The Sheik's Ruby (11 page)

Hakim drove them to what Shelby claimed was the best restaurant in town: “Italian Garden.” He opened the door, and the smell of garlic and pasta sauce floated on the air. Shelby had informed him the restaurant hadn’t changed as long as she could remember. Built-in glass cabinets hung on the walls, encasing a never-changing display of faded silk flowers. The booths were upholstered with light blue vinyl, and yellow-paned light fixtures hung low over the tables.

At the side of the booth, Hakim helped Shelby take off her coat, noticing she exchanged waves with nearly every person in the restaurant. He stood aside to allow her onto the cushioned seat, but she preferred to keep her injured leg on the outside, and so he slid in first, realizing he’d never sat on a vinyl bench in a restaurant booth. He hoped his expression didn’t betray how completely out of his league the situation made him feel. They sat across the table from Dan and Lacey.

Dan draped his arm across the bench, and when Lacey scooted in close, he gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek as she opened her menu.

Hakim wondered if he and Shelby would ever be that comfortable together.

Shelby laid her crutches on the floor next to the booth and slid next to him.

Hakim caught a whiff of her perfume.
Subtle, and feminine, but not too flowery, Just like Shelby
. He tilted his menu toward her. He could feel her heat where their thighs touched.

The waitress arrived at their table. “If it isn’t Shelby Walker and Lacey Barton.” She put a hand on her hip.

“Shannon!” Shelby jumped up, balancing on one leg to hug the small blonde woman. “I didn’t know you still worked here.”

“Yep. Been almost ten years. I should own the place by now, right?” Shannon raised her eyebrows at Hakim. “So, who’s this?”

“My friend, Hakim.” Shelby slid back into the booth. “Hakim, this is Shannon Price.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Price.” Hakim reached over to shake Shannon’s hand.

“Handsome
and
polite. Shelby, you sure know how to pick ’em. So, Hakim, have these girls told you about all the trouble we used to get into?”

“No, however I would be very interested to know what Shelby was like when she was younger.” Hakim smiled at Shelby. Her smile in return caused the increasingly familiar warmth to spread in his chest.

“Wow. Where should I start?” Shannon asked.

“Of all the people in this town, I bet Shelby is the most famous for the scrapes she got into,” Lacey said with a wave of her hand. “She’s a local legend. We could be here all night telling you stories.”

“Food first, childhood memories later,” Dan complained. “I’m starving.”

“Some things never change.” Shannon winked. “What can I get you guys?”

“Does everyone want pizza?” Shelby asked, glancing around the table.

They all agreed and placed their orders.

Hakim leaned across the table toward Lacey, feeling Shelby’s softness where his arm brushed hers. “I would love to hear about Shelby Jo as a child.”

“I’ve got a great one for you.”

“Nothing embarrassing, Lace,” Shelby pleaded.

“All right, all right.” Lacey paused and spread her fingers on the table, taking a deep breath before she began her story. “So, we were about eight, and the rodeo was in town…”

“Lace,” Shelby groaned.

The edges of Lacey’s mouth rose, but she kept speaking. “The guys who bring the animals had this one really mean bull. I mean, this thing was huge. Things are different now, like more regulated, but back then, a rider would get extra points for riding one of these enormous bulls. So they all wanted to draw him. The bull was so dangerous he couldn’t even stay penned up with the other rodeo animals, so Burke let them keep it out in his corral.”

Hakim smiled at Shelby’s mortified expression.

Shannon set the drinks and salad on the table. “Oh, my gosh! I’d totally forgotten this story. Your pizza’s almost up. Don’t finish ’til I get back!” She twirled and hurried toward the kitchen.

“Okay, after school, a bunch of us got off the bus at the Walkers’ and went home with Shelby to check out the bull,” Lacey continued. “We were too scared to even get close to the fence. The bull wasn’t doing anything but standing in the corral chewing its cud. It didn’t so much as look at us, but we were still terrified.”

Hakim bent forward, not wanting to miss a word, and using the excuse to graze his arm against Shelby’s.

Dan shook his head and laughed. “We yelled at the bull to get its attention. But nothing happened. We threw stuff at it, and finally, we all got to daring each other to go inside the pen and touch it.”

“Shelby was the only one who would do it,” Lacey broke in.

Shannon returned with their pizza.

