Before she could quiz him further, she heard a clearing of a throat and glanced up to see Manish in the doorway leading to the hallway.
“Sorry to interrupt, but the front door was open and I let myself in.”
“Come in,” Samira said, torn between wanting to throttle her mom for inviting Manish tonight and doing a happy dance because he could meet Rory. “Manish, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Rory.”
Rory tensed and stepped forward as if poised for battle. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Manish shook Rory’s hand, his smile guileless, but Samira couldn’t get a proper read on the flicker of unease in his eyes. “You’re a brave man.”
Rory’s eyebrows rose as he released Manish’s hand. “How so?”
Manish pointed toward the backyard. “Meeting that crowd for the first time is like walking into a lion’s den holding ten pounds of sirloin steak.”
To her relief, Rory laughed. “Man, you have no idea.”
“Actually, I do. I’m Anglo-Indian, I’m forty, and I’m single. Whenever I’m around those aunties, I’m the sirloin, a piece of meat ready to be bartered.”
Rory laughed again. “Want a drink?”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
Samira’s head swiveled between the two of them; she was relieved they were getting on. Moving back to Melbourne meant she’d like to keep Manny as a friend, and she didn’t need her boyfriend getting jealous over it.
“There’s lassi or nonalcoholic fruit punch?” Rory asked.
“Punch is fine.” Manish turned to her. “How are you feeling?”
“Good.” Her hand automatically drifted to her belly like it always did whenever she thought of that night eight weeks ago and how close she’d come to losing her much-loved baby.
“You haven’t been back to the hospital, and I haven’t heard from you, so I assumed everything’s okay.”
Rory’s quizzical gaze darted between them as he handed Manish a glass of punch. “You know about the miscarriage scare?”
Manish nodded, hesitant, as if he knew he’d just stepped on a land mine. “I work in the ER at the hospital where Samira was admitted. I saw her the next morning.”
A tense silence stretched between them before Rory finally said, “I’m glad she had a friend around for her. Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” Manny said, raising his punch in a cheers.
But by Rory’s rigid body language and the mutinous clenching of his lips, Samira knew there were problems.
And she wasn’t in the mood for dealing with them.
Forty-Three
After Rory survived the inquisition at Kushi’s house, Samira dropped Pia off at the health center to catch up on some admin before heading to his place. He’d been grateful for Pia’s presence in the car, because she kept up a steady stream of conversation, from amusing anecdotes of the various people he’d met at Kushi’s, to accurate imitations of the aunties that had him laughing when nothing about the evening had been remotely funny.
He’d been out of his depth from the moment he’d walked into that cozy family home in Dandenong. Samira’s mom had been lovely, and they’d got on well, but as for the rest . . . he’d wanted to charm them, but he’d clammed up like he’d done many times before when floundering. He’d probably come across as moody and recalcitrant, but Samira hadn’t seemed to mind.
Then Marvelous Manish with his piercing gray eyes and movie-star smile had strutted in and really turned the evening on its head.
Why hadn’t Samira told him Manish had been there for her at the time of the miscarriage scare?
He wasn’t jealous per se, more annoyed that some guy who her mom would rather see her married to had been around to support his girlfriend when it should’ve been him.
The moment he’d stepped off the plane at Tullamarine, he’d almost kissed the ground. He was a city boy through and through, and being stuck in the outback for eight weeks, faking it in front of a bunch of tossers, had made him crave home.
Now that he was back and re-bonding with Samira, he knew it would be damn near impossible to leave her again; this time for much longer.
He would miss the entire pregnancy: the five-month scan where they’d discover the sex if they wanted to, the fitting out of a nursery, the Lamaze classes.
It sucked.
He didn’t like being an absentee boyfriend, and he sure as hell didn’t like the thought of Manish hanging around Samira to pick up the slack. He’d be gone for a long time . . . unless . . .
“Do you mind if I don’t come in?” Samira kept the engine running. “I’m beat.”
“You’ve never been inside my place. Aren’t you the slightest bit curious?”
She recoiled at his abrupt tone, and he dragged a hand over his face. “Sorry. I guess I’m beat too.”
“Then let’s catch up tomorrow—”
“I’m thinking of quitting Renegades,” he blurted, knowing it sounded ludicrous but strangely relieved.
He knew it wouldn’t be easy getting out of the contract he’d signed, and the money would help support the baby beyond the ten grand he’d given Amelia, which they couldn’t take back thanks to careful wording in his contract courtesy of Chris’s astute wrangling, but he wanted to gauge Samira’s reaction. Did she want him around for this pregnancy as much as he wanted to be?
“Where’s this coming from?” She switched off the engine and swiveled to face him, her expression inscrutable in the dim lighting. “It’s your dream job. You said so.”
“I want to be here for you and the baby.” He reached across and placed his palm flush against the curve of her belly. “I don’t want to be stuck in the outback at the other end of the country if something goes wrong.”
She stiffened slightly. “Is this about you being jealous of Manny? Because I already told you, we’re friends, that’s it, and he happened to be working in the ER the morning after the miscarriage scare.”
“Why did you choose that hospital?”
“Excuse me?” Her eyebrows shot up, disapproval radiating off her. “It happens to be the best in Melbourne, and in case you were wondering, I’m booked in there to have the baby too. Got a problem with that?”
He’d riled her. Her eyes flashed with anger as she shoved his hand off her belly.
“It’s not about being j-jealous,” he said, hoping he could get the rest of what he had to say out without stumbling. “It’s the thought of some other guy being around for you when you need support most, and that guy isn’t me when it should be.”