Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(69)

“Done.”

Nayna hung up with her nerves in a knot. Raj was never voluble on the phone, but he’d sounded even more curt than usual. Maybe it was just her imagination and it was only tiredness on his part. He was working long hours too after three of his crew came down with the same cold that had hit her grandmother.

Thankfully, Aji had only had a mild case and was all but fully recovered—helped along by many cups of ginger chai and hours of Indian television dramas. Spoiler: the evil sister-in-law was still trying to cause trouble, and now she was trying to make it look like the younger, innocent sister-in-law was having an affair with the milkman.

But even the thought of that never-ending plotline wasn’t enough to distract Nayna from her worry about what was going on with Raj. He hadn’t even sent her an ab selfie for days. She picked up her phone to look through her private Raj folder… and felt a stir of wickedness. Not giving herself time to chicken out, she made sure her office door was firmly shut, then quickly undid several extra buttons on her shirt and fluffed at her hair.

It stayed dead straight.

Ugh.

She took the shot regardless, a selfie of her blowing him a kiss while her cleavage was teasing shadows between the sides of her shirt. Only when it was too late did she wonder if Raj would find the shot shocking rather than enticing.



* * *



Raj was just about to turn on the rotating saw when his phone buzzed with an incoming message. Still in a good mood from Nayna’s “I miss you,” he pulled it out… and was damn glad he hadn’t turned on the saw or he might’ve sliced off a valuable body part.

Her lips were soft and luscious as she blew him a kiss, her barely buttoned shirt taunting him with the secrets hidden within while her shining black hair flirted with the darkness of her skin. Blowing out a long breath and happy no one was close enough to have picked up on his immediate physical reaction, he saved the image in a private folder.

Part of him was fighting a tinge of heat on his cheekbones at being so sensually teased by the woman he loved, but he wasn’t an idiot. If Nayna wanted to send him sexy selfies, he wasn’t going to tell her no. What he wrote back was: One more button.

Her response was: You can undo that one on your own. xx

Entire body hot with need, he slid away his phone. And told himself that a ring on her finger didn’t matter, not so long as she thought of herself as his. He had to get over that, or he’d wreck what they had between them.

When his parents cornered him that night and asked what was going on with Nayna, Raj said, “We’re together.”

His mother shared a speaking look with his father before putting a hand on his. “Raj, beta, you know we won’t force you into anything, but you’ve always wanted to get married, set up a family, have children.” Worry in every word. “Will this kind of a relationship make you happy?”

“It’s Nayna,” Raj said simply. “She makes me happy.”

His parents didn’t appear convinced, but they let it go, and the conversation drifted to Madhuri Sharma’s wedding, to which Raj’s entire family had been invited. Komal wandered in partway through, dressed in scrubs for a night shift.

After drinking half a cup of tea and listening to the conversation, she said, “You know Madhuri has a history?” An arch tone. “The Sharmas tried to bury it, but I have a friend who—”

“Komal.” Raj’s father spoke before Raj gave in to his temper. “Madhuri is Nayna’s sister, and Nayna is with Raj. The Sharmas are like family. We don’t talk about them behind their backs.”

Komal’s face hardened. Putting down her mug, she said, “Sure” and left.

Raj narrowed his eyes, not trusting her instant capitulation. He’d have to watch her, make sure she didn’t try to foment trouble for Madhuri in the lead-up to her wedding. “Where’s Navin?” he asked his parents.

His mother winced. “Out again.”

“It’s his fault she’s like this,” Jitesh Sen muttered. “This is what happens when you neglect your wife.”

“She was never exactly sunshine,” Aditi said, having obviously overheard the last comment as she walked into the kitchen. “But Navin bhaiya isn’t helping.” She hugged Raj from behind. “Ma, are there any cookies left? I’m legit starving.”

“Show me your leg again,” their mother demanded. “It’s definitely hollow.”

Aditi laughed and banged at her leg with a hand while making echoing sounds.

As his family moved around him, conversation ebbing and flowing, Raj felt a true hollow inside him. Nayna might never be a part of such conversations, might never sit around a table of an evening with his parents and sister—and possibly Navin and Komal, if the two didn’t implode.

That too was a truth he had to accept.



* * *



Things came to a head with Navin and Komal the next night, when they had a screaming fight just after Raj pulled into the drive. Aditi waved at him frantically from the front door, and he headed her way instead of back to his flat.

“What’s wrong?” he began, then heard the yelling and screaming.

“You’re such a mama’s boy!” Komal cried. “Anytime anything happens, you run to your ma! No fucking spine!”