Page 36 of Hired Husband

“Can’t.” I offered her a slight smile. “You’re so much better at it than me.”

With that, I spun and fled from the kitchen. Her cackling laughter followed me down the hall. “I was just trying to give you something to do that would keep you out of trouble.”

“I know!” I called back. “That’s why I’m not doing it.”

“Enjoy your adventure!” she yelled just before I pulled the front door shut behind me and took off to the streets of Sharm.

With no real destination in mind, I wandered past open-air shops and little galleries, wishing the day would stop feeling like it was missing someone. The city was beautiful, with tourists milling about with cameras around their necks and children chasing pigeons.

I should’ve been perfectly content with this, just strolling down the streets and ducking into markets, but instead, I kept wondering what Isaac was doing and whether they would be finishing up soon. Even as I stopped to admire pottery and woven baskets, I thought about him standing on some dusty construction site, probably arguing about courtyards and cement mixtures instead of immersing himself in the culture of the city with me.

Just as I was about to surrender and ask my father when they would be done, I heard a familiar, unwelcome voice behind me, the slight accent in it confirming that I absolutely was not wrong about who it belonged to.

“Jasmine! Fancy meeting you here.”

I grimaced and drew in a deep breath, reaching into the very deepest recesses of my soul for some patience. After the day I’d had, that was in very short supply, but I forced a polite smile to my lips and turned.

“David.”

He stood only a few yards away, dressed like he’d walked straight out of an advert for one of the luxury resorts down the beach. It was the typical tourist outfit of cargo shorts, a loose-fitting, patterned, designer button-down, and leather sandals on his feet.

He was with three other men roughly his age, all of them wearing expensive watches and mirrored sunglasses. I’d never met the others, but immediately, I could tell they were all exactly like him. They were the very embodiment of too much confidence and money, but not nearly enough personality to justify either.

Trust fund babies.

David gave me that smile that always made me want to check if my wallet was still in my bag. “This is such a pleasant surprise.”

For one of us. “I would imagine so.”

His friends chuckled, but David ignored them, acting, as always, as if he knew me much better than he really did. While it was true that it had been years since we’d first met, we’d never actually spent much time getting to know each other and I had no interest in changing that.

The guy was sleazy as hell. In a money-hungry kind of way, which was wild since his family already had so much of it.

To say that I wasn’t a fan of his was an understatement. Even now, he was making me feel like I needed to watch the cash I was carrying.

“Where have you been hiding?” he asked warmly, taking a few steps closer.

I inched back, holding his gaze but mostly only to keep an eye on his hands in my periphery. “I haven’t been hiding. Just working hard.”

“Well, all work and no play makes Jasmine a dull girl,” he said in a tone I was sure was meant to be seductive, but it just sounded creepy. “We’re having a party tonight at the villa where we’re staying. You should come.”

“Oh, but I really shouldn’t.”

His smile didn’t even flicker. “Don’t say no before you even hear the details. The house is right on the beach and it’s got a spectacular view.”

“So does mine.”

One of his friends laughed, but David shot him a warning look before returning his attention to me, his head slowly cocking and a strange tic starting up in his jaw. “Is this about your father’s new American friend?”

I folded my arms. “Excuse me?”

“You know who I’m talking about. The engineer who’s supposedly going to transform Sharm into an industrial hub.”

So he does know about Isaac.

“Supposedly?” I asked, eyebrows hiking up. “That American friend who’s supposedly going to transform Sharm is a literal genius. I’d be careful how I talk about him.”

David smirked, sizing me up for a moment before he nodded. “Of course. I’ll see you tonight, Jasmine.”