“We weren’t drunk. Just tipsy. And Azar was making fun of me. His brother had just gotten engaged, and he had a new girl, and so did Zayn. I’m still single, so they decided...” He stared at the sky, fishing for the details. “I thought it was a regular dating site. I thought I’d humor them, let them do the quiz, but that was—”
The breath caught in his throat as a new memory surfaced. He’d finished the quiz, and there’d been pictures. Pictures attached to profiles. One had leapt out at him, a blonde, and she’d been laughing, caught in some jubilant moment. Her blue eyes had twinkled, and Danny had pointed at her. “That one,” he’d said. He’d picked her out, ordered her, and forgotten by morning.
“That was what?” Bas leaned in, eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“Jayne was on there. I picked her out. But I thought I was asking her on a date, not— I didn’t think we were getting engaged.”
“Irresponsible.” Bas pressed his lips together, crossing his arms. “What have I told you about reading the fine print?”
“I doubt he was reading much through those beer goggles.” Chadil made a snorting sound. “The gossip rags will love this. I can see the headline already—DESPERATE DANNY’S BRIDAL DELIVERY.”
“I’m not desperate. I just—”
“You’re missing the point.” Bas’s scowl deepened, his brows drawing together. “You’ve brought that poor girl on an international wild-goose chase, not to mention her son. You’ve opened us up to embarrassment and the potential for legal action, and for what? A few laughs? To impress your gadfly friends?”
“I—”
“No. This will not do.” Bas got up, squared his shoulders. “You will stay sober. You will clean up this mess you’ve made, any fallout, any bad press. And you’ll make sure Miss Barnes enjoys her stay in Al-Mifadhir, starting now.”
Danny opened his mouth, but Bas wasn’t done.
“You’ll do all of this, and anything else I may ask of you, and you’ll do it with a smile, or I’ll suspend your income, and there’ll be no outings at all. No dinners. No ski trips. No yachts. Do I make myself clear?”
Danny scowled across the table. “You can’t cut me off. It was in Father’s will.” He squared his shoulders, his confidence returning. “You have to support me.”
“And I will. You’ll have food and a roof over your head, all the comforts of the palace. But I will not fund this sort of behavior.” Bas rubbed his hands together, as though washing them of the matter. “Now, go. Entertain your guests.”
“How?”
Bas just chuckled, reaching down to retrieve the contract. Chadil sidled up, a malicious glint in his eye.
“You’re the life of the party, aren’t you?” He nudged Danny in the ribs, none too gently. “Surely you can handle a two-year-old and his jetlagged mother.”
* * *
Danny stepped back with a shout, nearly tripping over his feet. He’d expected Jayne to answer his knock, but it was Noah who came charging out, rocketing into his arms like a cannonball.
“Noah! Watch his arm!” Jayne came scurrying after, but Danny waved her off. He scooped the kid up in his good arm and rubbed noses with him.
“Dadada.” Noah grabbed a handful of his hair and giggled. “Dada.”
“He means ‘Danny,’” said Jayne, her cheeks turning pink. Danny felt his own face go hot. He’d felt flattered for a moment, thinking Noah saw him that way, maybe even looked up to him. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had seen strength in him, authority, not little Danny, party boy.
He settled down on the sofa with the kid in his lap, absently stroking his hair. Jayne sat down too, nervously, on the edge of her seat.
“You can relax,” he said. “I’m just here to check in on you. Is there anything you need?”
“Nothing I can think of.” Jayne took in the room, blue eyes wide. “This place is incredible. Noah’s been jumping on everything, rubbing his face on the pillows—I’ve never seen him so excited.” She glanced at the boy, and her expression turned quizzical. “How’d you settle him down so fast? I’ve been trying this whole time.”
“Slow heartbeat, I think.” He pointed at his chest. “I heard that somewhere. Little kids and animals, you can hold them to your chest, and if you’re calm, they’ll wind down too.”
“I’ll have to remember that.” She laid her hand to her own chest. “Though, it wouldn’t help me much now. My heart hasn’t stopped pounding since I got off the plane.”
