Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik's Baby - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,64

our relationship will not be like that! We will have a good marriage, Cassandra!” He paced a bit more, the urgency in his expression becoming harder. “You will love me. I will make it so.”

Her heart skipped several beats with that statement. “You will?”

“Yes!” He paced some more, rubbing a hand along his neck. “I will…I will become the man you can love. I will do whatever it takes!”

Her heart melted. He’d never shown any vulnerability or weakness around her. And yet, here he was, trying to figure out how to make her fall in love with him.

“Yes, you’ve already done that. But…”

He stopped, his eyes lighting onto her. “What do you mean? What have I done?”

Cassy pulled back, startled by the heat in his eyes. “Well, you’ve…I’m in love with you right now, Nasir. But…”

Once again, she stopped speaking when he moved quickly around the table, getting down on one knee as he took her hands in his. “Say it again.”

Cassy didn’t want to say it again. Not this way. “Nasir, we can’t…”

His fingers tightened on hers. “Say the words, Cassandra. I’ve been through hell over the past several weeks, trying to figure out how to win your heart. Are you telling me that you…love me already?”

She saw the question in his eyes, and the hope. Something she’d never thought she’d ever see! “Yes, I love you, Nasir.”

“But…You left me in Zurich! You wouldn’t speak to me!”

She sighed, bowing her head. “Nasir, I thought you’d dismissed me in Zurich and I was…hurt. Crushed, actually.”

“But…you didn’t call me? You didn’t tell me anything.”

Cassy nodded, feeling his pain in her chest. After the past several hours, hearing his words and the assurance that he hadn’t left her in Zurich, she felt a deep guilt over her assumptions. “Yes. I didn’t…I didn’t read your note. I still haven’t. But with my past, with what happened to me all those years ago, I didn’t really think, Nasir. I just reacted. And, obviously, I reacted poorly. But yes, I’m in love with you. I didn’t want to be in love with you. I still don’t.”

“Why not?” he demanded harshly.

“Because you don’t love me, Nasir. You have all the power in this relationship. You have from the very beginning. I’m completely vulnerable to you now that you know. You could crush me harder than any of those boys could have. I’m older and, hopefully wiser, but still, you have the power to really hurt me.”

He moved closer, his palm reaching out to cup her jaw and cheek. “Never!” he vowed. “You have given me your heart and I will protect that gift just as ferociously as I will protect our child,” he told her, his other hand coming to rest on her stomach. “I love you too, Cassandra. From the moment I saw you, I wanted you as my own.”

With his words, her heart melted even further! “You love me?” she asked, her voice cracking with the emotions that were swelling up inside of her.

“From the moment I stepped into the conference room that first day,” he promised.

“From the first moment?” she teased, feeling light headed, but from happiness this time.

“Don’t,” he cautioned. “Don’t even try to tell me that you didn’t feel the same way. From that first moment, we both knew. We could both feel what was happening between us.”

He was right and Cassy felt shame for a moment. Then happiness hit her again. “Yes. I felt it as well. I didn’t understand it. And, for so long, I’ve been on the wrong side of male…attention. But the way you looked at me,” she lifted her lashes and looked into his eyes, “It was never about my breasts. It was about me, wasn’t it?”

He nodded, squeezing her fingers. “Always about you, Cassandra. Your breasts are beautiful and I love them. But they don’t define you. They have shaped your perception of men in general, but you are a beautiful person inside and out. You are strong and intelligent, funny and fascinating.” His eyes dropped to her breasts as a smile crept over his face. “And I love your figure, especially when you aren’t wearing one of those horrible sports bras,” he teased.

Cassandra couldn’t believe his words. She was so happy that she dove into his arms, laughing at his grunt of surprise when he caught her, lifting her up. “I love you,” she whispered against his neck.

He lowered his head as well, holding her close. “I love you, Cassandra. Will you please marry