The Sheikh's Pregnant Wife - Leslie North Page 0,39

the community? Yaseen knew they could make the same arguments he’d made all along—but they wouldn’t. Not with all three of the brothers sitting here.

“The community center already has a partner organization for us to work with, and finding local buy-in will be a walk in the park. It’s all but settled.” He looked around the table. “Please come to the next meeting with ideas for further projects. I’m interested in creating a long-term fund, but not at the expense of today’s citizens.”

Yaseen waited for any protest. There was none. He had done it—refigured the entire budget for Raihan and made way for Kara’s vision. She would only take them higher. She had a gift for making connections with local leaders.

“Good,” he said. “Business in the now is all well and good, but we must build a future for Raihan and our people. I’ll see you at the next meeting.”

19

“Thank you, Salima,” Kara said into the phone, tracing a path over her desk calendar with one fingertip. It was all she could do not to jump for joy. Too much of it coursed through her system. This conversation with Salima had been the most exciting of her life. It was almost exciting enough to wipe away the dull sadness that hung over her every waking minute. Being apart from Yaseen had increased her courage, perhaps, but she still missed him more than anything. “We’ll be in touch shortly.”

She hung up the phone and punched the air with both fists. She’d done it. She’d done it. Salima, though her business’s philanthropic arm, had decided to donate to the project. Her contribution made up more than half of the money they’d needed to get from the government of Raihan. “Leslie! Michael! Jean! Everybody! Come in here!”

Kara stood up as they all came in, bumping into one another in their rush. “Are you okay?” Leslie was first to Kara’s desk. “Did you go into labor?”

“No, no. We’ve had a massive private donation to the project.” She filled them in on Salima’s contribution.

The room erupted in cheers, and Michael and Leslie high-fived. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she called over the noise. “There’s still a lot more money to raise. But it’s a start—it’s a great start.” Kara accepted their congratulations and was being hugged tightly by Jean when the others abruptly stopped talking.

“What is it?” She craned her neck to look around Jean. “Yaseen?”

Jean wheeled around, then turned back to Kara with sparkling eyes. “We’ll get out of your way,” she said loudly, and ushered the rest of the team out in a matter of seconds.

Kara braced herself against the desk. “I—I wasn’t expecting you. Is something wrong? Is that why you came all the way here?”

Yaseen closed the door behind him. “All is well. It’s only that I have some news. I didn’t want to wait to tell you, but now—” He looked out the window at her team, talking excitedly among themselves. “Now I feel like I’ve interrupted something important.”

Kara stood up straight. “I just got a call from one of my contacts in the private sector.” She told him about Salima, about the time they’d spent talking at various events, and about her connection to Mennah. “Since her grandmother started her business there, she wants to give back in a big, big way.”

Yaseen laughed, eyes glowing with pride. “I should have known you’d already have the final piece of the puzzle.”

“The final piece?” She shook her head. “No, we can’t truly celebrate yet. We have a lot more money to raise.”

“No,” said Yaseen. “We have it all. The government of Raihan is contributing one million dollars. With the contributions from Salima and the money Community Connections has already raised, it’s more than enough.”

Her heart stopped, then raced forward again at top speed. He couldn’t be serious. “What about your profits?”

He came toward her, every sinuous movement lighting up a new pinpoint of want and lust inside of her. His voice smoothed over her skin. The hairs on the backs of her arms stood up. “I put a new policy in place an hour ago. Each government department will create a list of investment areas. We’ll be dedicating twenty percent of all our profits to community-building investments.”

Kara’s mouth dropped open.

“There are so many areas to pursue,” he said, eyes locked on hers. “Sport and Youth ministry will probably want to invest in youth leagues to move kids to a national team. We could play in the World Cup one day.