“Sure. I’d love to see you on Saturday. Are you certain you don’t want to come up and have a cup of tea, though?” she reached her hand toward his, but he stepped back a little further.
“I’m sorry, I can’t, but I’ll see you on Saturday, okay?”
“Okay.” She shivered as a breeze from the cooling summer evening wafted around her bare shoulders, and she realized how little clothing she had on. She should have grabbed her robe.
His eyes traveled quickly down her body and then he blushed deeply. “You’re cold—I shouldn’t keep you. I’ll see you Saturday.”
It wasn’t just the breeze that had made her shiver, though. She watched him walk away. Ravi was a strange guy—a strange, but heartbreakingly handsome and super intriguing guy. Would she break her rules for him? Maybe just a summer fling to take her mind off the stress and pressure of trying to stay here in the US. Who was she kidding? She was so inexperienced with men that she had no idea how to have a fling! Who knew, though, maybe Ravi could teach her?
24
Claire – The Plan B
Nandita had a coffee date with Sally in exactly fifteen minutes, but she couldn’t get out of bed. Her thoughts were stuck in a never-ending loop obsessing about Ravi and those kisses. She had trouble getting to sleep last night, her body so gorged with dopamine that, if she had opened her patio doors, she could have flown out and soared over Princeton. This must have been what it felt like to do drugs. She could understand the attraction.
Sally would murder her if she was late, though—especially when she had to spend forty-five minutes driving down here—and it seemed her enthusiasm for the green card idea was suddenly waning. Her texts were sporadic and incomplete, which were surprising to Nandita, as Sally’s social skills were her pride and joy. She practiced them on everyone, even when you didn’t want her to. If Nan hadn’t checked the number twice, she would've thought that maybe she was texting Maureen, who was less social, more scatterbrained, and frequently subjected to Sally’s “the importance of relationships” speech.
Nandita’s phone buzzed with a text from Sally.
Ten minutes away and I only have thirty minutes. I have a client I need to meet before I head back to Hoboken.
She groaned and forced herself to remove her butt from her mattress. No time for a shower today; Sally was just going to have to put up with messy Nandita. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and whipped her hair up into a quick ponytail. Her hair was as smooth as silk, so bedhead was never a problem for her. It always looked the same: shiny, straight, and flat as a board.
See you in a few, she texted back to Sally before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.
Nandita grabbed a table at Small World Coffee and waved as Sally headed toward her, cups in hand.
“So, I got you a vanilla latte since you weren’t here and I couldn’t remember what you liked. You’ll just have to drink what I’m drinking.” Sally hooked her bag over the back of her seat and sat down with a thud. Nandita was surprised to see dark circles under her eyes and no makeup. She looked tired, and she was acting weird. Sally didn’t forget your drink order—Sally didn’t forget a single detail about anyone, even if she'd only heard it once. It was part of her incredible social skill set.
“What’s up with you?” She quirked an eyebrow in Nandita’s direction. “You look funny. What’s going on?”
I look funny? Nandita didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to talk about Ravi yet, because she wasn’t sure what was happening.
Sally’s skills weren’t completely failing her; she knew immediately. “The stalker? What happened? Do tell!”
Nandita felt the heat rush to her face and lifted her coffee cup to hide her involuntary goofy grin. Maybe Sally wouldn’t notice. Yeah, right. “Nothing. Nothing happened,” she squeaked.
“Okay, Nan, I have thirty minutes—thirty minutes to tell you to call my friend, who has found you a green card match and given me a discount, which leaves plenty of time for you to explain to me what has you blushing like a southern belle with her first gentleman caller. I also have a big ‘ole pile of stress I’m dealing with that’s making me so tired I could lay my head down on this table right now and sleep… except then I’d squash my muffin, and I am so hungry I could eat the table, so I think the muffin is an essential distraction. You need to quit the lacy fan routine and tell me what the hell is going on, because I also don’t have much patience.”
