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I couldn’t hold back my smirk. He had to know what he was getting into, me being a librarian and all. “Isn’t a concubinenota wife?”
“We’ll work it out,” he assured me, tickling my side. “I know there are many things to settle. Jobs, homes, proposals…but together, we can attack them all and conquer. Truly, if neither of us ever wanted to work again, we wouldn’t need to.”
“I want to work. I love being a librarian.”
“And I prefer to be busy with an occupation, as well,” he told me. He kissed my forehead, then my nose, then brushed those lips against my mouth over and over. “Together, we will make everything work out.”
“Together,” I agreed. We loved each other, and with that love and the support of our family, I knew everything would work out.
Epilogue
~ Sariah ~
Five Years Later
“Tarek, we’re going to be late!” I called.
Walking down the hallway of our house, located on a hill overlooking the ocean, I searched for my husband. Today was the start of the annual family reunion, and his family was in town for it, too. He’d taken the week off from his job—still working for the oil conglomerate as COO and being their American connection. Zayn and Nessa, his wife, were here a lot for meetings, and unfortunately, on the other hand, Tarek had to travel over there for one week a month. We made it work. Sometimes compromises had to be made, and this one was ours.
I hadn’t needed to compromise with my career, though. The Sizzle Beach library had an opening shortly after I’d moved here, and now I was in charge of the children’s programming. My brother-in-law, Hadrian—yes, brother-in-law—had gotten brought in as the director of the place, so I was right back to old times. He hadn’t given me trouble about this week’s vacation, however. My sister probably would have made him sleep on the couch for the duration, if he had.
Looking out the window, I could see the place where my family and I were supposed to be in about five minutes, but Tarek, the two tween boys we’d adopted four years ago and our two toddlers were missing.
I suspected I knew where they were.
Following the sound of yells and groans, I walked into the family room, where I found the youngest kids asleep on the couch in their swimsuits while Tarek and the older boys engaged in a battle royale via a virtual reality video game. The three of them wore the VR masks and swung around controllers in their hands.
Pressing my lips together, I pulled out my phone to take pictures and some video of their wild flailing. Memories for when they were older.
“Uh, guys,” I said a few minutes later. “We’re going to be late.”
Tarek whipped off his mask, and immediately, one of the boys struck him down on screen.
“Hey!” my husband protested.
“You snooze you lose, loser—um, I mean, dad.”
“Can we go now?” I asked.
Tarek came over and tugged me into his arms, twirling me around. We had the best life, and he’d held true to all his promises. He gave me everything he’d vowed—not that I needed anything materially. It was family, devotion and love that filled my soul.
“We can do whatever you want,” he said.
I buried my hands in his hair. “I love you. What I really want will have to wait until later.”
His brow lifted, and his mouth curved into a sexy smirk. As he held me close, I felt that wasn’t his only reaction. He leaned in. “I love you, too. Forever.”
“Ew!” the kids chorused as he kissed me, but we ignored them. This was chaos and triumph and happily ever after. They’d learn. They’d find their special place in the world, too, just like we had. And if they were lucky, Sizzle Beach magic would take care of the rest.
