“So you convinced your parents you should go to college. Except instead of going home after you finished, you found your escape with Robert Douglass and got married instead.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “Yes, you could say that. My plan was to switch my student visa to an H visa. I had a few job opportunities lined up that were willing to sponsor my H. I was at the top of my class, and I wasn’t worried about the work. My family, however, worried me. They would fly to the US and drag me home, H visa be damned.”
“Sounds like something my family would do in similar circumstances.”
“Robert’s, too. He screwed around for most of his childhood and then for the first two years of college. They had a very specific life planned for him, too, because they didn’t trust him to make sound decisions on his own. They were worried about their reputation.”
“And Robert didn’t want that?”
“No, darling,” she said with a laugh.
“How did you meet the bastard anyway? He was in classes with you?”
Raj nodded. “We’d met through a study group, and after I told him that he didn’t have a chance in hell with me, we became friends. It was an odd friendship, but he was always respectful after that. Years passed until a few weeks before graduation. He wanted to go to law school and prove himself, while I was sweating, thinking about my parents showing up on my doorstep. That’s when we struck a deal over cheap beer and nachos in the West Village.”
Ajay burst out laughing. “Raj, you are not the cheap beer and nachos type.”
“I was when I had no money,” she said. “And Robert used to play along.”
Ajay slid another naan onto her plate and took one for himself. “You borrowed his money to start your company, and he went to law school. Then he started working for you, right?”
“Pretty much. And then my brother showed up.” She took another bite of food. Ajay tried to ignore the way her eyes drifted closed when she chewed. The way she savored something he made for her was going to be the vision he revisited in the shower later that night. Her sensuality was like a drug he had to consciously ignore so he could pay attention.
“Your brother,” he said.
Raj nodded. “I had kept in touch with him and my mother. It was brief, and the conversations were hard, because they hated what I’d done. My father was completely out of the picture, but Mom still loved me. Anyway, Guru found out about my security business and said it was time to show loyalty to the family that gave me the opportunity to live free in New York.”
“He wanted you to use your business to help their drug trade.”
“Pretty much. At that point, drugs had become an epidemic in Punjab, and drug trafficking had peaked in profits. They wanted my loyalty. I refused. My brother cut me off. And then—” Her breath hitched. “Then my mother cut me off. Guru didn’t want anyone in the family to have any connection with me.”
“I’m so sorry.” He’d have to find out more about her brother, too. The thought of someone hurting Raj like that was . . . unacceptable.
She was being honest with him, sharing a part of herself that he didn’t think she’d be open to delving into. Whatever her reasons were, he’d honor her trust. And then, maybe later, he’d be able to beat the shit out of her brother for hurting her.
“I put it behind me,” she continued. “That’s why I was a bit shocked when my brother said she wants to see me one last time.”
“To assuage her guilt. Since she’s dying.”
“Exactly. He ruined my perfectly good mood, too. I’m thinking of getting a puppy, and the shelter that I volunteer at may have one for me.”
Ajay didn’t think she could have surprised him any more than she just had. “A puppy?”
“Yup. I’ve always wanted one. Just my dog and me.”
“Ugh, you’re the type to torture a poor pooch by dressing it up, aren’t you?”
“Of course,” she said with a laugh.
He asked her more questions about her future puppy, about her childhood, about her mother, and if she knew whether or not she wanted to go home and say goodbye. He’d have to revisit her confession about organized crime connections later.
“Want some more wine?” Ajay asked after they finished their meal. “Saffron Fields limited stock.”
“Yes. It’ll probably go great with dessert.” She dug into her tote bag and pulled out a Tupperware container.
“Is that . . . is that kheer?”
“It is. I told you I’d bring dessert. I just happened to have this in my office. Remember that housekeeper I told you about? Kaka made me a ton before he went back to India for a couple weeks.”
“You’ve just topped my masala chicken with rice pudding.”
Her smile was so arresting that Ajay had to turn away from her and busy himself with grabbing two spoons, otherwise he’d do something stupid like ask her to stay the night. Stay for the weekend. Stay for . . . well, however long she wanted.
And wasn’t that a scary thought? The back of his neck prickled with unease as he let it sink in.
He handed over a spoon, and they dug into the kheer together, taking sips of the wine between bites.
“Thank you,” she said when they’d practically polished off the container.
“For what?”
“For being a friend tonight.”
Her words rubbed against him like sandpaper. Hadn’t she just told him how she met her soon-to-be ex-husband? There was no way he was going to let her pull the same bullshit with him. “I’m not your friend, Raj.”
Her eyebrow raised delicately. “No?”
“No.” He reached out and cupped her chin, holding firm even as she pulled back. “Don’t you dare treat me like you treat that asshole, Robert, or put me in the same category as Mina. If we’re going to be involved, I want more than that. I think I’ve made that clear.”
“I’ll only give you what I’m ready to give, Ajay. And if that means friendship, then that’s what you’ll take.”
His anger began to boil, even as she pulled away from him. “I never thought you’d be a coward, Raj.”
“Excuse me?”
“You just unloaded. You’re regretting it. So now, to protect yourself, you’re trying to keep me at a safe distance.”
She paled, then shot to her feet. “I think your feelings are hurt and you’re reading into things a bit to save your poor ego.”
“And I still think you’re a coward.” He stood, as well, nose to nose with her. “We’ve wanted each other from the first moment that we met. And now you’re backpedaling. Is it too much to share both your body and your mind with me?”
She grabbed her tote, her hands fumbling as she looped it over her shoulder. “I think we’re done here. Thank you for dinner. Send my questions to Legal, will you, darling?”
He followed her to the door, close behind. “Dammit, what did you think was going to happen between us? We’d just casually fuck, I’d buy you out, eat you out, and we’d go on our merry way?”
She whirled on her heel to face him, anger in her eyes. “If that’s what I wanted, then yes, that’s all that would happen. You don’t get to push me, to bully me into more than what I’m willing to offer.”