Pyramids and Promises (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 2) (7 page)

The car pulled up to the river. Jessica had been watching Conner and not paying the slightest bit of attention to where they were going. Now though, she craned her neck to get a look at the Nile and the dock that stretched out into the murky water. Conner chuckled and helped her out of the car. Sweat immediately formed on the back of her neck. How could it already be so hot? She would never get used to this heat.

He tucked her hand into his elbow, and they walked up to a small boat with an enormous sail. It was old and didn’t look safe next to the dock, let alone to sail on the river. Conner climbed aboard and then reached back for her.

“I’m pretty sure this thing is going to sink.” She peered over the edge of the dock. She’d always heard that crocodiles inhabited the Nile.

Conner gave her a crooked grin. “You really think I’d be on here if I thought that? Egyptians have been sailing these things for thousands of years. It won’t sink.”

“It looks thousands of years old. Are you sure this one wasn’t around when they built the Luxor Temple?”

“Maybe, but it’s safe.”

She shook her head. No way was she getting in that rickety old thing.

“I promise you.” His eyes were wide and clear. Jessica had to be crazy, but she believed him. Her hand slipped into his, and she stepped aboard next to him. He held her for a second longer than he needed to before he released her with a smile that made her skin burn hotter than the desert heat ever could.

“Where are we going?” Her throat was dry.

Conner shrugged. “Nowhere. This is a felucca. The point is just to sail on the Nile. We’ll have breakfast and then catch our flight home.”

A huge spread of food sat on a large box in the middle of the boat. Colorful fruit, eggs, bread with hummus, and some dishes Jessica couldn’t name. It all looked spectacular though.

A vase filled with exotic flowers sat in the middle of the food. They were unique and gorgeous, and contained not a single Gerbera daisy. When Jessica crept closer, she discovered the vase was the one she admired at the alabaster factory but didn’t buy because it was too expensive. Another Conner surprise.

“How did you get all of this set up?” Jessica ran a finger along the curve of the vase.

“I know a guy,” he said. Jessica bit back a smile. She couldn’t help but wonder how often Conner was told “no.”

He came around behind her, grabbed an apple off the table, and sprawled out on one of the benches. The boat was a lot bigger than she first thought.

“How many people do they get on these things?”

“I’ve been to parties that had thirty or forty. If it gets to be much more than that, they’ll lash two boats together and sail them as one. Trust me, they’ll be times in Cairo where you’ll just want to get away from the craziness. There are feluccas in Maadi. You just go down to the river and give the driver ten bucks, and you can take a nap on the boat for an hour. Though I wouldn’t recommend that you go alone.”

She picked a piece of flatbread and dipped it in the hummus.

“Why?”

“A lot of reasons. But mostly because feluccas are one of my favorite things to do, and I want to go with you.” He grinned at her.

Jessica froze. Her senses on full alert. He’d been doing crazy romantic things all weekend, but he hadn’t really made any moves. She was pretty sure he’d have kissed her a few times if she hadn’t pulled away, but here he was acting like they’d be doing things together in the future.

She decided to sit across from him instead of next to him.

They talked about their favorite music and books during the boat ride, and Jessica laughed a lot, but he made no move to get close to her. She was grateful for his distance. It gave her room to think.

The river was peaceful and beautiful. She wasn’t ready for the morning to end when they docked. Conner handed her the vase before she stepped onto the slip.

“These are for you.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to get the vase.”

“I know, but you liked it. Besides, every expat has an expensive piece of alabaster in their house. This can be your first.”

The plane ride home was awkward. Jessica couldn’t seem to find any words to express her feelings. She was grateful for everything he’d shown her. Confused by the unusual friendship they had forged, and whether or not she wanted to toss that out the window and kiss him. Lost in her own thoughts, she just barely noticed how he twitched his fingers and squirmed in his seat. After about twenty minutes, Conner finally spoke.

“So what happened to happy-go-lucky Jessica?”

She smiled. “She’s a little nervous about you.”

Conner’s expression fell. “Why?”

“Look, the ink on my divorce papers has barely dried. I haven’t dated anyone since I was twenty-two.”

He held up his hands. “I’m not trying to upset you. Quite the opposite in truth. I wanted to make you smile.”

A smile automatically crossed her lips.

“I’m not upset. Not at all. I just don’t have any clue how this works. I’d say based on everything you’ve done for me this weekend that you’re trying to hook up with me, but you haven’t made a move. I can’t understand why you’re being so nice to me.”

“I’m definitely trying to hook up with you.”

She looked up and saw the laughter in his eyes, but there was something else. A heat that made her shiver. She started to say something smart, but he interrupted.

“But I’m a patient man.” He leaned forward and grabbed her hand. “I know you’ve just gone through a divorce and need to move slowly. Plus I’m already starting to value your friendship. I say let’s just see where things go.”

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. I appreciate you bringing me down here to see the Valley of the Kings.”

“No problem. Lots of other things to see, and I want to take you to see them all.”

He brought his face very close to hers, and for a split second she thought he was about to kiss her. But he stopped about three inches from her. “Pick the place you want our first kiss to be. That way, there’s no surprises.”

Jessica grinned. “You know the area better than I do. Why don’t you pick?” She was surprised he’d suggested this. If she was being honest with herself, she wanted him to kiss her now. But she loved the fact that he wanted to make it special.

