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“Joseph but only my family call me by my first name.”
“Okay, I will call you Joseph for the next hour,” she said. Joseph leaned back in his chair and just kept his eyes on Olivia. He looked amused. “What?” she asked. He just shook his head as if he had nothing to say but it was clear that he was thinking of something.
The maids walked out with trays of food. They carefully put the food on the table. They served traditional Arabic food and it looked quite appetizing. Olivia felt her mouth water. She was ready to start eating.
“So how come you are in such a rush to return to Atlanta?” Joseph asked Olivia. One of the maids poured them drinks before she left. Olivia reached out for her glass and took a sip. She did not know what kind of a drink it was, but it tasted good to her. So far, food and drinks were the only good things in Lebanon.
“Atlanta is my home and so I would like to return,” Olivia replied vaguely. She picked up her fork and started eating.
“You came all this way to meet your father. You might as well stay and get to know him.”
Olivia raised her eyebrows. She was surprised that Sheikh Solomon had told Joseph about her only finding out about him just recently. “Why do you want to marry me?” Olivia changed the subject.
“You are straightforward,” said Joseph. He spoke so gently and his voice was so deep and alluring.
“I am.”
“I like that.”
Olivia was not sure how to respond to that. “My understanding is that you were to pick a wife between Rania and Marina,” she said.
“I was to pick one of his daughters to be my betrothed.”
“Betrothed.” Olivia started laughing. “That is such an old word,” Olivia added. Joseph did not respond immediately. He just ate and kept his gaze on her. “If I may ask, how old are you?” she asked.
“Are you curious?” he asked.
“I know nothing about you. That is the prime reason why I cannot marry you,” she said. He barely removed his gaze from her. It made her slightly nervous because he had such intense, gorgeous green eyes.
“You can get to know me.” He put a piece of meat in his mouth and chewed slowly.
Olivia found it a little seductive. She wanted to burst out laughing but she held back.
Instead, she said, “We are on different pages right now. I do not agree with arranged marriages. I am not even ready to be married right now.”
“Are you in a relationship with anyone?”
“No, but that is beside the point.” Olivia had actually never been in a proper relationship. Men had been interested in her but most only wanted to sleep with her. She had refused to sleep with anyone and therefore they had quickly lost interest in her. Others were not interested in her because she did not drink nor did she smoke. They found her to be plain.
“Perfect. I am not intruding,” he replied. He picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth.
Olivia narrowed her gaze at him. Joseph was not exactly answering her questions. “So why an arranged marriage?” she asked.
“My mother and Daaliyah are close. So they wanted their children to wed,” he replied.
“Well, I am not Daaliyah’s daughter. So I do not count.”
“You are Sheikh Solomon’s daughter and the arrangement was to marry one of his daughters.”
Olivia sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She leaned back in her chair. “Why me then?” she asked.
“You are the most beautiful one out of the three and there is something intriguing about you,” he said so seductively.
Olivia pressed her knees together. She was thinking maybe it was her lack of experience with men that made her find everything about him so seductive. “There is nothing intriguing about me. I am just your ordinary plain Jane,” she said. She took a sip of her drink. “Thank you for the lunch, Joseph. I guess we will not be seeing each other after this.”
Joseph picked up his glass and slowly drank from it. He put the glass down.
“There is nothing plain about you,” he said.