After everyone was served, Dan continued with a laugh, “I can still remember how she looked. Little Shelby with her freckles and her hair in ponytails, scrunching up her face all determined to prove how brave she was.”

“I thought you guys said it wouldn’t be embarrassing,” Shelby muttered.

Dan glanced at her and turned back to Hakim. “Shelby climbed over the fence and tip-toed across the pen. She touched the bull with one finger, and when it turned toward her, she ran like her hair was on fire. She got to the fence and instead of climbing back over, she wriggled under. The problem was, her jeans got snagged on this hank of barbed wire.”

“Oh, yeah, I love this part.” Shelby took a bite of pizza.

“She tugged and tugged, but those blue jeans were stuck tight,” Dan said with a wide grin.

“I don’t even remember the next few minutes,” Shannon chimed in with a laugh. “We totally panicked!”

Lacey held up her hands, opening her fingers wide. “We all started screaming bloody murder. I’m pretty sure I was bawling. We all thought that bull was going to get Shelby.”

Shelby rested her elbows on the table, hiding her face with her hands.

“Without missing a beat, Shel kicked off her boots and wiggled out of her pants. Debbie came out to see what all the screaming was about, and there was Shelby, covered in mud, wearing her little purple panties.”

Hakim chuckled, trying to imagine what his tutors would say if they’d discovered him playing in the mud. He found he couldn’t do it.

Shelby grimaced, but when she saw Hakim laugh, she allowed a smile. “Yeah, that wasn’t too humiliating. Thanks, guys.”

The entire table burst into laughter.

“How do you like your pizza, Hakim?” asked Shannon.

“It is delicious. Thank you, Miss Price.”

“I’d better get back to work. Thanks for the laugh. Great to see you, Shel.” Shannon waved to the group.

Dan set down his pizza crust and leaned back, putting his arm around Lacey and brushing a finger over his mustache. “So, Hakim, what kind of work do you do?”

Hakim had anticipated this question and gave his rehearsed answer. “I work as a consultant for my father’s business.”

“I don’t know much about the business world—just enough to get along, if you know what I mean,” Dan said. “What do you do for fun?”

Hakim shifted in his seat. His leg brushed Shelby’s again. He felt a little guilty, but he loved the feel of her and tried to think of any excuse to touch her. “I enjoy hunting. And skiing, of course.” His gaze met Shelby’s, and he smiled. “But my real passion is horses.”

Dan nodded. “Now, that’s something I can definitely relate to.”

The two men continued talking about horses while they ate, and Dan told Hakim about his construction business.

Hakim was surprised by how much he enjoyed the conversation. He was interested in the details of this man’s life and the way he worked hard to provide for his family.

After a little while, Lacey looked at her watch. “We’d better get going. I’m worried about the sitter trying to get Shay and Cole to sleep.”

The four of them scooted out of the booth, and Hakim helped Shelby with her coat and crutches as she rested her hip against the table for balance.

“Should we head over to the drive-in for a shake?” Dan held up Lacey’s coat.

“You know I can’t eat that stuff—not with all this baby fat still hanging on.” Lacey patted her tummy. “Anyway, I need to be getting back to the kids.”

“You look great, honey.” Dan lifted his wife’s face with a crooked finger beneath her chin and winked. “Why don’t we just grab it and eat it on the way home? We can share.”

The group returned to Hakim’s rental car, and he helped Shelby into the passenger seat and stowed her crutches in the trunk. He heard a car start and glanced to the far end of the parking lot where Nasir was parked.

Dan and Lacey climbed into the back seat.

As he drove, first to the Shake Shack and then back to their house, Hakim had to remind himself to stop staring in the rearview mirror. He was fascinated by the way Dan and Lacey treated each other. She finished his sentences, and he was constantly putting his arm around her or kissing her cheek. Surprised, Hakim realized he felt jealous. By his standards, their home was beyond small. Shabby, even. Their furniture and clothes were not expensive, and yet, they had everything he wanted.

After dropping off the Bartons, Hakim was quiet as he drove through town. He glanced at the lights in the rearview mirror and wondered if Shelby had noticed Nasir following them.

“What are you thinking?” Shelby asked.

“I have something to confess, Shelby.” He tapped his fingers on the gear shift. “This is the first time I have ever been on a date.”

