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“Mom was pretty adamant that women had to remain chaste until marriage.”
“And yet you decided not to.”
“I doubt I’ll ever marry,” she admitted. “I’m too shy with men.”
“Really?” He didn’t sound doubtful, so she didn’t take offense at his question.
“Most men. The combination of alcohol and you is a lethal combination.”
“I would like to think the alcohol was unnecessary.”
“It probably would be in future,” she admitted with the honesty she seemed unable to suppress around him. “But last night? It definitely played its role.”
“And yet you insist you were in control of your faculties when you chose to make love with me.”
“I was, just not chained down by my usual inhibitions and introversion around men.”
“You will be less nervous with the opposite sex in the future, I am sure.” He didn’t sound exactly pleased by that prospect.
“It didn’t work that way for my mom.”
“She had you.”
“And a family who rejected her. I have no one left to reject me.”
“That’s a rather morbid thought.”
“Sorry.”
“I will reject you if it will make you feel better.”
“Don’t do me any favors.” But she felt a small smile curving her lips.
She liked bantering with him.
Which scared her probably more than it should.
Determined to lead with her head, not her heart, she took a deep breath, tossed back the pill and swallowed it down with water.
CHAPTER NINE
AS THE MINUTES wore on, a need for the restroom broke through Liyah’s consuming thoughts.
Loathe to interrupt Sayed in his furious typing on the computer he’d pulled out, she tried to ignore the growing urgency.
She grabbed a magazine from the pocket to the side of her chair and laid it on the table, hoping the glossy stories about other people’s lives would keep her mind occupied and off her biological needs. She flipped through the pages, nothing catching her attention.
Shifting slightly from one side to the other helped, but pretty soon she was going to have to ask Sayed to move.
Suddenly, he stopped typing and leaned toward her. “Are you all right, habibti?”
“Yes, I just, um…” Liyah wasn’t just repressed about sex, but found talking about any private bodily functions a trial.
Which was ridiculous, she realized. She was an adult woman, for goodness’ sake.
“You should have told me you were a virgin.” Sayed frowned at her. “I could have shown more restraint with you last night.”
“Are you trying to undo a lifetime of repression in a single day, or something?” If asking him to move so she could use the restroom would have been embarrassing, this was mortifying. “I’m fine.”
