Sheikh's Unknown Baby Daughters Read online

  Holly lifted her chin slightly. She didn't have anything to be ashamed of.

  “I finished the degree, even if I never used it. I still do art sometimes. Less sculpture than I did before because it's pretty hard to get the space I need, but a lot of drawing. A lot of watercolors when I get the time.”

  Adil gave her a smile that was at once warm and sad and intimate. Suddenly it was very easy to remember that he had come into the lab with her, had watched as she’d bent enormous sheets of metal around her armatures.

  However, all he did now was nod and make a notation on his paper.

  The rest of the questions were the ones she would have expected, and even a few that she hadn't. They were good questions, however, and she thought she had given a good accounting of herself. Now if they don't give me the job, I can't say I didn't give it my best.

  “All right, now Ms. Ainsley, do you have any questions for me?”

  She did, as a matter of fact, but she managed to keep herself to the basics, like benefits, time off, and work environment. She watched Adil, waiting to see if he would stumble, but as a matter of fact, he seemed to be exceptionally knowledgeable about the entire process. He apparently wasn't one of those CEOs who had no idea what was going on in the levels below him, and that was a good sign.

  I guess if he had to go home to take care of a company like IntraGlobal, I can see why he left.

  For one utterly mad moment, she wanted to ask him why he had left in the first place. And if he’d had to leave, why she hadn't been worth at least a message in response. She managed to stuff it back, however, because she wasn't entirely insane, but at the last minute, one managed to escape.

  “Did I ever mean anything to you?”

  She said it so quietly that he might have ignored it if he wished to do so. Instead, he jumped a little, almost as if she had shocked him, and a sad expression came across his face.

  “You once meant...so much to me. But I—”

  “No.” Holly could feel her face turning red. What a stupid, stupid thing to ask when she was in the middle of an interview where she had insisted on professionalism. “No. No, I'm sorry I asked. I...I don't want to know. Don't answer that.”

  “Holly.”

  “Please.” She had meant to come out calm, cool, and professional, but instead it sounded more like a desperate plea. It drew Adil back faster than she would have thought, and he nodded.

  “I'm sorry. It was never my intent to hurt you. Ever.”

  “I know that. I...I always hoped it, anyway.”

  They sat in silence for a moment, and then cautiously, as if afraid she might startle, Adil reached across the desk between them, offering her his hand. She let him take her hand, let him squeeze it gently, and somehow, some of that old grief peeled away.

  The moment passed, but there was something peaceful between them. It had been good to see him. They would be former lovers who’d shared a moment long ago, and they could be proud of mostly being adults when they parted now. She was willing to take that as a win.

  When they stood to shake hands, Adil hung on to her hand for a moment.

  “Come to dinner with me.”

  Holly pulled her hand from his with a slight laugh. “You know, that didn't even work seven years ago. That thing where you simply said a thing and expected everything to fall into line.”

  Adil grinned, letting go of her hand, and she was startled when she found herself a little sorry to lose the contact.

  “It worked sometimes, and even if it didn't, you were charmed by it. So I'll try again. Will you come to dinner with me?”

  For a moment, Holly was tempted. So tempted. She hadn't been out to a proper dinner in ages, and if she were very honest with herself, there was no one in the world like Adil. She wanted to drink him in, his fine form, his dark eyes, but when she thought of those eyes, she remembered abruptly that there were two good reasons to cut their encounter short.

  “I'm really sorry. I can't, I really can't. Are you going to be in Houston long?”

  “I am not, regrettably. I fly back to Manout tomorrow for business.”

  “Well, I suppose this is goodbye then.”

  “Surely not so soon. Let me walk you down to your car at least.”

  He said this so sweetly and so coaxingly that she laughed. In her memory, Adil was all hard lines and dark, smoldering good looks. How could she forget how sweet he had been, how close they had been? There was a time when he had refused to let her walk home on her own, when he had been willing to drive twice the distance out of his way to make sure she got home safe.

  “All right. All right. But that's it, all right?”

  “All right.”

  As they took the elevator down to the parking lot, Adil slid her a curious look. “May I ask why not?”

  “Why? Do you find yourself so very irresistible?”

  The moment the words were out of her mouth, Holly realized her mistake. Adil stepped closer, and she remembered all over again how tall he was, and how muscular. In the years they had been apart, she realized he had filled out a little. There was something thicker about his frame, something less slender and more mature. It gave him an imposing presence at the same time as it made her want to do nothing more than reach out and touch him.

  “No, but I was once irresistible to you. Or so you said.”

  She held her breath as he reached down to run the ball of his thumb over her lower lip. That simple, single, solitary act was enough to send a shower of shivers over her body, making her hands open and close as her heart raced. He leaned in to kiss her, and she could feel that kiss before it happened, feel him, taste him, want him...

  Then the elevator door chimed, making her yelp, and he stepped back with an insufferable smile on his face.

  “Well, things are different, and I understand that,” he said placidly, and Holly stared at him.

  “Oh my god, you're terrible.”

  “You said that a great deal too.”

