Page 17 of Hired Husband

So I kept walking, covering less than a mile in a whole hour, but eventually, the scent of breads, grilling meat, spices, vegetables, and God only knew what else reminded me that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. But that wasn’t a problem here.

There were little cafes and restaurants absolutely everywhere. I sat down under the broad awning outside the next corner cafe I passed, barely pulling up a chair before a waiter appeared. He grinned and offered me a menu. I took it, smiling, but then he pulled out a notepad and started explaining what I could only assume was their specials. Unfortunately, he was doing it in rapid Arabic, so I didn’t have a clue what he was saying.

“I’m sorry, man. I⁠—”

His grin widened. “Ah. American.”

I nodded, surprised when he snatched the menu back and hurried inside, returning moments later with a different menu as well as a tiny cup of coffee. “This one English. I come back.”

Once he was gone again, but only after sending me another excited grin, I glanced down at the new menu, relieved to see that he’d been right. This one was all English, written in an alphabet that made sense and mercifully even offering a short description of each dish.

It looks like I chose the right restaurant for my first dinner in my new neighborhood.

Pretty eager for the adventure of ordering my first meal, I started skimming through the appetizers, but before I’d even made it to the mains, the chair across from me was yanked out and someone dropped into it without asking for permission.

It was Jasmine. I didn’t know how she’d found me, but she carried an energy—and a scent—that was unmistakable. I exhaled a slow breath before I lifted my gaze to hers, once again needing a minute to steady myself at the sight of her.

This girl was seriously bad for my health. I swear, one of these days, I really am going to have a heart attack caused by the energy she gives off.

Tonight, she wore a white sundress that made her tanned skin look like it was actually glowing in the early evening light. Her long hair was tied up in a messy ponytail right on top of her head. Those famous eyes were lined with dark coal and something shimmery, and maybe it was just the jet lag fucking with my head, but she looked almost… ethereal.

“What are you doing here?” she asked before I could get a word out. “In Cairo, I mean. Not at this restaurant. Just in case you were thinking about trying to be funny.”

She folded her arms on the table. Long, golden feather-shaped earrings dangled from her lobes to frame her face. A multitude of thin golden rings and necklaces adorned her fingers and throat. None of it did anything to make it feel less like she was a princess of old who’d somehow stumbled—or maybe strutted—straight into my life.

“Your father didn’t tell you that he offered me a job?” I asked when I finally managed to speak again.

“No, but my mother did,” she said point blank. “Why did you take it? Why agree to come here at all?”

“Uh, maybe because I wanted to?” I replied, sitting back on my chair and picking up my tiny coffee. “Have you seen the city you live in? It’s amazing. Getting to come here and not just visit, but work, is an incredible opportunity.”

“My father collects talented people like others collect stamps, Isaac,” she said, still holding my gaze like a spy who only had ninety seconds to get their point across before they would disappear into the night. “Now that you’re here, he’ll never let you go.”

I shrugged. “What makes you think I wouldn’t be okay with that?”

“I’m serious.” She huffed out a frustrated breath. “He’ll keep giving you fascinating projects and introducing you to the people who can turn them into reality. Before you even know it, he’ll be this looming presence in your life and you’ll never get out from under him.”

“Basel Saad is already a looming presence in my life, but it isn’t the problem you seem to think it is,” I said slowly. “Neither is constantly being handed fascinating projects. That’s literally the dream, Jasmine.”

“You don’t understand.” She looked so thoroughly exasperated by my lack of concern that it was becoming hard to keep a straight face, but I was touched she seemed to care so much about my fate. “I’m trying to help you here. This is how he operates. He goes all over, recruiting the best of the best in whatever his current area of focus is. Right now, that’s building. Development.”

“Unless you’re saying he’ll fire me once he gets over his current area of focus, I still don’t see the problem.” I smirked. “But thanks for calling me the best of the best. I appreciate that.”

She scoffed. “You really haven’t been listening. He will move on eventually. That’s how GlobalStar became what it is today. He always moves on to the next big thing, but not the teams he put in place or the people he recruited. Every division just keeps growing. Year on year, it becomes bigger, and all those people stay.”

I leaned forward across the table, sliding my fingers together as I held her gaze. “I’ll be honest with you here. Everything you’re saying just makes me happier I took his offer, but if it’ll ease your mind, you should know that I asked Jane for one year. Right now, no one expects me to make a decision until the twelve-month trial period is up, and that includes your father.”

Strangely, she seemed genuinely relieved by that. Her shoulders lowered a little and her expression softened. I smiled, looking right into her eyes and feeling the weirdest draw to slide my hand across the table to cover hers.

“I’ll be okay, Jasmine. Seriously.” My fingers twitched a little on the table, but I managed to keep from reaching for her. “My being here not only gives me the chance to work on some projects the likes of which I never even would have touched back home, but it also helps my family. I don’t know how much you know about our history, but if I’m here, it means neither Colin nor Jane have to be. They can choose when they come and they desperately deserved to have that weight taken off their shoulders.”

“So this was a selfless act?”

“No, but it wasn’t entirely selfish either. That’s why I didn’t fly back with you and your dad when you left Chicago. I told him I needed time to work everything out and he gave it to me.”

Her eyes swept from one of mine to the other, and while I was still starving, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the menu, but I was getting pretty used to that. I always felt this way in her presence, like I was somehow obliged to keep paying attention to her while she still was giving me hers.

Jasmine just had that thing about her that demanded the attention of whatever room she was in, but still. She was pretty argumentative.