Page 75 of To Tango, with Desire

“That what? It’s somehow less important? Let me be clear.” His tone grew serious. “This may have been an arranged marriage of sorts, but it is in every way real and I expect you to treat it as such. I’m all in. I expect you to be the same. I’m not just ticking the days off until our year-long agreement is over. I meant what I said. I want a wife. I want a marriage. So you need to be on board with this.”

“Okay, but this is going to take some time for me to adjust to, Zane. My work is important.”

“I know that.”

“And I’ve orders to process that I can’t just drop.”

“Perhaps we need to communicate with one another then, so we’re both in alignment.”

“That sounds fair.” When his phone rang, I motioned to it with my finger. “Aren’t you going to get that?”

He glanced at it then shrugged. “I know who it is.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s a private matter.”

“Private?”

“Personal,” he corrected.

I leaned forward. “You’re kidding me, right? One minute ago, you’re lecturing me on how this is a real marriage and we should communicate better, but when it comes to you, you’re allowed to keep things private?”

He toyed with the edge of his phone case, conceding to my point. “It’s Omar’s lawyers.”

“So, why don’t you answer it?”

He shook his head. “They want to talk to me about his will.”

“And?”

“I don’t care about Omar’s will. He’s left the lion’s share to Kade, as is his right, and whatever it is he left to me, I don’t want or need.” His eyes flashed with pain. But no sooner was it there than it disappeared. It was like he couldn’t allow himself to feel, cutting off any emotion before it took hold.

Maryam’s advice circled around my head.

“You miss him.” I reached out to touch his hand, but he pulled away. I tried not to be hurt by his response, as it was day one of our marriage after all. I didn’t expect the guy to suddenly have a change in personality. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone like that, and I know it’s hard to face that pain. But it might help to hear what the lawyers have to say.”

Zane stood. “If I wanted your advice, I’d ask for it.”

I stared up at him, refusing to be hurt. “And if you want to be married to me, then you’ll sit back down and listen. I’m only trying to help you out.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and to my surprise, he did.

“I know that.”

“And if you think that I’m going to treat this as a real marriage but not talk about my feelings or yours, then you’re sorely mistaken. I don’t need a blow by blow of every minute of the day—”

“Right now, I’m feeling chastised.”

“Smart ass. I need you to make an effort, too.”

“Fair. I need you to accept that I have things I don’t want to talk about.”

“Yet.”

“Ya Allah, it’s day one and you’re already driving me insane.”

I grinned, batting my lashes at him. 364 more days of this and he’d be begging me for a divorce. The thought left a weird feeling between my shoulder blades, a discomfort that I hadn’t expected.