Page 25 of Her Prince in Disguise
“Fine,” he snapped, barely glancing at his assistant. “Give me five minutes.”
Andi ignored Jonas’ disapproving expression as she again stared into her coffee.
He waited until they were relatively alone again before speaking. “Andi, why did you leave this morning?” he asked, his tone softer now. He even reached out to touch her hand but she quickly pulled it out of reach, glancing around warily. Her teammates were gathering in the lobby, laughing and joking, eager to get home for a weekend free of work problems.
“I left because….” She trailed off, not sure how to explain. He should already know this! There was no explanation for why last night happened except for…well, hormones, probably. So, instead of trying to offer an explanation, she stood up and pasted a bright smile on her face. “Things just…got out of hand last night.” She glanced again at her coworkers, who were watching them now. “Please,” she whispered, silently begging him not to make a scene. “I should head over to the others.” With that, she reached down and grabbed her suitcase. “Have a good weekend. I’ll see you on Monday.”
With that, she walked away, her wounded heart aching with every step. She wanted to turn around and throw herself into his arms, to beg him to tell her that last night wasn’t just an itch that he needed to scratch.
Instead, she joined the others. Jonas was already there, tapping on his tablet as he explained that they’d be taking acommercial flight home. A moment later, Andi’s phone pinged as her boarding pass arrived in her in-box.
Chapter14
Several hours later, Laith stalked into the palace, fury evident in every step. He didn’t have an exact destination in mind, but he just needed to…speak with someone. He desperately needed advice because he was definitely blowing it with Andi.
They’d made love…uh…had wild, frantic sex…three times so far. And every time, she’d hurried away, almost frantic to put some space and distance between them. Hell, even this morning, she’d spurned his attempt at trying to discuss what was happening between them.
Obviously, there was something intense between them. They’d tried to ignore it for the first two weeks, but that hadn’t worked. Now…what?
Hell, he really needed some advice!
But who could he talk to? Rafi, his brother and the one person that Laith knew he could always talk with, was in London, meeting with the warehouse managers. His mother…wouldn’t understand. And his father? Laith considered going to his father, but that just felt weird. If his cousin Angela, were here, he could discuss this with her, get a woman’s perspective. But she was married now and living in Ginisia. He could speak with one of his cousins. But which one? The four oldest cousins, he, Rafi, Angela, and Zayn were closest in age. But even Zayn was gone for the next several days. He thought about his cousin, Saif, but Laith and Rafi were several years older than Saif. He was in his mid-twenties now and…well, Saif was a good guy, but moody. Plus, Saif was closer to his cousins, Ramzi, Rylan, and Nahla. It would feel weird confiding in Saif now.
Maybe he should just fly back to Philadelphia and speak with Andi. But the pained, wounded look in her eyes during their last conversation in the hotel lobby warned him that she needed some space.
He paused in the middle of the hallway, wondering if that was all she needed. Did she just need some time to come to terms with what was happening between them?
“What’s wrong?” his father demanded, standing in the doorway to the main family room.
Laith turned to look at his father, then winced when he saw his uncles there as well. Uncle Khal and Uncle Raj stood behind his father, all three holding glasses of scotch.
“Women problems,” Uncle Raj grunted, then waved Laith into the room with his free hand. All three men turned and walked into the room, assuming that Laith would follow.
He considered just walking away. Maybe he should fly to London and talk with his twin.
No, that wouldn’t work. Something was going on with his twin brother too. The last time Laith spoke with his brother, there had been something that Rafi wasn’t telling him. Which pissed him off. After a lifetime of sharing everything with his brother, Rafi was struggling with something and refused to tell him what it was. Still, if his brother was going through something, Laith didn’t want to add his problems on top.
So, Laith walked towards the family room and sighed. But before he could take two steps, a brown and black blur raced towards him. Laith was startled for a moment, but as soon as he realized what the blur was, he laughed, delighted with Aida’spresence and the respite from his troubles that the silly dog offered.
Kneeling down, the dog leapt into his arms. “Hey, buddy!” he said, soothing the thoroughly excited dog. “I guess this means you failed your dog training exam again, eh?”
The huge German Shephard wiggled his whole body as Laith stood up. Aida really was a sweet boy, but Laith understood how he could be a little too friendly for a proper guard dog. Those beasts needed to be serious while Aida was…loveable.
After a long body rub, Aida finally calmed down, allowing Laith to look around. That’s when he spotted Nahla, his cousin, as she rounded the corner, out of breath and obviously trying to catch up with the big dog.
Nahla sighed, coming to a sliding halt right next to the canine. “There you are!” she admonished.
“Aida failed?” he asked.
Nahla glowered at him. “His name is Bruce,” she snapped, grabbing the dog by the collar. “I don’t know why you all keep referring to him as Aida.”
“Because he’s an absolute failure at his job,” Laith confirmed, watching as Nahla bent down on one knee, rubbing behind the dog’s ears and telling him that he was “beautiful” and “brave” and, “Don’t listen to those big, mean men!”
Laith snorted. “He’s not brave, Nahla. He’s an idiot.”
Nahla stood up, keeping the dog by her side. “He’s not an idiot!” she asserted firmly. “You just don’t see how wonderful he is.”
“He’s a freaking golden retriever disguised as a guard dog!” Khal asserted from the doorway into the family room, glaring down at the dog in question. But Aida merely wagged his tail, understanding that he and Nahla were talking about him. Hence, the name “Aida” which translated to “Returner” in Arabic.
