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"But I have some conditions," she added slowly.
He frowned at her. "Conditions?" he asked.
Grace nodded. "You told me this is going to be a marriage of convenience, didn't you?"
Qazim nodded but didn't say anything. His emotions were churning.
"I'm doing this for the baby, Qazim," Grace said. "You know that, don't you?"
Qazim nodded stiffly. "Of course, I understand," he said. "That's the most important thing, isn't it?"
Grace nodded in agreement. "As far as you and I are concerned," Grace continued. "If this is going to be a marriage of convenience, then I'm sure you understand that we have to have some rules."
"Rules?"
Grace swallowed nervously. "You know why I left you in the first place Qazim, don't you?"
"I know why you did it, Grace," Qazim said evenly.
"This is going to take a long time, Qazim," she said. "I'm going to have to have some time to get used to everything. I know you understand. This is going to be a huge change for me. And living here is going to be the biggest thing I've ever done."
"I understand, Grace" he said. "I'll do everything I can to make it easy for you, you know that, don't you?"
Qazim saw Grace's eyes narrow slightly. There was something else she wanted to say to him. It was obviously proving difficult to find just the right words.
"As far as you and I are concerned," she said. "If this is going to be a marriage of convenience, I think we should agree that there can't be any intimacy between us."
Qazim felt as if someone had hammered him with a vicious, hard blow in the chest. He was sure his face paled.
"No intimacy?" he asked hesitantly. Did she really mean that?
Grace nodded. "None. We'll have separate rooms."
Qazim gasped in spite of himself. "But, that's..." he started to say.
She interrupted him. "That is what I want, Qazim. It will keep things simple between us. For the time being."
"You can't be serious, Grace," he breathed.
Grace nodded firmly. "I'm perfectly serious Qazim," she said. "This is for the baby, so that he or she can have the best possible life. It's going to take me a long time to decide whether I can stay here long-term. In the meantime, I think we should keep our distance."
"What are you talking about!" Qazim demanded. "We can't live separate lives while we're married."
"We can and we must. At the start, at least," she said. She folded her arms and peered at Qazim. "I know you have feelings for me. But this is going to be hard enough, without complicating it all with how we used to feel about each other."
She was talking as if they were already finished. As if the past hadn't happened.
As if they were history just as they were about to agree to marry. Chaotic emotions swirled inside him.
What was she talking about? Did she have any idea of the depth of his feelings for her?
Qazim felt his body tighten. He had more than just casual feelings for this woman, he told himself. Right now, he wanted to go across, sweep her up into his arms and show her exactly how much he felt for. The way he had done last night in the garden.
But, then again, she would probably do exactly what she'd done last night, and pull away from him. That might ruin everything.
"Are you saying you're willing to live with me as my wife and to look after our child, but that is all? Nothing else?"
Even as he said the words, he thought they sounded unbelievable. And, right now, he didn't want to believe her. Couldn't believe her.