Conner let go of her and leaned back. “Maybe when we go camping in the desert. Or it could be on a remote island in the middle of the Red Sea. What do you think about inside the Red Pyramid?”

She wrinkled her nose. “In a place that was used as a tomb? No thanks.”

Though she was pretty sure he almost kissed her in Tut’s tomb, and she was just as sure she wouldn’t have minded.

He shrugged. “It smells in there anyway. Lots of other options though. In front of the Alexandria Library. On a Nile cruise to Aswan. Maybe Memphis. The sphinx. There’s always a dusty museum.”

Conner looked right into her eyes. “Any of those work for you?”

Her breath caught, but she shook her head, unsure of how serious he was and what to say. He stood up quickly and pulled her up too. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her in close. Her hands rested on his chest, and his heartbeat raced under her fingertips.

“We could always make it on a plane ride back from Luxor.”

She took a deep breath. Did she want this? Of course. But she also wanted to do all those things with him, and she was afraid if they moved too fast, he’d lose interest, and this would be over before it ever really got started.

She shook her head with a coy smile. “I know. On the top of the Great Pyramid.”

He frowned. “That’s illegal. No climbing allowed.”

She slipped out of his arms and gave him a grin so he’d know she was kidding. “That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”

“That’s it, huh?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. She nodded and returned to her seat. With any luck she looked much more confident and seductive than she felt.

Conner brooded for most of the rest of the flight home. He really didn’t like being told no. Every time she tried to engage him in conversation he would give her short, one word answers and then clam up again. Finally, she sighed and gave up. She could pout too.

When he dropped her off at her apartment, he was still sulking, but he brought the bag up for her. She carried the vase with the flowers.

She put her key in the door and turned away from him. It wouldn’t be good to show him how disappointed she was that their adventure was over. She set the vase down on the side table and pulled her bag in the doorway. Conner stood there looking lost.

“Thank you for everything.” It felt so inadequate for all that he’d shown her and lavished on her, but she didn’t know what else to say. He shrugged like it was nothing.

“Do you wanna come in?” she finally asked. She couldn’t very well close the door in his face and leave things so horribly between them.

Just like that, his expression changed. He hovered in the doorway, his eyes dancing with light. “Are you sure you want to ask me that? You may have been out of the dating pool for a while, but I imagine you still know what happens when you invite sexy men into your apartment.”

Jessica put her hand on the door handle and leaned a little closer to him.

“You think you’re sexy?”

He waved his hand in front of his body. “Please. You know you want this.”

“Go home, Conner.” She laughed and started to shut the door. She had no problems shutting him out now that he was back to his flirty self.

“Wait,” he said and stopped the door with his hand. The lean muscles of his arm flexed, and she shivered involuntarily. What must it feel like to be wrapped up tight against him?

“What?” she snapped more than she meant too. Flirty and laughing was good. Great even. She wanted him to feel as good about the time they spent together as she did, but didn’t want to end up in a puddle on the floor herself.

“Why don’t we get dinner tomorrow night, and you can tell me how your first day on the job went.” He stared at her hopefully.

She thought for a second. It would be nice to get out for the evening. “Okay. I’ll be home around six, I think.”

His face lit up. “Great. I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”

I
t was a stupid risk. But after his weekend with Jessica, he had to see Nour. He parked outside the twenty-story building in downtown Cairo and waited for Nour to appear. She’d be leaving to pick up her two-year-old son. He needed to see her face. To see if Jessica really looked like her or if he was just imagining things.

Twenty minutes later, she stepped out of the building with a bright pink scarf wrapped around what he knew was gorgeous blonde hair. A sigh escaped him when he saw her. He was glad she hadn’t decided to wear the niqab, which covered her from head to toe, like most of her family. Her husband was at least liberal enough to let her choose. Actually, he knew Mahmoud quite well. Conner suspected that if Nour wanted it, Mahmoud would allow her to go uncovered. But Nour’s father would probably beat her to death if she decided to do that.

She crossed the street. The preschool was only a few yards from the apartment building. He was right. Her face was exactly the same as Jessica’s. They had to be related. That was the only explanation. She smiled as she talked to the fruit vendor across the street. Though her eyes didn’t light up the way Jessica’s did, nor did her smile seem as genuine. He wondered what made her so sad. Was it the life she’d chosen? Did she think about Conner the way he thought about her?

This had definitely been a bad idea. He desperately wanted to go to her and ask her what was wrong, then do whatever he had to do fix it. But he couldn’t do that. It would risk the fragile agreement they already had. He thought about what day it was. April twenty-first. Exactly two months and nine days until he could see her, hold her again.

It was the one night a year her husband went to stay with his parents in Upper Egypt for his father’s birthday. Nour would leave her kids with her parents and tell them she was going to stay with girlfriends, and they would meet at the Marriott. He paid the front desk a lot of money to not ask her any questions about her identity when she picked up the key. They’d spend one glorious night locked up in the hotel room, and she’d leave the next morning. Conner would mourn for a few days and then yearn for her for the rest of the year.

Nour disappeared into the preschool, and Conner started his car. He couldn’t risk her seeing him. If she thought he was coming around, she might cut him off, and he couldn’t have that. He needed her. Even if it was only once a year.