The Sheikh's Virgin Bride(25)

After she drank a glass of juice, she eyed me curiously. “Is there anything else I should know about my wedding?”

“It will be a huge, pompous affair and we’ll have to suffer the company of the members of the supreme council.” I leaned in. “Although, word on the street is that the groom is extremely, overwhelmingly handsome.”

She gave me a half-smile. “Oh, really?”

I nodded solemnly. “Yes. They say women across the country have been known to faint at the sight of him, so husbands have to keep their wives locked up for their own safety.”

At this, she laughed outright, before raising a challenging brow.

“I’ve heard that the bride is the funniest, most wonderful woman for miles around. And…” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “The last virgin in New York City.”

I assumed a shocked horrified expression. “No.”

Our laughter started just as the first course was set down. The soup was so good that we finished it in a matter of moments with loud, eager slurps. As soon as we were both done, Lacie shot me a cautious look.

“And you will let me visit my parents, and my parents can visit here, right?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

She shrugged awkwardly, looking away. “Oh, I don’t know.”

“Lacie, where did you get that idea?”

Biting her lip, she looked back up at me shyly. “Idris. He seemed to think that your family was conniving and untrustworthy and—”

“You believed him?”

She pulled her hand away from mine and shot me a defiant glare. “Do you think I would’ve gone with you, come here, if I had?”

My fingers entwined with hers once more, and I lifted her chin so that she had to look at me as she answered.

“Then why even ask?”

Even face to face with me, she still managed to avoid my gaze. “I don’t know, I… My parents really mean a lot to me, Rashid.”

“As do mine. So?”

“Well, they don’t approve of this, of us. My mom, especially. She thinks I’m making a mistake.”

I released her chin, and absently toyed with the flowers on the table, twirling the small vase around. “And what do you think?”

“I think I don’t know yet.”

My hand froze, and my heart fell, but she wasn’t finished yet.

“All I know is that this—when I’m with you—it feels right.”

“Lacie,” I breathed, just as the second course was being set down. It was delicious—clams, a whole little pyramid of them—but I just felt like shooing away the gangly sapling of a waiter so he would stop distracting me from the only thing I had eyes for, for the girl I could hardly stop myself from kissing right then and there. Lacie.

We ate the clam pyramid with relish, forking out the delicious morsels one after another, feeding each other every so often. Once we were done, she set her fork carefully down.

“He offered me money, you know.”

“What?”

“And that’s not all. Idris told me you lied about how much you’d give me, that he could give me twice as much and all I had to do was go away and stay away.”

At my flabbergasted stare, she gave a flustered frown.

“I didn’t accept, of course.”

“He was telling the truth, you know. He would have paid you handsomely to leave and never come back.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s just…” She picked up the fork, then set it down.

“It’s not just you who never thought you’d feel this way, Rashid.”

And then, of course, the waiter, destroyer of perfect moments, decided to set down two small plates of tangerine and kale salad. We ate in a smiling silence, catching each other looking every few bites.

When she stuck her tongue out at me, I snapped my mouth onto half the slice of tangerine on her fork. She bit down on the other side. There, eyes locked, I nibbled closer, as did she. Then, our lips were locked and she tasted like tangerine and something sweeter than words. When we broke away, I was practically panting.

And so, I leaned in for another kiss, and along came the waiter.

“Are you enjoying your food?”

I turned to glare at him, then I saw the look on his face. His adoring gaze was on Lacie, his smile matched with her sweetly upturned lips. I sighed. No, I couldn’t fault the man for being drawn to this beautiful woman as much as I was.

“Yes, thank you. We’re ready for the fourth course when the kitchen is,” Lacie said.

At her answer, the man lingered for a moment before leaving. Catching my look, Lacie eyed me quizzically.

“What?”

“You really have no idea, do you?”

Now, her expression grew even more confused.

“No idea…?”

“Just how beautiful you are.”

She groaned and her face turned pink. “Rashid. Cut it out.”

I shook my head.

“No, I won’t cut it out. Because it’s the truth. When I’m around you, Lacie, I can’t concentrate on anything else. I can’t take my eyes off you, with your mischievous little half-smile, your embarrassed blush, the way you flutter your lashes when you’re flustered or excited.”

Her poor face was so red that I took her hand and kissed it. She did the same to mine, and then the fourth course was put down. This was glistening duck coated in a minted yogurt sauce.