The Sheikh’s Instant Family (The Safar Sheikhs 2)

“I get more of you here. We get lazy mornings like this.”

“You’re not workin

g,” Amad pointed out. “That’s half the schedule conflicts gone.”

“True,” Vanessa said with a sigh. It hadn’t been hard to resign from her serving job. She hated it, even though she’d been waiting tables for the past three months, since the last boutique she managed had unexpectedly closed. Finding jobs in Vegas recently had been tricky, at least at the high level she’d worked her way up to. She didn’t exactly know what came after this trip, but she’d figure something out. Quitting her job for a chance to travel to Amatbah was worth it. Even more with their baby on the way.

“And truthfully,” Vanessa added, “I’m not sad to be off work right now. I keep thinking about how much my stomach would turn if I had to smell that lobster queso dip we served. Yuuuck.”

Amad laughed into her shoulder. “But it’s such a good dip.”

“Not in the first trimester.”

Amad drew lazy patterns over her lower belly. “It’s better for you to be off work. You’re pregnant. You’re growing life. You need to kick back and focus on that.”

Something in his words irritated her, but she couldn’t figure out what. He was being sweet. He was being helpful. He was being the doting partner that life had proven didn’t exist in her world.

Vanessa sighed, rolling onto her side. She didn’t want to nitpick his niceness. She should enjoy it while it lasted. But it was hard to be reliant on him. So far away from home, no money coming in, no job to return to. She’d agreed to this, yes—but it chafed at her desperate desire to be independent. To prove that she needed no one except herself.

“When we get back to Vegas, I’ll find a low-key part-time job,” she finally said.

“Or,” Amad said, kissing the dip of her waist, “You could stay here and relax and be waited on hand and foot.”

He pinched her side before rolling out of bed, sending her a smile as if his offer sealed the deal. She tried to conjure the same sort of excitement about the idea, but it wouldn’t come. Kicking back and being waited on hand and foot sounded a lot like her mother’s dream life. And Vanessa wanted to distance herself from that life path as much as possible. If her mother could see her life in Amatbah and think, “Great, she finally listened to me,” then Vanessa had failed.

“Let’s just see how I like it first, okay?” She tried to keep her tone light as she rolled out of bed. The two of them took their time getting dressed in adjacent walk-in closets, trading jokes and comments as they prepared themselves for the day.

Amad escorted her through the palace to meet Calla in the sitting room, where they’d agreed to meet for tea. She was surrounded by her gaggle of tribal ladies, just like yesterday. The room was full of chatter and laughter as Vanessa joined in. A chorus of hello’s erupted through the room. Vanessa relaxed immediately at the sight of Calla’s bright smile. They were friends already, she knew.

“Come join us,” Vanessa said, reaching for Amad’s hand.

“Oh, no. I can’t.” He tutted, squeezing Vanessa’s wrist. “I have something to take care of right now anyway.”

“Oh?” Vanessa quirked a brow.

“A meeting with the tribe. It’s nothing you need to worry about.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now have fun with your new friends.”

Vanessa smiled up at him, her heart swelling to near bursting. This was the sort of thing she could get used to, even though every inch of her railed against it. “I’ll see you later.”

“We’ll take care of her!” Calla promised as Amad waved and left the room. Vanessa took her seat on a plush chair at Calla’s side. “Where is he off to?”

“Some meeting,” Vanessa said. “I don’t know really.”

“Amad is such the business caretaker in this family,” Calla said as the other ladies took their seats at the low, oval coffee table in the center of the room. A handwoven maroon and burnt yellow rug covered the tiled floor, the stitches there snagging Vanessa’s attention.

“He’s very busy. I don’t usually know with what, though,” she confessed, laughing slightly.

“I can assure you, it’s something to do with the tribe! It always is.” Calla leaned back to receive a mug of steaming tea that a palace employee brought out. Each woman received a mug, and soon the conversation turned toward Calla’s fashion line.

“Amad told me a little bit about your Fashion Week debut last year,” Vanessa said as she blew on the steaming tea in her mug. “It sounds like it was amazing.”

“Fatim’s surprise appearance in the show is definitely something we’ll be doing from here on out,” Calla said with a laugh. “Honestly, it mobilized the entire country. I never expected a fashion line would bring so much opportunity to Amatbah. But here we are.”

“So what exactly is the plan going forward?” Vanessa asked, a little embarrassed that she didn’t know more when her very own husband was helping orchestrate the "more.”

“Amad is working on opening up distribution channels to the entire world. My fashion line will clothe our country, but the plan is that the clothing will be available to the world at large, as well. We’ve been producing a great amount thus far, mostly to stock the local boutiques and shops here in Amatbah’s capital. But we’re preparing to ramp up production once the international orders come in. And that’s where the real work begins.”

“How exciting!” Vanessa took another sip of her ginger tea before continuing. “You know, I still have a lot of contacts from my time with the boutiques in Las Vegas. I’m sure I could help find some interested buyers.”