Page 92 of Earned Husband

“No.” I nudged his knee. “See, you miss your office too.”

He barked out a quiet laugh. “I don’t, actually. I mean, sure, the coffee there is pretty good, but if I had to choose between coffee and the view we had back at Nanna’s, I’d choose the view every time.”

“Nanna has coffee.”

He lifted his head just a fraction of an inch away to arch an eyebrow at me. “No, Nanna has stuff shesaysis coffee. Her tea made up for it, though. I never knew there were so many different types.”

His cheek came back to rest against the top of my head like he’d done it a hundred times before, but at this point, he probably had. Being together like this had become easy. Natural. Neither of us really had to think about it much anymore. We just slotted together on instinct whenever we were in the same room.

It helped that today, everyone was too tired or too lazy to take much notice of us. We’d been scolded too many times tocount for getting too cozy in front of the family. I smiled at the memories we’d made the last few weeks, then went back to my tablet and signed off on a bottle prototype while Colin scrolled through another email.

“You’re going to love Luxor,” I murmured absently. “The temples and the history here are amazing.”

“The temples everywhere have been amazing.”

“Yeah, but these are particularly impressive. You’ll see. You’re going to love it.”

“I’ll reserve judgment while deferring to your expert opinion,” he joked lightly. “On a more serious note, I am looking forward to this. From everything I’ve read, Luxor is the place to go if you’re into history.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but then he clicked into a new message that’d just come in on his phone. He straightened beside me, sitting upright for the first time the whole flight as the smile disappeared from his lips.

“Colin?” I asked, my own spine straightening as tension rolled through me. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know yet.” He locked his phone and inhaled a breath deep enough that his entire chest expanded with it. “I need to call Jane when we land.”

His voice stayed calm, but I knew him well enough by now to hear the strain he was trying to hide. I frowned as the captain announced our final descent. “Is everything okay at Thayer?”

“I wish I knew.”

I wanted to press for more, but at this point, it didn’t look like he had more info to give. So, I just took his hand instead, offering silent support as we touched down. Everyone woke up as the wheels hit the ground. The cabin doors opened just a few minutes after we finally rolled to a stop.

We disembarked into Luxor’s bright sunshine and dry heat, but Colin barely even seemed to be aware of it. He took the timeto help with my things, but as soon as he’d handed them over to the staff waiting on the tarmac, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“I need to make that call, but I’ll be right back.”

I nodded. “Good luck.”

He gave my hand a quick squeeze, then turned and strode away from the family toward the edge of the private terminal. I watched him go, his shoulders tight and his pace clipped. Whatever was waiting for him on the other end of that phone, he didn’t think it was good.

That much was clear.

A sudden chill settled in the pit of my stomach as I watched him press the device to his ear, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake it.

“What’s wrong with your fiancé?” Jasmine asked, appearing at my side while we waited for our luggage to be loaded into the convoy of black SUVs. “He looks really stressed.”

I kept my eyes fixed on him. “He does, right? I don’t know what’s going on, though. Only that I don’t think it’s good.”

He wasn’t pacing as he spoke, but he wasn’t standing still either, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck or shifting his weight every few seconds. Jasmine sighed and glanced back at me. “That’s weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act like that. He’s not usually the dramatic type.”

“I know.”

Honestly, I’d never seen him like this either. He wasn’t the kind who wore his emotions on his sleeve. When something was bothering him, it usually showed in tiny ways, like he’d fidget with his cuff or his jaw would tighten, but this wasn’t that.

Right now, he looked cornered and it scared me. “I don’t like that face.”

Jasmine looked back at him, and when even she stopped joking, I knew it was serious. “Shit. Yeah, I don’t like it either. It really doesn’t look good.”

Our father had been talking to Khaled while occasionally directing a member of staff about where to go with the luggage, but a few moments later, he must’ve noticed the look on Colin’s face too. He broke away from Khaled, striding over to Colin with that determined pace he only used when someone was in trouble.