“Are you serious?” Shelby lifted her brows and tilted her head, looking at him.

“Yes. It is not part of my culture to court in this way.”

“So, what do you do instead?”

“Khali-dar is one of the more westernized countries in the Middle East, but there are still traditions which are generally adhered to. First of all, it would be highly inappropriate for us to be alone like this without a chaperone. In some countries, such a thing would be punishable by prison time, or worse. Many of the more traditional families still arrange marriages, although this practice is becoming rarer.”

“Oh.” Shelby rubbed her arm as she gazed out the window. “Has your family picked someone out for you?”

When he heard the anxiety in her voice, Hakim couldn’t fight the jump in his pulse. “No, my father does not believe in arranged marriages. He was very much in love with my mother and would not want any less for me.”

“That’s good then, right?”

“Yes, it is good.” Hakim stopped the car in front of the Walkers’ house.

Although it was early, the windows were dark. The family had worked hard all day, and Shelby was the only one who’d taken a nap.

Shelby twisted in her seat to face him. “I’d better give you some advice to make up for your lack of dating experience.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s just say, a guy surprises a girl by coming to town and spending the day helping her family, then takes her to dinner, and doesn’t run screaming out the door when her friends tell embarrassing stories about her. If that’s the case, she’ll probably expect him to kiss her.”

“Shelby Jo, do you always say exactly what you are thinking?” His heart pounded on his ribs.

Shelby wrinkled her nose and grimaced. “I guess you’re not used to women acting so bold.”

“Well”—he scooted closer—“I have no reason to mistrust your counsel.”

The porch light did little to illuminate the inside of the car. Hakim gently touched the sides of her face, enjoying the sensation of her softness. He trailed his hands down her neck, stopping at her shoulders. Her face tilted, and he bent his head until his lips brushed against hers. At first hesitantly and then, covering her mouth with his own, he inhaled her smell, noticing again how perfectly it fit her. He drew back, watching as she sighed and opened her eyes.

He held her face in his hands, the taste of her still on his lips. “Yes, you were right. Excellent advice.”

****

Shelby let herself into the dark house, her lips still tingling from Hakim’s kiss. In the living room, the TV flickered.

Chet was sprawled out asleep on the couch. He must have been waiting up.

She took the remote off of Chet’s stomach and clicked off the TV. “Chet”—she shook his shoulder—“Hey, it’s time to go to bed.”

“Wha…? Oh, hey, Shels. How was your date?” Chet swung his legs onto the floor and rubbed his bleary eyes. He stretched out his back and winced.

“Nice.” She fought to repress a grin. “Actually, more than nice. Hakim’s pretty great, don’t ya think?”

“Where’d ya go? Italian Garden?”

“Yeah. Come on.” She tugged on his arm. “You need some sleep.”

“Hang on a sec, Shels. I wanted to talk to ya.”

Shelby sat on the love seat and propped her crutches against the wall. “What’s up?”

“Listen, Shels, I don’t want to be ‘that guy’.” He used his fingers to make quotes in the air. “But I’m your brother. I just want to know what’s going on with you and this Hakim dude.”

“What do you mean by that?” Shelby grabbed one of her mom’s knitting needles from the side table.

Chet fidgeted. “Shels, You obviously like him, I know you well enough to tell that much. But where will something like this lead? I guarantee Hakim isn’t planning on staying in Culver Springs. Is he just playing around with you?”

Shelby’s chest felt tight. “I’m aware, we haven’t known each other that long. I haven’t even thought about that kind of thing.” She shifted, crossing her arms and scratching her shoulder. The truth was, she
had
thought about it. A lot. She’d thought of little else since Hakim had arrived. What
were
his intentions? If he was hoping for a fling, would he have kissed her so chastely?

“That’s bull, Shels, and you know it. Stop lying to yourself.”

Shelby couldn’t find words to respond. She stared at her brother with her jaw dropped. This was so unlike her easygoing, happy brother.

“Listen…” Chet scratched the back of his head. “You haven’t had a ton of experience with guys. I mean, I know you’ve dated some, but you’ve never been serious with anyone besides Jake, right? You feel flattered since a hot, rich dude is paying you all this attention. You need to ask yourself why. You’re awesome, Shels, and I know it, but I’m trying to figure out his motivation here.”