Because he was a good son, a good boss, a good brother. A man who took his responsibilities and his promises seriously. “You will be an amazing husband,” she whispered, “and a devoted father.”
And because she knew he had a habit of carrying too much weight on his shoulders, she got practical. “We’ll rejig the schedule. We’ll stay home, look after things, and while we’re doing that, I’ll work on Sailor’s project. It’ll take time to get that up and running, and I couldn’t have traveled during the intensive early period anyway.”
Kissing his jaw, his lips, his cheek, she said, “You use that time to train a deputy you can leave in charge when needed. We get your father strong, and we whip Navin into shape so he can be your parents’ support here if they need it. Aditi will be older by then anyway, and I’m fully confident in her ability to kick ass and take names.”
* * *
Raj stared at Nayna, his voice thick when he spoke. “You’ve thought about this.” And everything she said, it made complete sense. She could fulfill all her dreams while making his deepest one come true.
Laughter from his dazzling lover. “Of course I have. I love you. It was only ever going to be you. So I had to figure out how to make things work.”
Raj barely heard any words after the three that changed everything. And she’d said it so simply, as if it were nothing extraordinary. As if loving him was so much a part of her it was no big deal.
Lifting her up with a grip on her waist, he said, “I love you too,” then spun them both around in a circle while she laughed and wrapped her arms around him.
When he finally came to a stop, she wobbled dizzily on her feet for a second or two before saying, “Raj Sen, will you do me the honor of being my husband?”
Feeling young in a way he’d never done, Raj replied as solemnly. “Yes, Nayna Sharma. I will.” Then he asked her to wait while he jogged to his truck.
When he returned with a small black twist tie, she laughed but held out her hand. He wrapped the twist tie around her ring finger with care, then bent to kiss the back of her hand. “A placeholder until you tell me what ring you want.” Having a sister had taught him that jewelry was serious business—and Nayna would be wearing that ring for the rest of her life.
She’d agreed to wear his ring. He’d get her any one she wanted.
Eyes dancing, she pretended to admire his creation. “Very avant-garde.”
Joy bursting out of his pores, he could do nothing but kiss her laughing mouth. He didn’t even care when a camera flash went off.
“I expect an invitation to the wedding!” Nayna’s elderly neighbor lowered his camera and surreptitiously wiped away a tear. “I’ll put this in a frame for you.”
Laughing, Nayna leaned in to kiss Raj again. And it was all so fucking perfect, with the stars in the sky and the moon peeking through the trees and Nayna’s hair all tumbled around her and her taste in his mouth.
When she suddenly pulled back with a squeak, he said, “What?”
“Ice cream!” Wrenching open her car door, she picked up the grocery bag and peeked inside. “Not melted yet.”
He waited while she ran upstairs and passed the bag to her neighbor to keep in his freezer for her.
“Now,” Nayna said after Mr. Franklin had gone inside and she was back in Raj’s arms, “let’s go fix this mess your evil sister-in-law’s made.” A scowl. “I knew it had to be her stirring things.”
Making a face, she added, “You know, the only downside of marrying you will be Komal. Promise me you’ll never let her convince you I’m having an affair with the milkman.” She poked him in the chest.
He grabbed her hand, hauled her close, kissed her because he could. “Komal is going to learn to avoid me whenever possible. I am done with her.” He’d had sympathy for his sister-in-law because of Navin’s antics, but this was beyond anything he could ever forgive. “And I know you’d hold out for the plumber.”
He laughed when she pretended to beat him up for that joke—which he could make because he knew Nayna would never break her promises to him. Nayna Sharma’s flaw was that she loved too much and too deeply. And Raj was lucky enough to be loved by her. It was a gift he would never take for granted.
“Come on, Mr. Funny, we have to vanquish a villain.” Once in the truck, she said, “Afterward, we’ll come back and have ice cream.”
Raj’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as his heart expanded to fill his entire body. Nayna was putting on her seat belt but shot him a questioning smile when he didn’t immediately pull out. Unable to explain what her simple everyday words had meant to him, he just ran his knuckles over her cheek before heading out.
All that time, his heart continued to grow and grow. Because Nayna had chosen to be his. One hundred percent in. Of her own free will. Their futures entwined. Ice cream, evil-sister-in-law, rides in this truck through the night, her asking him to wait while she ran into her office to grab her phone, muffins delivered to his job site, him fixing her plumbing, all the small, everyday moments of life, they’d have them together.
48
Vanquish Your Foes (Use Blackmail as Required)
Nayna hesitated a little when she and Raj walked hand in hand into his parents’ lounge. Not only were his parents there, so were his grandparents as well as Navin and Komal. All of them silent and stiff as they watched a documentary on television. No one talking, a hundred angry thoughts unsaid.
Jitesh Sen was the first to see them in the doorway. His face lit up. “Geeta,” he said. “Look.”
Her smile luminous, Sangeeta Sen turned off the television and rose. “You sit,” she ordered her healing husband when he went to get out of his armchair.
Then she came over and cupped Nayna’s face in her hands. A kiss on each cheek, then a hug. Whispered words in her ear. “He will love you always. My Raj doesn’t change his mind about the people he loves.”
Nayna’s eyes burned. Nodding as the older woman pulled away, she swallowed the knot in her throat. Raj hugged his mother; after that, he and Nayna went to greet his father. When they announced their engagement was back on, Jitesh and Sangeeta burned with joy.
But Raj still had something to say—this time to his grandparents. “We’ll be getting married,” he told the older couple. “Whether you want to be a part of our lives is up to you.”
“Hold on there, Raj,” his grandfather said, waving his cane. “Would you truly cut off your family for this girl?”
“If you force me to,” Raj said, utter resolve in his tone.
“Well, I suppose you know her much better than we do. If she makes you act like this, she must be some kind of woman indeed.” He thumped his cane on the ground. “Kushla, I’m too old to get into a feud with my eldest son and his son. And you know you don’t like Dhiraj’s flashy new wife.”
Raj’s grandmother sniffed. “Well,” she said to Nayna, “I hope you don’t think this means you’ll always get your own way in this family.”
Nayna wove her fingers through Raj’s. “My future husband is a stubborn man. I think we’ll be having a few disagreements.”
Raj scowled down at her, but she laughed and leaned her body against him. When he looked at his grandparents again, he saw his grandmother’s face had softened. She wasn’t a bad person underneath the stern demeanor. She’d be all right once she got to know Nayna.
“I was just looking out for the family.” Komal’s voice cut through the warmth, a serrated razor.
Raj didn’t trust himself to speak. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.
Nayna bristled. “Since when does looking out for the family mean being vicious and destructive?”
Komal stood, her entire body rigid. “You can’t speak to me like that!”
“Sure I can,” Nayna said, calm but unbending. “You gave me that right when you poked your nose into my business.” Temper in her eyes. “You can’t sow seeds of pain and anger between Raj and me, or with his parents. But if you try, I will kick your posterior all the way back to the hole you crawled out of!”