Page 81 of Bride Under Contract

‘Thanks for that.’

‘They’re thrilled with her,’ Violet said. ‘Please don’t worry. I peeked in and saw her line dancing...’

Grace laughed. ‘I know. I’m trying to buy her a Stetson...’

Grace was still smiling as she took out the folder Arif had given her and read detailed notes about the gradual rise in the number of orangutans on Carter’s land, the rare birds they were encouraging, the decline in saltwater crocodiles...

Felicity’s work was fascinating—tracking endangered birds, some exclusive to the area—and Grace found herself all too often straying from her task.

Instead of inputting data, she was looking things up. And rather too often she found herself looking up Carter.

It was unsettling to see evidence of his decadent past, and a lot of it seemed rather recent. And it served her right for peeking, because she found out that Sahir was a playboy, and he and Carter had been hitting the social pages since their university days.

She tried not to feel a little tense that he was in the company of the playboy prince now...

It took a lot of scrolling to get further back into his past and when she did, she thought her heart would break.

A miracle. That was what they’d called Carter.

There were pictures of a helicopter, and him being stretchered out.

And Grace, who really didn’t cry, wept right there in the hotel’s business centre when she saw his scarred face and dark eyes.

Then, in an article a couple of years later, Carter had been photographed standing in a short coat beside a Christmas tree with his glamorous aunt.

She scrolled on, but it didn’t help matters. Because there was an image of Carter coming out of a theatre, rumoured to be engaged, and he was with the most beautiful woman Grace had ever seen...

She peered at the date.

Last month!

At that moment, as if he knew she was snooping again, her phone rang and she saw that finally it was him.

‘Hey...’ She attempted to sound normal. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Stalemate,’ Carter said, and let out a breath. ‘It’s the most beautiful building I’ve ever worked on, but one wing of the palace was destroyed by an earthquake more than a century ago. We’ve been going off old plans and drawings, but a lot of the design is based on astronomy—a first for me.’ He sounded incredibly tired. ‘Most of the council don’t even want it done.’

Carter had reverted to his usual tactics and withdrawn—but, given the serious nature of the project, and given that Sahir was a friend, he hadn’t simply walked out. Instead he was cooling his heels, sitting in the opulent royal lounge at a private members’ club.

‘What are you up to now?’ Grace asked.

‘Watching a sandstorm.’

‘Sounds spectacular.’

‘From behind glass, it is. Sahir wants to head out...’

He paused, not really wanting to discuss Sahir’s methods for solving an issue.

For so long he’d wondered why Sahir would disappear into the desert for days or weeks on end. Yet a part of Carter understood the search for answers.

Those damned dreams now featured Grace, disappearing on a plane, or sinking beneath the water. It was now always Grace rather than his mother holding Hugo, who was gnawing on that teething ring as they walked into the dense forest...

‘Head out?’ Grace asked, but he didn’t elaborate, and she felt an odd sinking feeling.

They hadn’t parted on a row, they’d spoken afterwards and he’d been kind, but she had doubts leaping in her chest like salmon...

‘So, what are you doing?’ he asked.

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