The Sheikh's Contract Fiancee (Almasi Sheikhs 1)
Page 35
His father muttered to himself as he clicked around, navigating to the contract. Annabelle tried to bite back her smile as she watched Imaad; the way he stood up to his father made her fall for him even further, if that were possible. After a few more minutes and a lot of backspacing, the printer churned out a document. Imaad’s father slid it over the desktop, looking over the rim of his glasses at his son.
“For your review.”
Imaad passed it to Annabelle first. She received it hesitantly, flipping to the third page where the marriage clause had been. All instances of the arranged marriage had been removed. It only contained agreements about the corporate merger.
“This looks great,” Annabelle said. Imaad found a pen for her to sign. She scribbled her name on the last page, followed by Imaad’s father. A heavy silence settled in the room, Imaad’s dark eyes glittering with a secret.
“Now that that’s settled…what do you think?” Imaad’s hand went to his pocket. “Do you want to get married?”
She gasped as he revealed a ring box. Inside sat a glittering beast of a diamond, one that very well might require two fingers to prop up. Too stunned to respond, all she could do was stare and sputter.
His father grinned behind him, shaking his head.
“Annabelle.” Imaad looked up at her, his boyish smile undoing her. Tears came to her eyes, and she nodded as hard as she could, already knowing the ring would look perfect on her, and go with every outfit she owned.
“Yes, I will.”
“But I haven’t even asked you yet.” Imaad laughed, his voice hoarse. “I haven’t even gotten to the part about how this is your choice.”
“I’m saying yes to whatever you want. Because I want you.” She threw her arms around his neck and collapsed into his arms, nearly knocking him over. Her body shook with his laughter, and he held her so tightly that they nearly became one.
“I want you to be my wife,” he whispered into her ear. “Exactly the way we are. Exactly the way we want it. Exactly because we choose it.”
“Yeah. I totally say yes to that.” She laughed, wiping at her eyes, and then pressed her lips to his so hard that she saw the salt desert stars.