Ayesha clasped her hands over her mouth. “No. You liiiiiiiiiike him.”
Jia glared at her sister and shushed her. It wouldn’t do for their mom to hear she liiiiiiiiked her fiancé! “Very mature.”
“Oh my goodness.” Ayesha rested her arm on the bureau. “This is going to make a great storytime someday for you. Talk about content.”
Jia growled. “Quit it.”Quit telling the truth.
“What’s wrong? I think it’s sweet that you’re falling for the man you got maneuvered into a fake relationship with.” Ayesha squinted. “Weird, but sweet. Why didn’t you tell me this before? If you’d said,Ayesha, I’m madly in love with this man and can’t wait to make out with him,then I wouldn’t have worried. Of course I’ll help you close this deal now.”
Jia groaned.Sisters.“You stink. Why don’t you shower first?”
Ayesha’s mood had undergone a 180. She walked to the bathroom, whistling a jaunty tune. “Jia and Dev, sittin’ in a tree...” She ducked without turning around, and the pillow Jia had thrown smacked right into the wall. “Stop damaging your future in-law’s house,” Ayesha chided her.
“I’m gonna damage somebody. Hurry up.”
“Why, you want to see your fiancé?” Ayesha made kissing noises and crossed her arms over her chest until they wrapped around her.
Jia picked up another pillow, but Ayesha kicked the bathroom door closed on her laugh.
DEV HAD WANTEDto be at the house to greet Jia and her family, but his uncle had insisted he go to the market to pick up some items for the dinner he’d seized control of cooking. Since Adil had been uncharacteristically quiet over the past twenty-four hours, Dev hadn’t wanted to deny him his fresh spinach. He’d rushed home as soon as he’d gotten the texts that she’d arrived earlier than planned.
He made a quick stop to drop the groceries off in the kitchen. Adil Uncle greeted him when he entered with a grumbled, “About time.”
Dev didn’t take offense. The older man had cooking stains on his apron and a general frazzled air about him. His uncle might be more nervous than he was, though he wasn’t sure why. “I came as quickly as I could. Is Luna with Aji?”
“Yes.” Adil Uncle peered into the bag of groceries, and gave a satisfied grunt. “Yes, good, you got what I needed.”
“And Jia? Did you meet her and her family?”
“Not yet, though I believe your grandmother did.”
Damn. He’d wished to be here to facilitate that meeting. He hoped his grandmother had checked her imposing nature for a minute. “It would have been better for you to greet her, since you’ve already met,” he murmured.
“I don’t know about that.” Adil Uncle busied himself emptying the bags. “In any case, I believe Pinky showed them to their rooms. I think I saw Jia leave the house a few minutes ago. She was headed for the beach.”
Dev glanced out the window and caught a flash of pink. Protocol dictated he greet her parents immediately, but these were unusual circumstances, and he’d like to see her first.
He’d gotten more nervous as the day went on. He tried to tell himself that her parents were normal people, who did normal people things, but he was still worried. “Thank you.”
Dev pushed his shirt sleeves up as he went outside. He’d dithered over what to wear. He’d gradually relaxed his wardrobe around Jia, but this wasn’t just Jia he was meeting, now was it? So he’d donned slacks and a button-down shirt, despite how warm it was today.
He slowed as he approached Jia. She wore a pink shalwar kameez and matching hijab. Her feet were buried in the sand. “Jia,” he said, but she didn’t turn around.
Perhaps she couldn’t hear him over the sound of the ocean. “Jia,” he said, louder now, and placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.
She stiffened and dropped her hand over his. Dev couldn’t tell the sequence of events of what happened next, except that he flew through the air and landed facedown, the wind knocked out of him. He rolled onto his back, coughing sand out of his mouth.
“Oh my God.” The woman who had sent him airborne crouched down next to him, and now that her face was visible, he could see this was not Jia, but a very good facsimile of her. Ayesha.
She pulled a headphone out of her ear. “Dev? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“What on earth is going on?” Jia’s strong voice carried over the beach. He turned his head slightly. She wore a blood-red dress adorned with embroidered flowers.
Since they weren’t alone and since he couldn’t talk yet, hetried to convey comfort and reassurance through his look, though he wasn’t sure if he accomplished that goal. Hard to accomplish anything when one’s lungs had been squeezed flat.
“He startled me,” Ayesha explained.
He placed his hand on his chest and wheezed. “Apologies, I didn’t mean to. I thought you were Jia. I said your name. Uh, Jia’s name.”
