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“Jada!” Her father opened the door and smile. “You have grown into quite the woman.”
“It has been four years since you’ve last seen me,” she said wryly, but she bowed her head.
Her father frowned. “I see Europe has done anything about your attitude,” but there was no heat behind his words. Jada knew that her father cared not what she said or did. Saddened that he had no sons, he’d prepared the way for her to marry wealthy and powerful, and his only concern was that she be beautiful so that she was acceptable.
He got her wish. Somewhere during puberty, Jada had she’d her awkward exterior and blossomed. Many had asked for her hand in marriage, and her father had shut down every one. Jada was his ticked to Kamal. She would marry and give him the son that he never had.
It wasn’t that her father was ever cruel to her. He gave her whatever she wanted and needed. Jada was abused, but she was ignored. With a mother and without the observing eyes of her father, Jada had turned to books, and they had been dangerous indeed.
While her head was full of ideas, they would do nothing for her now. She would be the Sheikh’s wife, and there was nothing she could do about it. “I apologize, Father. I am grateful to be home,” she murmured.
“That’s my girl. I’ll have your bags brought it, but before you get settled, I’ll need you to go out again. There’s a party that you must attend, and I need you to be properly dressed. This will be an important night for you Jada, so choose your dress wisely.” Her father nodded to a few men who rushed forward to unpack the truck.
Jada sighed. The flight had been a long one, and the last thing she wanted to do was go shopping. But her father had spoken, and the shops would be closing in a few hours. She wanted to point that she had plenty of dresses she could wear, but she knew her father needed to see her in something brand new.
“In fact, buy a few so I can make a final decision,” her father said absently as he handed her a card. “Something in green to bring out your eyes.”
Shopping and parties. Her father believed she’d be good for nothing else. How was she supposed to capture Kamal’s heart with these traits? Of course, he was probably raised to believe that these were the virtues of a woman. If she wanted this union to be successful, if she wanted any type of freedoms during her wedding, she would have to embrace the stereotype.
She might as well start now. Taking her father’s card, she bowed her head. “Of course. I’m sure I’ll find something that will please you and the guests of the party.”
Her father’s eyebrows shot up at her demure words, and she smiled in satisfaction. “That’s a good girl,” he muttered, but he was clearly troubled. Maybe he thought she was up to something.
Good. It was always good to keep her father on his toes.
Chapter Two
She kissed him on the nose as he tried to look over his books, and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her on top of him. “Kamal!” she laughed as she squirmed away. “We’re supposed to be studying.”
“Could have fooled me. You were the one that kissed me first,” he teased with a smile.
“Professor Harrison is going to kill me if I don’t finish grading these papers. I had no idea that undergraduate students were so boring,” she complained as she shuffled through her papers.
“Two years ago, we were undergraduate students,” Kamal pointed out.
“We’ve grown much in those two years,” she said with a solemn face. Then she broke out in a fit of giggles and tossed her head back. Kamal felt his heart skip a beat as the sun streaked through her beautiful red hair. She was the most stunning woman in the world. No one could compare to her beauty.
“Sara, I love you,” he said suddenly.
She turned her face and blinked in surprise. “Kamal,” she breathed. “Really? You have to say that now?”
“When should I say it?”
“You should say it when things are more romantic. Over a candle-lit dinner or in front of a roaring fire. You should say in when you can wrap you arms around me and murmur it in my ear.”
Leaning over, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and ran his fingertips softly down her cheek. “I have to say it when I feel it, my sweet Sara. There is no other way.”
She pulled back, but he could see the smile on her face. “Well. Instead of enjoying this romantic moment, I have to grade papers, and you have to study. So you’re just going have to stow that romantic moment until a more opportune time.”
Sara turned her attentions to her papers, but he could see the glow of bliss on her face. She was pleased. And that was all he truly wanted.
His heart ached as he buttoned his engraved cufflinks. Tonight would no doubt change his life completely, and everything he had dreamed about would slip between his fingers. He’d known long ago that he couldn’t have Sara. Kamal thought he’d come to terms with the fact that he’d never see her again, but as he imagined how tonight would go, he realized that he still ached for the girl he’d given his heart to.
Jada had been a gangly and awkward little thing when they were growing up. In a world where women were meant to be submissive, Jada was always loud spoken and annoying. He was often relieved by her outbursts. Even as a boy, he knew that an arrangement would be made for his marriage. The continuation of the Sheikh line would only be put in the hands of the perfect woman, and Jada was hardly that. Still, if she was back and his parents were making such a big deal about it, he knew that could only mean one thing.
Tonight, he would inspect her. His parents would ask for his opinion, but it wouldn’t really matter. By the end of the discussion, he would be required to meet her father and ask for her hand in marriage. No doubt they would expect him to do it before the end of the party.
Kamal’s mother was probably already planning the wedding.
