Rebel Hard
Page 30
He glanced over when she exited the house, his dark gaze intent. When he raised an eyebrow in a silent question, Nayna wondered what her face betrayed. She shook her head, then carried on doing the small things that needed to be done to make sure this entire thing went off smoothly. It gave her a place for her hands, a way to settle the churning confusion that boiled within.
But she couldn’t shut out how well her parents were getting along with Raj’s. The four of them were laughing together with an ease that said they were becoming fast friends. And with each burst of laughter, Nayna felt the chains tighten even further. Everything was being put into place, all the pieces slotting in.
Her agreement was just a formality.
* * *
Raj could feel something was seriously wrong, but he couldn’t pin Nayna down long enough to figure out what. He was good at fixing things—but he couldn’t fix what he didn’t know was broken. He’d thought they were doing okay when she’d kissed him so passionately, but things had changed by the time he finally trapped her alone against the side of the house out of sight of their families. He couldn’t read her at all.
“Less than a minute to go,” he said, determined to get to the root of this, determined to fight for his Nayna.
Her fingers brushing over the smooth line of his jaw. “I miss the stubble.”
Rubbing his jaw against her palm, he said, “It’s growing already.”
No smile, her eyes haunted when they met his. “How long do we have?”
“Long enough to kiss at midnight.” Aditi was the official timekeeper, and he’d asked her to start the countdown two minutes late; his baby sister had been delighted to be part of the intrigue.
“If someone sets off fireworks at midnight,” she’d whispered, “I’ll say they’re jumping the gun.”
Bracing his body even more firmly into Nayna, holding her in the only way she’d let him, Raj said, “Why that look? Are you worried about our parents making plans?” He knew that was part of it, but not all. “I’ll handle that. No one will push you into anything until you’re ready.”
He’d made a mistake in declaring his hand; he’d thought it would ease the obstacles in their path, the two of them no longer watched so closely, but all it had done was scare her. “I’ll fix it,” he promised her. “Let me.”
No answer from Nayna.
Sliding her hand to the back of his neck, she rose on tiptoe. “Hurry,” she whispered. “According to my watch, it’s three seconds to midnight.”
Feeling as if she was water slipping out between his fingers, he kissed her with all the need in his heart, wrapping her in his arms and lifting her off her feet as the sky above them burst with fireworks set off by others in the street.
A new year had begun, but the shadows of the past haunted them both.
22
The Role of the Dastardly Villain Is Now Taken
Nayna expected to dream of Raj, her body ached so for him, even as confusion tangled her in a thousand knots. But when she did slip into sleep, she didn’t dream sexy, frustrating dreams about a certain hot man in construction. She dreamed of waking in darkness. Heart skittering and breath jagged, she began to walk with her hands outstretched, searching.
Her palms hit a wall.
She followed it, running now, only to hit an edge and another wall. Again and again.
Trapped. She was trapped in a box without light. And now the air was going.
Clutching at her chest, she continued to run, continued to search, but there was no way out and she was suffocating and she couldn’t breathe and—
Nayna jerked awake, her heart thumping a million miles an hour and her breath coming in harsh pants. She stared at the door she’d closed before she went to bed and her pulse spiked again. She barely stopped herself from getting up and wrenching it open.
That wouldn’t solve the problem.
Throat dry, she grabbed the bottle of water she kept on the bedside table and took a long gulp. Then she sat there and thought of that dark, airless room where she’d been trapped. Her skin grew taut and pinched as her breath began to turn shallow.
No, this wasn’t good.
Even the gorgeous photos that Raj kept sending her couldn’t help. Nayna’s memory of warmth and safety when he held her in his arms didn’t help. But she couldn’t say no when he asked her if she’d meet him at a café the day after the new year: My brother and sister-in-law would like to say hello. But Nayna, if you’re not comfortable, I’ll put them off.
Her throat got all tight, her eyes burning.
I’ll be there, she wrote back, because he was wonderful and siblings were different from parents.
She didn’t mention why she was going out when she left the house that afternoon, in no mood for the questions and speculation. When she arrived at the café, she found Raj waiting outside for her. He looked good enough to eat in those well-loved jeans he’d worn to the party, work boots, and a gray T-shirt that hugged his pecs.
