Aziz frowned. His face looked gray with the news. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said softly.
“But—” Amity began, her eyes flashing, “I will return to Al-Mabbar with you. Not as your image consultant, no. But as your girlfriend.”
Aziz couldn’t speak for a moment, his mouth gaping, but then suddenly, he let out a great, uproarious laugh. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek, her ear, her nose, before landing on her mouth. He kissed her passionately, easily, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His scent filled her nose, and she felt her body yearn for him. This time, she wasn’t going to let him let her go.
They wound their way to the bedroom, then. They collapsed on the bed and latched onto each other’s clothes, slipping them off to reveal smooth skin and rippling muscles and everything else they hadn’t been able to memorize the only other time they’d been together. Aziz draped his hand over her naked, pregnant belly. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered.
“Give it another month,” Amity teased, kissing him. “I’ll be the biggest thing you’ve ever seen.”
“I’m going to feed you sandwiches till you pop,” he laughed. “I’ll make sure you’re so well-fed, you won’t be able to stand it.”
“I’ll gain a million pounds,” Amity said.
“Maybe two million.”
“But with your billions, you can easily sort me out with weight loss surgery, right? Smooth sailing from here on out,” she giggled.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Aziz said. “All right, that’s it. I’m going to closely monitor your sandwich count.
”
“I’m going to eat as many sandwiches as I want!” she cried.
“So be it.”
He looked at her with kind, eager eyes—eyes she knew she could look into for the rest of her life. She reached up and kissed him once more, allowing her mind to close off, allowing her body to take hold. They wrapped around each other beneath the sheets and let the humming Los Angeles night go on without them. They didn’t need it. In fact, they were on their way out the door.
EIGHTEEN
The following week, Amity had packed up her few belongings and handed her keys over to Flora, who she’d put in charge of watching over her place and eventually handing over to a realtor, if she decided to sell it.
“Thank you for this,” Flora said, her eyes mopey. “I think Mark’s going to kick me out soon.”
“You already moved in with him?” Amity asked, shocked.
“I like to move fast. Too fast,” Flora said. She was zany, impossible. But something about the girl’s spirit made Amity love her all the more.
She wrapped her arms around her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. “Come visit us any time in Al-Mabbar,” she whispered. “Hey, maybe Rama will want to take you out.”
“As if I’d want to go out with him,” Flora said, flipping her hair. She walked Amity to the door, where Aziz was waiting with her things, with one of his typical limos stalling outside. “He really knows how to travel in style, doesn’t he?”
“That he does,” Amity whispered. Her eyes met with Aziz’s. She felt like the world was turning just for them.
Flora waved to them as the limo swept them away, toward the airport, where a private jet would whizz them off to another life. Palm trees whisked by them, one after another, and the ocean seemed to gleam an extra bright turquoise color, as if it were saying good bye. Amity leaned her head against her Sheikh’s shoulder, unsure how she’d gotten so lucky. Her belly bulged out before her, a reminder of both the past and the beautiful, uncertain future.
NINETEEN
Amity had to admit: being pregnant in Al-Mabbar was a rather more glamorous prospect than being alone, at home, in Los Angeles. The mansion welcomed her back with open arms—the one maid in particular, Addy, giving her a joyous hug and several I-told-you-so winks as she entered Aziz’s suite. She rubbed her hands over Amity’s belly, speaking excitedly. “We will make you a grand feast!”
With three babies growing inside of her, Amity had grown accustomed to continued hunger, and she agreed wholeheartedly. Aziz wrapped his arms around her from behind as the maid walked away, kissing her on her neck.
“You’re making me feel so pampered,” Amity said, giggling. “I didn’t expect such luxury.”
“Luxury, in a billionaire’s mansion? You’re right. It doesn’t fit, does it?” he teased. He watched as she lay back on the bed, her belly protruding above her. “You want to take a nap?”
“No,” she murmured. She tapped the bed beside her. “I want you to lay with me. I want to feel what it’s like to be still, here, with you.”
Aziz joined her on the bed, stretching out beside her, kicking his shiny shoes off his feet. He took her hand in his.
“I’ve never been so happy to be anywhere,” she whispered to him then. “I’ve never been so happy to be with anyone.”
“I feel exactly the same,” he breathed back.
They lay like that until dinner, when Addy called them to the intimate dining room, where the first course was laid before them, along with dates and figs and other Middle-Eastern snacks. Amity shuffled her palms together before taking a date and popping it in her mouth. Immediately satisfied, she eased into the chair beside Aziz, and they spoke excitedly, deep into the night, about their plans for the fall, before the babies came.
“We’ll make a beautiful nursery,” Aziz exclaimed. “You can paint it whatever colors you please. We’ll have custom bassinets made, one for each of the babies. And we’ll hire a night nurse and a day nurse, just in case you grow too tired.”
“I want to be there for my children,” Amity said, amazed at his endless ideas. “But perhaps one or two nurses wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
“Plus. I’m going to want some time with you. Some time to ourselves.”
“Our family is about to grow exponentially, so I hope you realize our time alone is very, very limited,” Amity said. She sipped her sparkling water, feeling happiness fill her chest, her limbs, her face. She flipped her hair back, elongating her neck. She knew she glowed with that