Page 42 of Sands of Sirocco
“I brought nothing else.”She shifted her handbag.“I planned to go home and change there.”
“Let’s get you some different clothes, then.”He reached into the back of the motorcar and pulled out a package in brown paper.He tucked it under his arm, interlaced his fingers with hers, and tugged her down the alleyway.At the warmth of his hand against hers, she felt her face flush.Their relationship had never been one of careless strolls, holding hands.
“What about the motorcar?”She’d left the books Dr.Radford had given her inside it.
“This alley is directly behind the house of an old friend of mine.He’ll keep watch over it—he knows to expect it.It’s his motorcar.”
He had a ready answer for everything.Noah’s ability to seem collected and prepared was one of his strongest attributes.She always felt like a harried mess beside him.
They moved into a busy market.In these areas of Cairo, the native Cairenes kept wildly different hours than in the European quarters.The days started later, and the shops remained open until after midnight.
But in their uniforms, they stood out.“How do you know where you’re going all the time?”
“Good sense of direction.”The smile he gave her was charming.They stopped in front of a café, and a man greeted Noah enthusiastically in rapid Arabic.Noah handed Ginger the package.“If you’ll follow the man, he’s going to let you use a room beside the kitchen to change.”
The paper crinkled as she took it from him.Raising a brow, she asked, “What are we doing here?”
Pointing toward the café, he offered a devious expression.“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what I have in mind.After you’ve changed.”
She followed the café owner past tables, further inside.The smell of spices and wood smoke grew stronger as she drew closer to the kitchen.Her stomach growled in response.She had eaten nothing since tea earlier that afternoon.This seemed like the sort of place Noah would frequent though.
And he must, considering that he knew the owner well enough for the man to let her borrow a room.The room was a storage closet with a single electric bulb hanging down in the center.Despite Noah being near, she wedged the back of a chair under the doorknob, to be certain she’d be left alone.
She unwrapped the package, revealing a smoky blue silk gown—not quite European but not traditional Egyptian either.The bodice hugged the curves of her breasts, the neckline a deep-V embroidered with beads.From there, it flared to a full, long skirt.A pair of sandals and a light-blue head scarf were also in the package.
Whatever Noah had planned, he wanted her well-dressed for it.Forbidden as it was to be with him, a thrill of excitement curled within her.
After she’d dressed, she did her best to fold her uniform neatly into the package and tie it up.Her flame-red hair wreathed her face as she arranged the veil.Without a mirror, she didn’t know how she looked, but she hoped she’d done well enough.
She left the storeroom and passed back out to the street.Hugging her uniform to her chest, she searched for Noah.She didn’t see him, but the street was dark, streetlamps throwing light onto the surroundings.A pigeon near one table of the café cooed and flapped its wings, boldly coming closer to her, despite the time of night.It tilted its head toward her, beady black eyes fixed on her package.
“Oh, be off,” she told it.“I don’t have any food for you.”
A low whistle caught her attention.Noah approached from the shadows across the street.He gave her an admiring look as he stopped in front of her.“You look beautiful.”
She laughed, enjoying his compliments.He’d never been so overtly flirtatious or so jovial in his attentions toward her.“I thought you’d abandoned me,” she teased.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, as though there weren’t dozens of other people around to see.People who would probably disapprove of their public displays of affection.But Noah didn’t seem to care.He seemed … happy.Releasing her, he stepped back, a warm smile still in his eyes.“You ready?”
“Ready for what?”Why on earth was he being so cryptic?
He slipped his hands into hers.“To get married.”
Married?She stared at him, her jaw dropping.A thousand thoughts assailed her.She didn’t know whether to fling her arms around his neck with joy or punch him for being a tease.“Today?Are you serious?”
He kissed the back of her knuckles.“Completely.”He kept his gaze locked to hers.“I know it isn’t the wedding we talked about, but I refuse to allow anyone to threaten you.Including Lord Helton.This will be the last time someone will threaten you and you can’t come to me.”
She wanted to melt at his words.She hadn’t paid attention before, but he wore his dress uniform.Her eyes filled with tears of relief, of knowing she had his protection to rely on.The fears of Lord Helton’s threats against her family had been gnawing on her.“But what about my promise to him?He says he’ll ruin my family.”
He took the package containing her uniform and held it under one arm.Holding her hand with his free one, he tugged her down the pavement.“To hell with that promise.”
His hand tightened.“I won’t have you being blackmailed and bribed to stay away from me.We don’t have to tell anyone but Lord Helton about our marriage.For now.We can meet in secret so that you can worry less about your family.As it is, I can’t promise you a life together right now.I’ll be sent away on an assignment soon enough.But at least we’ll be married and no one will ever be able to separate us.”
Her mind raced.“But won’t Lord Helton be furious?”Much as she wanted to marry him, she didn’t follow his logic.How would marrying help solve things?
She wrinkled her nose at a dead mouse under the window of a shop they passed.They crossed a busy street, and she blinked up in surprise as they approached a familiar wall of banded red and white Roman masonry.“Is this the Fortress of Babylon?”she asked.
Noah nodded as they passed through an arch.“There’s a Coptic church here where the priest has agreed to marry us.”He cleared his throat, stopping under a row of hedges.“I’m going to tell Lord Helton that if he continues to threaten my wife, I’m requesting a transfer.He doesn’t want that to happen.”His eyes darkened.“And this way, if something happens to me, at least you’d have some pension.”
