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“It’s fine,” she said sleepily.
Fine? He shook his head at the thought. His feet dangled off the edge, and his shoulders were almost too wide for the bed. The mattress was as thin and cheap as the sheets.
It was too dark to see all of Lacey’s bedroom, but he could tell that it was tiny with just a few furnishings. It was nothing like the apartment she had in Rudaynah.
“We should go to my hotel suite,” Hafiz suggested. “It’s more comfortable. Bigger.” Better. He felt Lacey deserved more. How did she wind up here?
“Mmm-hmm.” Lacey made no move to get up.
He slid his hand down and caressed her spine. He felt her shiver of pleasure under his palm. “Do you like Abu Dhabi?” he asked.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Why did you choose to live here?” He had been astounded when he discovered she was still in the UAE. He thought she had gone home. Back to St. Louis. “Did you know someone? Had business contacts?”
“I didn’t know anyone,” she said with a yawn. “But I applied for some jobs, did the necessary paperwork, and I got this one at the hotel.”
“Adventurous of you,” Hafiz said as he cupped the base of her head and held her close. He didn’t like the idea that she was all alone in the world. That there was no one looking out for her. Protecting her.
“You sound surprised,” Lacey said. “May I remind you, I moved to Rudaynah sight unseen? Some people consider that adventurous. My friends thought it was crazy.”
“That was different. You had me to take care of you.”
“I’ve been looking after myself for as long as I can remember.”
“You let me take care of you,” Hafiz said. The words echoed in his mind. She let him. She had given her trust in so many ways, and he took it for granted.
“It wasn’t easy for me,” Lacey admitted as she pressed her mouth against his chest and gave him a kiss. “I didn’t want to be dependent on you.”
Lacey Maxwell wasn’t cut out to be a mistress, Hafiz decided. Most women took the role because they wanted to be taken care of.
“What’s wrong with depending on me?” he asked. “On anyone?”
“I remember what it was like when I had to rely on my parents. They really didn’t want to deal with me.”
His fingers tightened against her. Anger flared inside him as he imagined a young Lacey, ignored and neglected. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.” There was no sadness in her voice. She spoke as if she was giving the facts. “They have not reached out to me once I’ve been on my own. It’s better this way. I know I made the right decision to cut them out of my life.”
A cold chill swept through Hafiz. “You’re the one that walked away?”
“I tried for years to be the daughter they wanted and needed. But I couldn’t earn their love or attention. I walked away and didn’t look back.”
His heart started to race. He had always thought Lacey was tenacious. It was one of her most admirable traits. He had seen her practice a piece of music until she got it right or talk him through a work problem even if it took all night. But even she had limits. “But...they’re your parents.”
“And that’s why it took me so long to walk away. I kept thinking circumstances would change. But they didn’t see any need to change. They weren’t being malicious. They were extremely selfish. It took me years to forgive them, but I’m not trying to make them love me anymore.”
Hafiz couldn’t shake the fear that gripped his chest. He had always felt that Lacey’s love was unconditional. It was the one thing he could count on. Yet Lacey had walked away from the strongest bond a person could have. He thought that once Lacey loved someone, it was forever.
This changed everything.
* * *
“Lacey.” She felt a large hand cupping her shoulder, rousing her out of the best sleep she’d had in a long, long time. “Lacey, wake up.”
She peered through bleary eyes. A whisper of a smile formed on her lips when she saw Hafiz looking down at her. Last night hadn’t been a dream. “Come back to bed,” she mumbled drowsily and patted the mattress next to her.
