Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(34)

She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but she dreamed of kisses on the nape and big hands cupping her breasts… and a man she couldn’t reach no matter how painfully she stretched out her hands.



* * *



Christmas Eve morning was a late start for the entire Sharma family. Nayna had hoped to make her aborted rendezvous with Raj that night, but Madhuri came over with a Bollywood DVD and a hopeful look in her eyes and Nayna couldn’t say no—Madhuri was like Teflon; things usually just rolled off her, but this one hurt, it had stuck.

Christmas Eve was the anniversary of the day her husband had abandoned her in a strange mining town on the edge of nowhere, taking off in their car and with what little savings they had. I have to be with my sister tonight, she told Raj. It’s a bad time of year for her.

Understood, was the single-word response.

Nayna wasn’t sure if that meant exactly what it said or if he was annoyed or irritated. She decided on the former. Raj wasn’t the subtle or passive-aggressive type when it came to the words he’d written to her. He said what he meant and meant what he said.

Christmas Day also dawned quietly but quickly became busy. For the Sharmas, it was a day about family, and this year Nayna’s parents were hosting the annual barbeque for their relations. Even though everyone would turn up with salads, cakes, cooked dishes, and more, Nayna’s mother was convinced they had to prepare a million different things.

“Ma, no one will starve,” Nayna pointed out while frying the samosas. “You realize we’ll have leftovers for a month?”

“Silly girl. You know everyone wants to take leftovers away. We don’t want to be the stingy ones who never had any leftovers.”

“I wonder if Iosua will bring his trifle,” Nayna said. “I wouldn’t mind eating a great big bowl of that.”

“I told him to bring it,” Shilpa Sharma said while busily chopping up vegetables for a fancy salad. “Every time we have a party, I’m so happy your cousin married a dessert chef.”

Laughing, Nayna fished out the samosas and put in a fresh set to fry. Meanwhile, her father was outside making sure the grill was all set to go, and Madhuri was doing decorations. Aji sat at the kitchen table, mixing dough for a fried treat Nayna loved—basically sweet, cakey balls with raisins. She’d have no problem cooking those.

And eating them.

“Did I tell you your father invited Raj’s family?” her mother said casually just as she was about to scoop out the second lot of samosas.

Nayna’s nipples grew into hard little bullets. Pavlov’s dogs had nothing on her. “What?” she squeaked out past the thumping of her heart.

“Don’t let the food burn.”

Nayna worked automatically. “Ma.”

“I knew you’d blush!” Her mother grinned—though Nayna wasn’t blushing and even if she had been, no one would know. “It’s fine. You don’t have to worry. They’re hosting their own family today or they’d have come—they were so disappointed to turn us down. But we don’t have New Year’s plans and they don’t either, so we’ll do something then.”

Nayna felt a sudden constriction in her chest, a large weight settling on her shoulders. It was happening, the inevitable closing of the cage. Their families were already starting to make plans together while indulgently “letting” them “decide.” It didn’t matter that she liked the man in the cage with her—it was still a cage.

And it panicked her.



* * *



When Nayna didn’t respond to his Happy Christmas message, Raj didn’t worry about it—if her family was anything like his, it was probably organized chaos right now while the preparations were going on.

Then his father started talking about the New Year’s Eve gathering he and the Sharmas had planned. “Just casual,” he said. “No stress. Relax and eat and drink.”

Raj’s muscles went rigid. He’d known when he made his move at the wedding that he was declaring his intent, but he’d made his “no interference” requirement clear to his parents. He needed more time to get under Nayna’s skin, more time to assuage her doubts, more time to show her that he could give her the adventure and freedom she craved.

He, a man who’d been old even when he was young, was falling hard for a brilliant wild butterfly. Nayna might not describe herself that way, but that’s what he saw—a bright, lovely woman with so much life and joy and love inside her. Raj was trying to learn to give her what she needed, but one thing of which he was fully cognizant was that the parental involvement would only push her away.

Since he had no desire to add to the pressure, he didn’t message her again. His gut twisted as the hours passed, as he waited to see if Nayna would run.

Aditi, meanwhile, giggled as she exchanged messages with Harlow around the food prep in the kitchen. “Don’t worry, bhaiya,” she said with an impulsive hug when Raj raised an eyebrow. “We’re not doing anything naughty. Harlow’s sending me dumb knock-knock jokes.”

A minute later, she snapped a selfie while pretending to bite into an entire cake and sent it off. As long as his sister kept the images she sent Harlow Chan G-rated, Raj wouldn’t have to find the boy and smash his phone to smithereens.