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“How nice that one night’s acquaintance gives you insight into what makes me tick.”
The words came out sharper than she’d intended. It wasn’t fair, or especially bright, to take out her frustration on the crown prince of an oil-rich, up-and-coming nation.
“So, what brings you here today?” she asked, trying to change the subject. It wasn’t quite as transparent as “nice weather we’re having,” but close.
His chin rose a fraction and his black eyes narrowed. “I am here every day.”
Then why hadn’t she seen him before this? Maybe because his aunt had just told him of her arrival? What a difference a four-letter qualifier made. A glow started inside her but she shut it down stat. Her idea of adventure was traveling to an exotic land. It did not include falling for a guy who would kiss a woman he’d thought was engaged. She was too smart for that. Once burned, twice shy.
“I see.” She picked up the clipboard on the stack of boxes between them. “It was nice to see you again, Kamal. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
He nodded. “I will do my best to make your stay in El Zafir everything you hope.”
“Thank you.”
As she watched him walk away, she couldn’t help wishing his shoulders weren’t quite so broad and his stride not quite so long. Because rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief—it made no difference. Loving any man wasn’t easy. Period.
Not that their paths would cross. He ran a country. She’d been hired to run the maternity ward of his hospital. And if that wasn’t enough to convince her, not a single research source she’d consulted about El Zafir had ever promised that Ali’s foreign adventure would include a dalliance with a handsome prince.
Ali Matlock was a distraction.
Kamal knew because his meeting had dragged on longer than it should have. And the fault was hers. The ministers of finance and education had repeated information two and three times because thoughts of the attractive American had splintered his concentration. It was a weakness he would take pains to overcome.
He looked at his watch as he left the palace business wing and hurried to the family quarters. No doubt he’d missed Johara’s prenatal checkup. His sister was eight months pregnant, an unfortunate result of her teenage rebellion. After the first angry confrontation, the king had ignored his daughter. And the baby’s jackal of a father had the audacity to be killed in a motorcycle accident before Kamal could take him apart with his bare hands, then force what was left of him to marry his sister. Instead, Kamal had given her his promise that she could lean on him. Always.
Today he hadn’t exactly broken his promise. But he’d certainly bent it.
He stopped before the door to his sister’s suite of rooms and knocked. When his aunt bade him enter, he did so, grateful the older woman had been there for his sister.
Following the sound of female voices, he crossed the marble foyer and entered the living room. Along with his two sisters-in-law, Penny and Crystal, he found Farrah on the semicircular sofa that dominated the room.
“Has the doctor been here?” he demanded of his aunt.
Holding a delicate china cup, she looked up at him. She was an elegantly attractive woman in her fifties, although she could pass for twenty years younger. Her black eyes snapped with intelligence in her unlined face. Black hair, expertly coiffed, turned under and brushed the collar of her jewel green silk suit jacket. “Yes.”
“Been and gone,” Penny informed him. “He apologized for not waiting for you. But he had to get back to the hospital.”
This small, delicate, blond, blue-eyed American had captured his youngest brother’s heart when she’d been assigned as his assistant. The family charmer, Rafiq had been charmed by her and they quickly married. Although her slender figure didn’t show it yet, they were expecting a child within the year.
“I was delayed,” he explained.
“A likely story,” Crystal said, her hazel eyes twinkling. “I think you would grab any excuse to avoid a chick thing.”
“Chick thing?” he asked.
“You know.” Crystal’s grin betrayed the fact she was baiting him. “Prenatal care, babies, swollen ankles, water retention.”
“Ah,” he said, permitting himself a small smile.
He’d once thought Crystal’s hair nondescript. But long and loose as now, it shone with red highlights. She’d been hired as the nanny to his brother Fariq’s five-year-old twins and they’d fallen in love. Looking at her rounded curves, one would never guess that she, too, would give birth to his brother’s third child before the end of the year.
A fleeting twist of envy gripped Kamal before he suppressed the feeling. His brothers were second and third in line to the throne. They could afford to fall in love. He could not. He had no intention of letting any weakness distract him from his responsibilities to his country and its people. For him, marriage was strictly a duty to be undertaken, but love wouldn’t be involved.
