Pyramids and Promises (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 2) (5 page)

“Now, I’m ready.”

“Come on, let me introduce you to the Kings.” He held the door open for her, ready to get this going. The balloon ride was bound to be the best part of the day. The valley itself was rather a disappointment.

Jessica nursed her coffee as they drove through the bland desert. Neither of them said much, and Conner was once again surprised to find himself more than a little intrigued by her. What was running through her head? Nour would be calculating their schedule and correcting what she didn’t like about the itinerary that Conner had set up. But Jessica, he had no idea.

Jessica still had most of her coffee when they reached the balloon site. Holding tight to her cup, she jumped out of the van. She took one look around and scowled at him.

“Damn. No hotel.”

He grinned. “No hotel. Nothing really but old tombs and a few run down houses.”

“We’ll just sleep with Nefertiti.” She brightened like she’d just solved all the world’s problems.

“I think you might get deported for that.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? Sign me up.”

He laughed. “Why do you want to leave so bad? Give us a chance first.”

“Us?”

“Egypt and I. I’m betting between the two of us, we can make you fall in love with this old desert.”

She blinked her blue eyes at him, and the urge to kiss her nearly knocked him off his feet. She turned to look out at the desert and her perfume wafted over him. He had to step back before he ruined all his pretty speech about her boyfriend being somebody else. He hadn’t meant a word, but he wasn’t ready for her to know that.

“It’s not that I want to leave so much. It’s just that I loved Russia, and I want to go back.”

“So why did you leave?”

She scowled. “Long story. I speak Russian fluently, and want be in a place where I can communicate with the people.”

“So why did you leave?” he repeated gently, yet expectantly. He kept her trapped between him and the van. She wasn’t wiggling away from his questions.

“My ex. It was too weird for us to be there together.” She sighed.

“An ex, huh. Want me to get rid of him? I know a guy.” He grinned, but her eyes went wide. “I’m teasing. Is that why you aren’t looking for another relationship right now?”

“Yeah, the divorce was just finalized. I had to get out of Russia. Hey, why’d you tell me not to date Egyptians?”

There was more she wasn’t telling him. It must have been a nasty divorce. For now though, he’d let it slide.

“A nice, pretty American girl like you, raised by a mom who probably burned her bra in the 60s. Trust me. It’s cultural.” He didn’t know how it was in Russia, but she was bound to get a shock when she walked down the street by herself. Men here tended to be vocal and sometimes handsy. In fact, he’d offer her his car service, but she probably wouldn’t like that. Yet.

“That’s not much of an answer.” She cocked her head at him. Irritation sparked in her eyes. “But it’s too early for an argument. I’ll ask you later.”

He laughed. If she was going to argue, then he would be sure to give her the same answer. She must be magnificent when she was angry, her eyes spitting blue fire.

Jessica was sweet and spunky too. Even if she didn’t look like Nour, he suspected he’d genuinely like her.

Balloons stretched out across the sand. Several workers attached and cabled the baskets. Jessica watched in silence, bouncing on the balls of her feet as the balloons were filled with hot air.

That look of pure anticipation was one of his favorite things in the world. He loved seeing the excitement in someone’s eyes when they experienced something for the first time. He immediately began planning their next trip. The desert probably. Plus there were the pyramids.

The sky was just beginning to lighten when they climbed into the basket.

“Ready?” he whispered, and she nodded. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shone bright. He wondered if he would get lost in them and miss the sunrise all together. Nour’s eyes.

The guide went over all the safety instructions, but Conner wasn’t listening. From that height, what could they do anyway? He leaned against the basket and watched Jessica taking it all in. She looked up into the balloon as the heat radiated up, and when they left the ground and began to climb, she glanced down.

Conner took a chance and stood as close to her as he thought she would allow. He forgot how romantic these damned things were. The sun hadn’t peeked up over the horizon yet, but the sky had lightened considerably, so they had a great view of the surrounding land.

She glanced at him, her eyes sparkling. “This is amazing. Look at the Nile. It’s green on both sides, and then it just stops and bam, desert. I thought everything was just brown.”

Conner smiled and leaned into her. “Pretty incredible, huh?”

She nodded and pointed below. “What’s that?”

“An old temple of some kind. There are all kinds of them all over the place. From the sky, it’s really easy to see the ruins.”

“Where is Valley of the Kings?”

“To the north. We won’t go over that. It’s restricted. But you can’t see anything from the sky anyway. All the cool stuff there is underground.”

“Looks like the sun’s coming up.”

The wind caught the basket, and they swayed a little bit. Jessica fell into him. His breath caught, and he slid his arm around her waist to keep her steady. She didn’t seem to notice, so he left his arm there, his hand resting lightly on the basket.

“Thanks for bringing me here, Conner. This is wonderful. I’ll admit I was a little nervous last night. But now I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to sell me to some creepy Saudi prince.”

Conner chuckled. “You really thought that?”

“Maybe.” She blushed and then laughed. It was so light and clear. The first time he’d heard her truly let go.

“Lucky for you, I come by my money honestly,” he said with an exaggerated wink. She giggled for him.

The sun began to rise up over the horizon, bathing the entire area in red and gold. Jessica gasped.

“This is truly spectacular. Let’s get a picture.” She pulled out her phone and one of those ridiculous selfie sticks from her purse.

“Really, you have one of those?” He smiled. She continued to surprise the hell out of him.

“Do you want to be in the picture or not?”

“Sure.” She turned and fitted her back against his chest. He could smell her shampoo. He looked at her as she smiled, and instead of smiling for the camera, at the last second he kissed her on the cheek.

“You dog.” She giggled, shoving him away. The basket shook and the guide yelled something in Arabic at them. She wiped at her cheek, but her grin said he was forgiven. “What were you thinking?”

