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racking his mind for a way to come clean with Ella and assuage her pain, without betraying his promise. The wind blew branches against the siding and Ella jumped. Karim saw her reaction and instinctively ran over to her.
     
    “Are you okay?” he asked. The shutters banged loudly against the window and Ella’s body stiffened.
     
    “Yeah,” she said. “If only it would stop storming.”
     
    Karim’s heart jumped in his chest. He was so drawn to Ella, to her vulnerability, to her kindness. Then it came to him. He could be honest with her. At least, sort of honest.
     
    “Ella,” he said as he sat back on the bed next to her. He breathed in the smell of her perfume and felt his skin prickle with goosebumps. God, she smelled so good. “Ella, I have to be honest with you,” he said, reminding himself of his limits. “Nadia and I aren’t in love.”
     
    Ella blinked several times and looked at Karim in shock. “What?” she asked, wanting to believe him but not sure if she should. “You’re not in love?”
     
    Karim settled back in on the bed next to her. “Yep, that’s right,” he said, feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time. “In fact, we don’t even really like each other.” His face lit up in a broad smile as he revealed the truth, much to Ella's confusion.
     
    Ella sat up and looked at him, the tears dry on her cheeks. “What do you mean you don’t even like each other? But you’re getting married? I don't understand.”
     
    Karim just nodded, giddy with delight at finally telling someone about his secret. “Yeah,” he said, still smiling. “The marriage is a sham. The whole thing.”
     
    Ella’s face contorted as she took in this new information. They didn’t love each other? They didn’t even like each other! Then why on earth would they go to all the trouble of getting married?
     
    Ella’s head spun with questions. Then, suddenly and uncomfortably, she remembered that it didn’t matter. Their reasons for getting married were none of her business. She wasn’t their adviser or relationship counselor. She wasn’t their moral judge. She was their wedding planner. That was it.
     
    “I don’t understand, Karim,” she said quietly. She looked to Karim for an answer and got none. He just sat up and smiled.
     
    “You don’t have to,” he said in an offhanded way. He knew what he had said was hurtful, but was getting desperate to change the subject. He had already revealed too much.
     
    The situation was getting complicated and Karim needed a way out. He was feeling things for Ella that he hadn’t felt for any woman in a long time, and he knew he was dangerously close to crossing a line that he couldn’t let himself cross. Even though he didn’t want to, he knew he had to push Ella away.
     

SIX

They sat for a while in silence, sipping on their drinks and watching the candlelight dance on the walls of the hotel room. After several minutes, Karim stood up and headed out into the living room. He looked out through the sliding glass doors and listened for the wind, which had died down considerably.
     
    Ella sat on the bed and looked up at him when he returned. “What is it?” she asked, breaking the silence.
     
    “The storm has broken,” Karim said, his voice dull and distant.
     
    Ella stepped out into the living room to see for herself; the wind was still blowing hard and she could see palm fronds and tree branches scattered across the beach. The surf was angry and smashing against the shore.
     
    “It still looks pretty bad to me,” she said, pointing to the rain gushing down the sliding glass doors.
     
    Karim looked at her with distant eyes. “I have to go. I have important engagements that I must attend to.”
     
    His words were not questioning or informative. They were commanding; words that he would speak to a servant.
     
    “Karim,” Ella said, trying to reach the kind, funny man she had been speaking to just an hour before. “It’s still really bad