Susan Mallery - The Sheik And The Pregnant Bride

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me he was coming,” she said.

Victoria stopped in front of a door and pointed. “Good luck.”

Maggie didn’t want to go inside by herself. “You could come with me.”

“I could, but I think you need to do this on your own.” She hugged Maggie, then hurried away.

Maggie stared at the door. She had a feeling she knew why Jon had arrived in El Deharia. After last night, she would have said gathering the energy to fight was impossible, but knowing Jon as she did, she was going to have to get her mad up or he would be making all the decisions. The last thing either of them needed was a situation that would impact the rest of their lives. Of course the pregnancy had already done a good job of that.

She knocked once and the door flew open. Jon stood there, looking as he always had.

“Where have you been?” he demanded. “I got here hours ago and no one could find you. Are they keeping you hostage somewhere? What’s going on here, Maggie?”

She stepped into his room, a space much smaller than her own. It faced the garden rather than the sea.

She looked at him, at the kind brown eyes, the mouth that curved into a crooked smile, the unruly brown hair he kept cut short so it didn’t get too wild.

This was Jon. He’d been the boy she’d grown up with, the man she’d fallen in love with. She deliberately remembered good times they’d shared and buried herself in those memories. She dug through her heart and felt…nothing.

Until that moment she thought it was over, but she hadn’t had proof. She did now. Whatever she and Jon had once shared had changed and faded until there was only a friendship she hoped would never go away.

“I’m sorry you were worried,” she said. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“It was a last-minute decision,” he admitted.

She thought about pointing out that there were no direct flights to El Deharia. That he had to stop somewhere and he could have easily called. But he had obviously wanted to surprise her. Which he’d done.

“I’m here now.” She crossed to the sofa and sat down. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here.”

She spoke calmly, hoping she was wrong in her assumptions.

“You’re pregnant, Maggie,” he said as he paced in front of her. “I’m here to bring you home. You don’t belong here. You should be home. With me.”

“Married to you,” she clarified.

“Yes. We’ll get married.”

She wanted to hold on to her temper. Getting angry wouldn’t help either of them.

“I’m not leaving anytime soon,” she told him. “I came to El Deharia to do a job and I’m going to complete it.”

He looked at her, impatience tightening his features. “It’s just a car.”

That really pissed her off. Her hands clenched, but still she held on to her calm. “It’s my work,” she corrected. “It’s what I do. Prince Qadir is paying me a lot of money to restore his car and I will finish the work before I leave.”

“I won’t allow it.”

That got her to her feet. “Fortunately it’s not your decision to make.”

“You’re having a baby. You shouldn’t be around cars.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’m restoring a car, not working in a toxic waste dump.”

“Come home with me now.”

“No.”

They stared at each other, a small coffee table between them. But the distance felt much greater.

Had Jon always been like this? she wondered. Had he always tried to boss her around? Why hadn’t she noticed before?

Her anger faded as sadness took its place. “This isn’t what I want,” she said quietly. “If nothing else, we have to stay friends.”

“I’m not interested in being friends.” His voice was a growl. “I’m here to marry you.”

“You keep saying that and I keep telling you no.” She walked around the coffee table and touched his arm. “Jon, just stop. We don’t have to be like this. I’m only a few weeks pregnant. We have months ahead of us. No decisions have to be made today. I appreciate your concern, because I know what this is about. You want to do the right thing. That’s the kind of man you are. But there are a lot of different right things we can do. Let’s explore them. Take a breath. Go home. I’ll be back in a month or so and we can figure out what we want to do.”

“I want to marry you.”

She held in a scream. “I don’t remember you being this stubborn before.”

“You were never carrying my baby before. Getting married is the right thing to do.”

“Right for who? Do you really want to spend the next eighteen years tied to me? You don’t love me. I appreciate that you’re concerned about the baby, but how happy will this child be knowing his or her parents don’t want to be married to each other?”

His stubborn expression didn’t change. “We were in love before. We’ll be fine.”

“No, we won’t. We’ll be miserable. I won’t do it. I won’t marry you because of the child. You can’t make me.”

“I’m not leaving until you agree.”

Maggie thought longingly of the dungeons Victoria had mentioned. “Then we have a real problem because I’ll never agree.”

Whatever he was going to say was lost when someone knocked on the door. Victoria stepped inside.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s been another twist in your life.”

She held the door open and Qadir entered, leading a young woman Maggie had never seen. She was petite, with dark blond hair and features that were probably pretty when they weren’t blotchy. Tears filled the woman’s eyes when she saw Jon.

“I had to come,” she told him.

Elaine, Maggie thought, wondering how the situation could get worse. Then she met Qadir’s gaze. What must he think of all this? Of her? Last night had been so perfect, but this morning was a disaster. Did he think she wanted to marry Jon? Was he feeling that she had simply used him?

Too many questions that she had no way to ask.

Elaine hurried over to Jon. She clutched his arm. “Don’t do this,” she pleaded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Please, don’t do this.”

“It’s the right thing for the baby.”

“How is that possible? How can something that hurts this much be right?”

Maggie looked away, feeling as if she were intruding on a private moment.

“Don’t you love me anymore?” Elaine asked, her voice trembling.

“Elaine, please.” Jon sounded strained.

“Just tell me the truth,” she pleaded. “Tell me I don’t matter.”

“I can’t do that.”

Maggie wanted to crawl into a hole. While she knew in her head she wasn’t the only one to blame for the disaster, she felt the heavy weight of responsibility in her heart.

Still not looking at Jon or Elaine, she hurried out of the room and into the hallway.

Someone came after her. She half expected it to be Victoria, but then she felt strong hands settle on her shoulders.

“Who needs daytime television when they can just watch what’s going on in my life,” she said, trying to make light of the situation.

Qadir turned her to face him, then pulled her close.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said as she snuggled into his chest. “I can’t believe Jon is here and Elaine followed him. He wants to marry me.”

“I expected no less. If you were carrying my child, I would not let you get away.”

Words to make her tremble, she thought sadly. If she were carrying Qadir’s child, she wouldn’t want to get away.

“I’m not going to ruin all our lives because I’m pregnant. You saw Elaine. She loves him desperately. He’s wrong to push for a marriage with me.”

“He’s a man who is trying to do the right thing. His conscience wars with his heart.”