Page 27 of Twins to Tame Him

Laila had enough of letting that voice drowning out all the good things she knew about herself, all the wonderful things that Baba and Guido had pointed out about her, again and again.

She’d spent most of her teens playing second fiddle to her half sister, Nadia, always falling into her shadow, always being measured against Mama and Nadia’s beauty, and coming up short. After losing Baba, she’d buried herself in her studies, in looking after Guido and Paloma. She’d never indulged in the simple pleasure of putting on a pretty dress, doing her hair, using a flick of lip gloss so that her wide mouth shimmered invitingly. She’d never primped herself, wanting to catch a man’s gaze, never seen herself as an object of desire.

She did all these things now, and she did them with Sebastian’s gray gaze and wicked smile in mind. It was the simplest of thrills and yet, she’d never experienced it before him. Never felt the need at all.

It was a new freedom from her fears that had tethered her for so long, a new identity even, as more than the brainy freak, the crow in the cuckoo nest, more than a caregiver for her sons and others.

As she pushed her feet into designer flip-flops, there was a zing in her belly, a pep to her step. She walked down to the beach, feeling not only carefree and relaxed for the first time in ages, but with anticipation throbbing through every inch of her. For the evening ahead and for the future.

CHAPTER NINE

WHEN SHE FINALLY found Sebastian—much farther along the private strip of beach than she usually traversed with the boys—it was to find him staring at the sky with a grim set to his mouth. She’d rarely seen him in such a somber mood that Laila felt her curiosity increase a thousand times over.

Without disturbing him, she kicked off her sandals and scrunched her feet into the glorious-feeling sand. The sand was still warm from the hot day but the waves lapping at her felt icily cold. A childish giggle escaped her as she let the water barely touch her toes before running back. With the tide coming in faster and rougher, she felt that little lurch in her belly when the water pulled away the sand from right under her feet. Kind of how her life felt at the moment. And yet, she wanted to be here, with this man. So much for calculating her risks.

For a while, she played her game with the waves, more than content to wait out his dark mood. A partnership, she’d told Thea, and now she realized she’d meant it. But it had to be for more than just the boys. It had to be for them. And she was already invested deep enough to know that Sebastian fascinated her, in more than one way. It had been so from the first time she’d set her eyes and her plans on him.

Finally, she felt his attention move to her, as real as if he’d run those rough artist’s hands over her skin. Like she had tiny little antennae wired specifically for his attention.

“If you have come here hoping to mellow my mood, you’ll fail,” he said in that soft voice he wielded as a weapon. Or was it a shield? she wondered with a fresh perspective relatively free of her own insecurities. “Unless you will let me take you on the sand...” His white teeth gleamed against his olive skin like a predator’s warning. “That might mellow me down.”

“Why would I want to mellow you at all, Sebastian? It is rare enough that you show your true colors. And as for taking me roughly in the sand—” her breath hitched in her throat at the image that came “—you’re just being a tease. Sand or bed or wall or the pristine marble floor of my bedroom, I’m yours for the taking.”

His rough curse added to the symphony of the waves.

“Is another migraine coming on?” she ventured, eager to know.

He shook his head, dislodging a lock of hair onto his forehead. “Is that why you came running?”

“Wow, you’re like a prickly bull right now, huh?”

“So, you should run away screaming, Dr. Jaafri.”

“I think I’ll stay right here.”

He shrugged, without quite meeting her eyes.

“You were hard on Alexandros the other day.”

Another curse. “Of all the things to bring up... Why are we talking about my infernal brother?”

“Because I have a point to make.”

“You know he does not like you.”

“Of course I know he doesn’t like me and that’s a cheap shot,” Laila said, scrunching her nose. “Alexandros likes control in all things, yes? And the fact that I will not fall into line or that you are not taking enough actions to make me fall in line, and all of this is causing too many unknowns when all he wants is quiet and comfort for Annika...does not sit with him well.”

Sebastian turned to face her and admiration glinted in his eyes. “Anything more?”

“In his mind, I’m also the reason for the strife between him and Annika. Right now, I make a convenient target for him to blame, among all the unknowns.”

Sebastian grinned, those thin lines fanning out from the edges of his eyes again. She loved when he smiled like that, with real mirth, without mockery. There was already a catalog of the wide variety of his smiles in her head.

“And yet you scold me that I’m hard on him?”

“I’m not scolding you.”

“You have that stern voice you use with the boys. For all the indulging you do, that voice means business. Although, I would be up for experimenting with that voice in bed, just so you know,” he said, nudging her shoulder with his.

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