When Sonali Aunty asked him to bring a few friends to a dinner party, he figured Bunty and Deepak could help distract everyone so that he could have a talk with Rina.
What he didn’t expect was for her to punch him in the mouth by standing in the window like a queen, and then calling him a liar. She practically glowed with fire when she told him off.
Their kiss at the Met was for show. That was the whole point of their date, wasn’t it?
Dinesh Uncle clapped him on the shoulder. He’d been going on for twenty minutes about his kids at MIT and Harvard. “Hopefully my son goes to medical school and does something as important as you. It’s a hard road, but I salute you for doing this for our community. Not enough physicians in America understand our health needs are different. Increasing numbers of my patients have heart disease and diabetes. It would be good to refer them to a safe place.”
“Thanks, Uncle,” he said. Prem wasn’t expecting people to be open and accepting of his plan at an aunty party, but he’d been pleasantly surprised. Now if only he could get away to find Kareena.
“Your center should bring you some money, too,” a voice said from behind him.
Prem turned and came face-to-face with an older man with Kareena’s eyes. His mouth was set in a thin line, and he was the only one who didn’t introduce himself, or welcome him, even though it was obviously his home. Prem didn’t blame the guy. Prem was smooching his daughter in public after he’d said some very choice words to her on video.
“Hopefully,” Prem said slowly. “But that’s not the objective. If I wanted money, I would’ve gone to Einstein.”
His brow twitched at the name-drop. “You sound like my daughter.”
“It’s one of the things we’ve found that we have in common.”
The man hummed. “You know, she has it in her head that she wants a love marriage.”
“She told me. Kareena said that you and your wife had a love marriage.”
Sadness and exhaustion painted the older man’s face at the mention of his wife. “What Kareena continues to ignore is that marriage, either for love or for economy, can be hard. I’m afraid my practical daughter is being very impractical here, and you’re going to take advantage of her.”
“Kareena and I have our differences, but we aren’t lying to each other.”
Lying. The word echoed in his head from Kareena’s earlier accusation. Were they lying to each other? Or better yet, was he lying to her about what he felt? No, feelings had nothing to do with it. Science, chemistry, a physical attraction to pheromones.
For fuck’s sake, he was spending a lot of time justifying something that was already consuming him whole.
And that’s what freaked him out the most. Being with her was becoming his biggest priority, and Rina deserved to know the truth.
He had to talk to her. He scanned the crowd, and when he didn’t see her, Kareena’s father cuffed his shoulder. “You’ll find her in the shed sitting in her mother’s car.”
“Oh. Uh, thank you,” Prem said.
“And Prem?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Kareena has her own mind, but she’s softer than people think.”
Well, that was unexpected. It sounded like Rina’s father was giving him his blessings. “Thank you, sir.”
The man held up his empty whiskey glass and moved to the makeshift bar in the corner of the room, officially dismissing Prem.
With all thoughts on Kareena, Prem scanned the room for his friends. Bunty had finally returned, and both he and Deepak were eating together, surrounded by aunties. Bobbi was scowling in Bunty’s direction, and Veera was playing chess in the corner with one of the other uncles.
Now was his chance. He kept his head down and stayed close to the wall until he slipped out the sliding door and into the backyard.
Two seconds later, he was crossing the deck. It was muggy and humid outside. The sound of insects buzzing and crickets singing echoed in the night as he stepped into the grass. The lights were on in the shed, and the doors appeared to be open.
Anticipation curled up inside Prem with the realization that he’d be alone with Kareena for the first time since he’d arrived. He paused a few feet from the doors when he saw a glint of silver at his feet. He reached down to pick up a single payal with three bells at the end.
He’d wondered about the chiming sound coming from Kareena’s outfit. He pocketed the anklet and continued his way to the shed.
“Kareena?” he called out, and pushed the double doors open wider.