Hakim stared at her, almost like he wasn’t really seeing her, then his gaze focused and he shook his head. He gave a short laugh. “I’m an uncle,” he said.
Lauren’s face lit up in a brilliant smile. “Congratulations! That’s wonderful.” She paused. “It is wonderful, right? Everything’s okay with mom and baby?”
His face relaxed into a more genuine smile. “Yes. My sister is tired, but good, and my niece is healthy and without a doubt the most beautiful baby ever to be born.”
Lauren laughed. “Is she your sister’s first child?”
Hakim nodded. “She is. And my parents are over the moon with their first grandchild.”
“Of course they are!” Lauren exclaimed. “So why are you upset?”
Hakim gave her a considering look. “Because I’m not there.”
In a flash, Lauren understood. She was an only child, but she had a large extended family. Her cousins were like brothers and sisters, and if she lived halfway around the world from them, she would be upset, too, missing all the important things.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It must be hard being so far away.”
Hakim took off his jacket and dropped it over the back of a chair. He loosened his tie, and dropped it on top of the jacket with a sigh.
“It is. I was hoping to be back home, but my niece was apparently impatient to make her appearance. She was a week early. I hate that I missed it.”
“I can understand that. Can I ask how often you make it home?”
His expression was weary as he said, “Not often enough. Or at least, not often enough for my parents.”
“Ah, so you’re the disappointing child,” Lauren tried to make him smile, poking at his arm gently. “Welcome to the club.”
He snorted. “You are not the disappointing child.”
“Because my mother only has one child, so there’s no standard of comparison. Trust me, if I had siblings, I would be the disappointing one.”
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know my mother,” Lauren said, rolling her eyes.
Hakim finally grinned at her. “Oh, but I do, remember? I’m getting to know you, too, and I’m certain there’s no way you could be a disappointment.”
Lauren ducked her head, wanting to shift the focus of the conversation off of her. “Your parents don’t support your business?”
Hakim shrugged with his eyebrows. “No, they do. It’s what they wanted me to do—go into business, be successful. They’ve always pushed me to be more mature, more focused, more business-oriented. And I’ve done that, or I’ve tried to do that. But to let my company grow, I had to expand it. Specifically, I had to expand the company here.”
“Which means you don’t have time to travel back home because you’re working so much,” Lauren said thoughtfully, intimately familiar with the problem of balancing a personal life with running a company.
When she looked up, she caught Hakim watching her. The expression on his face made her breath catch. It was as open as she’d ever seen him, and he looked like he was seeing her in a new light, too.
If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was thinking about kissing her.
Chapter 8
Lauren
Kissing Hakim would be a terrible idea, Lauren thought. Right? It would be a terrible mistake to get involved with her mother’s fiercest business rival.
She gave him a brisk smile and pulled back just a bit. She didn’t need to get involved with him to be a good friend, she thought, and he looked like he needed a friend tonight.
“Why don’t I make dinner for us? You need a home-cooked meal to cheer you up. Then you’ll get a good night’s rest and everything will look better tomorrow.”
Her sunny disposition seemed to amuse Hakim. He said, “I wouldn’t say no to you cooking dinner. But only if you let me help.”
Lauren laughed, seeing the contradiction in his statement. “You really don’t know how this whole servant-for-a-week thing works, do you?”
“I thought the contract said it didn’t cover evening events,” he said and grinned at her.
She held up a hand, palm out. “Fair point. I’ll cook, you pour the wine and keep me entertained. We’ll call it an even trade.”
“Deal,” Hakim said firmly.
Lauren dug through the refrigerator and pantry, pulling out various ingredients as she went.
“Is there anything you don’t want me to use?” she asked, her head stuck in the refrigerator.
“If it’s in there, it’s fair game,” Hakim replied. “I probably have a few things that need to be used up.”