“Where is Johara?” he asked, looking around.
“In the other room,” Farrah answered, lifting her chin toward his sister’s bedroom.
He could hear the distant, indistinct sound of a female voice. Looking at his aunt, he asked, “What did the doctor say?”
“He wishes to see her once a week until she gives birth.”
“Why?”
“It is standard procedure during the last month of pregnancy.” Her smooth forehead wrinkled with worry. “One thing of concern—her blood pressure is slightly elevated. As yet, he doesn’t believe it’s of consequence, but instructed us to call him if we have any worries or questions.”
He nodded grimly. Pregnancy and birth were the cycle of life. The most natural thing in the world. Unless there was a problem. He’d watched Johara’s mother lose her life while she was with child. Pushing aside his dark thoughts, he looked at the three women sitting on the sofa—two of them with an unmistakable glow.
“May I inquire about your checkups?”
“A-okay,” Penny informed him. “Morning sickness has passed and we’re doing fine.”
“Me, too,” Crystal said. “My only hitch was on the scale. I have to cut back on dessert and beef up the protein, if you’ll pardon the pun.”
“Of course. Anything for a beautiful woman.”
She grinned. “Kamal, you’re a shameless flatterer, just like your brother. Although Fariq didn’t reveal that trait at first.”
Penny laughed. “That was before he saw through your disguise.”
An interesting time, Kamal remembered. His aunt had gone to an exclusive agency in New York to hire a new nanny for his brother’s children, preferably a plain woman who would not attract undue attention and disrupt the palace. She’d come back with two new employees who had bewitched his brothers. He realized his aunt was also responsible for bringing Ali Matlock here to work in the hospital and wondered if he should be concerned. Then he decided not to be. He had yet to meet the woman who could persuasively divert him from his duty. Ali was nothing more than a distraction; he wouldn’t let her be anything more.
But he was expected to produce an heir. Soon. The hints from his father and aunt Farrah were getting bolder and less veiled.
Crystal sighed. “Did you know the first time I met Fariq he told me beautiful women are an unwelcome distraction?”
“No,” Kamal said a little too quickly and forcefully. She couldn’t know he’d just had the same thought a moment ago. But Ali had splintered his concentration, producing the weakness. Fortunately, she worked in the hospital, not the palace. It was unlikely she would distract him a second time.
Just then the sound of female laughter carried to him, before Princess Johara waddled—walked—into the room. Behind her was his own personal unwelcome distraction. Ali Matlock.
“Kamal!” His sister came forward to greet him.
He leaned down and kissed her on both cheeks. “How are you, little one?”
“Not so little.” She placed her hands on her bulging belly. “Did Aunt Farrah tell you what the doctor said? My blood pressure?” she asked, her lovely dark eyes brimming with worry.
“I was informed.” He looked at Ali.
She was dressed as she’d been when he’d seen her at the hospital several hours before. White lab coat over green scrubs. Women in El Zafir dressed conservatively with long sleeves, high necklines and hems that covered their legs to mid-calf. She was covered appropriately for her work, but somehow what he couldn’t see tantalized him more. Her auburn hair was twisted up and off her collar, but several tendrils caressed her cheeks and flirted with her long neck. Big eyes, brown with flecks of green and gold, stared back at him.
Six months ago, he’d seen her dressed for a ball. He’d thought about her often in the intervening months and couldn’t comprehend why. She was a woman just like any other. So why had he been unable to forget her?
“We meet again,” he finally said.
“So we do. Since I’m managing hospital L and D, Dr. McCullough thought I should be his nurse today. He returned to the hospital, but I’m off duty and Princess Johara insisted I stay on after the house call.” She looked around the suite and laughed. “Some house.”
“The first time I saw the palace,” Penny said, “I wanted to drop a trail of crumbs so I could find my way out.”
“I hear that,” Crystal agreed. “But, trust me, all the walking is good for a girl’s waistline.”
“Unless you’re big as a house,” Johara said ruefully.
“As long as there are no complications, walking is good for you in your condition. Or should I say conditions.” Ali grinned at each of them in turn. “A plethora of pregnant princesses.”