Nandita put her cup down and widened her eyes at Sally’s outburst. She must have been totally strung out. “Are you okay, Sal? You’re scaring me.”
The woman reached for her muffin and sighed deeply. “Who knows, Nan, but I am way too tired to talk about it. Can we skip it? What’s going on with the stalker?”
“You promise to keep it to yourself? I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.”
“Of course. Who am I going to tell? I’m keeping enough secrets about you from Claire, already; one more won’t hurt.”
Nandita felt the goofy grin spread across her face again. “His name’s Ravi, and he kissed me! He came over last night. It was late, I was just about to go to bed, and he was banging on the door like a crazy person! When I got down there, he kissed me.”
The muffin seemed to be cheering Sally up a bit, because she grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. “And then?”
“He said he had to go take care of a friend, but he asked me on a date for tomorrow. He didn’t want to come upstairs, even though I invited him.” Nandita blushed again.
“You invited a guy upstairs?” Sally laughed, “Even with your ‘no men’ rule? This must be serious. When can I meet this guy?”
“You can’t! This... thing can’t go anywhere; I have to focus on other stuff. I have to tell you, though, I haven’t stopped thinking about him since last night. It’s hard to believe a guy like him is interested in me.”
Sally snorted. “You’re clueless, Nan! When I gave your photo to my green card friend, she went head over heels. Her words were, ‘Now this is going to be an easy one. Look at that beauty!’” She took a sip of her coffee and looked at Nan hopefully. “I guess it’s off now though?”
“What’s off?” Nandita asked.
“The green card thing. You don’t want to get engaged when you are so obviously smitten, do you?”
She leaned back in her chair in surprise. “What? You think I would just give up on my dream because some guy kissed me? No way, Sally! I’m staying here in the States and re-applying to Princeton. I might like Ravi, but he can’t magically solve all my problems. I’ve decided I might try a summer fling.”
Sally snorted. “How does the stalker feel about this?”
“I haven’t told him about the green card thing… obviously… and I’m not sure how I'll broach the fling subject. We’ll see what happens, but the green card marriage is a go. I’m not getting caught without a plan B ever again.”
Sally put her muffin down and gave Nandita a stern look. “You know, Nan, sometimes going after something so aggressively without looking around and seeing how it affects other people can cause problems in the long run.” She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. That was another weird thing, Nandita noticed: no hair spray. Sally continued, “I’m five years older than you, and I think I’m only just now starting to figure that out. Maybe you need to take a step back from this green card stuff for a while. Maybe I’m wrong to get involved.” Nandita was stunned to see tears flood Sally’s eyes. She never cried. “Who knows? It seems like I’m wrong about so much lately that I’m afraid to put my foot down on the sidewalk, let alone decide which road I want to walk down.”
Nandita reached across the table and grabbed the woman’s hand. “Are you okay, Sal? You’re making me worried. You don’t seem like yourself at all.”
“No, I don’t, do I?” She smiled sadly. “Maybe that’s a good thing.”
“That’s it!” Nandita said. “You need a day off. I’m calling Tod and telling him to come pick you up.” Her
bag was on the table in front of her, and she reached into it, digging for her phone, when Sally’s hand stilled her.
“Stop, Nan, stop. I’m fine—I’m just all over the place, that’s all.” Nandita watched as Sally sat up in her chair and took a deep breath. She was trying to get her ‘tude back. “Listen, I’m not so sure this green card thing is a good for you, after all, but I’ve already agreed, so I’ll stick to my word. Just promise me you’ll think about it some more and let me know if you change your mind, okay?”
“Okay,” Nandita answered as Sally went back to her muffin.
The Sally she knew seemed to be back, but it was a thin, superficial veneer over a new, stressed and tired Sally. She'd call Claire this afternoon and tell her she was worried; Claire would know what to do.
