Page 5 of Mine to Keep

“No, thank you.”

He gently laid her down and pulled the blanket up over her chest. “Is there anything else you want, Honey?”

She started to shake her head but stopped suddenly. He guessed it had to do with her headache.

“No.”

“Okay, then rest.”

He watched her close her eyes. He sat back and stared at her face. It was something he felt he could do for the rest of his life.

Chapter Three

Laila kept her eyes closed but couldn’t go back to sleep. Without looking, she could tell he was staring at her, and it was a bit disconcerting.

She hadn’t had a lot of time to look at the man she assumed was her future husband, but she was pleased with what she saw. The fact that he was taking care of her himself instead of having an employee do it spoke volumes about the type of person he was.

Her mind went to the fact that her father had drugged her and could have possibly killed her by overdosing her. Maybe that was his intention? She’d never know for certain. She hoped to never see or hear from him again as long as she lived.

Her father was used to seeing her act childlike and shy, but she was anything but. She would never forget the day her mother sat by her on the bed after she’d fallen from a horse. She’d bumped her head hard but still only had a slight concussion. Her mother devised a plan for Laila to act differently, making the injury out to be worse than it was, to protect her from the men her father would try to give her to. He had tried several times to marry her off, but each time, the men had turned and left after meeting her. Laila had been thankful for the ruse because each of them had made her skin crawl.

The one sitting beside her on the bed wasn’t scaring her and was, in fact, making her feel safe for the first time since her mother had died three years before.

She must have dozed because the next time she opened her eyes, the sunlight filled the room. She was pleased to find her headache was down to a dull ache.

When she turned to look around the room, she found the man, Roland, asleep in the chair. The chair was too small to let him rest comfortably, and she was afraid he was going to wakeup in pain.

“Ro…” She cleared her dry throat. “Roland.”

His eyes opened. A grimace crossed his face as he sat up. He stretched, and she couldn’t help but watch in fascination.

Laila’s mind went to the fact that she needed to decide if she would keep up the charade of her disability or be herself. She decided that until she knew him better, she would still pretend.

He sat beside her on the mattress and set a hand on her hip.

“Are we supposed to be like this? On a bed together? Isn’t it shameful or something?”

His eyes widened a bit and then narrowed. “No, Honey. We’ll be married soon, so it’s okay to be close like this.”

“Should I ask my father?” she asked innocently.

Roland shook his head. “No. Trust me.”

“My father told me not to trust any man.”

“But I’m your fiancé. That’s different. Tell me how you feel.”

She looked at the ceiling. “My headache is about gone.”

“Good. Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I think so. My tummy feels empty.”

“I’ll call down for food. I don’t want you out of bed today.”

“But why?”

“I don’t want your headache to come back,” he told her.

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