stood in front of him had the same smile, but her red hair was styled in a twist behind her head with a sleekness that he only associated with school dances and royal balls. Styled, because, as it echoed in his mind now, she was getting married in two days.
To Barron Rochester.
The next logical thing to say was that he hadn’t seen her in quite some time. Since their graduation, in fact. He’d gone off to Oxford, and she’d gone off to…where had she gone off to? Rashid wanted to ask, but a strange pressure had built up in his chest, and the appropriate response flew from his tongue before he could force it into the air.
“You can’t marry him,” he said abruptly, knowing even as he said it that he sounded brusque and blunt and all too familiar. Because she was. She was too familiar and still too dear to his heart, even after all these years, to let her get married to a man like Barron. “You can’t.”
Nora’s smile faded. “Oh, Rashid. I am marrying him. The wedding’s in two days.”
“So I heard. Call it off.” He had some faint hope that Nora, like most of the people in his life, would simply go along with what he said.
But of course she didn’t. She was Nora, not a member of the palace staff.
Nora stepped forward and put a hand on his arm. “It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen each other. You’re taller.” She laughed. “Still every bit the crown prince, I see.”
“It has been a long time.” Too long. Why had it been so long? What had been so all consuming about Oxford and life in Omirabad that he’d allowed them to lose touch? Rashid didn’t have much time for social media, but that was no excuse. “I’ve missed…our friendship.” It was stilted, yes, but somehow saying I’ve missed you seemed too intimate for the moment. Even with her hand on his arm.
“I’ve missed it too.” Her eyes sparkled in the low light of the courtyard. “Remember all those projects we finished at the last moment?”
He did. They’d spent many hours together at the study tables in their dormitory, close enough to share notes but not close enough to touch. Rashid had loved it. He’d never said as much to her. Neither of them had.
Why not?
“What are you here for?” Nora asked, taking her hand away from his arm but staying close. “A getaway from palace life?”
“An engagement party.”
“Really?” There was that smile again. “Whose?”
“Mine,” he said.
Her eyebrows went up. “We’re almost like twins. I’m here for our rehearsal dinner.”
So she had gone through the motions with Barron, standing where they would stand for the ceremony, and still wanted to be with him.
It couldn’t be true. Rashid was gripped by the need to do something, to intervene, even though he knew he was overstepping the bounds of a one-time school friendship.
“If there’s anything I’ve learned from life, it’s that it’s never too late to change course.”
“Cold feet?” Nora cocked her head to the side, ready to listen, just as she always had been.
“Don’t marry him,” he said urgently. “Barron is not the kind of man who—” He doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve anyone.
“Too late to change course on that,” Nora said, an edge to her voice. “I have to marry him, Rashid. It’s the only way.”
“The only way for what? Whatever it is, there’s another way, I promise you. Barron—”
“Will be waiting for me.” Nora looked up into his eyes. “It was lovely to see you, Rashid. Congratulations on your own engagement.”
“Rashid?” It was Jazmin’s voice.
“Someone’s looking for you,” said Nora, wearing a grin that seemed rueful.
He turned to look, and there was Jazmin at the other end of the walkway. “Give me a minute, Nora, and—”
When he turned back, she was gone. He half considered running after her, all those old feelings raging in his chest. He’d always felt protective of her, but now? Now?
“Who were you talking to?” Jazmin stopped at his side, looking at the corner Nora had disappeared around. “People are missing you at the party.”
“An old friend.” Why hadn’t she been willing to listen to him?
“Which old friend?”
“Nora Williams,” he snapped, and Jazmin took a step back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it that way. It’s only that—” He shook his head. “She’s making a mistake. I tried to tell her.”
Jazmin studied him. “She was a school friend, right? Why the sudden interest in her mistakes tonight?”
He turned to face her. “She’s set to marry an awful man, and she doesn’t deserve that.”
Jazmin shrugged. “How do you know he’s so awful?”
“I know him. I’ve seen things.”
“Maybe she’s seen a different side of him.”
“I’m sure she has.” Irritation flared brightly under his ribs. “But I’ve seen what a callous, uncaring man he can be. The way he treats women—”
“You don’t know how he treats her.”
“I know how he will, and she doesn’t deserve that,” he insisted. “Marriage should be about trust and respect and love, not—not resignation.”
“Your friend can make her own choices about who she wants to marry, you know.”
“Of course I know that. I only want her to have all the information before she walks down the aisle.”
“Why are you so concerned about her marriage?” Jazmin’s voice rose to match the fire in her eyes. “Why are you out here arguing with me about someone else’s fiancé when you’ve abandoned your own engagement party?” She didn’t have to add and your own fiancée.
“It’s wrong. That kind of marriage is wrong.”
“Then it’s wrong for us, too,” Jazmin shot back.
He had no answer for that. The breeze rustled the leaves in the silence between them.
“We both know this isn’t a love match. We both know this is…a business arrangement. And I can see in your eyes that’s not what you want.”
“It is what I want,” Rashid said.
Jazmin squared her shoulders. “It’s not. Maybe it’s what you wanted before tonight, but it’s not now. I release you from the marriage contract, Rashid. The wedding is off.”
Grab your copy of The Sheikh’s Convenient Bride
(Omirabad Sheikhs Book One) from