Everyone laughed. Including Kamal.
“You should do that more often.” Ali was studying him. “Your subjects will be less likely to run screaming from the room.”
“No one screams or runs from me—”
“Sometimes they do have to run.” Penny stood. “This pregnant princess has an appointment with the minister of education. Please say he’s going to have good news for me,” she added, meeting his gaze.
“Sufficient funds have been allocated for your early childhood education program,” Kamal informed her.
“Excellent.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you all at dinner tonight.”
“Wait,” Crystal said, standing. “I have to go, too. The twins will be finished with their art lesson shortly. I love seeing their drawings.” She kissed his other cheek. “Bye, all. Ali it was great to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again soon.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” she answered.
“I’m afraid I must go as well.” Aunt Farrah placed her empty teacup on the table and stood. “Ali, thank you for coming. If there is anything you require while you’re in the hospital’s employ, I insist you let me know.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
When everyone left, Kamal was alone with only two women—one very pregnant. The other disturbed him more than she had just several hours before. The laughter she’d provoked had briefly disarmed him.
“Kamal, Ali asked me to show her around my suite. I’m so glad she’s here. The doctor scared me. He said high blood pressure during my pregnancy could put the baby in danger.”
“And you, too,” Ali warned. “But let’s not borrow trouble. It’s important you stay calm.”
“I was very calm,” the girl said, “until he told me all the horrible things that could happen to my baby. But you made me feel better.”
“I’m glad.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have to—” She looked at her brother. “That is, I need to—”
“Use the bedpan—so to speak?” Ali finished for her.
“Yes!” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her brother. “Keep Ali company. Be nice.”
“I am always eminently cordial,” he said. That was the second time it had been implied that his formality could be intimidating. He was merely being polite.
His sister rolled her eyes without reply, then left the room. Leaving him alone with Ali.
“I wish to know the truth,” he said. “Her blood pressure? Is it serious?”
“Dr. McCullough takes pregnancy very seriously. And so do I.”
“As do I. But is there danger to my sister?”
“Not immediate. Everything I said to her is absolutely true. There’s nothing for you to be alarmed about.”
“On the contrary. When a woman is with child there is always cause for concern. Johara’s mother died from pregnancy complications. A rare condition, we were told, but she was still gone. My sister was five years old.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, obviously shocked. “I didn’t know.”
“It was many years ago. But about my sister. She’s young—merely in her teens. It would seem to me youth would be in her favor.”
“On the contrary. Teens are at high risk for PIH—pregnancy-induced hypertension. High blood pressure,” she explained. “If left untreated, it can cause seizures.”
“What can be done?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice neutral.
“Bed rest. Medication if necessary. Swelling is a symptom—”
“But my sister’s ankles are swollen. She often says she’s retaining enough water to raise the level of the Arabian Sea.”
Ali smiled at the exaggeration. “That’s normal. Swelling in the hands and face isn’t. You need to watch her for—”
Johara came back in the room pressing a hand to her lower back. “I can’t believe I will be a mother in a few short weeks. Part of me is very anxious to see my baby and hold him. But another part of me is afraid of the process of bringing him into the world.”
“You’ll do fine,” Ali assured her.
“Aunt Farrah tells me it doesn’t hurt. But I don’t know whether or not to believe her.”
“People tolerate pain differently,” Ali said, cautiously diplomatic.
“She’s never given birth,” Kamal said wryly.
“Oh. That would tend to cancel out her opinion.” Ali put her arm around Johara and led her to the sofa, then gently settled her on it. She sat down beside the teenager. “I’ve never had a child either, but I’ve been present at many births. Without firsthand experience, I can only give you my impressions. There is pain. But there are medications to help manage it. Next week when you see the doctor we can talk about those things. Knowledge is power. The more you know, the more in control you’ll feel.”
“I think so, too,” she agreed. “What do you think, Kamal?”
“What Ali says makes a lot of sense. She’s studied and worked hard in her field. You should be glad she agreed to work in our country.”
“Oh, I am. But I wish—” Johara lowered her gaze to the clasped hands in her lap.
“What, little one?” he asked gently.
“I wish my mother was here.”
