Page 107 of Earned Husband

CHAPTER 45

COLIN

Ilined up my putt, took a deep breath, and sent the ball flying. Isaac and I watched it go, and then drop, very decisively, not nearly as far away as I’d meant for it to. I sighed. “I hate this game.”

Isaac chuckled. “You’ve said that every time we’ve played in the last few months.”

“That’s because every time we’ve played the last few months, I’ve been absolute shit. I have no idea what went wrong.”

Isaac arched his eyebrows at me, inclining his head toward where Deja was ripping around in our golf cart. She was driving it like she stole it, leaning on the horn and not even because anyone was in her way, but because she seemed to find honking hello to strangers entertaining.

“Do you think it’s maybe because you’ve been a little bit distracted for the last few months?” He laughed when she waved enthusiastically at the groundskeeper when she passed him. “Not that I blame you. I’d happily sacrifice my golf game if it meant I could be distracted by someone who looks like that.”

I shot him a warning glare. “You can stop now. Thank you.”

He laughed. “Hey, man. I was just saying. Your fiancée is hot. You should take it as a compliment.”

I sighed, watching as she stopped beside two older women walking along the path. Thirty seconds later, all three of them were laughing like they’d been friends for years. Isaac squinted at them. “Does she know them?”

“I doubt it.”

“How is it that she just makes friends absolutely everywhere?”

“I honestly don’t know. It’s a talent, but it happens a lot.”

As we watched, she picked up her camera and started showing the women some pictures on it, all of them in hysterics moments later. I smiled and warmth flooded my chest as it occurred to me, once again, that I wasmarryingthat girl.

Fuck me.

“She’s really fun,” Isaac said. “Is her whole family like that, or is it just a Deja thing?”

“Man, you have no idea,” I replied absently, then managed to tear my gaze away from her to look at my brother. “You’ll find out soon, though. I mean, all of you are coming to Cairo for the wedding next month. I’d buckle up if I was you. The Saad brothers are going to be keeping you real busy.”

He thought it over for a beat before he grinned. “Or, instead of waiting until next month, I could fly out there with you two in a few days.”

“You wouldn’t be sorry. Egypt is one of the most incredible places I’ve ever seen. You’d be missing out on the Thanksgiving vibe here, though.”

Thanksgiving wasn’t really a thing in Deja’s culture, but since we were getting married in November, the whole family and most of the Westwoods were still taking some time off. The only difference was that instead of gathering around a turkey, our families would be gathering at a wedding.

As far as I was concerned, we’d gotten the better deal. I’d trade stuffing for Cairo any day.

Isaac rocked his head from side to side, considering it before he half-jumped when Deja threw the golf cart into reverse and came speeding toward us. She slammed on the brakes halfway to speak to an older couple who’d waved her down.

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “You know, I think America and its people are growing on her. She’s spoken to more folks today than I have in the last month.”

“Yeah, well, I think she’s embracing it.” I lifted my cap off my head to smooth my hair back, then put it on again. “It was her decision to settle in Chicago and run the White Water Lily operations here going forward. The initial plan that was that she’d get everything off the ground here and then commute back and forth but appoint someone to actually run the American division.”

“So she’s changed her mind?”

“Yep.” Deep down, I believed she was using it as an opportunity to get a bit of breathing room from her family. As much as she loved them, I had a feeling she was looking forward to laying down roots and making her own way for a change. “I think she’s excited to take on a new challenge and build something a little independent of her family. I mean, it’s still the company they started, but she’ll get to choose their direction here and grow this branch from the ground up.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “It must be a bit of a relief to you, huh? Knowing you can stay on as CFO.”

“Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “I love my job, but I’ll still be doing a fair amount of travel between here and Egypt for at least the next few years business-wise, and after that, Deja and I will probably still be visiting pretty often.”

“You poor thing,” he joked. “Living in an ultra-luxurious high-rise while jetting back and forth on GlobalStar’s plane. What a tragedy.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “We’ll be living in the townhouse, actually. Deja likes it better.”