“I, uh—oh.” Danny looked down as Noah snorted against his chest, a sleepy little snuffle. “I think his battery just died.”
Jayne laughed, and Danny found himself doing the same. He held Noah a little tighter as a strange feeling overtook him, a powerful protective urge. He’d never thought about parenthood, at least not so soon, but Noah’s weight on his shoulder felt right, somehow, a calm, soothing warmth he’d been missing.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to his dad?”
“He’s gone.” Jayne’s lips tightened. “We were all set to get married, church booked, flowers ordered, the caterer, the guests. I showed up, but he didn’t. Never saw him again.” She shook her head, a slow smile emerging. “I’d hate him, but how can I? He did give me Noah, after all.”
“Tell me he paid, at least. For the wedding.”
“I should be so lucky.” Jayne pulled a face. “All right. Your turn in the hot seat. What’d you do to your arm?”
Danny glanced at his cast. “I fell off a balcony and landed in a rosebush. If you think my arm looks bad, you should’ve seen my face. I looked like I got clawed by the entire cast of Cats.”
Jayne covered her mouth, muffling a giggle. “Your profile said you were funny, but everyone’s says that. You really are.” She sat back a little, visibly relaxing. “But I have to ask, how’d you fall off a balcony?”
“Running along the railing, jumping to the next one.” He waggled his brows. “I’m into parkour. My brothers can’t stand it, but I live for the rush, that feeling I get when I stick a tough landing, flip gravity the bird. I hardly ever fall. I wouldn’t have, then, but the railing was wet. Fresh paint.”
“The devil’s in the details.” Jayne smiled. “You know, I tried parkour a couple of times. But I chickened out when it came time to get off the ground.”
“Scared of heights?”
“Deathly. I thought parkour might get me over it, all that climbing walls and jumping fences, but I never had the guts.”
Danny cocked a brow. “Really? I’d say you have plenty of guts.”
“What, me?”
“Getting on a plane, coming all the way here, trusting I wouldn’t be some kind of monster—I’m not sure I could do that.”
“I almost didn’t.” Jayne shuddered, her smile fading. “The plane tickets arrived, and I was all set to cancel, just stuff them down the shredder and pretend nothing happened, but I felt bad. You’d paid for them, or maybe that wasn’t you?”
“I’m not sure.” Danny frowned, gathering his thoughts. Jayne looked stressed again, even scared, wringing her hands in her lap. He didn’t want to confess the whole story, how it had all been a joke, how he’d upended her life for some drunken prank. “I mean, I guess that was covered by the fee I paid. What made you sign up in the first place?”
Jayne hesitated, and for a moment, Danny was sure she’d ignore the bait, turn the spotlight back on him, but she didn’t. “I owed thousands for the wedding,” she said. “And then Noah came along, and I had hospital bills, diapers, daycare, not to mention student loans. I was looking for debt consolidation services, and I saw this ad...” She bit her lip, flushing red.
“What ad?”
She looked down and mumbled something, too low to hear.
“What was that?”
“Marry a rich man. Live happily ever after.” She hid her face in her hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m mortified.”
“Why?” Danny reached for her but drew back when Noah murm
ured in his sleep. “Don’t forget, I was on the same site.”
“Yeah, but I’m not someone who’d normally—I’m not a gold digger or some crazy person. I was just drowning in overdue notices. Then my heat got turned off, and I thought, ‘Hey, Why not?’ What about you? What possible need would you have for a mail-order bride?”
“My friends put me up to it,” said Danny. She’d shared her humiliation. It was only fair he shared his. “They were making fun of me, egging me on, and I got swept up in the moment. Pretty stupid, huh?”
To his surprise, Jayne burst out laughing. “You impulse-purchased a wife?”
“Yeah, well, you impulse-signed up.” Danny found himself laughing too, muffling his mirth to avoid disturbing Noah. “I guess neither of us was exactly dreaming of some happy ending.”
