ROMANCE: THE SHEIKH'S GAMES: A Sheikh Romance (73 page)

It would give him a little time to make the tea, he decided as he parked his car and went inside. “Melinda?” he called.

The house was silent.
Odd
, he thought. Would she be out as well?

He put on a pot of water on to boil and went through the house. There was nobody there.
That’s odd
, he thought again.
What could possibly be going on?

He put the bouquet in a vase and set it on the table in the living room. Not knowing what else to do, he opened the refrigerator, thinking about what he’d want to make for his siblings when they got here. Melinda had left a platter of stuffed dates in the refrigerator, so he got those out and set them out. Then the water boiled—and as he made the tea there was still no sign of Melinda or his siblings.

Now he was beginning to get nervous. Melinda was not the kind of person to lie to him about his siblings coming over. She knew what they meant to him, being the last connection to his former life. But just as he began to wonder if he should call the police, he heard her car pull up to their house. He looked out their bedroom window, and saw her get out of her car, swearing and cursing.

“Melinda,” he called, as came down the stairs. “What’s going on? Are my brothers and sisters coming over or not?”

She froze for a moment. Fear—real, genuine fear—crossed her face, making her skin go pale and her freckles stand out even more. “Melinda? What’s going on?”

She blinked, and then she put her bag down and took a small box from it—it was a velvet jeweler’s box. “It took me forever to find this,” she said. “That’s why I’m late. I’m sorry I lied about your brothers and sisters coming.”

“Why would you do that?” he demanded, irritated now. Bad enough that he’d been in a panic about her being missing. Now he had to find out that she’d lied to get him to come home. What was going on here? Was this the start of the lies and deceit that people were always talking about?

“Because,” she said, “I wanted to give you this,” she said, holding out the box.

Anger went to surprise as he took the box. It wasn’t like her to get something expensive for him, and a piece of jewelry, no less. He didn’t wear jewelry as a general rule, but perhaps it was something ceremonious—though there was nothing special about his twenty-ninth birthday that was in a few days.

The box was heavy, the kind meant for a watch, and Bashir couldn’t help but wonder why she’d bought him a new one at such great expense (it was covered in velvet, with a silver omega stamped on one side, one of the fancier watch brands) when the one he’d had for nearly a decade was still working. Surely she didn’t sacrifice getting a better van for a watch?

He opened it. Inside the box, much to his surprise, was a flat white stick with a purple cap on one end It looked like a pen, but then he realized that there were two little depressions in it, one with a cross and one with a line on it. He frowned, wondering what the hell this was, and then just as he realized what it was she jumped and said, “Yes!”

He was going to be a father. The idea seemed too big to hold—it was bursting out of him, in the tears that he was somehow crying. “Is this real?” he asked, finally. She nodded, her hand splayed on her belly. Suddenly she was no longer the woman he loved, but the mother of his child. They were going to be one in a way that he’d never realized was possible, and the flood of delight and love he felt for her made him go weak and he sat down on the floor, his heart breaking from the joy.

He hugged her—never until that moment had he realized that he could love someone so much, that it was possible for joy to hurt with the intensity of it all. “I have something for you, too,” he murmured, as he let her go.

He knelt and kissed her belly, whispering, “Hello, Ariel.” He felt almost certain that it was a girl. “I can’t wait to meet you.”

Above him, Melinda laughed, wiping away tears as she did so. “You know we still have nine months to go, right?” she said.

“Then it will be plenty of time for you to consider this,” he said, pulling his ring box out of his pocket. If there was ever a right moment to do this, it was now. “Melinda Doyle, will you do me the honor of marrying—”

“Oh Bashir, yes!” she cried.

It was strange, how everything had changed in five minutes—suddenly they were no longer man and woman, but husband and wife (to be), a father and a mother—and yet, as he stared into her eyes, he saw that nothing had changed. She was still the woman he loved.

THE END

Ryder Tompkins sat at the head of the large cherry wood conference table in the largest conference room. Normally he wouldn’t pull a power move such as this because it just wasn’t his style, but desperate times and all that. The company his mother started with his step father, Edu-Tech Industries, had not been doing well for the past few quarters and as CEO it was his job to figure out why. So he needed to project power and authority, no matter what anyone at the table thought of him. Especially his step brother, Hunter. “Does anyone want to tell me why sales have been stagnant for almost a year?”

Hunter stiffened immediately, his defenses in place and ready to attack anyone who dared suggest this was his fault in any way. He stared at Ryder, who stared right back at him. “I guess this is my fault, right? You wouldn’t know a goddamned thing about bringing in new business Ryder because you spend so much time behind your precious desk!” Arms crossed defensively, Hunter arched a thick blonde brow in his direction. The gauntlet had been thrown and in front of others too.

Ryder was frustrated because, dammit, he didn’t know much about bringing in new business because his mom and Jonas had never even let him try. Hunter is the outgoing one, they said. He’s friendly and charming, let him have this. They had cajoled and manipulated until Ryder gave up and stop wanting to do it. He’d done exactly as they’d asked but not asked, which was why he stared at two quarters of dismal sales. “That may be the case Hunter, but it isn’t my job. It’s yours.” He watched the emotions play over Hunter’s mossy green eyes. Hurt and anger morphed into arrogant indifference, his default emotional setting. “Now, I’m not blaming anyone specifically,” he sent a meaningful glare to Hunter, “but we need to figure out what the problem is and how to correct it. Any suggestions?”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking.” Cressly Parker cleared his throat and spoke up. The man was as competent as they came, but he’d proven better at managing the business development department than bringing it in. “I think what we need is a marketing specialist. Hunter is doing a damn fine job, but he can only do so much to reach out to all the organizations that need our products.”

