Her own lips trembled. “Oh, I noticed.”
Their eyes locked across the table. As they faced each other, alone in the desert, the full moon had just lifted above the horizon. The world seemed suspended in time.
“But why me?” she choked out. “You could kiss any woman you wanted. And we both agreed I’m not your type….”
Tilting his head, Kasimir looked at her. “You keep talking about my type. What is my type?”
She looked down at her plate, which had been filled with enough tajine and bread for your average Moroccan lumberjack. It was now empty—and just a moment ago, she’d been considering going back for seconds. She bit her lip. “She’s thin and fit. She spends hours at the gym and rarely eats anything at all.”
He gave a slow nod. “Go on.”
Josie looked down at her linen trousers and plain cotton blouse that had felt so good, but now seemed dowdy and dumpy. “She’s very glamorous. She wears tight red dresses and six-inch stiletto heels.” She ran a
hand over her ponytail. “She has her hair styled every single day in a top salon.” She pressed her bare lips together. “And she wears makeup. Black eyeliner and red lipstick.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Yes. Even when I wake up beside her in bed, her lipstick is perfectly applied.”
“What, you mean when you wake up in the morning?” Josie blinked, pulled out of her reverie. “How is that even possible? Do magic makeup fairies put lipstick on her in the middle of the night or something?”
He lifted a dark eyebrow. “Obviously, she gets up early, to freshen up her makeup and hair before I wake up.”
Josie dropped her fork with a clang against her plate. “Sheesh! What a waste of time!” She thought of how much she loved sleeping in on mornings she didn’t have to work. And if she happened to be sharing a bed with a man—a man like Kasimir—there surely would be better ways to wake up. Not that she would know. Her cheeks flared with heat as she pushed away the thought. She scowled, folding her arms. “You would never know the flaws of a woman like that. So long as she’s wearing lots of lipstick and a tight red dress, you don’t really know her at all.”
Kasimir stared at her in the moonlight.
“You’re right,” he said softly. “And that’s why I want you.”
Josie dropped her folded arms. “What?”
“More than I’ve ever wanted any woman.” He sat forward in his chair, his eyes intense. “I know your flaws. They’re part of what makes you so beautiful.”
She swallowed, looking down as she mumbled, “I’m dowdy and frumpy.”
“You don’t need sexy clothes for your natural, effortless beauty.”
“I’m a klutz.” She looked down at her empty plate, feeling depressed. “And I eat too much.”
“You eat the exact right amount for your perfect body.”
“My what?” She gasped out a laugh, even as her throat ached with pain. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I’m chubby.”
“Chubby?” He shook his head. “You drove me insane in your wedding dress. You taunted me in that sliver of white lace, teasing me with little flashes of your breasts and thighs until I thought I’d go mad.” Standing up, he walked around the table. “You have the type of figure that men dream about,” he said quietly. “And if you haven’t noticed, I’m a man.”
Kasimir stood over her now, so close their bodies almost touched. Her body sizzled as her lips parted.
“But I’m plain,” she whispered. “I’m naive and silly. I blurt out things no one cares about.”
He knelt beside her chair. “Your beauty doesn’t come from a jar.” He took her hand gently in his own. “It comes from your heart.”
His palm and fingertips were warm and rough against hers. And Josie suddenly realized that he wasn’t just being courteous. He wasn’t trying to give compliments to an honored guest. He wasn’t even flirting, not really.
He actually believed what he was saying to her.
A lump rose in her throat. How she’d longed to hear those words from someone, anyone, let alone a devastatingly handsome man like Kasimir….
But she couldn’t let herself fall for it. Couldn’t. She swallowed. Her voice was hoarse as she said, “I’m nothing special.”
“Are you joking?” His hand tightened over hers. “How many women would have spent their last money to cross an ocean—and agree to marry a man like me—just to save an older sister who’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself?”