The Duke's Runaway Princess Page 0,51
morning and hurrying back to the apartment she shared with Suzanne to change clothes was just silly. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know that she would be spending the night with him, in his arms and in his enormous bed.
Zarah smiled as she pulled a sweater over her head to ward off the early morning chill. She was looking at Derrick as he slept, amazed at how muscular his body was. She had no idea what he did to build up those muscles, she’d never seen him work out except when he swam in his lake. But the lake wasn’t large enough for him to get that buff. Maybe he did something during the day, she wondered. She’d have to ask him tonight, she told herself as she picked up her overnight back and stuffed the previous day’s clothes inside.
Downstairs, she smiled at his housekeeper but shook her head when the kind woman suggested a cup of tea before heading out. “Thank you, but I’ve got to rush. I’ll grab something when I get back to my place.”
Zarah hurried down the road, enjoying the birds singing and the cool air that was almost misty at this time of the morning. The dew on the grass made everything look surreal and she hummed an old song that had been going through her head as she walked quickly back to her apartment.
Suzanne was still asleep, so Zarah put her overnight bag down and wrote her friend a note, letting her know that she was taking her car and driving into London for the weekly call to her brother.
She drove for forty-five minutes, finding a new spot by one of the larger shopping malls. She hurried to put the battery back into her cell phone and turn it on. She wanted this phone call over with so she could get back to Derrick. They didn’t have any specific plans for the day, but it would be nice to be able to spend a whole day with him. She hoped he was counting on that as well. As she dialed her brother’s phone number, she wondered if maybe they could take a picnic lunch back down to the lake and spend the day swimming. The morning had started off cool, but it was going to be pretty hot once the sun was fully up in the sky.
She heard the rings and counted to five before Rashid finally picked up. That was odd, she thought. Normally he was expecting her call and answered on the first ring.
“Where are you, Zarah?” her older brother demanded harshly.
Zarah took a moment to calm down. The authority in that tone of voice always intimidated her. He had been able to do that since she’d been a little girl but she wasn’t little any longer and she was not going to take it now.
“I’m fine. And you probably know my general area, so let’s just leave it at that.”
“I’m not going to leave it there. You need to come home immediately. This ridiculous adventure of yours is not worthy of your status in Tasain. You know your responsibilities. We all have been fully aware since we were children.”
Zarah closed her eyes and thought of Derrick. “I am aware of what is expected of me,” she said, then took a deep breath. “And I’m not going to follow through Rashid. I’m not marrying any random man you pick out in the hopes that I’ll have some tepid feelings for him as we grow old together. I’m not having a stranger touch me or bearing his children. I’m done, Rashid.”
There was a long moment of silence while Zarah leaned against a tree nervously. The longer the silence lasted, the more tense she became. “This is not an appropriate attitude for someone of your station, Zarah. Come home and we’ll discuss options, but I’m not going to do this over the phone.”
She was already shaking her head. “No. I’ll be home soon, possibly sooner than the twelve months I’d originally gave you,” she replied, thinking of Derrick and how long his past affairs had lasted. She had maybe three months with him if she was lucky, according to the village gossip. But he would eventually move on to another woman. Zarah was aware of his track record and, even though it hurt her painfully to think of him moving on to another woman, she was still going to enjoy as much time as possible with him while it lasted. That sounded a