Kareena shifted in her seat so she could face him. “Why?” she blurted out.
“Why come home with me? Other than this . . . this thing between us?”
He came to a stop at the traffic light in front of the Holland Tunnel that separated Hoboken from Jersey City.
“I’m attracted to you,” he finally said, shifting in his seat so he could look her in the eye. “And despite our history, the times we’ve laughed together have been amazing. We’ll both regret never knowing what it’s like to be with each other. If that’s not what you want, then I’ll live with it. But if you want me, too, I think we should— You know what? Fuck this.”
Prem threw the car in park, then slipped her glasses off her face and tossed them on his dashboard.
“My glasses!”
“Eyes here, Rina.”
He leaned across the console and pressed his mouth against hers.
His craving for her was only getting worse as his heartbeat altered rhythm. Her hands came up to cup his face, and her fingertips singed his skin as they scraped through his stubble.
Kareena tasted like coming home. She was sweet, and wet, and fit him like the other half of his puzzle. Their tongues collided, and Prem was desperate to touch skin.
He cursed when the sound of a horn honking interrupted them. He shifted his car in gear and inched forward with traffic. It took him a few more seconds until he’d merged into the right lane and positioned himself for a left turn.
“Well?” he asked shifting so that his knees bracketed the steering wheel, and he could grip the back of her headrest. They were both still breathing heavy. “Are you willing to find out whether I’m right or you are?”
She plucked at the fabric of her pants, and despite the dark, Prem could see that she didn’t have anything on her pants. “Prem,” she said softly. “This is only going to make things more complicated.”
“I’m always going to wonder. Aren’t you?”
When Kareena didn’t respond, he flipped on his signal so he could exit onto the highway.
“No,” she said, gripping his arm. “L-let’s go to your place. One night. Just one night to get it out of our system. Just so I can prove to you that . . . that I’m right.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
Kareena nodded in quick jerky moves.
Prem didn’t waste another moment. He turned the wheel, cut off a honking semi, and sped toward his apartment.
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Indians Abroad News Dear Readers, If your matches have taken a liking to each other, it’s important to keep them apart. Yes, this may seem counterintuitive to building a strong relationship, but oftentimes it’s best if couples do not have an opportunity to spend quality time together alone.
Accidents do happen.
Mrs. W. S. Gupta Columnist Avon, NJ
Chapter Seventeen
Kareena
“I’m not really a bar person,” Kareena said. “Even before I sort of stopped dating to focus on my career.”
“Me neither,” Prem said. “I’m usually working.”
There was a pause that kick-started Kareena’s heartbeat. “So . . . the real version of Netflix and chill?”
His smile was beautiful. “You mean Jeopardy! and jalebis? Yes. Absolutely. That is my speed, too. And Rina? I may be a desi boy, but I do really well with jalebis.”
Kareena looked over at Prem’s profile, then back to her interlocked fingers in her lap. She was a healthy, independent （sort of） woman at thirty. She had every right to have sex whenever she wanted, and however she wanted.
But this was Prem Verma. This was Dr. Dil, the man who vehemently denied that love could sustain a lifelong partnership. He was her polar opposite. She had to wonder if sleeping with him was the smartest idea she’d ever had, or the dumbest.
As they turned down narrow side streets, Kareena knew Prem was right on the money, that bastard. She had been avoiding dating not just because of her busy schedule, but also because failing at intimacy truly scared her. Intimacy was supposed to be the easy part, but for some reason it was always the hardest for her. The older she got, the harder it became to open up to someone else.
Until Prem.
Kareena’s heartbeat quickened. Normally, if she was about to take her clothes off, or do anything sexy with a man, she would think of a hundred reasons why she shouldn’t go through with it, right before she took the plunge. But for the first time in . . . well, forever, she couldn’t think of a single reason why not.
Other than the fear of getting attached to someone who couldn’t love her back.