Page 92 of My Turkish Fling
I contemplated for a fraction of a second whether to tell him. He’d hear it sooner or later, I decided. And I had questions.
“Aria is pregnant, and they want to turn this into a wedding.”
“What?”
“And… I promised to call Len. Remember the guy I went out with.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know any other ministers within a driving distance. Pastor… minister? I’m not even sure what he is, but anyway.”
Emir’s expression darkened.
“And I need you to behave,” I added. “You can start by apologizing to him.”
“The fuck I will.”
“Care to rephrase that?” I took a step closer.
My tall, dark and terrifying man. I smiled, despite myself, my heart fluttering at the thought of these final, stolen moments. I’d told myself to let him go. I’d made the decision. But it seemed my body was not going to obey.
I stepped close enough to catch his scent, my fingers curling against the crisp, white shirt he’d changed into. I gently tucked at his black tie and whispered, “I know you’ll behave. You’d never ruin your brother’s wedding.”
A sound rose from his throat, like a heavy exhale that turned into a low growl. “But you have to stop torturing me. Seeing you out there, not being able to touch you or even talk to you… I tried to catch your eye out there and you act like you don’t even see me.”
I stared down at my purple heels. “If I look at you, I’ll lose it and ruin the party for everyone. Your parents will find out about us. I can’t hide it.”
“What if they do? I want to tell—”
“No, you don’t! We’re not going to steal their thunder.” I lay my head against his shirt, careful to let my hair fall between us so I didn’t smear his shirt with my makeup.
We were in hiding. What we had was too flammable to be displayed in public. It felt bittersweet to hide the one thing that mattered most, in my own home.
“This doesn’t feel like the end,” I whispered. Wayward hairs stuck between my lips, and I peeled them off with my fingers.
Emir wrapped his palm around my wrist. “It’s not. I’ll come back; you’ll see.”
I knew he was looking at my bed and my body betrayed me, rushing heat between my thighs, but we couldn’t risk it. And I had to make the phone call.
“I have to call Len.” I pulled out my phone and took a step back.
“Do you want me to go? I should go.” Emir didn’t move.
“Stay there,” I told him.
This was already incredibly awkward. Having him next to me didn’t change that, but at least I could spend a moment longer with him and show him I wasn’t interested in dating the pastor. That he’d invaded my life and all my thoughts. He deserved to know it.
Len answered with a tentative “Hi, Janie?” I put him on speaker phone.
“Hi, Len! I’m so sorry I haven’t been in touch. Thank you for the lovely dinner the other night. I’m sorry how things ended. I know this is long overdue, but I wanted to call and apologize.”
There was a pause, then a soft chuckle. “It’s okay. It was aninteresting night. How are you?”
“I’m okay, thank you. Listen… Are you busy this afternoon?”
His voice brightened. “No. I mean, I can rearrange my schedule.”
I stiffened. Was he hoping for another date?
