Page 32 of The Sheikh's Defiant Girlfriend

Malik made a face but then he hid his reaction quickly. “Perhaps, but each person has to find the one best suited to them.”

“You don’t think Tariq and Amir are worthy?” Sara teased.

“I can think of no one more admirable than Tariq.” Malik nodded at the other man. “And I’m not just saying that because you’re my boss, Tariq. Amir, on the other hand… Well, I will say no more. It’s not my place. He’s also my boss, and I know you are close, Sara.”

“Please, Malik,” Tariq said. “You know you are free to speak your mind. You might as well be our brother.” Her husband smirked and leaned back in his chair. Sara knew that look. He was going to enjoy watching this conversation play out.

Sara swallowed her bite of honey-pistachio ice cream and leaned her arms on the dining table. “Oh, I have no illusions about Amir’s dating history. But I know once he finds the right woman, he’ll be fiercely loyal to her.”

“I’m getting the impression you think my sister is the right woman. I’m surprised you even know what’s going on between them.”

“I do think she’s the right woman, actually.”

“Sara, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Malik said. “You might be a good judge of oil fields, but I know better than you when it comes to Soraya.”

“On the contrary,” Sara replied. “I think this is one situation where I see things a little more clearly.” She told Malik about how much Amir liked Soraya. She had been there when it all began. She told him how much effort Amir had put in and how genuine he was, how Soraya liked him too. She pointed out that Amir hadn’t paraded Soraya in front of the cameras as he usually did. The tabloids that normally picked up on his latest arm candy within a few hours hadn’t caught a whiff of Soraya.

“As you said, you know your sister better than I do. But I think she’s smart and careful and focused on her future. Am I right?”

“Yes, of course. But Amir—”

“Malik, she’s an adult. A smart, careful, thoughtful woman. She likes Amir. He likes her. You need to let them be. Amir won’t hurt her,” Sara concluded her plea for Soraya and Amir.

“And how do you know that?” Tariq asked.

“My question too,” replied Malik.

“All those other women he’s dated… How many of them did he actuallylike? How many made him stammer and blush when someone mentioned them? I’m guessing none. Soraya is different. And I will be there to keep his ass in check,” Sara replied.

Both Tariq and Malik raised their eyebrows and looked at each other. If anyone could corral Amir, it was her. She knew they knew it.

“Fine,” Malik finally said. “I’ll give the relationship a chance. But I’m going to keep my eye on Amir. And if he does hurt her, I’ll hurt him.”

14

Amir was sulking. He knew it. Tariq knew it. He was sure even Leylah knew it. Tariq had brought the baby over to Amir’s house to give Sara a break from spit-up and diapers for a while and let her make the most of Alex’s extended visit. Amir kind of wished he was with Sara rather than his grumpy brother, but Soraya had been spending a lot of time with Sara recently, and he’d been nursing the wound of her kicking him out of her house for days. Seeing her would only open it again.

“I don’t know what to do, Tariq. She says she likes me, but she keeps pushing me away. How did you persuade Sara to be with you?”

Tariq shook his head. “Don’t do it the way I did. Sex on the conference room table and an accidental pregnancy isn’t exactly the type of romantic story I look forward to telling Leylah when she’s older.”

“You’re not unhappy with how things turned out, are you?” Amir watched Tariq playing on the floor with the baby. Leylah was digging her fingers into a furry plush bunny Amir had picked out for her the previous week. He would spoil his niece, but he didn’t care. That’s what uncles were for, after all.

“No, of course not. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it. But you must admit, our relationship wasn’t always smooth. I wasn’t sure what would happen between us, right up until Leylah was born.” Tariq shook a rattle, and Leylah reached for it. She rolled from her back to her tummy, and Tariq grinned. “That’s the first time she’s done that! Help me get video for Sara.”

Amir laughed, and the next ten minutes were spent trying to get Leylah to repeat the magical feat of rolling over. She got tired of the game quickly, and Tariq moved her to her car seat for a nap. He turned back to Amir.

“Look, she said she’s told you what she wants from you. So think back on your conversations. What has she said? I’m sure if you give it some thought—if you’re capable of that—you’ll figure it out.” He picked up the car seat by its handle. “I’m going to get this little one home to bed.”

“Goodnight, Tariq. Give Sara a hug from me.”

“I will do no such thing. All hugs come from me.”

Amir paced and replayed every conversation he’d had with Soraya in the last year. Most of what she’d said was about him going away, leaving her alone, not turning up whenever he wanted. But leaving her alone hadn’t worked, either. Finally, things started to click together. She was stubborn, independent. She lived alone, rare for a woman in Kithab. She got annoyed when he wouldn’t tell her where he was taking her.

He reached for his phone and called her.

“Hello?” Even over the phone, her voice warmed him.

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