Page 45 of Hired Husband

When David looked up and saw me, a wide, confident grin appeared on his face and I suddenly felt like someone had shoved a big bag of ice into my stomach. Isaac’s hand left mine and he brought it to rest in the small of my back.

It was just a small gesture, protective and a little possessive. Even so, it melted most of that ice immediately and I drew in a slow breath, lifting my chin. I would not be intimidated in my own home.

Especially by a man I didn’t even respect, and with Isaac backing me up, I felt powerful. Capable of facing absolutely anything.

I just didn’t know yet exactly what we were facing.

CHAPTER 17

ISAAC

The Red Sea glittered under a sky full of stars, the moon a crescent hanging in the distance like a hook. I looked out at it all from under the pergola in the gardens, wishing I’d spent the last three hours here instead of around a table with David Maher.

Even now, I could hear his muffled conversation with Basel drifting through the open dining-room doors. Every so often, their glasses clinked or one of them would laugh, but I hadn’t been able to sit there with them any longer.

As it was, it had felt like dinner had lasted six hours instead of just three. I still didn’t know why David had come or why Basel had invited him to stay, but whatever the explanation, I was over the tension of being inside. Sitting around that table, noticing how Jasmine had grown more and more uncomfortable, had put me on edge.

I leaned my head back against the chair and exhaled a long, slow breath. Sharm was beautiful at night, but it still wasn’t nearly as captivating as Jasmine while we’d been snorkeling today. Honestly, watching the way she moved in water like she’d been born a mermaid had left me wondering if there really was magic here.

Without a doubt, she was the closest thing to it I’d ever seen. She was so connected to the history here that, as far as I was concerned, she was the most incredible masterpiece I’d ever laid eyes on. Her beauty was revealing itself more and more with every passing day and it had killed me in that dining room to watch her make herself smaller.

Obviously, she hadn’t physically shrunk, facing him head on despite how obviously he freaked her out, but that light in her eyes had gone out and she’d mostly kept quiet. Eventually, I hadn’t been able to take it anymore, so after she’d excused herself, I’d escaped under the guise of needing fresh air after a big meal.

Thankfully, no one had questioned me. Basel had simply nodded and David had given me a grin that had made me feel like he thought he’d won. I just didn’t know what he viewed as the prize. But I’d spent plenty of time with Basel. If he wanted a moment in the man’s sun, then I supposed he could have it.

“I had a feeling I might find you out here.” Layla, Jasmine’s mom, strode out onto the patio carrying two crystal tumblers and a bottle of scotch that looked older than me. “Drink?”

“I won’t say no.”

She poured a generous amount into both glasses before handing one to me and gracefully lowering herself into the armchair beside the one I was in. “My husband believes every conversation deserves good scotch.”

“That’s a philosophy I can get behind, but does that mean you came out here to talk about something specific?”

She laughed softly and settled into her chair, looking out over the sea as she got comfortable. “No. I just needed some fresh air of my own. I wasn’t aware we’d be having a guest for dinner tonight and it always puts a different spin on things when one of Basel’s business acquaintances shows up.”

“Like me?”

“Oh, please. You’re practically family now, Isaac.” She shot me a soft, fond smile. “Colin told me so much about you while he was here that I feel like I knew you long before I ever met you in person.”

“What did he tell you, exactly?” My eyes widened as I turned my head to look at her. “All terrible things, I hope.”

She chuckled. “Absolutely awful. I have no idea why Basel went all the way to America to recruit you.”

“Well, it probably helped that he was there on business anyway.”

She tilted her glass toward me. “Probably, but you were part of his business, Isaac. He was truly excited when you accepted his offer. He’s been looking for someone who can build instead of just grow for a long time, and when he realized he already knew such a person, he was thrilled.”

My eyebrows inched up. “I didn’t realize.”

“I doubt you were supposed to,” she said quietly. “Men in business are forever trying to act so tough and unaffected. It doesn’t really work that way here, in Egypt, but everybody knows what’s expected of them internationally.”

My thoughts drifted immediately to David, who’d apparently been born to Egyptian parents but raised in Australia. I was dying to pepper Layla with questions about him and his intentions for coming over tonight, but I held my tongue.

To me, he seemed to be here for a sinister reason, but I didn’t know the dude and I didn’t want to. “Well, the Egyptians are doing something right, and I don’t only mean in business either.”

Her lips spread into another smile. “I take it you had a good day?”

“God, it was the best.” I raked a hand through my hair as I grinned at her. “I don’t even have words to describe your daughter, but she sure knows how to have fun.”