Nadir had gone again. He’d woken early and left her. Still unused to having help with Nadeena, she sprinted out of bed and only paused long enough to pull on a robe behind the door on her way out. It was Nadir’s robe, of course, and it smelt of his special blend of male and spice. Trying to ignore the way his scent made her tingle all over, she padded quickly down the marble hallway and into the living room.
When that was empty she headed for the outdoor terrace.
Expecting that she would find the same scene as she had the last time, Imogen heard the sound of Nadeena’s infectious giggles. She waited for the sight of the devoted Maab playing peekaboo with Nadeena when her heart all but flew into her mouth as she discovered that it wasn’t Maab or Tasnim entertaining her daughter, but Nadir—in the pool. The sight of his bronzed torso stopped her in her tracks and she drooled at the way the sun glinted off his skin and turned it to burnished copper.
Pausing in the doorway and half hidden by a massive potted palm, Imogen watched Nadir throwing Nadeena up in the air and catching her just as her toes flittered across the top of the water, his biceps stretching and bulging in a fascinating display while Nadeena squealed with delight and clung to his neck.
She watched quietly for a moment, completely unnoticed as father and daughter frolicked in the sunshine. It seemed impossible that only a few days ago he had been a single-minded playboy who worked and played to excess and she could hardly fathom that he could be just as at home presiding over a boardroom full of world leaders as he was blowing raspberries on a baby’s stomach.
His handling of Nadeena as he turned her onto her stomach and floated her across the top of the water, speaking to her softly in his native tongue was gentle and tender. But then she’d always known he had the capacity for that because she’d experienced it herself fifteen months ago in Paris.
And after last night she knew he was a man who felt things deeply and she felt awful. Awful for the tragedy he had endured and for the fact that he believed he had created it and awful because she had kept Nadeena’s birth from him and had never planned to tell him. In her defence, she had believed that she was acting in the best interests of her daughter but watching the two of them together over the past few days had shown her that she had been wrong.
It seemed bizarre that a week ago she would have said that he was not father material and yet her own father had been held up as a wonderful family man in the community and she didn’t have one memory of him holding her and playing with her as Nadir was doing with their baby now.
A lump formed in her throat. Yes, Minh had played with Nadeena and there was no doubt he was a wonderful male figure whom she hoped would stay in their lives for ever but he wasn’t Nadeena’s flesh and blood and why would she want to substitute that when Nadir obviously cared for their baby so much already? Yes, he could change his mind one day; yes, he could walk away, but maybe he wouldn’t either.
‘Imogen! Habibi.’
Catching sight of her, Nadir moved towards the edge of the pool and Nadeena bounced in his arms with excitement as she smiled and stepped outside. ‘I’ve been teaching the kid to swim and she’s a natural.’
Imogen grinned as he called her the kid. ‘She’s five months old—you can’t possibly tell.’
‘I can tell. And I read that the earlier you get a child used to water the better they are and she loves it.’
She also loved him, by the look of glee on her chubby face, and it only drove her feeling of guilt deeper. ‘Does she need feeding?’
‘Maybe.’ His gaze swept over her and she realised how dishevelled she looked. ‘You come straight from bed, habibi?’
The way he said bed made her blush and she was constantly surprised by her visceral reaction to this man. All he had to do was look at her like he was now and she would happily let him do whatever he wanted as frequently as he wanted. Was it any wonder she had fallen for him again? She knew she’d been a fool to think that she could spend time with someone so utterly virile and not crave more.
‘Are you hungry?’ he said, climbing out of the pool with Nadeena lifted high against his shoulder. ‘There’s pastries and fresh fruit on the table and also a pot of tea, although it might need reheating.’
‘Thanks.’ About to take Nadeena from him, she was startled when he dropped a sweet lingering kiss on her lips. ‘Sabah el kheer. Good morning, beautiful,’ he said with a sexy grin.
Imogen swallowed the lump that hadn’t quite disappeared from her throat. ‘Good morning to you too.’