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Shaking, Phoebe stepped away from him. She ran a hand through her hair, and focused on the beautiful horses, still standing obediently on the nearby lawn.
“I didn’t know.”
He came to stand behind her, instinctively breathing in the sweet fragrance she wore. It was innocent and happy, like she had been.
“I’m sorry, then, to have betrayed his trust and revealed it to you.”
Her laugh was hollow. “There is nothing you could tell me about Etienne that would make me think less of him.”
Hakim exhaled a long, slow breath. Etienne had been a valuable friend to him. In a flash of insight, though, he realized he wasn’t sure he was ready to jeopardize things with Phoebe by arguing about him now. Hakim told himself there would be time to make her understand Etienne better. To heal their quarrel, whatever it might have been. So he fell back on the one tool at his disposal to silence her doubts and ease her temper.
He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her back to him. “For now, let us leave this subject, Saleena. There is so much more I would like to talk to you about.”
Phoebe relaxed against him. It didn’t make sense, but just the contact of his body was enough to make her want to push everything else from her mind.
“Fine,” she agreed, trying to at least appear a little cross. It was a self-preservation technique.
“You are even more beautiful when you’re angry,” he whispered against her cheek.
Phoebe’s heart was hammering against her chest. Flattery was difficult for her to accept under any circumstances. But especially now, when her heart was craving it so badly, it was impossible. “So, where are these horses taking us?”
He accepted her conversation change. “A surprise.”
Phoebe realized, once she was on the smaller of the two beasts, that she’d missed horse riding. She arranged her long dress so that it flowed easily over her legs, and gripped the reigns with confidence.
“Okay?”
She nodded. “It’s funny. I haven’t been on a horse in a decade, but I feel like I rode just yesterday.” Phoebe leaned forward and nuzzled the horse’s neck.
“Tell me if you need a break.”
She looked at him curiously. “How far are we going?”
“So many questions. Can you not simply follow me?”
“No.” Her eyes shone with meaning. “I am not very good at being told what to do. I like to have all the information before I make a decision.”
He nodded, understanding that she was talking about more than just the ride. His proposal had terrified her. He could see that. But she had very little choice in the matter. Not now that he’d already set the wheels in motion.
“You will learn to trust me.” He eased his horse into motion, moving at a pace that she knew was deliberately steady out of deference to her lesser experience. She moved with him easily, thrilling as the horse seemed to anticipate her commands.
As the light of the sky slowly extinguished, turning the heavens to a squid ink grey, they moved in silence, side by side, the horses cutting a path easily across the desert sands.
A solitary tree rose out of the earth. Enormous, with gnarled branches and chaotic foliage. At its base was a spiky grass bush, and beside that, a blanket, and a lantern.
“A picnic?” She asked, unable to keep the smile from her lips. “Well, well, sir, you have a way of surprising me, I will say that.”
He slanted her an ironic look. “I think we’re beyond ‘sir’ now, don’t you?”
She dismounted from the horse with natural elegance and handed the bridle over to Hakim. He looped the reigns over a branch of the tree, then reached for something from the side of his saddle. Phoebe watched, fascinated, as he busied himself providing carrots and water for the two beautiful animals.
When he turned to face her, he could easily see the confusion on her face.
“What is it?”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “I just didn’t expect you to be so… caring.”
He frowned. “Does it really surprise you that I would care for my animals?”
