Page 89 of Hired Husband

It made something deep down in the recesses of my soul warm right through. I was in full engineering nerd mode and she was still here, still touching me and looking at me like she had plans for us later. It was hot as hell.

Jasmine stayed right next to me for the rest of the tour, even if she did tease me when we finally got back aboard our ship late in the afternoon. “If they had a gift shop, you two would have bought the whole place out.”

“Proudly,” I agreed, grinning as we walked down the corridor to her suite with Zara and Joseph laughing behind us. “Engineers should get complimentary access to all dams. I’m serious. That was awesome.”

“Not only engineers,” Joseph called from behind. “Architects too!”

“Anyone with an interest in the built environment,” I agreed loudly, chuckling as we stopped outside of Jasmine’s door.

None of us mentioned the fact that Joseph and Zara kept heading to her suite or that my fingers were linked with Jasmine’s as she opened the door. They slowed briefly to wave.

Zara smiled and tugged him down the hall. “Are we meeting up for dinner later?”

“Let’s talk at seven,” Jasmine suggested, pulling me into the suite with her without waiting for a response.

When the door swung shut behind us, she stepped into me, her arms sliding around my waist as naturally as if they belonged there. “Well, did you have fun?”

“Are you kidding?” I asked, holding her to me and staring down into her eyes. “You organized a private tour, knowing exactly what that would do to me, and now you’re asking if it was fun?”

“I may have had an inkling, but I’m just making sure.”

I laughed. “That might’ve been the nicest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“I just wanted to see you happy.”

“I don’t think words are going to do it justice. I may have to demonstrate.”

Before she could ask what I meant, I pulled her toward me. Her surprised laughter faded as soon as I kissed her. She melted into me. Her hands slid up to my chest as she kissed me back.

When we finally came up for air, she smiled. “If that was the demonstration of how it made you feel, I understand perfectly.”

I chuckled, but as I held her gaze, for a brief, terrifying moment, the words I love you climbed all the way up my throat. They were right there, a second away from coming out, but then reality crashed back in.

Hard.

There was a plane ticket back to Chicago in my inbox and Basel had plans for Jasmine. So many things waited to tear us apart once this cruise ended, and that was tomorrow.

Mercifully, that realization made the words slip away, and instead, I brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I really did have the best time, baby. Thank you. Again.”

“You are so very welcome,” she murmured, inhaling a deep breath before letting go of me and kicking off her shoes. Padding over to the mini-bar on bare feet, she glanced at me over her shoulder. “A toast to a successful trip?”

When I nodded, she pulled two tiny bottles of champagne out of the fridge and straightened up, handing one over before hooking her fingers around mine once more. She pulled me out to the balcony, popped open her champagne without bothering with a glass, and folded her legs underneath herself as she sank down on one of the loungers.

I took in our last sunset on the Nile with her as the ship prepared to carry us back to our real lives. We managed to put off whatever the future had in store for us for a few more hours, but when I woke up the next morning, I knew immediately that the bed was empty beside me.

For a second, I thought she might already have left and panic nearly overwhelmed me, but when I sat up, I realized the balcony door was slightly open and she was right there, standing with her back to me and her elbows resting on the railing.

Only a few days ago, I’d been standing in that exact spot, convinced both she and Egypt were slipping through my fingers, and now, she was the one quietly watching the riverbank drift past. Fishermen were untying their boats or waving at the ship when it passed, smoke curling from fires being started to cook on every so often.

By this evening, we’d be back in Cairo and the cruise would be over. While I didn’t know exactly what our future held, I did know for an absolute fact that once we set foot in that city, everything would be different.

As I watched her, however, I realized that I was done being a passenger on this ride. There were so many things I didn’t know, but it was time to decide what I wanted.

And what I wanted was her.

If I was going to bet on anything, it wasn’t going to be a job, a city, or even a country. It was going to be Jasmine Saad. Right then and there, I decided that no matter where my career took me, Jasmine was going to be the deciding factor.

I was finished worrying about projects, money, or contacts. She was the most important consideration and the only one I would be using to make my decisions from now on.