Sally was explaining how the first meeting with her potential fiancé would be handled. It was crazy! She wondered for a minute how this guy would compare to the incomparable Ravi, but then she brought her meandering, lusty brain back to the issue at hand. She had a problem she needed to solve, and no matter how much she wanted Ravi, he wasn’t the answer. A sweet, summer romance was about all she could hope for—and she would need to make that clear to him on their date tomorrow.
She found herself counting down the minutes until Ravi would knock on her front door, and that scared her to death.
25
Ravi – The Pickup
Ravi stood outside the apartment door, reliving the kiss from the other night. He had raised his hand to knock, but then decided to take a few minutes to savor the memory. Nandita’s soft and eager lips, her natural and confident response, and the tiny groan of pleasure—it had been a kiss for the ages. He’d spent all of yesterday getting abused by a hungover Tammy for being so daydreamy. She was demanding when she was grumpy, and the hangover had been worse than expected.
If he'd been brave enough, he would've accepted Nandita’s invitation to come up the other night. God knew he wanted to—his body had been screaming at him to go—but he hadn’t been able to do it. He was struggling with a serious question, and he wouldn’t take it further with Nandita until he had figured out the answer. How much did he tell her? There was a chance he could still complete his mission without telling her about his predicament—about the threat to his parents—but would that be ethical? If things progressed, he would have to tell her everything eventually, but was it necessary right now, when telling her might scare her away?
The conviction he had found the other night when he was banging on this very door was still with him now. He wanted to be as strong as her, and he had already begun drafting an email to U. Penn declining their offer and started to research vet schools. Was he ready to completely throw away his relationship with his parents, though? He couldn't imagine they would forgive him for not preventing their downfall. How much responsibility did he have for their well-being? He wanted to discuss all of this with Nandita—wanted her to listen to his hopes and fears and give him advice—but how far could he go when it might mean revealing secrets that could hurt her? He would need to be careful; their hearts were at risk.
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Ravi couldn’t wait to see her. He had big plans for today.
When she opened the door to her apartment, he caught his breath. Before that moment, he had only seen her wearing pants or conservative skirts with only a few inches of leg showing below the knee. Today, however, she was wearing white cotton shorts, and her smooth brown, seemingly unending legs stretched out below the cuffed hems on her upper thighs. Her hair was caught up in a swinging ponytail, and she wore a dark blue tank top that just kissed the waistline of her shorts. When she reached up to give him a quick hug, he got a tantalizing and slightly incapacitating glimpse of her tanned, flat belly. She was a beautiful creature.
She pulled back from her quick, impulsive hug, and stuck her hands in her pockets. She had a large straw bag slung over her right shoulder, and it hitched up behind her as she shrugged, as if to apologize for her eager affection. “It’s good to see you. I’m looking forward to today.”
“Me too.” Ravi smiled at her and reached out for her hand. She took it carefully and smiled back. “Is this okay?” he asked as he nodded to their entwined fingers.
Nandita squeezed a little and looked up at him with a grin. “It’s great.”
26
Nandita – The Picnic
The drive was brief, but it felt so nice sitting next to Ravi. Maybe it was silly, but she pretended they were a real couple playing hooky from responsibilities and taking an impromptu day off. When she’d opened her door, he looked so yummy that she hadn’t been able to stop herself from giving him a quick hug. She wasn’t sure if it had been appropriate, though. They’d had those passionate kisses, so that should have been okay, right? She was clueless; her experience in this area was severely limited, and he didn’t seem to have much of idea either.
They chatted easily on the drive—small talk about the weather and his studies—and before she knew it, he was parking on the curb next to an open green space, where a sign read, "Princeton Battlefield State Park." The lush grass called out to the blanket she had glimpsed in the back seat, along with what looked like a gourmet picnic.
“I come here sometimes when I need to think,” Ravi said as he opened her door and helped her from the car. “It’s such a peaceful place yet it has an air of solemnity, too. I’m sure we can find some shade.”
“I’ve never been here before,” she said, taking a deep breath of the cool morning air. “It’s beautiful.”
