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Okay Whoa “So you’re Sheikh MacGyver, huh?”
He sain Mennah pitched forward, eagerly throwing herself at him
Carmen berated herself for her stupid reaction He’d said he wasn’t taking Mennah from her, and she shouldn’t feel jealous of Mennah’s instantaneous and unrestrained delight in hiot from her
His lazy drawl aborted her chaos “About that filet ulped down the silly tears “What about it?”
“You say Mennah loved it, and it did so to waste”
“You want to eat?”
“I’ve been known to indulge in the practice”
“But it’s already cold”
“You do havewill overcook it, destroy its buttery softness…”
“Let me…” He dropped a kiss on Mennah’s downy cheek as if co on, “Let us worry about that” Suddenly all ease evaporated, suspicion flaring in eyes that sla for so red “You mean my ‘sponsor’? One of many, no doubt You think I entertaininfant? Why don’t you just call et it off your chest I kno men of your culture view easy women and I was easy, with you But I never let you ‘sponsor’ es’ But surely you didn’t think that was enough for me You must have checked your collection of priceless cuff links to make sure I hadn’t ‘shared’ more than your hundred-star existence I trust you weren’t too disappointed to find everything accounted for”
His eyes spat danger, sending a frisson of anxiety radiating through her liue You hid them well”
“I didn’t hide them There was no reason for the brute back then”
The fla brute would have walked in here with bodyguards and diplohter and walked out over your weeping, begging body I a for you to remember basic courtesy and invitewhen I arrived”
And if it were possible to die of mortification, she would have keeled over
Embarrassed, cornered and mad as hell about it, and at him, she mumbled sourly, “Okay Fine But if the ealed, I don’t want to hear it”
He pursed his lips “Eat in silence, you mean?”
She rolled her eyes “As if”
He smiled then—a slow, hot smile, all for her this time, amused at her wisecrack
She didn’t knohat held her up all the way to the kitchen
Once there she shakily tried to take Mennah to put her in her high chair He declined, did it hi told, he placed Mennah’s toys on her tray and she iah in her li procedure then turned around, only to be stabbed in the heart again by the poignant sight Farooq and Mennahsuch an ele rese to your father role spectacularly And I’ve never seen her like this with anyone Not that she’s seen nized me As I did her The bond is…eleht “Yes,” she choked “And I—I’esture at theht I was doing the best thing For her”