The Sheikh's Virgin Bride(99)
“And you help them. That’s nice of you.”
I shrugged.
“I don’t come here to consider myself a good citizen, giving back, and all that. I do it for myself.”
In spite of herself, Lucy chuckled.
“Always honest to a fault, Khabib.”
I tapped the tip of her nose.
“Don’t pretend you don’t like it.”
The grin encroaching on Lucy’s face froze, then she turned away. I took the pink rake and brought some sand over for Abigail, too.
“I do this because I’m helping kids like I used to be. Kids who are bullied, who have it tough. Although my experience was very different, of course, I think it’s good for them to have someone who understands—at least a little—what they’re going through. And to tell them it gets better.”
Lucy nodded, still avoiding my gaze.
“You’re right.”
The sand tower now finished, Abigail took one admiring look at it before smacking the entire thing over. Taking one look at our shocked faces, she threw her little head back and laughed. As she flounced off, Lucy shot me a curious look.
“And Abigail? Do you understand her?”
I shook my head in a very certain “no”.
“Never will I presume to comprehend the intricacies of the female mind.”
We chuckled together.
“Though, seriously, I think she’s like a lot of us. She’s worried about losing something that’s important to her, so she sabotages it before anyone else can.”
Lucy’s gaze was on the toppled-over sand structure.
“Maybe she doesn’t know what she wants. Maybe she needs time.”
“Time and space are different things.”
Lucy’s gaze met mine just as a bell went off. I stood up and offered her a hand, which she took, rising.
“Wow, time really flew. The bell’s for the first shift. We’re done with this, now.”
Lucy almost looked disappointed.
“But you and I aren’t done, done, yet.”
As we left the building, waving goodbye to our group, Lucy turned to me.
“I don’t know if I want to do anything else, Khabib.”
“And why not?”
Now, her face looked actually pained, as if she could hardly bear to look at me.
“I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“What? What have I ever done to make you not trust me?”
“Nothing, it’s just…your reputation and…the other day. A woman approached me. One you’d been seeing, before. She warned me about you.”
Anger flared in me, though I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Leona. Brunette with bugged-out blue eyes, yeah?”
Lucy nodded sadly.
“So it was true, then? What she said.”
My hands were clenched into fists. I unclenched them and shook my head.
“Yes. No. It was true about her, about lots of them. Lucy, I don’t know what to tell you, or how to explain it. What happened to me, what’s been happening to me—why I was with so many women, how I went on, uncaring for so long. I don’t know why you’re different, but you are.”
Now, I was clasping her hands, pleading to her.
“You have to believe me, Lucy. I…look—”
I took out my phone and showed it to her, the barrage of texts unanswered these past few weeks. All women I’d seen, that I was no longer seeing.
Lucy nodded, then grinned.
“I knew it.”
I poked her.
“Oh, really?”
She shrugged.
“Kinda.”
We laughed together, and then I said, “So, can we continue on to part two, then?”
She sighed.
“Khabib, you said…”
I shrugged.
“I lied.”
As her face fell, I continued, “What if I’m asking for a friend?”
Now, Lucy’s face grew suspicious.
“Oh, really?”
I nodded and assumed a serious expression.
“Bruno has been very lonely, for a long time. He needs a doggie friend.”
A pause, then Lucy burst out laughing.
“Bruno’s suffering from only having plants to talk to, eh?”
I shrugged.
“What can you do? A fat little wiener dog has his needs for companionship, and I, of course, can only satisfy some of his conversational needs. Unfortunately, I cannot relate to his enjoyment of dog treats or pastime of chasing squirrels on my balcony.”
Now, Lucy was scrutinizing me, her hands on her hips.
“You’re a sneaky devil, you know that, Khabib?”
I shrugged again.
“What can I say? I do what I do best—make deals, compromises. I’m a closer, Lucy, always remember that. I close.”
Now, her face had grown pensive.
“Yes, that’s what I’m worried about.”
By now, we had made it to my car. So, opening the door, I swept her inside.
“Well, you didn’t say no.”
And then, we were in my car, driving back to my place. At my penthouse, Lucy waited in the car.
“You can go get Bruno. I’ll wait here.”
“But I thought…”