“Just a chance to start over,” agreed Jayne. She wiped at her eyes as her laughter died down. “I’m glad it was you, though. When I think of all the weirdos out there...my friend went on a dating site and met some guy who wanted to watch her sit on pies.”
“That sounds messy.” Danny shifted, settling Noah more comfortably against his side. “I’m glad too, though. You really do smile like your picture.”
“My picture?”
“Yeah. That’s why I picked you. You were looking off-camera, sort of laughing, and I thought you looked friendly. Someone I’d get along with.”
A strange look flitted across Jayne’s face, a little wistful, and Danny’s heart sank. He really did like her. She was clever and brave, and she had a big heart. She was exactly his type, but no way could he marry her. Even if he wanted to, the contract would never hold up, not with the royal legal team picking it apart. She’d have to go home, straight back to her mountain of debt, and that was on him. He’d done this to her, held out a sliver of hope, only to snatch it away. Bas had a point: this was his mess to clean up. His responsibility.
Noah grumbled in his arms and did a sleepy wriggle. Danny stood up carefully, conjuring a smile.
“I think he wants his pillow. Show me how to tuck him in?”
“Where were you when I needed a babysitter?” Jayne got up too, her bright smile returning. “Follow me.”
3
Jayne pressed her lips together and resisted the urge to slouch. This was uncomfortable, her and Danny on one side of the table, Chadil and the king and their legal team on the other, but she refused to make herself small. She squared her shoulders instead and focused on meeting their eyes.
Bas peered at the papers laid out before him and scowled. “Tell me one thing, Danyal: did you read any of this before signing?”
Danny shrugged. “Why would I? I never thought they’d go through with it.”
“This is quite a comprehensive contract,” said one of the lawyers, a weedy little man with a tiny pair of specs perched at the end of his nose. “It won’t be so easily brushed off.”
“So we have to get married?” Danny’s voice rose, incredulous. “That can’t be right. What if we hate each other, or—”
“That’s not the problem.” Specs leaned forward, scratching his beard. “In fact, if Miss Barnes’s tourist visa expires, and the two of you haven’t made a connection, your fee covers her return fare.” He cleared his throat. “The problem arises with your admission that you entered into this contract in bad faith. As a joke, engineered by, ah...Mr. Azar Habib and—”
“You’re on the hook for a lot of money,” said Chadil. “The contract you signed releases Love at First Site from all liability related to plucking poor Jayne from her life on false pretenses, which means you’re personally responsible.”
Jayne opened her mouth to interject, but Specs cut her off, beady eyes watering as he pored over the contract.
“For all her expenses, yes, including lost wages, emotional trauma, et cetera.” He tapped on the contract. “And not only did you accept responsibility for any damages the young lady may be entitled to, but for any injury to the site’s reputation.”
“I’m not going to sue,” said Jayne. She glanced at Danny, but he was staring into space, a slight frown tugging at his lips. “I can—”
“The situation isn’t that simple,” said Bas. “Pardon me, but—”
“I don’t see why not.” Danny got to his feet. “I’ll pay off the site, help Jayne get back on her feet, and we’ll all get on with our lives.”
“With what money?” Bas’s voice turned sharp. “Sit down and listen. This conversation’s far from over. Chadil?”
Chadil drew himself up, fixing Danny with a murderous glare. Danny looked like he might bolt, his whole body tense as he glanced over his shoulder, but he sank back into his chair with an exaggerated sigh.
“Fine. Let’s have it. What do you need from me?”
“The Telegraph’s been in touch,” said Chadil. “They’ll be running a story tonight on Prince Danyal’s mail-order bride.”
“What?” Danny jerked upright. “How did they—?”
“The how doesn’t matter.” Chadil reached for his tablet and powered it on. “The fact is, they’ve been courteous enough to reach out for comment. We have one chance to cast this...incident...in the least ludicrous light possible, and you playing a joke on some poor, desperate woman isn’t that.”
Jayne bristled, an angry flush staining her cheeks. She was desperate, it was true, but since she’d sat down, she’d been as good as invisible. Not once had anyone asked her opinion, or even let her finish a sentence. She clapped her hands twice, loudly, hiding a smile when Specs dropped his pen.
