Page 35 of The Sheikh and the Single Mom

RASHAD

Rashad woke to sunlight streaming across his face, the warmth of Nina’s head on his shoulder, and the sound of a phone ringing. Bleary and more than a little annoyed at the interruption, he felt for his phone on the side table and swiped to decline the call. Luckily, the noise hadn’t woken Nina.

Rashad looked down at the beautiful woman sleeping beside him. Her head rested on his shoulder, her eyes were closed, with her eyelashes splayed across her pink cheeks, and her hair was fanned across the pillow in a riot of curls. She was gorgeous.

The sight of Nina’s face brought back memories from the night before, and Rashad felt an unexpected mix of desire and affection pool in his stomach. Every moment that they’d spent together, talking, playing in the ocean, kissing, had been magical, but going to bed together had topped all of that. Rashad was no stranger to nights spent with beautiful women, but it had been different with Nina. Better. Probably that was because he genuinely cared about her.

Rashad pressed a soft kiss to the top of Nina’s head. Still, she slept on — perhaps she’d trained herself to sleep throughinterruptions so that she could get a full night of sleep with toddlers at home. Rashad wanted to stay here forever, holding Nina in his arms and remembering the night they’d spent together, but after a few minutes he reached for his phone again. He should find out who had called him, in case something was wrong at work.

The missed call was from Amira. Rashad’s heart turned over. They must be close enough to San Diego that cell service was working well again, and his business partners would be anxious for an update after several days of silence on Rashad’s part. His heart ached at the thought of leaving Nina alone in bed, but there was nothing to be done. He couldn’t leave the call unanswered.

As slowly and carefully as he could, Rashad eased out of bed, setting Nina’s head on a pillow and tucking the sheets around her shoulders. Soon enough, the kids would wake up and Nina would, too, but for now, he’d let her sleep.

Rashad grabbed the clothes he’d shed the night before, not wanting to wake Nina by rummaging around in his suitcase, and slipped into the bathroom. There, he freshened up before going on deck to return Amira’s call.

It was still early. The sunlight that had woken him must have been the first rays of the sunrise because, even now, the sun was just beginning to tinge the sky pink and gold as it rose over the horizon. Rashad leaned against the railing and called Amira back.

She picked up on the first ring.

“Rashad?”

“Hello, Amira.” Rashad adjusted the phone to his other ear and gazed out over the ocean. Usually, he loved talking to his business partners — it was satisfying to plan next steps and go over past successes. Today, though, he just wanted this call to end so that he could slip back into bed with Nina and be with her when she woke up.

“I’m glad you decided to call us back.” There was an unexpected edge in Amira’s voice.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s just been a few days since we’ve heard from you,” Abdul’s voice came on the line. “We had a meeting today with outside investors, and they wanted to know where the CEO was and how the expansion into the US market is going. We had to dance around the questions.”

“I should have kept in better touch.” Rashad rubbed his temples, the stress of running a business already coming back. “I apologize, but I’m happy to update you now.”

“Well, as long as you’ve secured the US market for us, all else can be forgiven,” Amira said. Her voice had lost a bit of its edge. “How’s your progress with the American, Ms. Kendrick?”

Rashad hesitated. Yesterday, offering to work with Nina had felt like the perfect solution for everyone, but in the warm light of day, he was less convinced. Still, he didn’t want to put Nina out of business — and he truly believed that collaborating could help them both. Hopefully, his investors felt the same way.

“I have good news on that front,” Rashad said in as confident a tone as he could. “We’ve been able to reach a preliminary agreement, although there are still details to be worked out, of course.”

“Of course.” Amira sounded pleased. “Tell us what you were able to agree on thus far.”

“Well, Nina’s company, Heartbeat, is truly extraordinary,” Rashad said. “She and I have spoken, and we agree that working together to improve both our businesses is the best way forward. Heartbeat can focus on low-income communities that need affordable healthcare support, while Health Trackr can work on partnerships with businesses and hospitals. We can form a joint front for advertising and some business decisions.”

“I’m not sure I’m understanding you correctly.” Abdul, usually the more flexible and free-thinking of the two, didn’t sound pleased at all. “Are you saying that both Health Trackr and Heartbeat will exist in the US market simultaneously? And that you don’t plan to do anything to ensure Health Trackr’s dominance?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Rashad confirmed. “Although there is a bit more nuance to it. The more I spoke with Nina, the more I realized that there’s a place for both companies in the US market. By working together, we can ensure that?—”

“Rashad.” Amira cut him off. He could imagine the pained look on her face across the distance that separated them. “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m not sure what happened during the last few days between you and Ms. Kendrick, but I can assure you that a partnership between your companies isn’t going to work. If you want to buy Heartbeat, fine — we can even offer a higher price than usual if you feel some concessions are necessary. If you want to put Heartbeat out of business, fine. But collaborating isn’t on the table.”

“Why not?” Rashad asked. In that moment, he realized that he sounded more like an overtired preschooler than a businessman,but he couldn’t help himself. This was important. “Maybe it’s time to update our approach. At first, the only way to make sure Health Trackr succeeded was to put every competitor out of business, but that isn’t the case now. Even if we have a slightly smaller market share, perhaps it’s better to collaborate with worthy allies.”

“You don’t evensoundlike yourself.” Abdul’s voice was just as upset as Amira’s. “The goal has always been to ensure that Health Trackr is the foremost healthcare app in any market. Working with the competition doesn’t build towards that goal.”

“It’s true.” Rashad could almost hear Amira shaking her head. “What provisions do you have in place to ensure that Health Trackr succeeds in this environment? What if Heartbeat retains its place as the foremost app in the US — which is likely, since it’s the existing one? And worse, you mentioned that some business decisions would be made jointly. Are you really willing to hand partial control of the company you’ve taken years to build to a rival — a rival who purposefully prices her app too low?”

Rashad froze, his hand on the railing, the phone near his ear. Perhaps his business partners were right. He had let himself be distracted from years of hard work by a wonderful weekend with a beautiful woman and a pair of cute kids. Rashad had always put Health Trackr first. Now, he was on the verge of making a business decision that wasn’t about business at all — it was about how he felt. How he felt about Nina. How he felt about himself.

“Perhaps there are some things I didn’t fully consider,” Rashad said as diplomatically as he could. “Let me speak with Nina and make sure that the agreement we make won’t require Health Trackr to give too much up.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, then Amira spoke again. “Rashad, we can’t sign off on a partnership between you and Ms. Kendrick at all — not unless you give us some concrete proof that working together is the best and only way forward. Please take a little time. Be sure you’re making the right decision here.”

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