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But as guests arrived, heads turned in her direction.
Naomi tried to tell herself that they were all looking at Abe. After all, a lot of the women here tonight had eyes only for him, yet she could not fail to see the slight surprised reactions at his choice of date for the night.
When she had been introduced to, shaken hands with and been air-kissed by more people than she could possibly remember, Abe told her he had to go and speak to someone. ‘I’ll leave you in Khalid’s safe hands.’
Oh, please, don’t, Naomi thought, because she didn’t know if her nerves could take it—Khalid was a sheikh prince.
Except he was completely charming.
Dressed in a long gold robe, he looked both exotic and formidable, yet he was delightful.
‘It is a pleasure to meet you, Naomi.’ His smile was warm and unexpected. ‘I have heard a lot about you.’
‘I’m a good friend of Merida’s,’ she replied, assuming that Merida, or perhaps Ethan, must have mentioned her when they were talking about Ava.
‘Merida?’ he checked. ‘Of course. Abe did say you were from England. Ah, so that is how you and Abe met.’
Naomi nodded.
‘I have to thank you,’ he added.
‘Me?’
‘For pouring oil on trouble waters. I never thought Abe would agree, but—here we are.’
Naomi assumed he had mixed her up with someone, or that she had lost the thread of the conversation, given how hard it was to concentrate. She could feel eyes on her and sometimes she caught the raised hands as people spoke behind them and asked each other who she was.
The women were absolutely stunning and must have taken rather more than a day to prepare for tonight. They reminded Naomi of tiny hummingbirds, and not just because of their elegant clothes and glittering jewels, but from the dainty sips of their drinks.
Naomi realised she had already drained her glass.
Khalid gestured for another.
‘I’d better not,’ Naomi said.
‘Relax,’ Khalid said. ‘Enjoy yourself. You look wonderful.’
‘I’m not used to wearing...’ She didn’t want to go into detail, but the bones of her gorgeous dress were digging in just a little and she kept reaching for a strap that wasn’t there, and wanting to check her cleavage was behaving, but then Khalid made her laugh.
‘I too feel awkward,’ he told her. ‘Usually in New York I wear a suit, not a robe of gold. But it is a national holiday in my country and so it is appropriate that I represent it.’
Naomi doubted he knew what it was to feel awkward, even for a moment, but it was so nice of him to try and put her at ease that Naomi found she did relax and speak more easily. And it was a blessed relief because she did not want to look as if she needed rescuing. The last thing she wanted was to be a drag on Abe tonight.
She certainly wasn’t.
Naomi soon recognised the nurse who had brought Jobe down for the photos with Ava on the day she had arrived in New York, and they chatted.
And then a second before the speeches came a lovely surprise.
‘I knew you’d look stunning...’
‘Felicia!’ Naomi’s smile was genuine and wide, thrilled to see another familiar face. ‘How lovely to see you.’
‘It’s even lovelier to see you. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.’
Naomi frowned but Felicia explained.
‘Abe called and said he wanted to surprise you and could I sort out your dress. I told him about the dress you’d liked and he mentioned how much you’d adored the coat. For my efforts, I got invited to the Devereux ball. Cheers!’