“I might have some thoughts on that,” she said. Chadil leaned in like he was about to interrupt, but she charged on before he could. “I didn’t come here to embarrass anyone. Whatever story you cook up, I’m glad to back you up, but the fact is, I have a young son to worry about and no home to return to. I’m going to need time—time to find a new place, maybe line up some job interviews. There’s a nonprofit here I thought I might—I—uh...” She stumbled as her anger subsided, suddenly aware of all the eyes boring into her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“No, you should have.” Danny took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re the only one here who hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s only fair you get a say.” He smiled warmly, and Jayne’s hand trembled in his, all the stress of the last couple of days hitting her at once.
“My apologies,” said Bas. “It wasn’t my intention to deny you a voice.” He elbowed Chadil, who nodded his head.
“We’ve had issues with the press recently,” he said. “You’ve caught us in something of a bind, and we—”
“Why don’t we do what you did?” Danny squeezed her hand again, tipped her the tiniest of winks. “We have this tradition in Al-Mifadhir, a sort of formal courtship. Chadil and Raina did it, and they’re happy as can be. It makes sense I’d want the same, and the press would eat that up.” He leaned forward, grinning. “We’d get to know each other, go on a few dates, and at the end—well, it’s like the contract says. We don’t have to get married. Plenty of courtships end in ‘just friends.’”
Jayne licked her lips. A courtship would buy her the time she needed, but Chadil was frowning, and Bas looked like he’d just swallowed a bug.
“It’d be like a vacation,” said Danny. “I’d show you around, introduce you to our cuisine, anything you want.”
“If your brothers agreed, I suppose I could—”
The door flew open, and Noah came skipping in, a lollipop in one hand and a stuffed parrot in the other. He ran straight to Danny and clambered into his lap, offering him the parrot.
“What? For me?”
Noah babbled something, fairly bouncing with excitement.
“No, they’re from Mexico, birds like that.” He tickled Noah under the chin. “You won’t find any here, but we do have an aviary in the garden. You know what an aviary is?”
“Baba hoo?”
“That’s right. It’s a bird house. You want to check it out?”
&nb
sp; Noah went wild for that, throwing his arms around Danny for a big, sloppy hug. It made Jayne’s heart hurt a little, the easy rapport between them, Danny’s gift for interpreting Noah’s ramblings. She’d explained Al-Mifadhir as their new home, Danny as a new friend. How could she tell Noah he had to say goodbye?
“Sorry about that.” Fiona came bustling in, her son Graham in her arms. “I gave them their new toys, and Noah couldn’t wait to show his off.”
“That’s quite all right,” said Bas, rising to take his own son. “I think we’ve arrived at a solution, if Miss Barnes is amenable?”
Jayne turned to Noah, who was making his parrot fly circles around Danny’s head. Danny was laughing, clearly entranced, and there was only one answer she could give.
“I am,” she said. “And please call me Jayne.”
Chadil chuckled, perhaps at some private joke, and set about gathering his things. Specs got up to go, and the rest of the legal team followed suit. Danny beckoned Jayne closer, a mischievous glint in his eye.
“We’ll have a good time with this,” he said. “I know all the best places for a kid to get into trouble.”
“Not too much trouble, I hope.”
“Only the fun kind.” He winked, bouncing Noah on his knee. “What’s this nonprofit you were talking about? I know everyone, so maybe—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jayne smiled. Danny’s offer was sweet, but she hadn’t gone seventy grand into the red getting her master’s degree to glide into her dream job on a royal recommendation. Down that road lay only resentment. She had to do this on her own merits, and she was confident she could. “It’s a children’s group, focused on special education. I’m a teacher, so—”
“A teacher!” Danny’s eyes sparkled. “Well, don’t stick me in the naughty corner.”
She laughed, the stress-knot loosening between her shoulder blades. “So, where are we going on our first date?”
The Sheikh’s Mail-Order Bride: Halabi Sheikhs Book Three Page 2