Their Save-the-Date Charade, page 1
“I came to ask you…”
“Ask me what?”
The same hesitation that had him trailing off gripped his features, his full lips slashing into a scowl and his face darkening more than the stormy gray clouds overtaking the skies.
“Ask me what, Alwan? If you haven’t noticed, we’re about to be rained on, and I’d really like for that not to happen—”
“Ask you to marry me.”
Right as he spoke, thunder rumbled loudly over their heads, a warning of the downpour that would follow soon.
Wondering if she’d heard him correctly, Lulu stammered, “S-s-sorry? Marry?”
Alwan shut his car door and sealed the short space to her. Now close enough to touch, he filled her vision and commanded her full attention with that vehement gaze of his. So much so that she hadn’t registered the drop of cold rainwater splashing onto her cheek. Not until Alwan reached out and swiped the wetness away with his thumb.
Then, shocking her anew, he said, “I want you to be my wife, Lulu.”
Dear Reader,
I’ll share a secret with you: writing has always been a bit therapeutic for me. And writing Their Save-the-Date Charade wasn’t any different of an experience.
Throughout the story, Lulu and Alwan are constantly faced with certain things in their lives that are out of their control. But the one thing they do have power over is their fake engagement agreement. Of course, neither Lulu nor Alwan anticipates falling in love to complicate their relationship ruse!
Before they fall head over heels though, they do a lot of healing together. One big part of their emotional journey is learning to trust in letting go of the situations that are beyond their ability to control. (Admittedly something I struggle with at times!)
Because of this, it was tough writing some parts of their tale, but what made it all worth it was dreaming up the lighter, uplifting moments and looking forward to the promise of happiness and true love at the end.
I only hope that you feel the same!
Happy reading,
Hana x
Their Save-the-Date Charade
Hana Sheik
Note to Readers
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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9781335470768
Hana Sheik falls in love every day reading her favorite romances and writing her own happily-ever-afters. She’s worked various jobs—but never for very long because she’s always wanted to be a romance author. Now she gets to happily live that dream. Born in Somalia, she moved to Ottawa, Canada, at a very young age and still resides there with her family.
Books by Hana Sheik
Harlequin Romance
The Abdullahis
Falling for Her Forbidden Bodyguard
Another Shot at Forever
Second Chance to Wear His Ring
Temptation in Istanbul
Forbidden Kisses with Her Millionaire Boss
The Baby Swap That Bound Them
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com.
To my hooyo and my big sister,
Two of the strongest women I know. Love you both!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Excerpt
About the Publisher
Chapter One
“ALL RIGHT, WALK me through your logic again, just one more time.” At the exasperated, sleep-roughened voice of his cousin, Alwan Eltahir tightened his hands on the steering wheel and snapped his narrowing eyes from the long, lonely stretch of country road ahead of him to the car’s infotainment system.
Glaring at the glowing monitor as if his cousin Malek was right in front of him, he gritted out, “It’s simple. I’m taking some time off to clear my head, and I can’t do that right now in the city. So, if my parents call—”
“You mean when they do,” Malek interjected with a long yawn. “Because they always do, Al. No one helicopter-parents like your mom and dad.”
Alwan set his teeth but bit his tongue. There was no arguing that point.
“Fine. When they do, tell them I’m over at yours.”
“So I’m your cover story. What’s new?”
“I’m being serious. I don’t need them calling me right now, so are you willing to help or not?”
“Give me a second,” Malek told him, followed by the faint, muffled sound of voices and then rustling sheets, as though his cousin was rousing from bed, which made sense given the early hour.
While he waited for Malek, Alwan drummed his fingers over the steering wheel, impatience priming his every muscle. Malek finally yawned, “All right, I’m back. Rima says hello, by the way. She was wondering why this phone call of ours couldn’t have waited another two or three hours.”
Malek’s wife, Rima, was a night-shift nurse.
Softly cursing, Alwan said, “Tell her I said I’m sorry for waking her. I wouldn’t have called if I’d known she had the night off.”
“Why did you call now? You know, besides wanting me to lie to Aami Omer and Khalti Ayaan for you?”
Hearing his parents’ names reminded Alwan of everything that had led up to this very point, prompting a groan.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with what happened—”
“Don’t. Just, please don’t,” Alwan cut Malek off, his cousin’s chuckle destroying what little calm and peace of mind he had left. Like water through a crack in a dam, the memories first trickled warningly before spewing forth and sweeping him under.
It started a little more than two weeks ago—sixteen days to be precise, not that Alwan would ever admit to marking the hours and minutes, heck each god-awful second, as they sped by. No, on the outside he had held on to his usual cool facade, not giving away for a moment that he might not have everything under control.
That his world was possibly a breath away from implosion.
