Olivia tried to speak, but he laid a finger on her lips. “Let me finish, sweetheart. You know my father is dying. Very soon I will be the emir.”
She wrenched her hands free, to hold his face and assure him of her comfort. She bent her head to drop a kiss on his temple.
“My life will be one of duty and protocol. I have to lead my country into the future and it will be hard. I… Oh, hell. Please do it, Livvy. Please say you’ll be with me.”
She wanted to say yes. He’d talked of marriage, and she yearned to be with him, no matter what the circumstances, but she knew it wasn’t that simple. The last time they’d spoken, he’d told her he’d made his choice of a suitable bride, and he’d made it quite clear that she didn’t measure up. She dropped her hands to her side and looked him in the eye. “What about the woman you’re going to marry?”
“What woman?” He looked bemused.
“That last night, you told me you had already chosen who you wanted out of all the eligible Saqati women.”
He shook his head. “I’d already chosen you, Livvy. Only you.”
“But… you can’t. I’m not the sort of woman you can marry. I’m not Saqati. I’m not Arab. I’m not a Muslim.”
“You will be a Saqati woman as soon as you marry me. As for the rest—my people love you already.”
“What?”
He grinned. “The radio show. Apparently it started all sorts of interesting rumors about you and me.”
Jemimah had said something about rumors at the reception, but she’d been so distracted by everything else going on that night that she hadn’t even considered the implications.
“It seems that half the Saqati population have been expecting the announcement of our betrothal for weeks.”
“You mean they don’t mind?”
He slid his arms around her waist and tugged her a little nearer. “They don’t mind at all. Sadiah says you will be the breath of fresh air our country needs.”
“Would I have to convert?”
“There is no law that requires it.”
“And I wouldn’t make it harder for you to be the emir?”
He laughed. “Being the emir without you by my side would be an infinitely more difficult task. I am so sorry that I couldn’t propose at the reception. I needed to speak to my father, and I needed to see the council. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask you to marry me if all I had to offer you was a life of shopping and sunbathing.”
“As it turns out, I quite enjoy sunbathing.” She indicated her lounger and he laughed. Olivia turned back to face him. “You didn’t need to offer me anything more, Khaled. Only you.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked. “You’ll marry me? You’ll stay with me?”
“Through everything,” she vowed. “As long as you want me.”
“I know you dreamed of taking over from your father.”
“That dream was never going to come true.”
Khaled stroked her hair. “What happened?”
“He had already appointed someone else, even before I told him you weren’t going to sign. He… I think he was glad I failed.”
“Oh, darling, I’m sorry.” Khaled pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms.
“No, I… I realized that I never cared that much about the job, after all. I just wanted him to be proud of me.”
“I’m so sorry, Livvy. I wish I could make it better for you.”
“You do,” she muttered. “You make everything better.”
“I’ll try, sweetheart. I’ll always try.”
She opened her arms to him, offered him her lips to kiss. He took her invitation with a desperation that made her realize the past couple of weeks had been as hard for him as it had for her. She slid her hands up into his hair and pulled him closer, showing him with every inch of her body how much she needed him.
“Don’t ever let me go again,” she whispered.
“Never.” He claimed her mouth again, running his hands over her all-but-naked body. Olivia arched into his touch, craving him, needing him everywhere, anywhere, all at once.
“I love you,” he told her fiercely. “I love you, Olivia McInnes, and I always will.”
Something inside her settled. Finally she knew what it meant to be secure, to feel safe. To be loved and to know it. She gave a deep, deep sigh of pure joy.
An hour later, in the bedroom of her beach hut, Olivia lay stretched out across Khaled’s chest like a satisfied cat.
“Can we stay here forever?” she murmured.
“Good plan.” His hand reached down to caress her bottom. “Is there room service?”
“Of course.”
He sighed blissfully. “We’ll never even need to get out of bed.”
“The bathroom is across the hall.”
“Too far. I’ll tell the hotel we need a shower put in here.”
She laughed. “Brilliant.”
He rolled her over onto her back and surveyed her closely. “This is new,” he observed, fingering the gold stud that adorned her belly button.
She blushed. “I can take it out if you don’t like it.”