Page 310 of The Skeikh's Games

“I’ll pass that along,” Jada said impatiently as she took a few more steps.

“Are you nervous about tonight?”

Jada stopped short and stared at the young woman. At no point in time was she prepared to talk about tonight on an empty stomach. Or on a full stomach. Ever.

Of course she was nervous. She’d never been with another man before, and she knew that two things would happen. It would either be completely magical, or she would realize that she’ll never be fulfilled for the rest of her life. And she really didn’t want to contemplate option number two.

“So many other things on my mind,” she said apologetically as she tried to move even closer. A hand closed around her wrist, and she spun around angrily.

“What in the…Kay!” She sighed with relief and hugged her friend. “I was about to cause a scene at my own wedding.”

“Shh…” Kay winked and handed her a plate filled with food.

“I love you,” Jada said as she immediately stuffed something into her face. “Seriously. I may divorce Kamal and marry you instead. It’s legal in some places,” she said with her mouth full.

“Divorcing me already, wife?”

Jada practically choked as she whirled around. Kamal was staring at her with an amused look on his face. Eyes waters, she swallowed and coughed. “No of course not. I’m just very hungry.”

His eyes softened. “Kayla, perhaps you could take my wife into one of the private rooms where she can finish her meal without interruption. I would hate to have you faint before the end of the festivities.”

“Of course,” Kayla said. Jada felt her heart skip a beat as her friend led her away. “You are such a lucky woman.”

“Says the girl who married for love,” Jada murmured as she popped something else in her mouth. She moaned out loud when they were finally in a room with the door shut. “So tell the truth. How bad was the wedding?”

“What are you talking about? It was beautiful, and it went off without a hitch.”

Jada eyed her friend. “But…”

Kayla sighed. “You two looked like mannequins standing up there. I couldn’t tell if you two were about to rip each other’s clothes off or if you were going to run screaming from the wedding. What is going on? Surely you two are comfortable with each other by now.”

Jada swallowed another bit and brushed the crumbs off her dress. “I might have suggested that traditional courting rituals would be a waste of time in our position. He tried a few times to extend an invitation, but I’m sure it was at the behest of his parents. I declined, and I’m sure he was relieved.”

Her friend stared at her. “Jada, this is the twenty-first century. Sure, we have arranged marriages, but you don’t have to marry a stranger. What were you thinking? No wonder it was awkward. He tried to take you out, and you rejected him!”

Glowering at Kayla, Jada polished off her plate. “It wasn’t like that,” she muttered.

Kay snorted and crossed her arms. “Well, if you have any questions about tonight.”

Alarmed, Jada covered her ears. “No. No. We are not having this conversation. I can’t here you. La la la la la,” she said as she reached for the door. Kayla shrieked in laughter and bounded after her. Throwing the door open to escape her, she ran straight into a hard body.

Kamal.

“Whoa,” he muttered as he caught her. “In a hurry for a second plate?”

Would this day never end? “I’m so sorry,” she muttered. Kayla chuckled behind her, and she stiffened. She would kill her friend before the day was over.

“Our presence is requested so that my father can make a speech,” he said as he took her arms gently.

“You could have sent someone to fetch me,” she snapped. Immediately, she blushed. Why was she upset that her husband wanted to find her?

“That’s true, but it gave me an excuse to break away from the crowd,” he said softly. He leaned down and brushed his lips gently across hers. She stiffened under his kiss. “Just relax or people will think I forced you into this.”

Great. She was embarrassing her husband on their wedding day. With a deep breath, she looked up and tried to smile. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous. I’ll do better.” Short sentences. Very little eye-contact with men or older women. Gaze to the floor. Be more open to conversation about the wedding. She repeated these instructions over and over again as they made their way through the ever growing crowd.

Finally, they were at the main table. The Sheikh gave them both a smile as he rose. Immediately, a hush fell over the crowd.

“I want to thank you all for being here to witness the union between my son, Kamal Al-Basir, and the lovely Jada. It has always been my greatest hope that my son would choose a strong woman to be by his side. My wife has been the rock by my side, and Kamal would need the same by his when it was his time to become Sheikh. When the played together as kids, I wondered if this would be the match for him, but as most children do here, they’re lives parted them as they learned what it would mean to be adults in this world. I am happy that they have been reunited, and I know that with Jada by his side, Kamal will go on to do great things.”

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