  Holly couldn't stop herself from laughing at his words. God, it was probably just as well they had never gotten together. It would be this all the time, him doing outrageous things, and her letting him get away with them because at some level he was just so much fun.

  He walked her out to her car, and she knew he had not missed the fact that it was a third-hand beater with a patch of duct tape on the bumper.

  “It's fine, it's just a crack,” she said defiantly. “It's Houston, it's not as if the rust is going to get into it.”

  “If you say so. It was very good to see you again, Holly.”

  “Was it?” The words came out, not teasing and boisterous as she had thought they would, but instead almost wistful.

  “It was. Very much so.”

  For a moment, she was almost afraid he would try to kiss her again. If he did, she knew she would crumble, that she would not be able to keep it from getting into her, changing her yet again as he had all those years ago.

  Instead, he leaned closer and gave her a hug. It was almost as bad, being enveloped in his strong arms and sinking into the bulk of his powerful body, but it didn't overwhelm her the way that a kiss would have. If they both hung on a little longer than they might have, there was no one to tell them it was a terrible idea.

  When they pulled back, Adil started to say something, but then they were both startled by a hasty beeping.

  They looked up to see a sleek car that Holly knew very well come up to them.

  Oh...oh no...

  “Adil, it's just my sister, why don't you go back inside...”

  He frowned at her, and just as he had been able to when they were younger, she knew he could pick up on the sudden stress in her voice now. Once it had made her melt, how in tune he could be with her, but now it was damned inconvenient.

  “Are you all right? You look pale...”

  Completely unaware of any of this drama, Haley pulled up alongside them.

  “Hey sis! Donnie's mom started having some heart stuff again. I n
eed to get out to Austin pronto, and I was hoping to drop the pups off with you early. I remembered where you were interviewing and came out.”

  “Pups?” asked Adil in confusion, and then it was simply too late.

  Haley darted around to open up the door, and Skyler and Sana tipped out, indeed, just like a pair of floppy and eager puppies. They had pictures to show their mother, they were both clamoring for her attention, eager to show her what they had done since she had dropped them off earlier, and in the middle of all that, Haley drove off with a wave, leaving Holly to turn to Adil.

  Adil was silent, staring at the two girls. The two six-year-old girls.

  The girls kept jabbering, too excited to see that their mother was growing paler and paler, or to notice the dark-haired man that was staring at them so intently. Finally, Holly had to whistle, two high notes and one low, and that got their attention as it always did. They looked up at her curiously, and then they glanced at Adil as well.

  They were fairer than he was, and Sana had paler hair than Skyler, but they both had olive skin that would tan rather than burn, and they both had inky-black eyes that were far different from Holly's bright green ones.

  She took her girls' hands in hers, and she felt as if the world was tilting underneath her. “Adil...”

  “I think you're going to be having dinner with me.” His tone was light, but there was something rock hard at the core of it. She had an idea that this was far less a suggestion than an order.

  “Yes,” she said, giving in, and the girls cheered about getting to go out to eat.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Adil

  The first restaurant had made Holly laugh. For some reason, despite the emotions that were currently tearing him apart, Adil was still enchanted by her laugh.

  “We can't take them in there. Do you want to pay for all the china they'll inevitably break?”

  “Well, it's not as if I can't.”

  “No. Trust me, it' s a very bad idea. How about Terrence's?”

  Terrence's turned out to be a family restaurant not far away, one that was cozy and spacious, with white drawing paper on top of the tables. Adil supposed it would make cleaning up a bit easier, and when the hostess saw the two little girls, she provided them both with two promotional tins of crayons.

  Holly looked at once slightly horrified at everything that had come to pass, but at the same time, it was so clear how much she loved her girls. No matter what was happening, she kept an eye on them, always ready to coo approval over a new drawing or to offer reassurance when someone tripped and broke a stack of plates.

  Adil had intended to bring her to dinner to confront her over the existence of two girls who bore a marked resemblance to him, but he realized very quickly he could hardly do it when the girls themselves were sitting right there. Instead, he concentrated on the girls, watching them closely as the food was ordered.

  Sana, as she told him proudly, was older by ten whole minutes. She was louder both when she laughed and when she talked, and she was outgoing enough to ask the waitress's name and to draw a picture of her on the table. Her hair was heavy and long like her sister’s, but it was paler, a soft brown with just a hint of red in it.

  Skyler, on the other hand, was quieter, and she watched him with large, dark eyes that looked unimpressed. She was silent where her sister was gregarious, choosing instead to work hard on her own drawings. There was something speculative in her gaze, and with a slight moment of shock, Adil realized she very much resembled pictures of his mother when she was a child. She had the same great liquid, dark eyes, the same watchful wariness, as if she was waiting for the world to suddenly betray her.

  He watched and was watched in turn, and things were very quiet before Sana thrust a crayon in his hand.

  “Play hangman with us!”

  “Oh dear, I'm not sure that Adil wants to play with you...” Holly said.

  “I'll try,” Adil said quickly. “Tell me how to play.”

  The girls explained it to him, telling him to choose a word while they drew the gallows. It was a macabre game, but he was surprised that girls so young could already play with words.

