Page 87 of Hired Husband

“Okay, but later,” he murmured, then kissed me again and I didn’t even try to argue, just wrapping my arms around him and holding him until eventually, hours later, I finally fell asleep in his arms.

When I opened my eyes again, it was light outside, morning sun shining in and spilling across the wooden floors. Isaac was still fast asleep beside me, so I moved slowly, not wanting to wake him as I reached for my phone to check the time. It looked early enough to go back to sleep, but I wanted to be sure. Unfortunately, my clock wasn’t the only thing waiting on my screen. There was a message there too, from my father, reminding me to be home in three days.

An ominous feeling twisted in my gut as I stared at the words he’d sent, wondering what would be waiting for me when I got back to the estate, but I would try to figure it out later. For now, I set the phone back down and curled up around Isaac, promptly falling asleep again.

Whatever was going to happen when we got back to Cairo was still days away, and I refused to let it steal the extreme happiness I was feeling right now. Isaac made me feel at peace, like everything was going to be okay, and I’d been waiting too long to feel like this to let anything take it away.

CHAPTER 35

ISAAC

“It’s our last day and you’re excited about a dam?” Jasmine asked for at least the sixth time this morning as we left the ship behind. The fingers of her one hand were wrapped loosely around mine, but she used the other to pull her massive sunglasses to the tip of her nose, peering up at me over the frames like she was trying to decide if I was joking. “There are historic ruins and botanical islands right in the river, and the only thing you’re interested in is a dam.”

“It’s not just a dam.” I grinned as I tugged her closer to my side. “It’s one of the greatest engineering achievements of the twentieth century.”

“Fascinating,” she said.

Joseph fell into step beside me. “Well, actually, it really is fascinating. Do you know that they transformed Egypt when they built that dam? We were finally able to control flooding from the Nile, and the hydroelectric power plant creates electricity for at least half the country.”

Zara groaned behind us. “They really are excited about a dam.”

Jasmine let go of my hand to walk with Zara instead while Joseph and I led the charge to the car waiting to take us to the Aswan High Dam. She took Zara’s arm and let out a dramatic sigh. “I think I might’ve made some terrible life choices recently, if this is where my decisions have brought me.”

Zara nodded, resting her head against Jasmine’s shoulder. “We both have. Perhaps it’s time to reassess.”

I laughed. “You two spent all of yesterday buying handwoven scarves in every village we stopped at. I think I saw a few new handbags too.”

Jasmine arched an eyebrow at me. “So? They’re beautiful.”

“So is reinforced concrete that boosted agriculture, industry, and tourism,” I argued.

“We supported the local economy,” she countered. “Because of us, someone’s child had food on the table last night.”

“And because of the dam, there was affordable food to buy for that table,” Joseph reasoned, then sighed as we climbed into the air-conditioned car. “It’s a big dam. How are you not excited to see it?”

Jasmine sighed again but came back to my side to sit next to me in the back row of our little van. Zara and Joseph took the middle row while an older couple from the cruise climbed in at the front. Our driver slid the door shut.

“I feel like there should be more education about how important this dam is,” I said.

Joseph twisted in his seat to look at me, enthusiastically nodding his agreement. “Most of the tourist sites on the Nile cruises are obviously historic, but that doesn’t mean something that changed what Egypt’s future looks like shouldn’t warrant the same level of attraction.”

Zara groaned. “Don’t talk to me about levels of attraction right now.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

She heaved out a sigh that made me think she’d been serious about questioning her recent decisions, but not even that could dampen the anticipation I felt over getting to see this dam in person. True to what I’d thought, it was enormous, so impressive that I got a little emotional when it first came into view.

Lake Nasser stretched toward the horizon on one side and the Nile flowed north on the other, and that same sense of wonder I’d had at Karnak washed over me. This was no less impressive a feat, even if it was much newer.

Once we were standing at the top, the girls still seemed uncertain why they’d joined us, but I was gaping and Joseph turned in a slow circle. “I can’t believe we’re actually here.”

“I know,” I replied. “I can’t believe they let people stand up here. It’s so cool.”

Jasmine leaned toward Zara. “How many times have they said that in the last ten minutes?”

“More than I’d like to think about,” Zara murmured, then cleared her throat and smiled sweetly when the guide joined us. “Oh, look. We’re about to begin. Wonderful. That means we’re almost done, right?”

I ignored her. Joseph and I took places right at the front of the group as the guide started explaining the construction—mercifully in English—and I hung onto every word as he spoke about the rock fill, the turbines, and the spillways. Joseph eyes were practically glowing. Both of us were in complete awe.