Page 51 of Earned Husband

“Mama has half of Cairo planning for Colin’s grand arrival.” He dropped into the chair across from my desk, his eyes soft and understanding as he looked up at me. “You should be with them.At least that way, you’ll get maybe half a say in maybe one thing that’s going to happen.”

“I doubt it.”

“When I left the house this morning, there were florists, caterers, and decorators pulling up. Mom and Aunt Farida were arguing about seating arrangements for a wedding that might not even happen, and Jasmine was on the phone to a travel agent saying something about a bachelorette party. You should be there, Deja.”

“I’m working.”

“You’re hiding.”

“Okay, but I’m doing it at work.” I sighed and looked down at the latest crumpled letter lying in my wastebasket. “I really was working on something, though. It just might not have been for White Water Lily. Well, it is, but?—”

Rami followed my gaze, promptly cutting me off. “What’s really going on?”

“Colin asked me for an answer,” I admitted after pausing for a long beat, my stomach tying itself into knots all over again. “Before I left Chicago, he told me to take the month until he got here to decide whether I wanted to marry him.”

“It’s an arranged marriage,” he said slowly. “What’s to decide?”

“Whether I’m going to go through it.” I sat back down in my chair and rubbed my temples, my eyes sliding shut as I thought about the fallout I’d have to deal with if I told my father I wouldn’t do it. “Colin doesn’t want me to feel trapped. He said he’s already made his decision, but that it’s up to me if it’s actually going to happen or not.”

Rami’s eyes widened, but mercifully, he didn’t tell me I didn’t have a choice. “That’s a very honorable thing for him to have done. If it goes through, this will be the deal of a lifetime. The fact that he’s willing to risk it says a lot about his character.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” he asked. “I’ve seen the numbers being thrown around, Deja. The possibilities being discussed are endless. Dad is talking about this like it’ll allow us to take over the world.”

“I know that, too.”

“Well, then, what’s the problem?”

“Once I say yes, our marriage and the prospect of spending the rest of our lives together becomes real,” I said slowly. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

Rami blinked rapidly. “I don’t really know what to say here, sis. You might not like the guy, but Dad and Khaled do. More importantly, they trust him and you know how rare that is. I’m just not sure how much it’s going to matter that you don’t think he’s the one for you. Or whatever else is going on in your head.”

“No, it’s not that,” I said. “I’m all for marrying him. Colin is an amazing guy. I’ll happily spend the rest of my life spending every waking minute staring into his eyes, but that’s the issue. I think I like him too much to say yes.”

Confusion flickered across my brother’s features, his brow furrowing as he groaned. “Okay, that’s it. You’ve officially lost me. You like him, so youdon’twant to marry him? See, this is why I’m still single. I really don’t understand women.”

“Colin is thoughtful, and kind, and I want him?—”

“I don’t need to know that.”

I snorted. “I was going to say that I want him to have everything he can possibly get out of life, but you’re not wrong about the other thing either.”

Rami scrunched up his entire face. “I’m leaving if that’s what you’re going to talk about.”

“You’re the one who brought it up.” I pumped my eyebrows at him, but then moved on, knowing he was probably the most reliable sounding board I was going to get around here. “Business-wise, our marriage is a match made in heaven. WhiteWater Lily gets a foothold in the States, GlobalStar cuts shipping costs, and Thayer expands into an entirely new sector. It all makes perfect sense.”

“So you like him, you want him to have the best, and he could have that, at least professionally, if you marry him, but you’re not sure you should because you like him too much? I’m still not really getting it.”

“I’m worried about his assimilation into our family, Rami,” I finally said, exasperation and frustration wound tightly into my tone. “I know that’s a very corporate way of putting it, but we’re us and the Thayers are… not.”

Rami barked out a laugh. “Yeah, but that’s why you’re allowed to marry him. If the Thayers were Saads, you hooking up with Colin would be illegal, and gross. Although, it’s gross anyway, so there’s that.”

I groaned out loud and buried my face in my hands. “What you just said kind of proves my point. We’re loud, and we’re busy, and we tell each other whatever is on our minds. There are always at least twenty people in the house and most of them communicate primarily by shouting at each other across the entire compound.”

“So?”

“In our lives, privacy is basically a myth and quiet time might as well be folklore.”