He cupped her cheek with one hand when she reached him. “Thank you for coming.” Such serious words.
“It’s important to you.” And he was becoming terrifyingly important to her.
A brush of his thumb over her cheekbone, his gaze potent and unreadable. “Navin and Komal have grabbed a table inside.” Pulling open the door of the café, he placed his other hand on her lower back as they walked to the counter and ordered before joining his brother and sister-in-law.
Navin Sen was more slender than his brother and had a bit more curl in his hair as well as a pristinely clipped goatee. His smile was wide when he extended his hand toward Nayna. “It’s nice to meet you at last.”
“Same,” Nayna said, with a smile aimed at both him and his wife.
Komal Sen was… glossy. That was the perfect word. Lovely round face, pouty lips painted to perfection, sleek and shiny hair expertly colored in shades of bronze and brown. Her red dress fit like a glove when she rose to her feet and gave Nayna an air-kiss, and she had Madhuri’s kind of curves.
She engaged with the men like Madhuri too, flirtatious with Raj without crossing the line—though from their body language, she seemed to be having a tiff with her husband. The giggles and admiring glances were all shot Raj’s way, the curled lip and snarky comments her husband’s. Komal’s behavior would’ve been off-putting to many women, but Nayna had grown up with Madhuri.
Compared to Nayna’s sister, Komal was a novice when it came to capturing male attention. Nayna found her familiar in a way, and that relaxed her. “How was the party?” she asked after their drinks came.
“Oh, fantastic!” Komal stirred sugar into her coffee. “I danced my feet off.”
A tension at the corners of Navin’s mouth that told Nayna his wife hadn’t been dancing with him. She shot Raj a quick glance, not about to touch that with a barge pole. He gave the slightest shake of his head.
Taking the cue, she ignored the mounting evidence of marital discord as they continued to talk. Raj had his arm along the back of her chair again, his fingers occasionally brushing her upper arm, and Nayna didn’t want to be anywhere else. For a short while, she felt only like a young woman out with her man, the two of them getting to know each other.
No expectations.
No burden of tradition.
No tacit road for them to walk.
“Excuse me for a minute.” Rising, Navin headed off toward the restrooms.
But she couldn’t shut out how well her parents were getting along with Raj’s. The four of them were laughing together with an ease that said they were becoming fast friends. And with each burst of laughter, Nayna felt the chains tighten even further. Everything was being put into place, all the pieces slotting in.
Her agreement was just a formality.
* * *
Raj could feel something was seriously wrong, but he couldn’t pin Nayna down long enough to figure out what. He was good at fixing things—but he couldn’t fix what he didn’t know was broken. He’d thought they were doing okay when she’d kissed him so passionately, but things had changed by the time he finally trapped her alone against the side of the house out of sight of their families. He couldn’t read her at all.
“Less than a minute to go,” he said, determined to get to the root of this, determined to fight for his Nayna.
Her fingers brushing over the smooth line of his jaw. “I miss the stubble.”
Rubbing his jaw against her palm, he said, “It’s growing already.”
No smile, her eyes haunted when they met his. “How long do we have?”
“Long enough to kiss at midnight.” Aditi was the official timekeeper, and he’d asked her to start the countdown two minutes late; his baby sister had been delighted to be part of the intrigue.
“If someone sets off fireworks at midnight,” she’d whispered, “I’ll say they’re jumping the gun.”
Bracing his body even more firmly into Nayna, holding her in the only way she’d let him, Raj said, “Why that look? Are you worried about our parents making plans?” He knew that was part of it, but not all. “I’ll handle that. No one will push you into anything until you’re ready.”
He’d made a mistake in declaring his hand; he’d thought it would ease the obstacles in their path, the two of them no longer watched so closely, but all it had done was scare her. “I’ll fix it,” he promised her. “Let me.”
No answer from Nayna.
Sliding her hand to the back of his neck, she rose on tiptoe. “Hurry,” she whispered. “According to my watch, it’s three seconds to midnight.”
Feeling as if she was water slipping out between his fingers, he kissed her with all the need in his heart, wrapping her in his arms and lifting her off her feet as the sky above them burst with fireworks set off by others in the street.
