The Sheikh's Pregnant Wife - Leslie North Page 0,32

a deep breath as the councilman launched into a speech about future business interests in Europe and prospective business partners for the next year. Yaseen tuned him out. What was Kara doing right now? She’d be back from the office, he was sure. Lately, she’d been spending a lot of her spare time curled up on the sofa, leaning against one of the big pillows from the bed. He wanted nothing more than to get back to her and take his place beside her in their home, away from the palace.

“Sheikh Yaseen? Did you have any comment?”

He shook his head, not bothering to ask for a recap. They’d give him a copy of the minutes when all was said and done. For now, he needed the meeting to end. “No comment.” He stood up and rapped his knuckles on the table. “I’m calling an end to the council meeting. Thank you all for coming.”

If they had any problem with him dismissing the meeting, they didn’t say so. Yaseen hurried down the hall to his office and poked his head in.

“Anything I can do for you, Sheikh Yaseen?” His assistant looked up from her desk.

“Yes. I’d like you to make restaurant reservations for myself and my wife for after her speech in Geneva.” He named a couple of places he’d been thinking of, then set off for home. He had the urge to tell the driver to gun it through traffic, weaving in and out if necessary, but he restrained himself. A prince of Raihan couldn’t just disrupt the entire city because he wanted to get back to his wife. He let himself imagine it, anyway.

At home, he went looking for Kara. She wasn’t on her favorite couch or in the bedroom suite, or even in the kitchen. Finally he spotted her through one of the big windows in the back. She paced back and forth in the garden, circling a small bench under an olive tree. He stopped at the window to look at her. Her bump got bigger by the day, but he found her all the more irresistible for it. Pregnancy suited her. He’d do almost anything to see her pregnant again, and she hadn’t even given birth to their first child.

Yaseen sucked in a breath and shook his head. Wouldn’t that be a setup for disappointment? He couldn’t afford to let himself imagine it, as badly as he wanted to.

He went outside into the mid-afternoon sun and made his way slowly through the winding paths of the gardens. The bench where Kara paced was visible from the house, but he could only get there through an opening in several of the rose bushes. The closer he got, the lighter he stepped. Her voice did something to him. It called to him. But not the version of himself that clung obsessively to his job. The version that wanted more.

Kara was practicing her speech for Geneva.

She tested out each sentence on her tongue, holding her back straight and keeping a smile on her face. He listened to her go through the last paragraph three times. On the third try, she looked out at an invisible audience and bowed her head.

“Bravo,” he called, and clapped his hands.

Kara gasped, her hand flying to her throat. “My god, Yaseen. You scared me. I didn’t know you were out here.”

He went into the small clearing under the olive tree. “I was watching you practice. I didn’t want to interrupt you mid-speech.”

Kara blushed, fanning herself with one hand. “You should announce yourself next time. It’s weird to listen to people when they’re practicing a speech.”

“But it’s a wonderful speech.” He bent and kissed her temple, then the line of her jaw. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping.” Inhaling her skin was the best part of his day by far. The worst part of his day was when he’d had to leave home this morning without her.

Kara leaned into him. “Thank you. I guess I’m about to give it in front of an auditorium full of people, so it doesn’t matter so much if the father of my child hears it first.” She turned in his arms so she could look up at him. “I know we’ve already talked about the date change, but I’ve been thinking about it today. It’s okay if you can’t make it.”

He put his fingers under her chin and tipped her face up toward his. Yaseen let himself trace the full pout of her lips with his gaze and couldn’t resist bending