“Yes.” He hesitated. If Jia was coming here, she might run into Luna, and in that case . . . it simply didn’t feel right to lie to Luna outright. “Her name is Jia Ahmed.”
A blink was Luna’s first response. She slowly lowered her glass. “Jia Ahmed’s your friend?”
“Yes.” Was friend the right word? Was there a right word for acquaintance you met because your brother and cousin catfished her? Or woman whose YouTube videos I cannot stop consuming?
He’d felt silly, but he’d picked up a toner and an essence on her recommendation while he was out on Saturday and carefully followed along with her when she dabbed them into her skin. He didn’t think they’d done anything, but he’d give it a few more days.
“Jia Ahmed. The model.”
“Do you know her?”
Luna shoved a curl out of her eyes. “Uh, yeah. I know her. Why do you know her? She’s cool. And you’re old.”
He drew himself up in mock outrage. He might be a few years older than Jia, but that did not mean he was old. “I beg your pardon, madam. I will have you know that I am very lit.”
“Oh my God, don’t use that word, please.” His niece glanced around, like the American police were huddled below their table.
Dev was happy there was a shadow of a smile on Luna’s lips, though. He’d never indulged his silly side with anyone else. Perhaps he should have brought it out more for his younger brother.
He shoved away the pinch of hurt. “It will be difficult, but I will try. To answer your question, we are collaborating on a project together.”
“Huh.” Luna placed her glass down. “Okay.”
He cocked his head at the lukewarm response. If Luna thought Jia was cool—so much cooler than him—she should be more excited at the thought of her being his friend, yes? “You may get to meet her tonight.”
“I can?” Luna raised her eyebrows. “I wasn’t allowed to meet anyone famous Daddy knew.”
“What? No actors or actresses? No singers?” Rohan had had more interesting contacts than Dev did, given his proximity to films instead of TV.
“No.”
That was absurd. Dev had only lived in his grandparents’ home for a few years, but famous people had always been parading through, paying their respects or currying some sort of favor. Granted, Rohan had lived separately, but how had he built such a bubble around his daughter? Had he been neglecting her or protecting her by keeping her out of his public life?
Perhaps if Dev hadn’t tried to separate himself from everything Dixit, he might know the answer to that. “I’ll ask her. She’s coming here first, so I’m sure it would be fine. Are you ready to head out?”
Luna glanced down at her outfit. “My new clothes haven’t come yet. Do you think I look okay?”
Since she’d done him the honor of asking his opinion, he surveyed her black jeans and gray shirt with the kind of grave consideration one might give to a runway model. “I think you look lovely.” The shirt dipped off her shoulder, and he did want to smooth it back into place, but he’d read an article about not policing teen women’s bodies.
She rolled her eyes and drained her smoothie. “You’d say that no matter what I wore.”
He busied himself with the dish towel. He was glad she thought so. It meant she was secure in his love, yes? Maybe, just maybe, he was doing a decent job fumbling through this parenting thing.
“That is true,” he agreed. “But you also look lovely. Now fetch your backpack. Let’s get you to school.”
DO YOU MIND meeting my niece tonight? She tells me you are much cooler and younger than me.
Jia quickly typed back. I’d love to. Also, I am.
She was so distracted by proper Dev sending her a cry laughing emoji in return that she rammed right into a big mass of a man. “Whoa there.” Large hands went around her shoulders and he steadied her.
She looked up at Samson. Rhiannon’s boyfriend was a former lineman and still built like one. “Hi, Samson. Sorry, I was texting and walking.”
“Happens to the best of us. I was lost in my own thoughts as well.” The lines next to his eyes crinkled, and he gestured to the building they were standing in front of. Crush’s headquarters were in a rather unassuming place for a multimillion-dollar app. Rhiannon had chosen the Silver Lake site in lieu of the more obvious Silicon Beach locations because, in her words, the farther we can get from the more annoying tech assholes, the better. “You here to see Rhiannon, I’m guessing?”
She lifted the duffel bag she held. “She needed some things from the house, so I’m dropping them off for her.” Rhiannon had stayed over at Samson’s since the gala.
If Jia hadn’t been looking right at Samson, she might have missed the way his usually pleasant face tightened. “Ah. Good.” He patted her on the shoulder, and she tried not to lurch backward. He must be distracted, if he wasn’t keeping his own strength in check. “I’m running late to meet my aunt for breakfast. I’ll see you later.”
She watched him walk to his car at a brisk clip. That was odd. Samson was usually charming and chatty to the extreme.
Jia was quickly buzzed up by the receptionist, who greeted her warmly. She made her way through the cubicles, smiling at the few people she knew. Rhiannon had recently started a more flexible work-from-home program, so there weren’t nearly as many people in the office as there used to be.
She waited for Rhiannon’s acknowledgment before she entered the office. “Hey there. Got your stuff.”
Rhiannon glanced up from the computer. “Oh thanks. Leave it on the floor.”
Jia placed it on the floor, out of the way from anyone who might enter the door. “I saw Samson when I was coming in. Did he drop you off?”
Rhi turned in her millennial pink swivel chair. The whole room was decorated in pinks, with the occasional splash of yellow. Crush colors. “Yeah. How was he?”
Jia dropped into the chair in front of her friend’s desk. “Ah, fine. Why?”
Rhiannon’s brow pleated. “We had a bit of a fight before he left.”
Jia raised an eyebrow. In terms of couple vibes, Rhiannon and Samson didn’t have the calm peacefulness of Jas and Katrina, but they didn’t fight that much. “Is everything okay?”
Rhi huffed out a breath. “He wants me to move in with him.”
“Oh.” Jia tried not to clap her hands together, but she probably couldn’t suppress all the excitement in her voice, because Rhiannon gave her a dry look. “Um, do you not want to?”
Rhiannon reclined in her chair. “I don’t know. I mean, I do. I live there enough as it is. But Katrina . . .”
Ahhhhh. Jia nodded understandingly. While she didn’t think she’d ever be as close to either woman as they were to each other, she absolutely understood why Rhiannon wouldn’t want to leave Katrina’s home. “She’ll be okay. You know she’s totally zen about us living our lives. I feel like she’s even hinted that you should move in with Samson.”
“Hmm.”
“She doesn’t need us. You know that, right?” Jia shook her head. “Katrina’s panic disorder doesn’t mean that she’s incapable of handling her own life without chaperones. She became a millionaire before you or I started living with her.”