Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare was an Auntie #1)(88)

“It’s the only thing that relieves my tension,” she snapped back. “Your daughter is at fault for giving it to me in the first place!”

Kareena couldn’t handle this anymore. Loken’s family was staring. Her father was greeting Prem with joy. The aunties looked so unhappy for her as they waited for her reaction.

And Prem. He had a hesitant expression on his face. Bobbi and Veera had the same.

Kareena couldn’t stand there anymore, faking nice, pretending everything was going to be part of a happily ever after. That wasn’t real. None of this was real. It would break her heart to lose the house, but it would hurt even more to know that she’d settled for something less than she deserved. Prem couldn’t love her, and even if they got engaged, they got married, and they spent the rest of their lives together, she’d be constantly wishing he did.

“I have to go,” she blurted out. Then before anyone could stop her, she bolted out of the ballroom and through the double doors.





Chapter Thirty

Prem




Prem barely stepped out of the way in time for Kareena to come rushing through the crowd to the lobby. She looked like a stunning goddess, the queen dressed in black, come to slay. But instead, she was trying to escape.

“Runaway dulhan,” Deepak muttered. “Uncle? I’ll take that whiskey.”

Prem knew that something was bothering Kareena, that maybe she was having second thoughts about him, but her grand exit was definitely unexpected. He spun on his heels and strode after her. Behind him, he heard Bunty tell Kareena’s father, “I think she’s changed her mind.”

“About what?” Kareena’s father replied.

Prem caught up with Kareena just as she reached the parking lot. His hands brushed her arm, and he called her name again. “Rina, will you just stop and tell me what happened?”

She spun around, her lehenga billowing at her ankles, and the distinct sound of her payal punctuating her turn. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“Do you love me?” she said.

His heart seized, and he couldn’t catch his breath. His mouth moved to form her name, but nothing came out. Yes, he thought. Yes, absolutely. Without question. From the moment he saw her at Phataka Grill. Through every conversation, every fight, every second since her birthday.

Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh god . . .”

Prem’s heart pounded, thudding like a stampede in his ears. He was losing her. He could tell that he was losing her. “I’m sorry, I can’t . . .”

“No, you won’t.” She wiped the tears off her cheeks, ignoring the burning and blurriness from her contacts. “I know you have the capacity to love. You loved Gori, so is it just me?”

He jerked back like she’d slapped him. “Gori and I were arranged to be married. We were compatible.”

“You changed your entire life for her!” Kareena shouted. “You changed your entire life for that woman, and you think you didn’t love her? That community center is in her memory!”

No. No, he didn’t. She didn’t understand. What he felt for Gori was special, but for Kareena? It was so much more. “Gori needed me, and I wasn’t there for her—”

“Bullshit,” Kareena said. “People don’t spend three years raising money for a community center and dedicating their entire future to a person’s memory because of guilt.”

“Kareena, you can’t decide how I feel about a person.” If he could just take her away, whisk her far from the crowd that was forming behind them in front of the banquet hall doors. Then they could talk in private.

“I’m asking you to tell me yourself,” she cried. Tears spilled down her cheeks now. She looked so beautiful, but unlike the Kareena that he . . . that he wanted. Without her glasses, and with a full face of makeup, she was ethereal, and that was unnerving on its own.

“Why can’t I just show you how I feel about you?” he burst out. His heart pounded hard and fast, and this time, he couldn’t fix it. “That means so much more, doesn’t it?” He gripped her shoulders, then ran his hands over her arms. “Every day. I promise you, I’ll be here for you. Isn’t that better than words? So many arranged marriages are built on—”

“Stop it!” Kareena pulled away from him. “You said it yourself, this has nothing to do with arranged marriages. Even if we were arranged, I’d expect the words. I need the words, because sometimes, the words are more powerful than anything you can give me or do for me. Come on, Dr. Dil. You’re smart enough to know that.”

“Kareena, I can’t give you what you want.”

The sound of her sob almost brought him to his knees.

“What the hell is going on?” A Barbie princess voice roared from behind the crowd. Kareena’s family and friends parted like the Ganges to reveal a fuming Bindu. She stood frothing at the mouth. “Why isn’t everyone inside for my big entrance?” she shrieked.

When she spotted Kareena, her eyes widened. “You!”

“Okay, time to go,” Bobbi called out. Like a football player making his way to the goalpost, she weaved through Loken’s family and rushed across the lot to Kareena. Prem was still so stunned, so scared that she’d go, he didn’t realize that her friends had already planned her getaway before he could intercept.