“I know. I tried to tell them that. But you see... one of them overheard me talking to my sister about you. Or the man I thought was you.” She scrunched up her face. “You know what I mean. Anyway, this confirmed things for them, and I didn’t know what to say. I either had to confess that I had lied about ever talking to you and knowing you, or I had to say that I was catfished, and I couldn’t do that without them getting mad, and the next thing I knew I was saying that, yeah, we were totally dating, and then my mom said they’d come here and meet you and—”
She was shocked when he lightly placed his hand on her arm. “Hey, hey,” he said, and his voice was so low andsoothing it almost brought a tear to her eye. She hadn’t realized how worked up she was. “It’s okay. That makes sense.”
“Does it?” She blinked rapidly to control potential leaking. Stupid emotions.
“Absolutely.” He patted her arm and withdrew his touch, which made her slightly sad. “What will you do in the long-term? Your parents will be disappointed if it doesn’t work out, yes?”
As disappointed as I was when you turned out to be fake.“They’d be more disappointed at the alternative explanations. You’re authentic and a good guy. They’ll approve.”
“You want their approval?”
“Of course.”
Dev rubbed his hand over his jaw. It was a nice jawline. She’d seen photos of him without the beard. The facial hair made him look older and slightly nefarious, though now she knew he would be careful to not touch her in an untoward manner even when they were hiding from discovery.
Which was good, she totally didn’t want him to touch her. She discreetly brushed her fingers over the still warm spot where he’d patted her on her forearm. No touches wanted at all.
“How do you know I’m a good guy?”
She cocked her head. “You could have lied to me about your cousin being the one to send those messages. You didn’t have to apologize.”
“That is what any decent person would have done.”
“Sadly, the bar is on the floor when it comes to decency these days.”
“You know, my sister onKyunki Mere Sanam Ke Liye Kuch Bhihad a similar storyline once. She pretended to have a fiancé from Canada, and hired an actor. The problem was when he met our parents on the show, the lie fell apart because they were clearly strangers to one another.” He paused, and his tone gentled. “I am an actor, Jia, but your parents know you well, and I do not think they will be fooled by someone who does not. Or suppose they ask us simple questions, such as how we met, or what our first words to each other were?”
“We have time before they get here, like a month at least. We can learn everything we need to know about each other by then, and we can get our stories straight. We can even get together in advance. Have some study sessions.”
“It wouldn’t be proper for us to meet in private like this too much.” He gestured around them at the otherwise empty trailer.
His concern over impropriety was an ingrained, earnest part of his personality, it seemed. “Can I ask you something? How are you like this? Not to stereotype, but I wouldn’t think anyone raised in the movie industry would be so concerned about what’s proper.”
“I wasn’t in the industry for my formative years.” His small smile encouraged hers. “I don’t judge anyone else for what they do, but I am conscious of my own behavior. It was how I was raised, but perhaps at some point it became a rebellion against the excesses of the industry. I understand if that seems boring.”
“Not boring. Old-fashioned, maybe.” But she didn’t mind. It was kind of refreshing to be around a man her own age who cared about such things. “We can meet in public. It doesn’t have to be in private.”
He stilled. “Like... dates?”
Her heart sped up, an extra couple of beats per minute. “Um, sort of.”
“Someone could see us together, though. It’s one thing for me to be caught in an embrace with a woman, another thing for me to be seen with a specific woman. You will be scrutinized and criticized.” He paused. “If we were actually dating, I would keep it so tight under wraps, no one would know.”
If we were actually dating...
She steepled her hands under her chin and tried not to swoon at the protective declaration. “They might be mean to me, yes. But I’m in the public eye already. If you think those same people haven’t already canceled or threatened or harassed me for other things I’ve said and done, you’re mistaken.” Her smile was faint. “They’re not my audience. So long as we’re not making out, I think the scandalized outrage will be kept to a minimum. “There would be no physical stuff,” she added hastily.
“Of course. I’d never do anything a woman wasn’t comfortable with.”
“So, yeah. If we did happen to get photographed together, it would be inconvenient as far as my extended family is concerned, maybe, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in theworld. It might even be good for both of us. Publicity is always helpful.”
His eyes sharpened. “Do you need the boost? I was under the impression that you were very successful.”
She squinted at him. “You know what I do?”
“Of course. I googled you before I contacted you.”
“Do not believe that Wikipedia article, it is off on my numbers.”
