Page 46 of Prince of Her Heart
He leaned down slightly, voice low enough to stay between them.“She could buy and sell your manipulative ass—and still have money left over.”
Leandra’s entire demeanor deflated.The faux-seduction vanished as quickly as it had appeared.She swiveled toward the group of men nearby, only to find them snickering.
“Guess that tops whatever you’re making at the Stop-n-Shop,” one of them called out, lifting his beer in salute before taking a long sip.
Leandra’s smile thinned into a tight, furious line.
“You’re no prince,” she snapped.
“Probably not,” Ramzi replied with an easy shrug.Then his gaze dropped pointedly to her belly.“And you’re no lady.If you’re pregnant, why are you drinking alcohol?”
The question landed like a slap.
“It can seriously impair the baby’s development,” he added flatly.
Leandra scoffed and turned away, heels clicking against the floor.Over her shoulder, she tossed a final barb.“Now you’re a doctor?”
Ramzi didn’t take the bait.He simply turned, done with her.
And what he saw made him grin.
While he’d been wasting breath on Leandra, Tabitha had cleared the entire pool table—every last ball gone.
Game over.
In a killer finish.
“Good job,habibi,” he murmured as he walked over, slipping an arm across her shoulders.He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, his voice low and full of heat.“You look extraordinarily hot in those jeans.”
Tabitha snorted, rolling her eyes—but she didn’t pull away.Instead, she let him hold her, her body settling into his like it was where she belonged.
Chapter 20
“How much longer is this bachelorette party going to last?”Ramzi asked, his voice low and just slightly impatient.
Tabitha leaned to the side, peeking past his shoulder toward the couple cuddled up in a booth near the back of the bar.She smirked.“I think the bachelorette party ended the moment you and John walked in.”
Ramzi turned slightly, just enough to catch sight of Stacy curled up next to John, her attention fixed solely on her fiancé.Around the bar, the rest of the bridal party had splintered off—some dancing, others chatting in little groups, the mood winding down.
Stacy approached just then, smiling brightly as she pulled Tabitha into a hug.“We’re heading out,” she said, lacing her fingers with John’s like it was the most natural thing in the world.“See you bright and early tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Tabitha replied with a warm laugh, hugging her best friend tightly.
“I know you didn’t want to be in the bridal party,” Stacy added, her voice a bit more serious, “but I want you with me when I’m getting ready.Okay?”
Tabitha softened.“Of course.I’ll be there.”
“Be good tonight,” Stacy called over her shoulder, already being tugged away by John.
“I won’t!”Tabitha shouted back, laughing.
As the door closed behind the couple, Ramzi shifted closer, his presence sending a spark up her spine.“You’re coming back to my hotel with me, right?”he asked, voice dipped in that deep, gravelly tone that made her knees feel unreliable.
Tabitha hesitated, tilting her head as her practical side warred with the thrill in her chest.“I can’t go in through the front door,” she said at last, biting back a smile.“Ms.Weatherby would be scandalized.”
“Ms.Weatherby?”he asked with mock curiosity.
“She owns the quaint little bed and breakfast where you're staying,” Tabitha explained, adopting an exaggeratedly proper tone.“She likes to sit in the front pew on Sundays and judge everyone’s sins during the sermon.”
