The Sheikh’s Sham Engagement (The Safar Sheikhs 3)

She blinked, hardly able to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Oh, I don’t know Nasser, why don’t you check your phone to see exactly where I already spelled all this out for you, days in advance?”

His mouth thinned to a line. “I don’t have time for your stupid fucking calendar. And I don’t have time for whatever you’re planning here. You think you can just change my room without even asking me?”

Her mouth parted, and all she could do was stare up at him. God, this was supposed to be a fun surprise. Not an earth-shattering devastation.

“I thought we were both going to be living here,” she said. “With a new baby. I thought we were going to be married and, I don’t know, living together for the rest of our lives?”

Nasser’s laugh was so bitter it made her want to crumble.

“Oh, sorry. I got that ‘for the rest of our lives’ part wrong, didn’t I?” she said, resting her hands on her hips.

“Do I have to remind you,” Nasser spat, “that this engagement is fake so you can stay a few extra months for the school?”

His words came down on her like a sledgehammer. She couldn’t even find the words to respond. The contractor came out of the guest room a moment later, and they both whipped around to face him. Willow gave her best attempt at a smile, but it wavered at the edges.

“I think what I’d like to do,” the contractor said, “is draw up two plans. One where we don’t touch the extra room, and one where we use all the space we need.”

Willow nodded hard, swallowed the knot in her throat. “Very good.”

“Since you already sent me the blueprints, I think I can have something drawn up by the end of the week.”

“Great.” Her voice wavered now. She was a half second away from losing her shit entirely. “Thanks for coming out.”

Nasser offered his hand, and the contractor took his leave. She watched him go. Nasser stormed into the bedroom, and she reluctantly followed.

Willow slammed the bedroom door shut behind her. Nasser was by the back window, palm pressed to the frame.

“Is this seriously still a fake arrangement to you?” she demanded.

He answered without turning toward her. “Of course it is. I’m helping you out.”

“Even while I’m pregnant with your baby?”

“The baby is a different matter,” Nasser said, his voice low and threatening.

“No. It’s all the same matter. Which is that I love you and I want to be with you and you’re the father of my baby.”

Nasser was quiet for a long time. So long that the silence grew deafening and Willow couldn’t hear anything except the hammering of her heart.

But it was that silence that told her everything she needed to know. He didn’t return the words. He didn’t love her. This fun, whimsical romance had been a nice run. But it wasn’t meant to last.

Whatever had killed them the first time would get them again.

“If you want this to be fake, then fine,” she said, her heart breaking as she said the words. She headed for the closet, where her clothes were stored. Where all of her things had been unpacked for weeks. This was basically her home now—how could he not see that? “I’ll just do my job, and once that’s done, we’ll divorce and I’ll leave. I’ll see you at the wedding.”

“Good,” Nasser said, sniffing.

She ground her teeth a

s she packed her things in the closet, her chest so tight she thought she might snap in two. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she grabbed for things with blurry vision, unsure if she was packing her things or his.

“I just don’t understand what’s wrong with you,” she finally said, her voice breaking as she came out of the closet. Nasser was still stony faced and staring out at the gardens.

“The same goes for you,” he spat, dragging his heated gaze to her. “It doesn’t matter how good things are between us. One of us will run away eventually.”

His words left her befuddled and angrier than ever. She stormed back into the closet and packed even faster. This about-face was infuriating, but if he could treat her like that—while she carried his child, no less—then she wanted nothing to do with him. She’d find someone else down the road. She didn’t need to be with him. All she wanted right now was to finish this project and have a healthy pregnancy. The rest would figure itself out later.

Willow kept her mouth clamped shut as she packed, gathering the essentials that she could see through her teary eyes. When she stomped out of the room, her rolling suitcase click-clicking behind her, Nasser didn’t even try to stop her.