  They guessed his first word, cat, before he had even drawn in a single limb, and then they guessed dog even more quickly.

  “We're not babies,” Skyler said with a bit of disdain. “Try bigger words!”

  When Adil glanced at Holly, she shrugged with a bit of amused pride. “They're telling the truth. They're pretty advanced for their age.”

  “Mouse” gave them a bit more trouble, as did “coffee.” They were still puzzling over “marble” when their food came, and their mother suggested they put the crayons away.

  The food at Terrence's was good enough, Adil thought, and it was certainly plentiful. He couldn't eat all of it. However, at the end of the meal when he was ready to leave it behind, Holly asked for a box to keep the food for later. That was when he saw that both little girls had scrupulously eaten only half of their food, apparently used to the idea of setting some aside for later.

  “Aren't you hungry?” he asked, and both of them shook their head.

  “It's too much,” Skyler said. “We're already full. Besides, we can eat that for breakfast in the morning.”

  “You want macaroni for breakfast?” he asked, amused, and she nodded eagerly.

  “Well, how about if I take you for ice cream? Think you still have enough room for ice cream?”

  The girls chorused a yes, but Holly shook her head. “Sorry kids. We don't have time for ice cream before you need to go to bed.”

  There were some disappointed grumbles, but no real protests. It only took a bit of gentle prompting to remind the girls to thank Adil for his offer. Despite the prompting, their gratitude was real, and Adil wondered why he suddenly felt so warm. He had only met these girls a few hours ago, and already he felt protective.

  Adil ended up following Holly's rather dilapidated car to another neighborhood, one that was quite a bit poorer than anywhere he had been in Houston to this point. It wasn't dangerous, he decided, but there was a shabbiness to all of the small apartments, and the cars on the street looked about the same quality as Holly's.

  The apartment was almost painfully small, and the single bedroom was kept for the twin girls. He prowled the living room as their mother bathed them, taking in the tattered curtains, the worn couch, and the tiny television. There were books everywhere, however, attesting to the girls' love of reading, and that made him feel that strange affection again.

  He looked up when it sounded as if there was some kind of discussion going on in the bathroom, and finally, he heard Holly sigh.

  “Go right ahead.”

  The two girls emerged from the bathroom, Sana in green pajamas and Skyler in purple ones. While Skyler hung back slightly, Sana walked right up to him, looking up at him with a kind of fearlessness that made his heart clench.

  “I want to hug you good night,” she said, and he came down to his knees so that she could hug him tight.

  When she let go, he turned inquiring eyes to Skyler. “Would you like a hug as well?”

  She hesitated. “I only really like to hug Mommy and Auntie Haley and Sana...”

  “That's all right. Would you like a handshake instead? We can work our way up to the other some other time if you like.”

  That won a shy smile from Skyler, and she came over to give him a very credible handshake, pumping her hand up and down three times.

  “Good firm handshake, you'll go far in business,” he said, and she covered her mouth to hide a smile.

  The two girls scampered off to bed, and this time, Adil came to stand in the doorway as their mother read them a story about a moon, a bear and a rabbit.

  “Can Adil read to us next time?” asked Sana, already drifting off.

  “We'll see, sweetheart. Now close your eyes and get to sleep.”

  Adil was already feeling a little bereft when Holly shut the door behind them, separating him from the girl
s.

  “It may not look it, but the walls in this place are pretty thick. If we keep our voices down, we can talk without waking the girls up.”

  She took her place on a small, battered armchair in the corner, leaving him on the couch. Adil had to move a few books, but it was comfortable enough. All through dinner and putting the girls down for the night, his mind had been boiling over with questions, but right now, he was just a blank. A few hours ago, all he had wanted to do was to reconnect with an old flame, to see if there were still sparks there. Now his world had been tipped upside down.

  He reached for a question, any question. “Your babysitter called the girls puppies. Why was that?”

  “Ah. That was Haley, my sister. She moved back to Texas a few years ago with her husband. She was there when the twins were born, and they were so little and covered in fuzz that she thought they looked like floppy little puppies. The name stuck, and sometimes the girls even chase her around like puppies.”

  “Fuzz?” Adil asked, startled. The girls had looked normal to him.

  “No big deal. The hospital had to explain it to me. Some babies are born with a very fine layer of fuzz on them. It's weird, but it falls out pretty soon. They weren't even that furry, I think Haley just thought she was trying to be funny.”

  “She shouldn't call them puppies...”Adil said with a frown.

  “She refuses to take any money for babysitting them. I'm pretty sure she can call them anything she wants as long as she does it with love.”

  He looked around the apartment at her statement about money. “Where in the world do you sleep in this apartment?”

  She pointed at the couch. “It folds out into a bed. It's not bad at all. I'm hoping that if I get the receptionist job, we can move into a place where I can have a room of my own. It's a little rough when the girls can just come out and jump on me first thing in the morning.”

  Holly shook her head. “Why don't you ask the question you've been wanting to ask all evening.”

  Adil already knew the answer, but he still took a deep breath. “Those girls, Sana and Skyler... Are they mine?”