A new year had begun, but the shadows of the past haunted them both.
22
The Role of the Dastardly Villain Is Now Taken
Nayna expected to dream of Raj, her body ached so for him, even as confusion tangled her in a thousand knots. But when she did slip into sleep, she didn’t dream sexy, frustrating dreams about a certain hot man in construction. She dreamed of waking in darkness. Heart skittering and breath jagged, she began to walk with her hands outstretched, searching.
Her palms hit a wall.
She followed it, running now, only to hit an edge and another wall. Again and again.
Trapped. She was trapped in a box without light. And now the air was going.
Clutching at her chest, she continued to run, continued to search, but there was no way out and she was suffocating and she couldn’t breathe and—
Nayna jerked awake, her heart thumping a million miles an hour and her breath coming in harsh pants. She stared at the door she’d closed before she went to bed and her pulse spiked again. She barely stopped herself from getting up and wrenching it open.
That wouldn’t solve the problem.
Throat dry, she grabbed the bottle of water she kept on the bedside table and took a long gulp. Then she sat there and thought of that dark, airless room where she’d been trapped. Her skin grew taut and pinched as her breath began to turn shallow.
No, this wasn’t good.
Even the gorgeous photos that Raj kept sending her couldn’t help. Nayna’s memory of warmth and safety when he held her in his arms didn’t help. But she couldn’t say no when he asked her if she’d meet him at a café the day after the new year: My brother and sister-in-law would like to say hello. But Nayna, if you’re not comfortable, I’ll put them off.
Her throat got all tight, her eyes burning.
I’ll be there, she wrote back, because he was wonderful and siblings were different from parents.
She didn’t mention why she was going out when she left the house that afternoon, in no mood for the questions and speculation. When she arrived at the café, she found Raj waiting outside for her. He looked good enough to eat in those well-loved jeans he’d worn to the party, work boots, and a gray T-shirt that hugged his pecs.
He cupped her cheek with one hand when she reached him. “Thank you for coming.” Such serious words.
“It’s important to you.” And he was becoming terrifyingly important to her.
A brush of his thumb over her cheekbone, his gaze potent and unreadable. “Navin and Komal have grabbed a table inside.” Pulling open the door of the café, he placed his other hand on her lower back as they walked to the counter and ordered before joining his brother and sister-in-law.
Navin Sen was more slender than his brother and had a bit more curl in his hair as well as a pristinely clipped goatee. His smile was wide when he extended his hand toward Nayna. “It’s nice to meet you at last.”
“Same,” Nayna said, with a smile aimed at both him and his wife.
Komal Sen was… glossy. That was the perfect word. Lovely round face, pouty lips painted to perfection, sleek and shiny hair expertly colored in shades of bronze and brown. Her red dress fit like a glove when she rose to her feet and gave Nayna an air-kiss, and she had Madhuri’s kind of curves.
She engaged with the men like Madhuri too, flirtatious with Raj without crossing the line—though from their body language, she seemed to be having a tiff with her husband. The giggles and admiring glances were all shot Raj’s way, the curled lip and snarky comments her husband’s. Komal’s behavior would’ve been off-putting to many women, but Nayna had grown up with Madhuri.
Compared to Nayna’s sister, Komal was a novice when it came to capturing male attention. Nayna found her familiar in a way, and that relaxed her. “How was the party?” she asked after their drinks came.
“Oh, fantastic!” Komal stirred sugar into her coffee. “I danced my feet off.”
A tension at the corners of Navin’s mouth that told Nayna his wife hadn’t been dancing with him. She shot Raj a quick glance, not about to touch that with a barge pole. He gave the slightest shake of his head.
Taking the cue, she ignored the mounting evidence of marital discord as they continued to talk. Raj had his arm along the back of her chair again, his fingers occasionally brushing her upper arm, and Nayna didn’t want to be anywhere else. For a short while, she felt only like a young woman out with her man, the two of them getting to know each other.
No expectations.
No burden of tradition.
No tacit road for them to walk.
“Excuse me for a minute.” Rising, Navin headed off toward the restrooms.
