Page 114 of Hired Husband

In my defense, he’d spent a lot of time with them in the process of earning Deja’s hand. Me? I’d met most of them for the first time only yesterday.

Jane, Alex, and their kids appeared out of the next car and Cameron stole my attention away from Colin’s grand entrance almost immediately. Wearing a little suit complete with a bow tie and waistcoat, he looked so damn cute that I laughed, dropping to my haunches. He launched himself at me.

“Isaac!”

“Hey, buddy,” I said, wrapping him up in my arms for a tight hug. “I love the suit.”

“Can I ride a camel now?” he asked, his expression completely serious as he pulled away after hugging me back.

I laughed again. “I’ll make it happen before you leave.”

His blue eyes widened, shining with pure, unbridled delight. “Promise?”

“Of course.”

I caught Jane giving me the side-eye as I said it, but I shrugged at her, pushing back up to my feet to pull her into my arms next. “What? That kid has priorities.”

“He’s my kind of guy,” Ryan said, watching as Cameron raced off to join the rest of the kids running around the courtyard. “He sure doesn’t wait for opportunity to find him, does he?”

Jane glanced between us, sighing as she shook her head. “Don’t encourage him. Where are we even going to find a camel?”

“Everywhere,” I said vaguely, though that wasn’t quite as true as I’d thought before I’d come here. Either way, I’d make it happen. There were definitely camels available for rent in this area.

Alex waved at me and reached back into the car to help my mom out of the backseat. I smiled when I saw her, Nora Thayer, the mother of our merry band of troublemakers.

Back in the day, she’d been the most composed, most elegant woman most people would ever meet, but Dad’s arrest and the public revelation of his indiscretions had nearly broken her. While she was doing better these days, she was still nowhere near what she had been, seeming so much smaller and more timid as she straightened after climbing out of the car.

Her silvery hair had been swept up into some kind of elegant bun and her dress was a bright purple and yellow creation Deja must’ve arranged for her. I made a show of taking it in as I made my way over. Grinning, I wrapped her up in a hug.

“You look great, Mom,” I murmured against the top of her head. “I have it on good authority that all the friends you made at Colin and Deja’s wedding are dying to see you. Welcome back to Egypt.”

She patted my shoulder and pulled away a little to smile up at me. “Always a charmer. Thank you, baby. It’s good to be back.”

As soon as I let go of her, another gaggle of aunties appeared. The older ones, this time, and they swept my mother into their collective embrace like they were lifelong friends who’d been separated for much too long. I chuckled, glancing at Ryan still standing by my side. Holden and Wyatt had already been kidnapped by the younger Saad brothers before I’d even had a chance to say hi, but Ryan stuck with me as I greeted all the Westwoods too, then waved an arm for everybody to follow me into the house.

Jasmine stood near the front door, part of the official welcoming committee who had to show everyone where to go, but she left her post to come up to me, sliding her arms around my neck without any hesitation whatsoever. With her long black hair loose and her makeup light, she looked radiant, those eyes blazing with joy as they held mine. “I promise I’ll make my aunts give your mother back in time for her flight home.”

“That’s a week from now.”

She shrugged one narrow shoulder, a devilish smile on her lips. “Well, that’s the best I can do. You can always leave her here. Deja says being in Egypt suits her.”

I lowered my face to the top of her head and breathed her in for a moment, grounding myself amid the absolute circus all around us. “Maybe when I buy that house, we should set up a room just for her. That way, she can come visit whenever she wants and stay in her own space for as long as she chooses.”

Jasmine burrowed into me as she nodded. “That sounds good. She really does seem happy here. I haven’t seen much of her in the States, but when I have seen her, she’s seemed a little different.”

“There’s a lot of trauma there,” I murmured. “Here, she just gets to be herself and I think it gives her a little self-esteem boost before she goes back to a place where everyone knows who her ex-husband is.”

Jasmine sighed. “So much damage from just a few careless actions. It’s hard to believe sometimes.”

“I know, but on the upside, who knows if I ever would’ve come here if it hadn’t happened?” I pressed a kiss to her hair. “Anything that led me to you is worth it as far as I’m concerned.”

She smiled. “You really are an eternal optimist.”

“So sue me.”

“Oh, I have a better idea.” She winked and I very nearly tossed her over my shoulder to carry her back to my bedroom.

But there were a lot of people around, so I needed to behave myself. Tomorrow, we were saying our I-do’s, and as temped as I was to find out about this idea of hers right the hell now, I also knew today was about our families.