He lifted the picnic basket and cold bottle of white wine from the back seat and passed her the blanket. “Would you mind carrying that? I’ll need two hands.” She shook her head and smiled at him as he reached back into the car, grabbed two large throw pillows, and smashed them under his arm so he could juggle everything. “Let’s go,” he said, and they headed toward a towering monument of tall, white, marble pillars on a set of stone steps. “The best shady trees are this way.”
Nandita jogged a little to keep up with him. He was tall and had long strides—he must not have walked with a girl next to him very often, otherwise, he’d know to slow his pace a little. He was too polite not to.
“So, do you come here a lot?” she asked.
“As often as I need some peace and quiet.” He laughed, and she got the impression that he needed peace and quiet a lot. “There was a battle here, you know? The Americans beat the English during the Revolutionary War, and this site was a very bloody battlefield. It may sound dumb, but I always feel like I’m surrounded by people here, even when there’s no one around. There are no expectations to be social, but I still don’t feel lonely.” He stopped under a large tree just next to the monument on the edge of a spacious, shady wood. “Okay, here?” he asked.
She nodded and watched as he carefully spread out the blanket and arranged the throw pillows. If he'd come here often, he must have felt lonely often. She wondered, not for the first time, why he didn’t have a girlfriend. Someone like him, so incredibly handsome yet so unaware of his beauty, and so kind and solicitous, should have been besieged with girlfriends. Maybe he had tons of girls in his past and he just didn’t talk about it. She hoped she could find out a little more about this mysterious man today.
“Wine before lunch?” she asked as he removed two glasses wrapped in cloth napkins from the picnic basket and set to opening the bottle. “How decadent!” She smiled at him, and he rewarded her with a smile back.
“I hope you like white. I guessed.”
She laughed as he handed her a glass, “I like anything. I don’t drink much, so red, white; it’s all the same to me.”
“Cheers.” Ravi clinked his glass against hers gently. He cleared his throat, and in a shaky voice, said, “To the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” He kept his eyes on hers and, despite the shade, she felt herself heat up under his gaze. They both sipped their wine.
“Did you have a good day yesterday?�
� She broke her gaze away from his and moved back to rest against one of the pillows.
He surprised her by laughing and shaking his head. “If you consider babysitting an incredibly hungover and grumpy roommate a good day, then yes, I had a good day.”
She winced at him in sympathy. “Oh no—that’s the worst job ever. I’ve had to babysit my friend, Sally, before, and she’s incredibly mean about it, even though I’m the only one who will help her. Even her husband disappears. Thankfully, it’s only happened once or twice.”
“Yeah, well, it was the first time for me.” He twisted his glass in his fingers and took a deep breath. “That’s why I didn’t stay the other night for a cup of tea. I knew she would probably need me.”
An image flashed in Nandita’s mind of that gorgeous girl she had seen on the sidewalk, and she felt a pang of jealousy. “That’s okay.” She took a sip of her wine. “I wasn’t exactly expecting a visitor anyway, as you could probably tell by my attire.”
“Adorable attire it was,” he laughed. “I especially liked the ducks on the pajama pants.”
She laughed along with him and tried not to spill her wine. “Hey, those are my favorite pajamas!” she said. “No fair judging when you took me by surprise!”
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I was out of line.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She looked into his dark eyes again. There was not a trace of hardness in them today. “I liked it.”
He moved the picnic basket off the blanket and then shifted around so his back was against her neighboring pillow. He stretched his legs out beside hers and slowly reached for her hand. She felt a tiny hiccup of excitement as their fingers gently entwined and he looked up at her with those dreamy eyes. “I need to share something with you.” His hand gently lifted hers, and they both watched as their fingers moved around each other, twisting and crossing, their palms touching and then retreating. His hand was shaking a little, and she impulsively pulled it toward her lips and gave his fingers a feather-light kiss. He was nervous, and she wanted to reassure him.
Uncharted (Jersey Girls Book 3) Page 11