“This is the winning pani puri,” the owner whispered. “If you eat this, you are the champion.”
Kareena tilted her bowl to pour the rest of her water into the shell, then shoved it into her mouth.
She chewed, then swallowed.
The restaurant waited. No one made a sound.
Kareena got shakily to her feet, then raised both fists in the air. “I win!”
The room erupted in cheers and applause.
Uncles patted her on the back, aunties cheered her on by whistling. The owner handed her a gift card to the restaurant for fifty dollars and thanked her for such a great impromptu show.
Prem knew he was grinning ear to ear. He couldn’t help it. She had so much joy on her face. It was the kind of expression that turned her from sexy into stunning. It was also the expression that told him this woman was going to get exactly what she wanted.
Kareena dabbed her face with a napkin and tossed it on the table. “Thank you for a . . . fun non-date, Dr. Prem Verma.”
Prem slowly got to his feet. He leaned over the table, across empty dishes and plates, and ignoring her wide-eyed expression, as well as the gasps from those still watching, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. He tasted the salty tang of the pani puri water and felt her soft skin. “Next time we’re going out on a real date.”
When her cheeks flushed, he knew that he’d gotten her.
That’s right, he thought. Match point.
Chapter Eleven
Kareena
User 567900: Hey there
Kareena: Hey
User 567900: You look familiar. Do you do porn?
Kareena: BLOCK
Trevor: Hey. I like your profile!
Kareena: Thanks! I like yours.
Trevor: Awesome. Wanna fuck?
Kareena: BLOCK
Guru: Hey
Kareena: Hey
Guru: What’s good?
Kareena: Uh, nothing. Just getting off work now.
Kareena: Hello?
Kareena: You know what? Fair enough. I’ve ghosted people, too.
Guru: BLOCK
Satyam: Hey. How’s it going?
Kareena: Not bad. How are you?
Satyam: I’m great. I mean, other than being online.
Kareena: Oh, I know what you mean.
Satyam: So would it be weird if I gave your number to my mom?
Satyam: She wants to make sure you’re legit and from a good family
Satyam: She also thinks that “looking for true love”’ is cliché on your profile. And that you need to lower your standards a bit, and that I may also be too good for you. Also, she thinks you look familiar.
Kareena: BLOCK
Prem: Hey, how goes wedding dress shopping?
Kareena: Fine. I’m swiping on dating profiles while I’m waiting, so it’s productive.
Prem: I told you, you should just go out with me. You already know that I can keep up with you in a pani puri battle.
Kareena: But can you give me what I need?
Prem: Did you know that romantic love wasn’t even a factor in marriages until the late eighteenth century? And not just for South Asians.
Kareena: I’ll take that as a no.
Prem: I can buy you time for your house. Isn’t that what you want?
Kareena read Prem’s last text message over again. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to him or what she was supposed to do.
He’d texted a couple times since their pani puri–eating competition, and every time his name appeared on her phone screen, her mouth tingled in memory.
“Who was that?” Bobbi asked. She sat back against the plush seat of the velvet couch, her cell phone in one hand and a flute of champagne in another.
“Prem.”
“Ahh,” Bobbi said.
Kareena glared at her. “Ahh. What does ‘Ahh’ mean? You don’t make sound effects and faces like that without a double meaning.”
Bobbi shrugged. “It means ‘Ahh.’” She put her phone and champagne down on the large glass coffee table in front of them. “It’s just that you’ve been spending a lot of time talking to Prem when you guys were screaming at each other in a viral video a month ago. And before that, you were texting us, cursing him, because he lied to you at a bar to get in your pants, then left you horny in a stranger’s office. By the way, I wish you’d taken a look around that office. I’ve been trying to get Benjamin Padda’s attention for ages.”
“Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush,” Kareena said dryly. “And I don’t carry grudges.” Just memories of Prem’s kiss.
He’d purposely planted one on the corner of her mouth. That was like expert level on the romance hero skill scale. That was a type of kiss meant to throw her off her game and remind her what it was like to make out with him. She’d been slightly intoxicated the night they’d met, so when he corner-of-the-mouth kissed her, it brought back a flood of memories that went from hazy to crystalline.