Her car was as silent as her phone. She cranked the volume of her radio up, until the bass vibrated, and then peeled away from the curb. There were so many thoughts flying around in her head, but right now, the only thing she could stomach deciding was whether she should pick up two or three pints of ice cream on her way home.
Chapter Two
DEV HAD only visited America three times. Once for a wedding, once for a graduation, once for an awards show. He liked the country, but found it a strange place, what with its citizens openly carrying large guns and holding events like pie-eating contests. He hadn’t seen them do both those things together yet, though he supposed such a joint event would not be absurd here.
He never thought he’d end up leaving his home in Mumbai to come work in this country, but here he was. He also never thought he’d become utterly preoccupied with a strange woman within the space of time it took for her to walk up to him, but there she’d been.
You told me you’d searched the universe for a woman like me.
Dev quietly closed the door of his flat. He threw his keys in the dish on the foyer table, and winced as the metal met glass. He fished them out immediately and placed the keys on the table runner. The place had come furnished, the owners vacationing somewhere in Barbados. Given his tight finances and his teenage niece, he’d wanted to opt for a less expensive flat without thousand-dollar glass dishes, but his agent had pointed out that a decent address would be beneficial. His main attraction to these Hollywood hotshots was his famous family. He needed to keep the illusion of wealth intact until he was established here. Luckily, they’d gotten the home for a steal.
The muted sounds of the television led him to the living room. Loud snores from the man on the couch punctuated the forgotten Hindi movie on the screen. Dev picked up the remote and clicked it off.
His uncle sat straight up, coming from sleep to waking in a second. Dev didn’t jump. The man had been a cab driver in New York for over thirty years, and was quick to wake up from his snoozes.
“Dev?”
“Yes. Sorry Uncle, did I wake you?”
“Not at all.” Adil scrubbed his hands over his face. His uncle had just started to get a stoop to his shoulders and silver in his thinning hair. “I was waiting up for you.”
Dev perched on the arm of the chair next to the couch. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.”
It had taken some time for Dev to get used to having such a carelessly affectionate paternal figure in his life after so long. His uncle had been so busy scraping together here in America, Dev had only met Adil Khan a handful of times. Retired and newly widowed, his late mother’s brother had traveled back to India last year to live with him when Rohan had died and had quickly become an invaluable part of his small household.
“How was the party?”
“Tiring.” He’d never been the life of the party, even when he was young. His desire to make small talk and court the other guests was declining in inverse proportion to his age. The rest of his family loved socializing. Rohan had lived for parties.
As usual, he shoved his brother’s name out of his head as quickly as it had popped in.
Adil settled into the couch. “Any pretty girls your age?”
“No.” He could tell by Adil’s eyebrow that he’d answered a little too quickly.
It wasn’t a total lie. The girl had been a woman, and she’d been gorgeous, not merely pretty.
He’d noticed her immediately when she’d walked into the room. There weren’t many South Asians in the Hollywood crowd, but that wasn’t the reason she’d stood out. Though she was petite, she’d carried her shoulders with a bold confidence he’d wished to absorb. From her cheekbones to her dress to her hair covering to her shoes, she’d glinted and glowed like the gold foil that was sprinkled on his favorite desserts.
Another man might have immediately approached her, but he’d never been good at that. He’d averted his eyes, hoping his courage would build if he didn’t look at her.
In the end, she’d approached him. A million things had raced through his head, but he’d only been able to fall deep into her warm light brown eyes and stutter out a hello.
Then her warmth had transformed into inexplicable wounded anger. What on earth had he done to inspire a reaction like that? He’d gone over his words a hundred times since she’d stalked away from him, and he couldn’t find a single explanation.
You told me you’d searched the universe for a woman like me.
Dev rubbed his thumb against his palm, where her soft dress had imprinted on him as he’d untangled himself from her.
“Dev?”
He clenched his hand. “Yes?”
Adil gave him an assessing look. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” Dev cleared his throat. “I’m going to head to bed.”
“There’s a plate in the fridge for you.”
He was tempted, but then he remembered the wardrobe fitting he had this week. “I ate at the party.” It had only been a few carrot sticks. His stomach was still pretty empty, but Adil’s food was delicious and high calorie.
Dev might have been the romantic lead on his show back home, but he hadn’t had to stay in tip-top shape. Things were different here, where the pressure to conform to certain beauty standards was more intense.
Adil tsked, like he knew exactly how much food Dev had consumed. “I placed one of those garbage granola bars at your bedside.”
Dev smiled, touched. He wouldn’t eat the bar, but it was a nice thought. “Thank you. Is Luna . . . ?”
“Asleep? Yes. Or at least, she’s in her room.”
That twist to Adil’s mouth didn’t bode well. The last year had been a long settlement period for all of them. “What happened?”
“I cooked a good healthy dinner for her, and she insisted on Bagel Bites.”
Dev had only the vaguest idea of what those were, but he could guess they weren’t fresh vegetables and protein cooked by his uncle’s loving hands.
“Only, I don’t buy such things, so she ordered someone to go to the grocery store and have them delivered. Did you know you can do that from your phone?”
“Yes. Though she shouldn’t be doing it.”
Adil grunted. “In any case, she made her disgusting food and took it to eat in her room even though I told her we’d eat at the table.”
Dev frowned. Luna’s most negative moods were characterized by depression or withdrawal, rarely open defiance. She’d been sweet lately, too, growing more comfortable expressing herself with both of her elders.
“She stomped away from me.” Adil clicked his tongue. “If I had done the same to my uncle, I would have been thrashed.”
Dev’s lips twitched, despite the seriousness of the situation. Adil’s blustering was just that, blustering. The man had fallen in love with his grandniece at first sight. The only person less likely to raise their hand to Luna was Dev.
He checked his watch. He’d gotten home later than he’d hoped. In Mumbai, he had the clout to leave a party whenever he wanted, but he couldn’t insult the executives here. “I’ll check in on her. You get some rest.”
Adil gestured to the television. “I have to finish my show first, but good night.”