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 hissmall 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 inexplicablewounded 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.”
