“Do you want to go?”
“Prem . . .”
“Do you want to go?” he said when she finally opened her eyes.
“No,” she whispered back.
“Then don’t do that just yet. Spend the night with me. You can sleep in one of my shirts. We’ll Netflix and chill.”
Kareena’s lips twitched. “You mean Jeopardy! and jalebis?”
He ran a hand over her hair. “Exactly. You can pick what we watch. Then sleep over.”
She was already shaking her head. “I am a terrible sleeper. I need all sorts of things just to get to bed, none of which you have here.”
“I have blackout curtains. The sun can be out, and I swear you’d think it was the moon instead.” He knew he sounded desperate, but this was important. She was important. “If you can’t sleep, I promise I’ll drive you home in the middle of the night myself.”
Kareena chewed on her bottom lip, and a small line appeared between her brows. “I don’t know, Prem.”
He kissed her again, and this time, her mouth relaxed under his. Some of the tightness in his stomach eased. “At least stay to eat with me?”
“Okay,” she replied, and this time her free hand touched his bare chest. “Maybe just for dinner.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kareena
Bobbi: How was it? Tell us everything.
Kareena: I just left.
Veera: Whoa. You spent the night?
Kareena: I SLEPT LIKE A FUCKING BABY. I can never sleep anywhere but in my bed! He woke me up with coffee at like seven! And only because he had to go to work and wanted to drive me home!
Bobbi: That’s shockingly sweet coming from someone who I expect to act like a desi fuckboy.
Kareena: I KNOW! What do I do???
Veera: Honey, I think this is a moment where you have to ask yourself, what do you WANT to do? Did he ask you out again?
Kareena: No, but it’s not like we’re really dating. This is not real!
Prem: Hey. Want to try a Turkish restaurant with me? I have surgeries this week, but I’m off on Saturday.
Kareena: copies Prem’s text and sends to friends
Kareena: WHAT DO I SAY??
Bobbi: Say yes, you fool.
Veera: Ooh, I wonder where he’s taking you?
Kareena: Okay.
Prem: Pick you up at 6:30 from the train or your house?
Kareena: From my house. I’ll drop my work stuff off.
Prem: And pack an overnight bag?
Kareena: copies Prem’s text and sends to friends
Kareena: He wants me to spend the night again!!
Bobbi: Men.
Veera: Aww!
Kareena: Anything more helpful than that?
Bobbi: Fuckboys are tricky, but they have their uses.
Veera: Do what your heart desires!
Kareena: If I pack an overnight bag, then I’m going to have to go back to the train station. I can’t be seen with my bag getting into your car, otherwise Dadi and my dad will have a field day.
Prem: I think at 30 they encourage this kind of behavior.
Kareena: Ugh, probably, but I’m not taking chances.
Kareena didn’t know what she was doing with Prem, but she wasn’t exactly sure she was ready to stop, either.
She stood in her closet, examining the rows of sweater vests. She knew that Prem liked them, but it was over ninety that day. It felt weird for her to wear one even though that was her preferred date outfit. Prem had seen her naked. And if she was spending the night, she was probably going to get naked again. There was no point in wearing something uncomfortable.
Sweater vests had never been uncomfortable to her before. “That’s a first,” she mumbled.
It freaked her out that for the first time in a long while she didn’t want to cancel her plans to stay home and read. That she felt sexy and turned on and excited to be with a man. Even though there was a time limit.
No, she wasn’t going to think about that right now.
After scanning the row of hangers, Kareena stopped when a piece of fabric caught her eye from the back of her closet. It was an emerald-green sundress that she’d bought on a whim one day. It reminded her of the one her mother wore in a picture taken on the front stoop when she’d finished renovating the house.
No. She couldn’t wear that.
Kareena kept pushing aside clothes until finally she found a simple black maxi dress. She could pair it with the payal that she’d worn at Sonali Aunty’s party for Dinesh Uncle since she knew that Prem liked that so much. Good lord, now she was dressing for him.
She pulled it off the hanger and slipped it over her head. It fell around her ankles in a soft waterfall of fabric just as a knock came from her bedroom door.