Oh, like that hasn’t happened already…
The sarcastic thought had him wringing the steering wheel and pressing his foot down on the accelerator, pushing the small car’s engine. Anyone would think he was running away from his problems, and, in a way, he already had. Fleeing everything and everyone he’d known in Toronto, Alwan skulked out of his condo and the city late last night without notifying his family…and the few friends who hadn’t yet abandoned him after his so-called villainy was caught in 4K.
The video that had made him an internet villain had been uploaded and re-uploaded so many times that he couldn’t close his eyes without clearly visualizing it. The seven-minute clip of his confrontation with an angry, now former, client who hadn’t liked the way Alwan had handled his defense was branded into his brain. It had taken place in the busy coffee shop on the first floor of his law firm’s office building, in the middle of the day, where naturally it had been caught on a phone camera.
Although Alwan could be seen having an assortment of pastries lobbed at him while his client loudly and indiscriminately aired his grievances, it apparently hadn’t mattered that he had actually been the victim of the altercation.
The video went viral overnight and the internet had held court and swiftly deemed him as the aggressor. All because he was the fancy-schmancy lawyer. Meanwhile, his ex-client, a widower suburban dad of two who had “just been trying to make ends meet” and was “counting on the disputed family inheritance to support his children,” had garnered the hearts and sympathies of the public.
It wasn’t even the public’s opinion he cared about. Alwan’s problem was that his law firm had taken one look at the impact his negative image was having on them, and decided he was a liability. They hadn’t exactly framed it like that, but how else was he supposed to interpret his bosses foisting a sudden paid leave on him and practically pushing him out the front door?
“It’s not fair,” Alwan grumbled.
“Yeah, well, it’s already happened. No point in sulking now. The question is, what are you going to do about it?” Malek pressed.
“I have a plan.”
For a beat, the silence on Malek’s end was punctuated by the distinct sounds of clinking tableware and whirring from a coffee machine. Then he sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. Does this plan happen to involve you getting married to please your parents?”
Alwan scowled immediately, flustered and annoyed. “They told you. When?”
“A couple days ago, and your parents didn’t tell me. Mine did.”
“Of course they did.”
“Did you really think your mom and dad were going to keep it a secret? They’ve been trying to get you married off for years.” His cousin chuckled.
Alwan figured his days at his firm were numbered, so he’d had to think outside the box. Starting his own practice had always felt like an out-of-reach dream, mainly because it required the kind of singular focus he didn’t have around his high-demand work schedule. But now that he had been temporarily benched, the idea of being his own boss had fi
That was where his parents and their bargain came in.
Because despite not wanting to accept their help, this time he saw no other option than to throw himself at their mercy in order to get access to their network of high-net-worth contacts.
“I get potential clients and they see me get married. We’re all happy,” Alwan said, sounding decidedly very unhappy.
“You’re doing this for clients?” Malek tsked. “Man, cuz, that’s cold. Even a little sad. Have you considered what your future wife might think?”
“It will be mutually beneficial and she’ll be free to leave the marriage…just as soon as my firm is up and running.”
“Seems like you have it all worked out. I guess the big question that’s left is why do you need me to cover for you?”
Because I feel like I’m going to have a breakdown at any moment, was what Alwan would have said if he hadn’t cared about worrying his cousin. As annoying as Malek could be though, he didn’t deserve the kind of burden that came with the fear churning away in Alwan’s gut. Fear of what the future held in store for him, and fear that he couldn’t escape his past mistakes.
Giving his head a shake, he cleared his suddenly hoarse throat.
“I just need to clear my head, that’s it. A few days is all I’m asking. Hold them off that long, and I’ll owe you one.”
“Fine, I’ll try to keep your parents from finding you. Speaking of, where are you anyways?”
“Alberta.”
Malek’s spit take was loud. “Alberta! What’s in Alberta?”
Not what. Who.
Alwan had lied to his parents about having a fiancée the day before, and now he needed to make it true—and preferably before they discovered his deception.
But rather than divulge his problem to Malek and endure more questions and opinions, he quickly thanked his cousin and ended the call before setting his phone on silent.
Noticing that the sky was even brighter now, the warm golden rays of dawn peeking above the snowcapped mountains in the far horizon gave him an unexpected burst of hope that Alwan hadn’t felt for a long time. Hope that he hadn’t made a mistake in venturing so far away from home, and that everything—
Everything would be all right after all.
* * *
“Don’t worry, Blue, everything’s going to be fine.” Lulu Sadiq wished she felt more confident as she looked from the inquisitive blue eyes of her cat up at the gathering storm clouds above the treetops.
When she and Blue had left for their early morning hike, the sky had been clear and filled with brilliant sunlight, but now that pleasant mid-April weather was being chased away by brisk, bone-chilling winds.
