Khaled drew a finger lightly across her forehead. “I don’t want you to be afraid of anything. And I don’t want you spending anymore days worrying.”
“Likewise. Shall we run away together and live in blissful isolation on a tropical island with lots of interesting fish for you to study and beaches for me to lie on in bikinis?”
Khaled grinned and kissed her. “Tempting though that is, I’m afraid we have to stay. Saqat has its own beaches that are all in need of beautiful women in bikinis to lie on them. As well as plenty of interesting fish for me to study when I get the chance.”
Olivia took his face in her hands and kissed him back. “I love you, Khaled Saqat. I love you despite your extreme sense of duty, and I love you with all your deeply rooted principles. I love you because of the strength of your family ties. Don’t ever apologize for being the man you are, because that’s the man I fell in love with.”
“Livvy…” His face softened as he gazed at her with so much tenderness. “I love you so much.”
“How much?” Her hands were tugging at the rope around his waist, struggling to work out the knot that held them in place.
“More than you can imagine. Shall I do that?”
She stepped back and let him dispense with the rope, the headscarf, and the robes. “One day, I’m going to make you teach me how to do that.”
“One day when you aren’t quite so impatient?”
“Exactly. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to be patient now. There are about a hundred tiny buttons down the back of this dress and they all need undoing.”
Khaled sighed pointedly. “Couldn’t you have got a dress with a zipper?”
“Well, there was one with Velcro down the back. Might that have suited you more?”
He laughed. “I’d like to have seen that.”
“I was a bit worried about tripping over the hem and hearing the whole dress rip apart in front of everyone.”
“No, it only needs to rip apart in front of me. And now that I think about it, you’re never going to wear this again, are you?”
“Well, no, I wasn’t planning to.”
“Excellent.” One sharp tug sent tiny pearl buttons flying across the room and left the dress slithering down Olivia’s body and onto the floor.
“You’ll have to pick those up later,” she said.
“Nope,” he said smugly. “That’s one of those good things about being the sheikh. Someone else gets to pick up the buttons in the morning.”
…
The next day, Olivia got up early to see her father off.
“If you need any advice with that new job of yours, you know where to find me. Not that I suppose you will, my girl. You’ve always been one to do things yourself without your old dad to help.”
She flung her arms around him. “I always needed you, Dad. Always.”
Oliver patted her awkwardly on the back. “You’ve got that husband of yours now, lass. You don’t need me.”
“Promise me you’ll visit,” she said.
“If you want me to.”
“I do. We do. Khaled doesn’t know anything about running an oil company.”
“He’ll learn. You’ll show him how, lass.”
“Dad? I thought you…” She bit her lip indecisively. But it was now or never. “I thought you didn’t think I was up to it. You gave the job to Charlie Munro instead of me.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I always knew you could do whatever you put your mind to. I just wanted you to choose something for yourself. Something easier.”
“That’s why you made things as hard as possible for me?” She stared at him in amazement. It had never occurred to her that her father was deliberately trying to make her seek another career.
“I thought it was no job for a lassie, especially not one as pretty and bright as you. You wouldn’t listen when I said as much, so I did everything I could to show you what I meant. But you proved me wrong. You always did.”
“Oh, Dad.” She was almost on the point of tears again. He wouldn’t say that he loved her, that wasn’t his way. Now that she knew, it didn’t matter if she never heard the words from his lips.
“You don’t need my help now anymore than you ever did, but I’ll be glad to visit you here. And if you can brave the wilds of Scotland, you know there will always be a welcome for you and your husband at Dalneith House.”
He winked at someone standing behind Olivia, and she turned to see that Khaled had entered the room.
“I’ll even make sure the woodshed is filled and the chimney swept, aye?”
“Thank you, sir. We would appreciate that very much. Olivia, my father would like to see you when you are finished here.”
“You go, lassie,” said Oliver. “I’ll be leaving now, anyway.”
“I’ll show you out,” Khaled said.
Olivia made her way to the emir’s rooms and a few minutes later Khaled joined her.
“He had a turn for the worse in the night,” he said in a low voice. “The doctors are monitoring him and giving him drugs for the pain, but there is nothing else they can do.”
“Khaled, I’m so sorry.”