The Dating Plan(100)
He’d given her an opening. Should she tell him? Daisy looked to Layla for help, but her cousin just shrugged. “I . . . met someone.”
“Do tell.” His eyes widened with interest. “Who has managed to capture the heart of our fair Daisy?”
Daisy put down her glass and took a deep breath. “Liam Murphy.”
Sanjay froze, his glass halfway to his lips. “Liam? My old friend Liam? He’s here?”
“Not here here,” Layla said. “He didn’t come to the sangeet. But he is in San Francisco.”
Sanjay ran a hand through his dark hair. “I can’t believe it. He’s back. And . . .” His forehead creased. “You’re together?”
“Not just together. They’re practically engaged except for the pesky matter of your dad’s approval.” Layla grinned. “But you know what the two of them are like. They can’t get out of their own heads. It took a broken menstrual pad dispenser, a chance encounter, an inheritance, a failing company, a distillery, a rishta auntie, a hapless suitor, a spreadsheet, seven dates, a sword, extra-hot pork vindaloo, an Irish brawl, a sick dog, endless games of Guitar Hero, a hockey game, Shark Stew, a broken bed, a walk of shame, a quiz night, back-office shenanigans, a jealous ex, a motorcycle crash, a crisis of conscience, a break up, six pints of ice cream, four pounds of gummy bears, a partnership offer, a heart-to-heart, a family interrogation, a grovel, and a death-defying midnight climb to get them together. And now, apparently, it’s all up to you.”
“Me?” Sanjay folded his arms across his chest. “Why is their happiness suddenly in my hands?”
“Because they’re still afraid.”
Still reeling from Layla’s all-too-accurate description of her relationship, Daisy bristled. “That’s not true. Dad said he wouldn’t approve the engagement unless he talked to Sanjay. He wants Sanjay to hear Liam’s side of the story, like he did.”
Sanjay stilled, his voice thickening. “Liam told you what happened?”
Layla took Daisy’s glass and discretely backed away. “I’ll go get you a refill and let your dad know Sanjay is here.”
“Not everything,” Daisy said after Layla had gone. “He didn’t tell me the name of the friend who was with him that night.”
But she knew. Now that Sanjay was standing in front of her, guilt and regret etched in every line of his familiar face, the pieces all came together. When Sanjay had come home the night of the prom, his face had been battered and bruised. He’d told their father he’d been in a fight, but she’d known he was lying when he came into her room, an emotional and physical wreck, to babble a semi-coherent apology that Liam hadn’t been able to take her to the prom.
“It was you,” she whispered. Her brother wasn’t so perfect after all.
“He saved me, Daisy.” Sanjay’s chest hitched, his throat bobbing as he spoke. “You wouldn’t believe how many times he pulled my ass out of the fire over the years. What he did that night . . . what he sacrificed for me . . . I wouldn’t be where I am now if not for him. I’m the reason you had no date for the prom. I’m the reason he had to leave town. If I hadn’t been so stupid . . .” He took a deep, pained breath and closed his eyes. “My actions that night hurt so many people. I wanted to make it up to Liam, but he’d disappeared and I couldn’t find him. I decided to use the gift he’d given me—the chance to go to medical school—to help people in desperate need. I try to save lives to make up for all the pain I caused in the past.”
He looked haunted, so broken that Daisy wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everything worked out in the end. He was able to get his mother out of a terrible situation. He found his passion and joined a venture capital firm in New York. And I dated all the wrong guys so that I knew the right one when I found him.”
“Liam.” He pulled away and smiled. “I can’t think of a better man for you. I would be proud to have him as part of our family.” He looked around. “Why isn’t he here?”
“I didn’t want to ambush you at the sangeet. I didn’t know what you would think.”
Sanjay frowned. “If he’s your fiancé, he should be here, regardless of what Dad or I think. Do you really love him? If we didn’t approve, would you let him walk away?”
Daisy’s mouth opened and closed again. “I haven’t really thought about it properly. In the beginning our relationship wasn’t real. We pretended to be engaged and went on a series of dates to legitimize a marriage of convenience that would help him get his inheritance, save my company, and get the aunties off my back. The family introduction was the final step in the plan. I told him I wouldn’t go through with the fake marriage unless the family approved . . .” She trailed off as something that had been niggling at the back of her mind suddenly became clear.
Sanjay saw it, too, and his voice softened. “You gave yourself an out. But don’t use the family as an excuse. If you really love him, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. This is your life, Daisy. I know you’ve been hurt and it’s made you afraid of commitment, but of all the people I’ve met, Liam is worth the risk.”
He was right. Of course he was right. She’d told Liam she loved him, but some part of her had been afraid to take that final step—going off-plan and committing to something real.