Accidentally Engaged(95)
“You want to go into business? With me?”
“Yes. The space is perfect for a store/café. Or bakery/store/café. You’re the best cook out there, and we both know a thing or two about retail management. And then the cookbook—who’s to say we can’t pitch the project together? Hell, I know the food will be better with your help, and the publishers will probably cream themselves to get a name attached to this FoodTV contest of yours. The cookbook could tie into the café, gaining us more exposure.”
After cringing at Saira for saying cream themselves in front of Mum and Dad, Reena felt an unfamiliar optimism blossom in her core. It was a preposterous idea. A ridiculous, ambitious, wonderful idea. Owning her own café instead of working numbers. Surrounded by bread instead of cubicles.
“How can we afford it?”
“With a partner,” Dad said. “Put together a business plan, and maybe I’ll invest. I think it might be a good idea to sell your building and focus on the Diamond project completely.”
Mum grinned. “I asked Leon if he would help with your business plan, and he’s offered to mentor you to help get it off the ground. He wanted to hire you at Top Crust, by the way, but Angie wanted the more numbers person. Leon always lets his employees have the final say for staffing their own departments.”
Holy shit. Leon Bergeron, the president of Top Crust bakery, offered to mentor her to help start her own bakery?
“Wait, Mum, is Leon doing this so you’ll finally let him into your poker club?”
Mum nodded. “Probably. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices for family. And if we let men in, then your father can join, too. We’ll have to change the name.”
Reena laughed. Oh, lord, to be a fly on the wall in that poker game. Reena thought about it. This venture would mean working with her father, her mother, her sister, and her mother’s friend. A terrifying prospect, but…It was just a proposal. She wasn’t committing to anything.
“Okay. Let’s talk about this and maybe put together a proposal.”
“Yay!” Saira squealed, hugging her way too tight. Reena felt so good about this idea. She was ready to build this with her family.
Marley cornered her next. “Love is in the air. Look,” she said, pointing to the area where the FoodTV cameraperson was setting up big LED lights on poles. Shayne stood nearby with his arm around Anderson Lin. Shayne was staring fondly at Anderson’s earlobe, probably considering taking it in his mouth. And Anderson was an adorable shade of pink.
Reena giggled. Then stilled. If Anderson and Shayne were going to be a thing again, she needed to come clean about everything, no matter what it meant for the contest. She pulled on Nadim’s arm and guided him toward them.
“Anderson, before we film the segment, Nadim and I have a confession. We weren’t really engaged when we entered the contest.” She explained everything, their parents setting them up, their refusal to be married, and the fake engagement to enter the contest.
Anderson frowned. “So, you’re not really married?”
“Yeah, we’re married now, but we weren’t engaged when we made the videos,” Nadim said.
“So, you weren’t a couple back then?”
“No, we were a couple.” Reena said. “Just not engaged.”
Anderson shrugged. “You guys are making this more complicated than it needs to be. Your parents set you up, you were a couple, and now you’re married. Sounds like you were engaged to me. I’d like to start in five minutes. Are you ready?”
Reena and Nadim looked at each other and burst out laughing. Anderson was as wise as he was cute. There had been nothing fake about their engagement, ever.
Reena’s face felt like it would split in two as she walked toward the front of the room, holding Nadim’s hand. Mum and Dad’s gift had changed everything. He wasn’t leaving. She didn’t think she’s ever been so happy in her life. Until a sudden thought occurred to her. She pulled Nadim to the corner behind tables overladen with smoky tandoori chicken, fluffy naan, cucumber-mint raita, saffron-scented rice, and huge bowls of fresh green salads. She put her hands on her husband’s forearms and bit her lip.
“You okay with my Dad’s job offer?” she asked.
His grin was wide, not a hint of apprehension behind that intense gaze. “I’m ecstatic about it. I can’t believe I get to stay here with you. I am so happy right now.”
“But”—she tried to smile, but her nerves were going into high alert—“it turns out we didn’t need to get married to get you a visa…I mean if Dad wants to hire you back anyway, then you have the work permit, and—”
He kissed her. Not too long, or too deep (a great man knew when not to mess up a woman’s lipstick) but with more love than she’d thought was possible in her life. “It’s a good thing I married you because I wanted to then, not because I needed to.”
She sighed with relief and wrapped her hands around his neck. “I love you.”
He kissed her neck before whispering in her ear, “If you open that place with your sister, I’ll be your landlord.”
She smiled. “I know. We’ll play landlord and tenant later for practice.”
He chuckled, burying his face in her neck and inhaling deeply. “I don’t get it. How do you always smell like…home? Like you belong right here in my arms.”