Polly grinned at him, the happiness he insisted she had brought him bubbling up through her in receipt of such an impassioned declaration. She definitely loved him and loved him all the more for abandoning his reserve and his formality and his pride to convince her of the sincerity of his feelings for her. ‘I felt that electric shock thing too,’ she told him teasingly. ‘Every time I laid eyes on you, I felt like an infatuated schoolgirl. Why do you think I married you? I married you because I fell in love with you…’
‘Truly?’ Rashad exclaimed in ego-boosting amazement as he sprang upright and stepped back for an instant simply to savour her beautiful glowing face.
‘Truly,’ Polly confirmed with a helpless beaming smile of encouragement.
Rashad scooped her up very, very gently, being mindful of her sore hip, and carried her into their bedroom to lay her down on the bed. He shed his jacket and tie and settled down beside her to ease her fully into his arms. ‘I love you so much, habibti. But I am forbidden to do anything more than hold you close for a few days,’ he admitted in a roughened voice. ‘Yet it is enough to still have that right, believe me.’
Ignoring the hint of soreness from her stiff hip, Polly squirmed round in the circle of his arms to face him. She ran wondering fingers across a high masculine cheekbone and marvelled at the silky black lashes semi-veiling his adoring eyes. ‘I think a kiss is in order…and I’m expecting a real award winner of a kiss,’ she warned him cheekily.
‘I will try to deliver,’ Rashad groaned, gazing down at her clear blue eyes with fervent appreciation. ‘I always try to deliver—’
‘Well, you were pretty nifty in the baby stakes,’ she conceded.
‘Nifty together…’ He nibbled at her full lower lip and she closed her eyes, literally so happy she felt that she should be floating on high, but then she wouldn’t have let go of Rashad for anything because his lean, powerful body felt so very good against hers. And they might be different and he might be much more old-fashioned than he was willing to admit, but she knew that they complemented each other beautifully.
EPILOGUE
‘I CAN’T BELIEVE that after all this time we still haven’t found Gemma.’ Polly sighed and shot a pained glance at her sister, Ellie. ‘I mean, it’s been months and we still know next to nothing about our long-lost sibling!’
‘Well, we know that she had a tough childhood and she has no roots to cling to,’ Ellie argued in a more measured tone. ‘We can also assume that she moves around a lot because we never seem to catch up with her and we know she works in really dead-end jobs. That’s a lot more than we knew about Gemma starting out.’
Polly nodded reluctantly. ‘True…but what if she doesn’t want to know about us?’ she asked worriedly. ‘We’ve advertised in the papers, notified social services that we’re looking, informed everyone who has known her in the past that we want to find her—’
‘We have to be patient,’ Ellie cut in firmly. ‘And that’s not a trait you possess although, heaven knows, you possess everything else.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Polly prompted.
Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Movie-star-handsome King as husband—check. An adoring population who think you can walk on water—check. Constant sunshine overhead, royal palace—check. Loving grandparents—check. An adorable baby son… Yes, I’m talking about you, you little darling!’ She stopped to speak to Karim, who crawled across the rug to his aunt to grab the toy she was extending. ‘I suppose you’re already planning on extending the family?’
Polly flushed. ‘Not just yet. I’d like Karim to be a little older before we try again. I’m not a baby machine, Ellie. I mean, look at you, you don’t even date—’
‘I’m too busy working. Between my shifts and the hospital and the exams I don’t have time for a man. Anyway, most of them are a waste of space,’ her red-headed sister contended. ‘No, I like my life just the way it is. I eat what I like, go where
I like, do as I like and that’s important to me. The minute a man enters the equation, all your choices start disappearing—’
‘And you still have no plans to look into your background?’ Polly pressed.
Ellie sighed. ‘Actually I’m taking a couple of months off once I complete my residency and I’m planning on heading to Italy and doing a little discreet detective work—’
‘Oh, that’s great!’ Polly gushed approvingly. ‘Will you tell me your father’s name now?’
Ellie groaned. ‘The reason I didn’t tell you the name before is that I got given two names—’
Polly’s eyes widened. ‘Two?’
‘Yes,’ Ellie confirmed drily. ‘Two names. Obviously our mother didn’t know which man fathered me and, sleaziest of all, the men were brothers. I’ve done some research. One of the men is alive, the other dead. The living one is a wealthy retired art collector who lives in a palazzo outside Florence—his brother passed away years ago.’
Polly stared at her sister in consternation, belatedly grasping why the younger woman had been so silent on the topic of her own unknown father and background. ‘Oh, dear… I’m so sorry—’
‘No, you got the fairy tale…the military hero father who married our mother…and I got a pair of deadbeat dads,’ Ellie mocked with wry humour. ‘I’m glad it worked out that way. I can handle messy reality better than you can.’
‘I could come to Italy with you!’ Polly proffered in dismay. ‘Be your support.’
‘No, you’d wilt like a flower out of water deprived of Rashad and Karim,’ Ellie forecast drily. ‘And that’s if your husband would even let you go—’
‘Rashad doesn’t tell me what to do—’
‘No, but he hates it when you’re away even for a couple of days,’ Ellie reminded her wryly. ‘You came over to see me at Christmas and Rashad was on the phone every five minutes. You actually fell asleep talking to him one night. Having you to stay was like separating a pair of lovelorn teenagers. It’s unhealthy to be so attached to each other…’