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She raised her gaze to Tahir’s and tried not to be cowed by the penetrating look he levelled on her. ‘Your fifteen minutes is also up. Shall I spin again?’
Without waiting for his answer, she returned to the divan. Until that moment, Lauren had believed herself entirely too pragmatic to rely on luck. But then she found herself tucking one hand into her lap out of view of Tahir’s mocking eyes, and carefully crossing her fingers.
The other reached out, a slight trembling seizing them as she spun the tiny roulette tray to play the game that was turning out to be far more emotionally draining than she’d anticipated. It was why she wished for the fullest time span of the three.
A relieved gasp broke free when she lifted the silk cloth, and her wish was granted.
Golden sand filled the bottom half almost to the brim and she was tempted to stroke it in gratitude. She didn’t because Tahir was joining her, and the tingling in her body was absorbing all of her attention.
He settled himself opposite her, his gaze drifting from her face to the hourglass and back again. ‘You seem relieved. But you forget when it ends I have you for two and a half hours too. You barely withstood the last fifteen minutes.’
I have you...
Lauren suppressed the short burst of intense fire that lit through her belly. They didn’t mean anything. ‘Have at it. I can take whatever you throw at me,’ she responded with much more bravery than her quivering insides indicated.
If she’d expected him to be irritated or chilled by her response, she was to be disappointed. For the first time tonight, Tahir appeared...amused. True, the humour was hard-edged and faintly mocking but—she admitted as her heart lurched—it was both better and worse than what she’d suffered so far.
‘Challenge accepted.’
The deeply intoned words burrowed into her, rousing even more memories. Rousing her from the state of inertia and apathy she seemed to have fallen into recently. She might have been looking directly at Tahir but in her periphery, colours and textures suddenly seemed brighter, more vibrant. The way they had when she’d been with him twelve years ago before it’d all turned to ash.
Which meant what...?
God, she was off her rocker!
Pulling herself away from fanciful thoughts, she reached for the hourglass, inhaled to steady herself, and turned it upside down.
CHAPTER FIVE
TAHIRPREPAREDHIMSELFfor another lengthy plea on behalf of her brother, the distaste in his mouth souring further as anxiety flashed across her face.
For a moment or two in the last fifteen minutes, he’d caught glimpses of the woman he remembered. He despised this new, unflattering, uninspired version—the one brainwashed into believing she wasn’t worthy of the aspirations she’d passionately advocated for. It grated that the women-championing, aspiring humanitarian had meekly accepted the role of a glorified secretary.
He frowned inwardly.
Why was it important? He didn’t...shouldn’tcare about the altered trajectory of her once promising destiny. And yet...
He shifted in his seat, berating himself to move on.
His gaze dropped to the trickling sand, noting that almost a minute had passed. ‘Cat got your tongue?’
She startled, the beginnings of a blush tingeing her cheeks before her gaze darted away. A spark ignited in his groin, triggering another wave of unease. So what if that refreshing reaction still lingered despite the disappointing changes?
He watched her take a long, steady breath, her eyes lingering on the hourglass before rising to his.
‘Tell me about your grandfather.’
It took a few stunned seconds for her left-field, soft-spoken request to penetrate. He stiffened, a frown knotting his forehead. ‘Excuse me?’
The tiniest hint of a smile appeared; the kind that said she knew she’d surprised him. Wariness gripped him as she watched him, irritatingly patient while she awaited his answer. ‘Why?’ he gritted out.
She shrugged. ‘I have some time.’
He cocked an eyebrow. ‘And this is how you wish to spend it?’ Surprise was giving way to another emotion, one he didn’t want to entertain.Warmth.
She couldn’t know his grandfather had been his favourite person in the world, that he’d treasured the days of the year he’d spent with him in the desert. More than that, Tahir needed to harden his heart against the possibility that this was a ploy to soften him up, her ultimate goal still very much in play.
His grim smile made her stiffen.
