Page 22 of Sheikh's Pregnant Fiancée

Immediately, her face lit up. “Excellent! You know, I never went to college, but maybe I should take some classes. Some business classes and something fun. There’s a great mythology course.”

“You’re a princess. You don’t need classes.”

“You’re a prince, and you went to Yale.”

“Yes, but I’m going to be ruling a kingdom.”

Aubrey narrowed her eyes over the rim of her tea. “And I’m going to be running a vineyard. I realize that it’s not the same, but it’s still important to me.”

“From afar, and you have an excellent manager. I looked over her profile. She is more than adequate for the vineyard’s needs. Don’t worry, it’s still your vineyard.”

“But in name only,” Aubrey growled as she put down her tea. “You don’t expect me to do any work. I can’t take an interest in my vineyard, the thing I sold my soul to own?”

Jarah gritted his teeth. “Is that what you think being married to me is like? Selling your soul? You know, for one night, we were very compatible.”

“And for that night, you were lying to me. So maybe lie to me again, and we can tumble into bed instead of fighting.”

That was one thought, and while Jarah was considering it, Aubrey stood. “I think I’ll take my tea to my room. It’s great, so thank your mother for me.”

“Wait.” He wasn’t doing any of this right. “I’m not against you taking an interest in your vineyard. I know it’s important to you, but you are also carrying a child, and you’re going to one day be the most powerful woman in this kingdom. You’ll need to learn to prioritize, and I hope you’ll prioritize the kingdom and the family over the vineyard.”

She put her hand on her abdomen, as if she were just realizing all over again that she was pregnant. “I’m going to go to bed,” she whispered as she rose.

“My first memory is my parents bringing Zev home,” Jarah said in a desperate attempt to keep her there. “Mikal and I were looking at him through the bars of the crib, and I decided to climb in. Mother yelled at me, and in that moment, I decided I hated Zev. He was loud and annoying, but when my parents brought home the twins, it bonded us.”

“Boys against girls?”

“Not at all,” Jarah chuckled. “We were their big brothers. We were going to protect them from the world. Little did we know that they’d be such a pain to protect.”

Sitting back down, she leaned back and closed her eyes. “My first memory is of the vineyard. My parents took me every summer before they passed. I wore this bright yellow dress and raced through the fields with a big purple kite. I must have been around four. It got tangled in the plants, and I fell and cried and cried until the workers untangled it for me and helped get it back in the air.”

“You bounced back and raced off with it again?”

“Yes. It doesn’t take much to distract a child. My grandmother said that I got it wrapped up two more times that day until the workers were chasing me around rather than working.”

“A day off for them?”

“Are you kidding?” Aubrey laughed. “I was a fast runner, even as a kid.”

“Outside of Rihamel, my favorite place is Scotland. I love the landscape and the wet weather.”

“So opposites are good?”

Jarah tilted his head. “Excuse me?”

“Scotland is about as far from Rihamel as you can get. Because you love both means you can love things on opposite ends of the spectrum.” She put her teacup down. “We should sleep together tonight.”

Not certain he heard her correctly, he widened his eyes. Her surrender had come out of the blue. “Should we?”

“Yeah, I feel like we’re still just circling each other in our marriage, and Gwen had a good point earlier. The sex, that’s something we were good at. What do you think?”

He thought that he didn’t love the idea that she’d talked to her friend about their sex life, but if it got Aubrey into his bed, he could overlook it. Still, he advanced slowly. “I think that if you aren’t ready, it could cause more problems than it might solve. If you are ready, then I most definitely want you with me at night.”

She smiled shyly, and he realized he hadn’t quite seen that look on her before. For a moment, he was enamored. “I’m ready,” she whispered.

So was he. Beyond ready.

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