The Sheikh's Pregnant Wife - Leslie North Page 0,28
for Yaseen, and he settled into the back seat with a satisfied sigh. The last few days with the Germans had been productive. He should feel more satisfied. But something was missing. He took out his phone and dialed Kara’s number. There’d be plenty of time to talk before he arrived at the airport, and he wanted to hear her voice. To think—a year ago, he’d never heard her voice. How times had changed.
“Hello?”
“Hello,” he said, watching the side streets of Munich roll by outside his window. The clear, sunny day made him wish he’d been able to come here on a vacation with his wife. They could have strolled the streets and taken in the architecture and visited anyplace she wanted to go. “I’m calling to check on you. We haven’t talked in a couple of days.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” said Kara, sounding slightly breathless. “I’m fine. Everything’s going fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Are you—” He laughed, but he didn’t quite feel the amusement the sound should have indicated. “Are you going somewhere? You sound a bit winded.”
“I sound a bit pregnant, Yaseen,” she said. “I was coming upstairs from the dining room. Silly me—I thought it would be just as easy to take the stairs as the elevator.” She huffed another breath. “I’m sitting down now. Is this better?”
“I wasn’t bothered.” He shifted in his seat. “Is the baby all right?”
“Kicking all the time,” said Kara.
Something was...off. The difference hurt him. And the difference was...what? The playfulness. The conversation lacked it. He tried to find something flirty to say, but all of it rang false, even in his thoughts. He wanted to flirt with her, but an invisible barrier had grown in his mind.
“Has anything happened while I’ve been gone?”
Kara hummed a tune that gave way to words. “Not really. I went to Laila’s fundraiser. We had lunch yesterday, too. That’s been about it. Nothing exciting. Besides, I’m sure if anything truly exciting happened, you’d get a security briefing about it.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” Though he didn’t want a security briefing, ever, that had to do with Kara. Better that she be safe and sound for the rest of her life.
A voice in the background interrupted their conversation.
“Yes—yes,” said Kara. “I’ll be ready in just a minute.” Her voice got louder again. “I’m sorry, Yaseen, I have to go. I’ve got a meeting.” She paused, and he felt the weight of that pause all the way in Germany. “Have a safe flight.”
“I will,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”
The call disconnected.
He sat back in his seat and pulled up Instagram on his phone. If he was going to miss Kara like this, he might as well look at her face. Yaseen didn’t use Instagram much—didn’t have the time for it—but Kara did. He scrolled through her feed and missed her more. Most of the pictures she’d posted were from their trip to Mennah. They were a mix of photos taken with her phone and with her DSLR, but all of them were well done. Pride sparked in his chest. She was good. And she clearly cared about the town. Each of the captions shared something else she’d learned from the people there. Her heart shone through every single one.
He put the phone down and turned his attention back out the window. Mennah had been such a wonderful time. He’d thought they’d have a chance to visit again together—maybe more than one chance. And now it seemed like the town would only be a thorn between them. Something they both reached to touch, then drew back from in pain.
Yaseen let himself dwell on it all the way home. He declined the meal on the private jet, choosing to look out the window at the clouds instead. The ache in his heart still hadn’t subsided. The flight—and the trip—would have been much better if he’d brought Kara along. Even arguing with her over the sports complex would be better than being without her.
Well. That was a thought. Yaseen had never once in his life felt that way about another person. What did it mean? For now? For the future?
He was still turning it over in his mind when the plane touched down in Raihan.
His driver greeted him with a nod and a smile. “Sheikh Yaseen. We’ll be taking a roundabout way to the house. There’s some emergency road construction going on, so it won’t be the usual route.”
“All right,” he said, only a little irritated. He wanted to get home