Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)(93)

“They love you.” Shaking inside, he couldn’t make himself release her. “My grandmother threatened to cut me out of their lives if I stayed with you. I told her that was her choice. You’re mine.”

“Raj, no.” Nayna shook her head.

“I am not willing to give you up for anyone,” Raj vowed. “Not anyone, Nayna.” He held the rich brown of her eyes, eyes in which he saw home. “As for our wedding, it’s off the table until you’re ready. No one in my family will ever again interfere. If you’re never ready, then I’ll continue to be your boyfriend even when we’re old and gray, just like your aji and Mr. Hohepa.”





47





Love. Love. Love





Nayna’s breath stopped, her lungs devoid of air and the moment, it hung like a star against the night sky.

“You have your freedom again, Nayna.” Raj’s hand rough on her cheek, cradling her face as he so often did, this big man who cherished her. “I will never ever allow anyone to steal it from you.”

A sudden rush of air, a crystalline clarity. “I don’t see walls when I see you,” she whispered, the joy of the moment incandescent. “I don’t see a cage. I see my sexy hunk and hot fling. I see the man who drove hours to find my sister and who didn’t hesitate when I told him I planned to throw away my stable job for a wild risk. I see you.” And he was a man beyond price.

Raj was the husband she would choose, whether she waited five years or five months. It would always be him. By her side when trouble rose, on her side against the world. “I want you to be my husband, Raj.” A sense of utter rightness settling inside her, an inner happiness brighter than the sun.

But Raj wasn’t smiling. His hand trembled where it lay against her cheek. “You want the world, Nayna.” It came out ragged, rough. “I can’t take you to those faraway places. I have to stay here.”

Because he was a good son, a good boss, a good brother. A man who took his responsibilities and his promises seriously. “You will be an amazing husband,” she whispered, “and a devoted father.”

And because she knew he had a habit of carrying too much weight on his shoulders, she got practical. “We’ll rejig the schedule. We’ll stay home, look after things, and while we’re doing that, I’ll work on Sailor’s project. It’ll take time to get that up and running, and I couldn’t have traveled during the intensive early period anyway.”

Kissing his jaw, his lips, his cheek, she said, “You use that time to train a deputy you can leave in charge when needed. We get your father strong, and we whip Navin into shape so he can be your parents’ support here if they need it. Aditi will be older by then anyway, and I’m fully confident in her ability to kick ass and take names.”



* * *



Raj stared at Nayna, his voice thick when he spoke. “You’ve thought about this.” And everything she said, it made complete sense. She could fulfill all her dreams while making his deepest one come true.

Laughter from his dazzling lover. “Of course I have. I love you. It was only ever going to be you. So I had to figure out how to make things work.”

Raj barely heard any words after the three that changed everything. And she’d said it so simply, as if it were nothing extraordinary. As if loving him was so much a part of her it was no big deal.

Lifting her up with a grip on her waist, he said, “I love you too,” then spun them both around in a circle while she laughed and wrapped her arms around him.

When he finally came to a stop, she wobbled dizzily on her feet for a second or two before saying, “Raj Sen, will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

Feeling young in a way he’d never done, Raj replied as solemnly. “Yes, Nayna Sharma. I will.” Then he asked her to wait while he jogged to his truck.

When he returned with a small black twist tie, she laughed but held out her hand. He wrapped the twist tie around her ring finger with care, then bent to kiss the back of her hand. “A placeholder until you tell me what ring you want.” Having a sister had taught him that jewelry was serious business—and Nayna would be wearing that ring for the rest of her life.

She’d agreed to wear his ring. He’d get her any one she wanted.

Eyes dancing, she pretended to admire his creation. “Very avant-garde.”

Joy bursting out of his pores, he could do nothing but kiss her laughing mouth. He didn’t even care when a camera flash went off.

“I expect an invitation to the wedding!” Nayna’s elderly neighbor lowered his camera and surreptitiously wiped away a tear. “I’ll put this in a frame for you.”

Laughing, Nayna leaned in to kiss Raj again. And it was all so fucking perfect, with the stars in the sky and the moon peeking through the trees and Nayna’s hair all tumbled around her and her taste in his mouth.

When she suddenly pulled back with a squeak, he said, “What?”

“Ice cream!” Wrenching open her car door, she picked up the grocery bag and peeked inside. “Not melted yet.”

He waited while she ran upstairs and passed the bag to her neighbor to keep in his freezer for her.

“Now,” Nayna said after Mr. Franklin had gone inside and she was back in Raj’s arms, “let’s go fix this mess your evil sister-in-law’s made.” A scowl. “I knew it had to be her stirring things.”