A shiver rippled through her in spite of all the layers she wore.
Somehow Lulu didn’t think that the weather could be entirely blamed. Since waking, she hadn’t been able to shake a sense of impending dread.
At first she presumed it might be the worrying sounds coming from her RV lately. Sounds that predicted repair bills in her near future.
No, that’s not why. She shivered again when a new wave of agitation ghosted over her.
Spring frost crunched under her hiking boots as she slowly resumed her trek down the path that would take her and Blue back to their warm, cozy four-wheel shelter. Lulu smiled down at her furry companion in his cat carrier. He had his wet pink nose and a paw pressed to the clear bubble window, like he was telling her to hurry up before the storm decided to unleash its wrath.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be home soon.” She grinned when Blue meowed impatiently and pawed at the window, his way of telling her to leg it and quickly. “Okay, okay, I hear you. I’m moving.” She hitched the cat carrier over her shoulders and set off at a steadier clip.
She huffed and puffed, the exertion taking away any lingering foreboding thoughts. Before long the shadowy tree line broke up ahead and she smiled to herself.
“We’re home, Blue,” she called back to her cat, not caring if another hiker caught her talking to her four-legged friend.
Smiling widely, Lulu crossed the wooden markers indicating the end of the footpath and walking trail—
And stopped in her tracks, her widening eyes flitting from the welcome sight of her RV to the small two-door car parked beside it.
She wasn’t expecting any visitors.
In fact, avoiding the people in her life was why Lulu had been on the road for a year now. After her divorce it had been hard to pretend that she was doing all right. Harder because she hadn’t shared with her family what had led to the end of her marriage.
Unconsciously, she slid her hand down from her chest to her lower belly.
Losing a baby wasn’t an experience she’d wish on even the worst of her enemies.
It had felt like someone had reached in and ripped out a vital part of her and left a gaping hole in its place. And, in a way, that was exactly what had happened. On the outside she’d long healed, but inside there were these floating fragments, tiny shards that sliced at her when she so much as thought of everything that could’ve been and everything that wasn’t meant to be.
Was this what she’d been feeling was coming for her?
Knowing that she wouldn’t get answers standing there, she stiffened her upper lip and drew her shoulders down from where they were brushing her earlobes. She tightened her grip on the straps of her kitty carrier and reminded herself that she wasn’t alone. Blueberry was with her, and her Birman cat was her fiercest protector. If anything, she should feel sorry for whoever had decided to come searching for her.
Marching toward the intruder in the small car, Lulu willed a courage she didn’t entirely feel right then. She squinted at the darkly tinted car windows and barely made out that no one was behind the wheel. Perplexed, she ground to a halt beside the driver’s window and looked around yet again.
The reserved sites of the RV park and campground were at the base of a double-peak mountain in the Canadian Rockies. But no one was driving a small car like the one in front of her. Around these parts, where the wilderness could sometimes deter a smaller vehicle from full exploration, it would’ve already stood out even if the owner hadn’t chosen to invade her reserved spot. She wondered if it was a tourist who had come from the campground nearby. Someone who was new to the area and had accidentally made a mistake and encroached in her space.
A glance at the license plate revealed nothing except that the plate was Alberta-issued.
So, who, then? Tourist, local… Murderer.
Lulu gave her head a shake, the last possibility chilling her more than the winds that were gusting now. She’d been listening to too many true crime podcasts. Still, she couldn’t see the harm in erring on the side of caution. Pulling out her phone from her coat pocket, Lulu muttered, “I’ll just call the park authorities, then.”
But something kept her from pressing their number in her contact list.
That same something had her tucking her phone away, leaning forward and cupping her hands around her squinched eyes to peer through the tinted car window.
Lulu yelped and launched back.
The driver was in the car after all.
Heart racing and mouth quickly drying, she scrambled back out of reach as the driver opened the car door. She watched, wide-eyed, as a man stepped out.
“Alwan!”
Lulu looked him up and down, from his short, curly black hair and handsome brown face to his stylish overcoat, casual dress shirt, slim fit trousers and shiny leather boots, her brain still struggling to reconcile that he was standing before her.
“The beard’s new,” she blurted before snapping her lips together in embarrassment.
Raising his brows, he lifted a hand and scrubbed his bearded cheek. “Not really. I’ve been growing it for a while now.”
“Oh?” she said, “I guess it’s just a testament to how long it’s been since I’ve seen you.”
He simply nodded and stared at her sharply.
So sharply it had Lulu shuffling awkwardly in place, gazing back at him like a deer transfixed by headlights. The apprehension she’d been carrying around since the morning crept over her again. Only this time it wasn’t this amorphous fear floating around just out of reach. Right in that moment Lulu could affix her uneasiness to the way Alwan was staring at her with a hawkish glint to his eyes.
