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The girl was a fool, Avery thought savagely, tilting her head back and staring up at the perfect blue of the desert sky. For someone dreaming of happy endings as Kalila clearly was, she couldn’t have done better than Mal.
Slowly, she turned her head to look at him, her gaze resting on the strong, proud lines of his handsome face. Not knowing what to do, she lifted her hand, hesitated, and then placed it on his shoulder, feeling the tension in the muscle under her fingers. ‘I’m sorry. I know how upset you are. And I’m sorry I couldn’t fix it.’
‘But you had to keep trying.’ His voice was harsh and she blinked, taken aback by his tone.
‘Er … yes. Obviously I was trying to persuade her to change her mind.’
‘Then let’s just be grateful you didn’t succeed.’
‘Grateful?’ Avery let her hand fall from his shoulder. ‘But you wanted this marriage! I know you wanted this marriage.’
He turned his head and the look in his eyes made her heart stutter in her chest. His mouth twisted into a cynical smile as he observed her reaction. ‘You consider yourself an expert on what I want, habibti?’
The look in his eyes confused her. Were they still talking about Kalila? ‘You have a wedding planned. We’ve just chased across a desert to find your bride. It seems reasonable to assume this is what you wanted and yet now that she’s broken it off you’re not putting up a fight and you don’t seem remotely heartbroken.’
There was a strange light in his eyes. ‘Heartbroken?’
Exasperated and confused by his lack of emotion, Avery held back her temper. ‘OK, so obviously you’re not heartbroken because you don’t have a heart. Silly me.’
‘You think I don’t have a heart?’ Under the sweep of thick dark lashes, something dangerous lurked in his eyes and Avery felt as if she’d just jumped into the ocean and found herself way out of her depth.
How had she ever become trapped in this conversation? They were supposed to be talking about Kalila.
‘All I know is that you don’t seem to be fighting to keep her. Is it pride?’ And she knew all about that, didn’t she? ‘Because honestly I think you should try and get over that. She’s perfect for you in so many ways. Go back in there now, give that muscle-bound wimp his marching orders—and by the way, she needs a new bodyguard because that one definitely isn’t fit for purpose—and talk some sense into her.’
Her words were greeted by a prolonged silence.
Just when it was becoming awkward, he breathed deeply. ‘Are you really that desperate to see me married to someone else?’
‘Yes—’ Her heart was bumping and she trod through the conversation like someone walking on quicksand. ‘Yes, I am.’
There was a hard, humourless slant to his smile. ‘Would that make it easier?’
It would have been a waste of time to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. Their eyes locked for a brief moment but it was long enough for her to know that she was in trouble. ‘Let’s not do this, Mal.’
But of course he didn’t listen. His hand slid beneath her chin and he forced her to look at him. ‘We’re doing this.’ This time his tone was harsh. ‘We’ve wasted enough time and taken enough wrong turnings. Just because we made a mistake once doesn’t mean we have to do it again.’
‘For crying out loud—’ the words were shaky ‘—five minutes ago you were engaged to marry another woman.’
‘That wasn’t my choice. This is.’
That didn’t make sense to her. Despite duty and responsibility, he was a man who chose his own path.
‘What the hell are you saying? Mal—’
‘Tell me why you were so determined that I marry Kalila. Tell me, Avery. Spell it out.’
‘Because you’re the marrying type and because she’s perfect for you and because—’ she choked on the confession ‘—and because I thought it would make it easier if you were married.’
Emotion flared in his eyes. ‘And did it?’
‘No.’ The words came out as a whisper. ‘No. It didn’t. Nothing does. But that doesn’t stop me hoping and trying.’
‘You don’t have to do either.’
Yes, she did. ‘Nothing has changed, Mal—’
That clearly wasn’t the answer he wanted and he looked away for a moment, jaw tense. ‘No? If that’s true then it’s just because you are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. But I can be stubborn too.’ Without giving her a chance to respond, he closed his hand over hers and pulled his phone out of his pocket. After a brief one-way conversation during which he delivered what sounded like a volley of instructions in his own language, he hung up. ‘Is there anything in your bag that you need? Because if there is, tell me now.’