Ryder leaned in. “I’m listening.”

A small smile passed Cressly’s lips. “We, well Hunter has been doing his thing. Meeting with potential customers but,” he flashed Hunter an apologetic look, “these bureaucracies take forever to make decisions, sign contracts and agree on budgets. So we will likely see the fruits of his labor but it could be another two quarters from now.”

Ryder looked to Hunter, who seemed stunned by the support of his boss, and then back to Cressly. “Sound good. Really good Cressly. Do you have any contacts we could use?”

“Yes Mr. Tompkins, I’ll get them to you right away.” He gave Ryder a nervous smile.

“Thanks. And call me Ryder.” He didn’t like formality, especially when it came to men decades older than him. He refocused on his step brother. “Hunter is there anything you need that could help?”

His green eyes blazed furiously and he visibly bristled. “I’m not some special needs kid you have to keep after, brother.”

Ryder’s jaws clenched in frustration and he released a weary sigh. “Dammit Hunter you don’t think I know that? I’m just trying to make sure we’re doing everything we can to bring in new business and this business keeps growing.” Slamming closed the leather folder, his piercing blue eyes held an icy glare. “Not everything is about you Hunter. My job is to make sure my employees have everything they need to succeed and whether you like it or not, that includes you.”

Cressly and the others read the room correctly and quickly gathered their things, beating a hasty retreat before the atmosphere became too volatile. “I’ll have Mimi send everyone a copy of the notes today,” Ryder said to their retreating backs.

Hunter sat staring up at Ryder, who stood reining in his anger, resentment the only emotion in his eyes. He hated, still hated the fact that Ryder was made CEO. Even though the job seemed boring as fucking hell, he still would have liked to be considered for the job. But no, his parents had insisted he’d be better at business development because he was charming and had that damned party boy persona. Truthfully he really did like schmoozing boring educators and administrators at expensive meals, it was fun and he was damn good at it. But then moments like this brought home the fact that Ryder was the boss. His boss. “Sure boss. Whatever you say.”

Ryder didn’t react because he knew that’s what Hunter wanted. “So you have everything you need, then?”

Hunter stood, mossy green eyes level with velvety blue ones. “I just said I did.”

“Then why have we gone six months with no new business?”

“You heard what Cressly said,” he practically growled at his brother.

Ryder stared at Hunter long and hard, skepticism making it hard to believe him. “That may explain some of it, but I’ve seen your expense reports and it doesn’t make sense so you need a better answer than that.”

Hunter snatched up his deep red leather folder. “Sure thing, boss man. I’ll have answers for you soon.” He stood and gave Ryder’s assistant and friend, Mimi, a meaningful look before he fled.

Ryder scoffed and shook his head as he gathered his things. Every single meeting with Hunter ended the same way. He was overly sensitive and always ready to fight about anything, no matter how insignificant. He couldn’t even worry about his brother right now because he had other things on his mind.

“You know Ryder, you could take it easier on him.” Mimi gave him the same soft and sympathetic look she’d given him when he’d been upset about gaining a new brother.

Ryder sighed and looked at one of his oldest friends. “I could but what good would it do?” The truth was that Hunter only listened when Ryder flexed his muscles, which he hated to do. “He knows he screwed up but refuses to own up to it because it’s me. I can deal with it at Mom and Jonas’ house but not at work.” If Hunter wasn’t his brother with a stake in the company, he would have fired him long ago.

Mimi patted his shoulder sympathetically. She’d spent the past two decades watching Ryder and Hunter compete, fight and antagonize each other over any and every damn thing. If there was a first place to be had, a winner or loser, you could guarantee they would battle to the death for it. It was exhausting to watch and she loved them both, albeit in different ways. Hunter was the difficult brother, the one you had to peel back layers to see he was a decent guy while Ryder easy going and level-headed. Hunter was charming and Ryder could be awkward. “I get that Ry, but as the CEO you have to be the bigger man. That’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

Ryder huffed out a laugh. “When did you get so smart Mimi?”

“I’ve always been smart, you just didn’t know how smart until you were lucky enough to hire me.”

He smiled at her. “Best decision I ever made.”

***

Skylar Morris was running late for a meeting with a potential client and a big one. Edu-Tech Industries was the premier educational software provider. They made educational games, learning aids and even software to help those with learning disorders, and best of all their products were affordable and had recently been endorsed by several homeschooling organizations. She had been looking forward to this meeting since it was put on the books a week ago. They were a big deal and signing with them would be an even bigger deal for her fledgling marketing company that, right now was made up mostly of her and her best friend Kendra Brooks, an office assistant and one social media manager. In another year they would need more employees for their loft office.

Unfortunately Skylar still had about ten blocks to go and only twenty minutes to make it to the building and up to the fifteenth floor. Dammit she knew she should have just taken her car from the parking structure near the office, but it was a nice day and she needed the time to clear her head before meeting with Ryder Tompkins. He had a reputation for being hard to read, exceedingly professional but fair.

She made it to the Tompkins-Cross Building with five minutes to spare and counted that as a win. As long as the elevators aren’t out of service, she thought as she slid between the closing doors. At the fifteenth floor she checked in with the receptionist and ducked into the bathroom to freshen up. She felt poised and confident, ready to handle a meeting with the company CEO. That in itself was odd, since she normally dealt with creative directors or sometimes business development managers. Sitting in the plush lobby on a white leather chair—so typical—she spotted a gorgeous man with a flop of blond hair, eyes so green they had to be fake and swagger for days. He threw her a charming smile she was sure made most women swoon. Not Skylar though. The man fell squarely in the man candy category as far as she was concerned, but she conceded he was probably a major player. It didn’t matter to her though. He was nice to look at, the end.