Aji looked toward the ocean. A lock of silver hair fell over her forehead. “I do miss her.”
His heart swelled at the gruff admission. “She misses you. I do not like thinking I took her away from you. If you came here for extended visits, even, it would be good.”
“There is more freedom here, is there not? No one standing outside the gates, no one paying attention to me when I go to the market.”
“There is.”
“I like attention, but not having it sometimes has its perks,” Aji mused. “I will consider it.”
“Good.”
“Chandu would come with me, though.” There was a gleam in his grandmother’s eye that Dev had not expected to ever see. “We are enjoying each other’s company, if you know what I mean.”
Ew. That is, he was happy for his grandmother. But it was his grandmother. And his agent.
Ew.
The front door opened and closed, and Dev straightened, relieved on every possible axis. “Jia’s here. I must go.”
Shweta’s laugh was throaty. “Good luck.”
Dev hung up and placed his phone on the island as Jia appeared in the kitchen. “Hello,” he said, stilted. He gestured at his phone. “I was talking to my family.”
Her eyes were shadowed. Were they bloodshot? Had she been crying? “How is everyone?”
“Good.”
She drifted into the kitchen, pulled out a stool next to where he sat, and clasped her hands on the granite counter. They were both silent for a moment, and then both spoke at once. “I’m sorry—”
“I need to ask—”
They stopped, and Dev gestured. “Sorry, go ahead.”
“No, you go ahead. What are you sorry for?”
This felt vaguely like a trap, but Dev forged ahead. “I’m sorry I bought a house without consulting you at all.”
Jia’s mouth turned down. “Asking me first would have been nice.”
“I’m used to doing this stuff, is all. The boring chores. I thought it would be a nice surprise, and if it was a done deal, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
Jia nodded slowly. “Okay. That makes sense.”
“We can still back out. We can go look at houses together, find one we both like and want to live in.”
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t hate the house. Yeah, I was annoyed at first, but then I saw the place, and you did a really good job. It’s probably exactly the place I would have picked. Like, consult me next time, but this once, it turned out okay.”
Relief washed over him, followed immediately by confusion. “But wait, then why were you upset? You seemed mad.”
“Because you got me my own place.” Her voice was so tiny, he had to lean forward to listen.
Then he wondered if he’d misheard her. “You got upset because I said the back house could be yours?”
“You said I could live there. Away from you and Luna.” The hurt in her gaze hurt him. “How did you think that would make me feel? Like you didn’t want me around. Like maybe you found me annoying or too much or . . .”
He closed his hands over hers, and she stopped. “Jia . . . no. I want to be with you all the time. There is nothing I love more than spending time with you.” He struggled to express himself. “When I’m with you, it’s like . . . like I’m covered in a blanket of peace. Peace that makes me laugh.”
He was rewarded with a choked chuckle. “What a terrible analogy.”
“I know. I’m better at flowery analogies in Hindi.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “You staying in that house . . . it was a suggestion, because I wanted to give you options. You lived with your family, then Ayesha, then Katrina and Rhiannon. I wanted to give you some independence before you lived with me. Adil Uncle and my aunt did that. Did the nikah to make things legal, and then lived separately until a year later.”
“Well, I don’t want that.”
“I don’t either. I want you to be happy. I was merely giving you options so you could be happy.”
“We both need to be happy. If you tell me I should live alone, I’m going to assume that’s what would make you happy.”
“It wouldn’t. I would tolerate it.”
She picked at her cuticles. “Then you have to say that. The back house can be for Adil Uncle or guests or a studio. I live with you. In your bed, in your house.”
Dev’s lips slowly turned up. “I would be okay with that.”
She slipped off the stool to wrap her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in her floral scent, relief filling him.
She kissed his neck, then kissed up to his ear. “Guess what,” she whispered.
He turned his head, so their lips were close to each other. “What?”
“I love you.”
His smile came from deep inside of him, and he got off the stool to pick her up and hug her close. Her body was soft and got softer as he carried her to their bedroom. “I love you, too. Are you sure you like that house?”
“Yes. But I get to renovate it. You may have opinions,” she added graciously, as she slipped out of his hold and began unbuttoning her shirt. “But don’t you dare think you’re fixing it up without me.”
He couldn’t resist kissing her on her pursed lips. When they were naked and tangled together, and he was driving inside her, he wondered how he’d gotten so lucky.
The pleasure came upon him quickly, but the greatest pleasure was afterward, when she curled up in his arms happily. “I’m lucky,” she said, her voice muffled.
He hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. “We both are. Fate certainly took a twisted road to get us here. A comedy of errors.” How many variables had brought them to this place? His family’s name, his cousin’s foolishness, his old words, perfectly placed paparazzi.
Jia rolled over onto him and stretched. “What is it called when it’s not mistakes that get you to the end? A comedy of perfection?”
Dev chuckled. “Or of love. A comedy of love?”
“I’ll take it,” she announced, kissing him.
He’d take it, too.
JIA WOKE UP to Dev saying something in Hindi against her ear. Her eyes were bleary, the room dark. She was a little sweaty from being wrapped up in his big spoon, but that was a small price to pay.
She had no illusions that everything would be perfect now. This was real life. They had families and friends and lives they had to figure out how to mesh together. She was confident in their chances, though. They’d talk and communicate and laugh and push and challenge each other. What more could she possibly ask for?
Her stomach chose that moment to growl. They’d made love for a long time, forgoing all sustenance. A girl needed to eat.
He whispered something again, which reminded her that she needed to download a language app soon. She turned her head to look over her shoulder. “What did you say?” It was probably about his arm being numb. She had been sleeping on it for a while. The trials of the big spoon.
Dev kissed her neck. His hand skated up her belly and she shivered. “I said, that line from my show was true. I did search the universe for you.”
The heroine rests securely in her lover’s arms while the spotlight dims.