Page 8 of The Sheikh and the Single Mom

“Right.” Rashad still looked far from convinced.

“Rashad Al-Zayed, these are my children, Miles and Kate Kendrick.”

“Hello.” Rashad looked down at the kids, then held out a hand to shake. Miles quickly gave him a sideways high five, while Kate hugged one of Nina’s legs.

“We haven’t exactly covered handshake etiquette,” Nina admitted.

“I can see that.” But there was a hint of a smile behind Rashad’s bemused expression. He straightened up. “I’m not really sure how to proceed.”

“We can have our meeting,” Nina said, with more confidence than she felt. “If you have someone who can look after Miles and Kate for a few minutes, it should be fine. They’re very well-behaved.” Miles took that moment to let go of Nina’s hand and run to the railing, where he promptly stuck his head through the top and middle rails.

“I don’t have anyone who can watch them,” Rashad replied. “The yacht is staffed by a skeleton crew, and they’re all needed for sailing.”

“Please, Mommy’s friend,” Kate said suddenly, looking up at Rashad with big blue eyes. “We like boats.”

Rashad hesitated, then sighed. “All right. It’s unorthodox, but we can give it a try. I’ll tell the crew to get us on the water. Nina, please make your way to the first floor — there’s a meeting room set up.”

“Thank you.” Nina wished she didn’t feel indebted to Rashad so early in what would surely be a difficult process.

“All right.” Rashad didn’t seem sure how to react to her gratitude. He hesitated as if there was more he wanted to say, then abruptly turned and headed towards the back of the ship. Nina squeezed Kate’s hand and called Miles back over. For better or for worse, they were on the way now — Nina, her staunch business rival, and her three-year-old twins. What could go wrong?

CHAPTER 5

RASHAD

Rashad was already regretting this. Seeing Nina with her kids had been a surprise. More than a surprise. Usually, he handled unexpected obstacles well, but those obstacles were typically a problem with a flight route, a new piece of leverage, or a change in stock prices — not a pair of adorable twins.

Rashad didn’t even know anything about children. Nina’s kids seemed to be, well, old enough to stand and talk. They probably weren’t babies, then. Yet Rashad knew nothing else about them. Did they need diapers? Wi-Fi access? Colorful blocks? A space to do their math homework? He had no idea.

Rashad took a deep breath. He didn’t need to know anything about kids. They could play — or read, or sleep? Rashad wasn’t sure — while he and Nina had their meeting. After that, they could enjoy the ship for the weekend before returning to San Diego. After all, Rashad was about to put their mother out of business. A weekend on a yacht seemed like a nice gesture in those circumstances.

Plus, if he and Nina didn’t meet now, he wasn’t sure when they could. He needed to return to Al Soub by Tuesday at the latest, ideally with a strategy hammered out. It was definitely less than ideal to have a meeting with a pair of children in the room, but Rashad had held meetings in unfavorable circumstances before — during a flood in Australia, for instance, or through a translator in Greece. Surely, a pair of young kids couldn’t be more difficult to handle than either of those things.

Rashad had a quick word with his captain, a middle-aged woman who he’d worked with for several years now. Then he returned to the meeting room, where Nina was sitting at the table with a folder in front of her. Under the table, the two children, Miles and Kate, were giggling quietly. When Rashad entered, Miles let out an excited shriek and bounced, making the table shake slightly.

“Shall we begin?” Rashad took a seat across from Nina and opened his own folder, just as a loud and enthusiastic chorus of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”emerged from underneath the table.

“Let’s color quietly for a few minutes,” Nina said, her tone firm yet gentle as she leaned under the table. There were a few disgruntled mutters, but the children fell silent.

“Are they really comfortable under the table?” Rashad asked.

“Yes, very. I offered them a seat at the table, but they refused to budge once they got settled.”

“As long as they’re comfortable.” Rashad folded his hands.

“My thoughts exactly. Anyway, my apologies again for our unexpected attendees.”

“It’s really all right.” Rashad took out a few sheets of numbers he’d been preparing for the meeting. “I am curious, though, about why you weren’t able to find someone to watch them.”

“Babysitters are hard to come by, especially good ones.” Nina shrugged. “I have a few regulars, but it ended up being last-minute, and my mother was away for the weekend.”

“Don’t you have other family in the area who could look after them? Your husband, maybe?”

Nina looked away and Rashad instantly felt guilty for his question. He, of all people, should know that family could be a touchy subject and that she might not want to discuss hers with him. The question about her husband was particularly out of line, especially since Rashad was interested in her answer from a personal angle as well as a professional one. Was Nina married? With two young kids, the odds pointed to yes.

“It’s just us,” Nina said. “I’m not married.” She lifted her eyes to Rashad’s. “But I think we’re here to discuss business, not our personal lives. Am I right?”

“Of course.” Rashad slid his first sheet of figures across the table to Nina, trying to ignore the way his heart stirred at the knowledge that she was single. “I have a few data points I’d like your opinion on. The research I’ve been able to do shows that your company, Heartbeat, already reaches a significant portion of likely users, particularly in the eighteen-to-thirty-five category. Would you agree with these figures?”

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