Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1)(69)

Okay, it was a big part of her.

“Hello?” she said, answering after the third ring.

“Hi, you need to come out to your shed,” Prem whispered.

“What? Why? And why are you whispering?”

“Shh!” he whispered. “Just come out to your shed.”

“Are you . . . are you here?”

Her bedroom faced the front of the house, so she wasn’t able to check, but the idea of Prem being so close by was simultaneously thrilling and shocking. He came for her. Was that . . . romantic? She pressed a palm to her chest. “Prem, tell me what’s going on.”

“I came to kidnap you,” he whispered.

“What?”

“Shh!” he hushed her again.

She held her breath, waiting to make sure that her father, two rooms over, hadn’t heard her and that her grandmother downstairs was still occupied with her serials. When no one came calling for her, she cleared her voice.

“You can’t kidnap a person, Prem. That’s not a thing.”

“It is,” he hissed. “But I forgot that you have an alarm system, and then the fear of getting caught by your grandmother is pretty paralyzing. Now I’m stuck in your backyard, and I have no idea what to do next. I’d appreciate it if you cooperated and came outside so I can kidnap you down here versus trying to break into your house.”

“Prem . . .”

“Unless you want me to talk to your grandmother? I mean, I don’t mind—”

“Fine,” she said. “But I’m not being kidnapped. I’ll come down to talk to you. That’s it.”

“We’ll start somewhere,” he replied and hung up the phone.

“He is out of his mind,” Kareena mumbled after hanging up. Anticipation and adrenaline at perhaps being caught began pumping through her bloodstream as she paused in front of the mirror long enough to make sure she had nothing in her teeth and her hair wasn’t too frizzy.

She tucked her phone in her back pocket and opened her bedroom door. After listening for a moment, Kareena managed to sneak past her father’s room, waiting to hear his snoring through the door before she crept downstairs. She had tiptoed past the living room entrance and through the kitchen to the back sliding doors when she heard the very noticeable creak of the leather sofa as her grandmother got off the couch.

Oh shit, Kareena thought, and she quickly grabbed her flip-flops and slipped out the back sliding door. She pressed up against the side of the house when the kitchen light came on a moment later and waited as she heard her grandmother puttering around inside.

The fridge water dispenser sound was barely audible over the beat of her heart. She waited a moment longer for the light to go out before she was able to take a deep breath. Kareena crossed the deck and stepped onto the grass. Using the moonbeams as her guiding light, she cut across the yard dampened by midnight dew until she reached the shed platform.

Just as she got to the double doors, she saw a figure step out from the side of the shed.

She bit back a scream and was about to kick the intruder in the nuts, when shadows from the moonlight helped her identify Prem.

Kareena pressed a hand against her chest. “Holy Vishnu, you almost gave me a heart attack,” she hissed.

“It’s a good thing I’m a cardiologist then,” he said.

Kareena squinted until she could make out his form in the dark. “What are the black smudges under your eyes? Why are you wearing black? That’s not your normal look, Dr. Dil.”

“I’m on a mission,” he whispered back. “Now come on. We have to sneak around the side of the house before your grandmother decides to look out the window.”

He grabbed her hand, but Kareena dug in her heels. “Do you know how ridiculous this is?” she said in a hushed tone. “It’s a work night!”

“A work night? What are you, twelve? Do you have a curfew?”

“No, I’m a desi woman living at home, you idiot. Why couldn’t you have just texted me like a normal person?”

He stepped closer, and his familiar clean, earthy scent had her breathing in deep.

Wow. How long had it been? How long since she’d seen his beautiful face? The dangerous feelings were growing inside her, and she didn’t know how much longer she could hold off the avalanche.

“Rina,” he said, leaning in closer, the familiar lines of his jaw highlighted by night shadows. “You wouldn’t have answered my texts. We both know that. And if I had showed up at your house, your grandmother and father would start talking, and I know you aren’t ready for them to know about us—”

“Technically, there is no ‘us.’”

“And because you’re clearly the reason for me losing my mind, here I am wearing black, with gunk on my face so that no one can identify me because I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“You . . . you can’t?”

He leaned forward until his breath mixed with hers. “No,” he said again, and lightly brushed his lips against hers.

She returned the kiss, and followed his mouth when he began to pull back. Prem’s arms banded around her waist, and for the first time in way too long, she was able to relax in the pleasure of his closeness.

The flicker of the deck light turning on had both of them jumping apart, then scrambling around the side of the shed. Seconds later, the sliding door opened.