulders and bringing my forehead to his, just breathing in the masculine scent of him for a few minutes as I tried to absorb the fact that we were really here.

And so far, there was no security team rappelling down the side of the hotel or helicopters with search lights descending. No one was pounding on the door or calling up to our suite, demanding that we meet them in the lobby right now.

It was almost too good to be true, but then, naturally, Isaac’s phone lit up again and he sighed after checking the screen. “It’s your dad.”

I just stared into his eyes for a few more seconds before finally nodding. “You should pick up.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I think you should do it anyway.”

“Is there anything in particular you want me to say?”

I shook my head from one side to the other. “I have absolutely no idea. Obviously, we know we’re insane, but what’s done is done.”

“Yeah. Okay, so I’ll cop to being insane and just hear him out.” He took a breath before swiping to answer. “Hello, sir.”

His tone was noticeably more formal now than it had been before, but he once again put the phone on speaker so I could hear what my dad was saying. “Isaac. Is Jasmine with you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Dad let out a soft sigh that sounded a lot like relief, his voice gentler now. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Isaac looked into my eyes again, almost like he was waiting for me to contradict him, but when I didn’t, he smiled. “She’s fine. A little tired, I think, but otherwise alright.”

“Thank God,” Dad muttered, and suddenly, I had to wipe away a tear that formed at the corner of my eye.

After all that, he wasn’t asking where we were or what we’d done. He wasn’t demanding that we come back or that we follow through on the deal he’d made. He only wanted to know if I was okay. It seemed almost impossible, but he didn’t even sound angry.