She raised one brow. “You missed seeing me in a bathrobe?”
He laughed. “No. You look great. Human.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. The look on his face was nothing like the look he’d had when he’d called her a badass earlier, but both comments were…complimentary? “What is it you want?”
“Right. Straight to business.” He held out a thin book. “The hotel shop had this. It’s a coloring book with safari animals—I thought since Imani’s almost done with the other one…”
“She’s sleeping.” Jana indicated one of the bedrooms in the two-bedroom suite.
“Okay. I’ll give it to her later. I grabbed this for you, too.” He held out a second book—it was slim, with photographs of art pieces on the cover. Jana took it and thumbed through it. It was about a women’s art collective that sold their pieces online and shipped them around the world. The book was filled with pictures and described how the women started their collective and how it was supporting local families. It was exactly the kind of book Jana would buy on holiday.
“Thank you. This is…thoughtful.” She didn’t know what to say. First peanut snacks, and now he was buying her books?
“No problem. Is this a good time to talk?”
“What do we need to talk about?” Jana tried not to sound curt—but she probably failed. Being pleasant with him was easier when others were around.
“You know…”He looked over his shoulder down the hallway. No one was there. “Stuff.” He leaned close. “I don’t exactly know what your mother has told people.”
He had a point. She stepped out of the doorway to let Anil in. He walked into the sitting room of the suite. It wasn’t much—just a small area with a sofa and a table near a large picture window.
“I can’t get over the views here,” he said, walking toward the glass. “Love how every room faces into the park.”
“Yeah. I guess if you’re going to stay on the edge of the crater, a room with a view is a necessity.” She didn’t mention that moment when he’d panicked when they were climbing the crater a few hours ago.
He stopped at the window. “This trip really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Are you enjoying it so far?”
She nodded. “It’s reminding me a lot of a trip I took here as a kid. My last holiday with my dad, actually.” It was also reminding her of the trip to London with Anil five years ago, but she wasn’t about to mention that.
“I hope the memories coming back isn’t a bad thing.” When Jana didn’t say anything, he continued. “My most memorable trip with my parents was Disney.”
“Ah. So you’re here to try to convince me to bring you.”
He chuckled. “No. That’s completely your decision.” He grinned his charming Anil Malek smile. “Maybe I wanted you to see how important it was to me.”
Jana raised a brow. “So you’re manipulating me? Is that why you keep buying me things?”
“No. Why do you always think the worst of me?”
She didn’t, did she?
“This room is smaller than the Serengeti ones,” he said, looking around. “Reminds me a bit of that place in London. Cozy.”
So, traveling together was taking him down memory lane, too. This robe was almost the same as the one she’d worn there. She crossed her arms over her chest. He was breaking an unsaid rule again. They never ever reminisced about their past relationship. Fling.Affair.
“I don’t know why we have to have this conversationnow. Alone.” That time she couldn’t hide the annoyance seeping into her voice.
“Because Sam Lopez or his wife may ask me about ourmarriageat any point.”
Jana sighed as she sat on the sofa. She wrapped the robe tighter around her chest. She wanted to get out of this ridiculous thing—it was much too warm, but Imani was sleeping where her clothes were. “I don’t know details, but she said we were married but now we’re good friends. I said Imani had no memories of us together.”
He chuckled, running his hand over his head. “Okay. Easy enough. Who’s in on it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Kamila and Rohan know we were never married. And I assume their parents do, too.”
Jana shrugged. “The bridal party knows the truth. Beyond that, assume everyone else thinks we were once married. Mom used to tell people this years ago, but I’d thought she’d stopped. And it doesn’t really come up anymore. But that new aunty studies divorce outcomes in children, so either Mom or she brought it up.”