“Something to make your ex jealous.”

Her eyes lit up, and she leaned into him again. “That’s not a bad idea. This is totally going on Facebook. You have to be in all my pictures.”

She dropped her head onto his shoulder and snapped another couple of pics.

“Okay, that’s fine for your ex, but what will your family think?”

“That I’ve moved on. At least no one will be asking me how I’m doing.”

“So you want me to be your rebound guy?” This might be easier than he intended.

“No, you’re going to be my pretend rebound guy. You wanted to show me all the cool sites anyway. I’m all yours. People will think I’m just fine, no one will ask me any questions, and Rick will get the hint that I’m not his anymore.”

“What makes you think he checks your page?”

“Trust me, he does. He’s been trying to make up for weeks.”

“Make up with you?” Conner frowned at her. He didn’t want to lose another woman to a husband that didn’t deserve her. Nour had been married to a worthless man for years. It was painful to see. He wouldn’t watch this beautiful girl make the same mistake. “Isn’t your divorce final?”

“It is, but he thinks he’s God’s gift to women, and he’ll want to make sure I’m miserable. Now I can show him I’m not.”

“Aren’t you a therapist?”

She nodded, her grin wide.

“Isn’t this kind of twisted?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But I’ve been doing this long enough to know that everyone is allowed to do something crazy after a major breakup. This is mine. And it is mild compared to what some people do.”

Conner had a fleeting thought that he hoped she’d do more crazy things with him than just pretend. He could be a good rebound guy. Then he wouldn’t feel guilty when he abandoned her for Nour. Because someday, Nour would come back to him. He’d make sure of it.

They continued along the Nile as the sun rose and turned everything a luscious gold. Jessica stayed close to him. Conner loved the feel of her, and this new turn would certainly make it easy for him to slip in and win her emotions. The ex-husband though. He must be a real ass. He’d have Tommy do a background check and find out exactly what he was dealing with.

J
essica really relaxed for the first time since she caught her lying bastard of a husband in bed with her colleague. With the sun warming everything, she realized she was in the land where civilization was born. The history in this country could take an entire lifetime to discover, and she’d managed to find a smoking hot rich guy who wanted to show it all to her. Maybe she wouldn’t miss Russia as much as she thought.

The main thing about Conner was that there was no pressure. He was promising to show her around, and he had the resources to do it in style. This was all about fun. And fun was something she was in seriously short supply of and had been for a long time. Sure, Conner liked to stand a little too close. Down the road, something might develop, or they might have a more serious talk. At the moment though, he didn’t seem to be interested in anything more than a good time, and that suited her perfectly.

Letting Rick know she’d moved on was an added bonus. Maybe if he saw her with another man, he’d leave her alone. Keeping her family off her back was just another perk. Her parents didn’t constantly check on her. Instead they put her older sister on that job. Julie fed all of Jessica’s secrets right into her mother’s ear. Thank goodness Julie was a Facebook addict.

Really, there wasn’t a downside to letting Conner lavish a little attention on her.

She pointed to a large statue. “What’s that?”

Conner shrugged. “No idea. There are literally thousands of those things all over the place here.”

Jessica laughed. “You don’t make a very good tour guide.”

“I’m not much of a history buff. I enjoy the scenery, but I don’t know all the details. We can hire a guide for the day if you want the nitty gritty stuff. You ready to land?”

She shook her head. “I wish we could stay up here forever.”

Conner yawned. “We’re heading to the Valley of the Kings once we land. Whenever you are ready.”

She was disappointed to leave the air. It was magical up in the morning sky, floating over statues and monuments thousands of years old. Pharaohs had walked here.

“Alright.” She sighed.

He signaled their guide with a chuckle. The balloon dropped a few feet, and she stumbled into Conner. Her stomach flip-flopped, and she started laughing.

His arms had been around her way too much for one balloon ride, but she wasn’t going to complain.

“What changed?” Conner asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Last night, and even this morning, you’d been nervous and distant. A few pictures and a little turbulence, and suddenly you’re giggling and happy. Not that I’m complaining.” He grinned an impossibly sexy smile. Those green eyes of his were to die for.

“I don’t know. There is something about being up in the air, in Egypt of all places, and seeing the sun come up. Realizing this might not be such a bad assignment after all. I haven’t been giving it enough of a chance.” She pulled free of his grasp and tucked her escaped hair behind her ears.

“Just like that you changed your mind about the whole country?”

“Just like that.” She shoved him playfully, and he grinned again. Damn, if this one didn’t have a girlfriend, he had a string of broken hearts all over Cairo.

Conner grabbed her hand. “We’re getting closer to landing. We need to crouch down.”

He sat on his haunches and pulled her down with him.

“The basket will probably bounce a little bit, but it could also fall over and drag for a few feet. It’s not very windy here, so we’ll probably be fine, but I want you to be aware.”

She nodded.

They hit the ground and bounced. Jessica gripped Conner’s arm.

“No worries. That should be the worst of it,” he said with a soft smile.

“We’re going over!” yelled the driver.

“Or not.” Conner wrapped both his arms around her. “Hold on, princess.”

Jessica threw herself into Conner’s lap and held on for dear life. She didn’t want to be thrown out of the basket. It wasn’t one of her best moments, but she wasn’t worried about that just then.

The basket toppled over and landed on its side. Jessica was on her back, and Conner leaned over her. All his weight on his hands next to her head. He frowned at her, and she started laughing. She hoped he would too, but he continued to stare at her. Not even a grin. Maybe life and death situations were easy for him. However, she needed the release of adrenaline. Her therapist mind locked away that tidbit.