Chapter Eighteen
Eighteen
It was early afternoon by the time Priya managed to pull herself away from Ethan. After showering and getting herself ready, she sat at the small dining table in the coach house and made the call she had been dreading. As her father’s voice came through the line, Priya took a steadying breath.
“Okay…don’t freak out,” she said. “Everything’s under control, but…there was a fire in the basement last night.” She braced herself, instinctively pulling the phone away from her ear just in time to hear her father’s startled outburst.
“Su?” he exclaimed. “Aag?” What? A fire?
Priya winced as the panic on the other end escalated.
“Aag?” her mother screeched in the background. “Kya? Kyare? Kevi ritey?” Where? When? How?
“Su?” Deepa chimed in over the speaker.
Priya took a deep breath and tried again. “There’s some damage, but it’s just the office. I was getting Puppa’s address book when the outlet sparked and—”
“Suuu?” A collective gasp echoed.
“You were inside the building when it happened?” her mother cried.
“I tried to stop it, but it spread quickly. If Ethan hadn’t shown up in time, neither Moksha nor I would have made it.”
There was a brief pause before a barrage of questions hit.
“Mr. Ethan saved you?”
“And Moksha?”
“Are you both okay?”
“How bad is the damage?”
“We’re fine,” Priya replied, switching her phone to speakerphone. “It was an electrical issue. I’ve shut off the main power and taken photos. I wanted to check in with you before reporting—”
“We are on our way,” her father declared. “We’ll be there by this evening.”
“There’s no need to rush back,” Priya said quickly. “The power’s out in the apartment, and there’s nothing you can do until the reno crew arrives.”
“Mr. Ethan is okay?” Puppa asked. “No issues at the coach house, right?”
“He’s fine. We—”
“Priya! The food!” Mumma shrieked. “Did you move it to the fridge in the coach house?”
Mumma’s priorities were always clear. First, her daughter.
Second, her high-profile tenant. And a very enthusiastic third?
Her homemade food. Priya’s list was, however, a little more streamlined at the moment.
She watched as Ethan finished another set of push-ups, his muscles flexing with each slow, controlled movement.
A light sheen of sweat clung to his skin, catching the light.
“Beta,” her father said, “how did you cope with no power in the apartment last night?”
“I…uh…I stayed at the coach house.”
“Suuu?” Mumma, Puppa, and Deepa squawked like a chorus of parrots over the speaker.
Priya recoiled from her phone, mentally face-palming herself. The mere mention of spending the night in the coach house with Ethan was enough to send her parents racing home, tires squealing. What was she thinking? Oh wait. She wasn’t. No brain cells were firing today.
“I slept on the sofa bed,” she improvised.
Ethan paused mid-workout, one eyebrow lifting as he looked over at her.
“At least you had the sense to use the sofa bed,” Mumma said. “You know better than to let a guest take the sofa bed. And Mr. Ethan isn’t just any guest. You give that man anything he wants.”
Priya met Ethan’s eyes across the room as he toweled off. He shot her a wide grin, daring her to argue.
“Power or no power, you can’t stay at the coach house,” Puppa said. “I’ll see if I can buy a backup generator on the way home. We’ll make do until things get sorted.”
Priya heard Mumma say something to Puppa, their voices dropping into a hushed conversation.
“Deepa?” she asked. “You still there? What’s going on?”
“Okay, listen.” Deepa’s voice dipped to a low whisper, the kind that meant drama was incoming. “Remember how I said Vinod Uncle set up a meeting so Mumma and Puppa could meet that guy for you? Well, if they come back early, they’ll miss it. That’s what they’re discussing right now.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Priya pinched the bridge of her nose. “I told them I’m not interested.”
“You know how they are, Pri. They’re not giving up that easily.”
“Well, they can do what they want,” Priya muttered. “But I have no interest in meeting—”
“Dinesh,” Deepa filled in with a snort. “Vinod Uncle sent a full report…birth date, height, weight, job…honestly, it’s like a résumé.”
“I don’t care who Vinod Uncle’s parading in front of them: Dinesh, Ramesh, Nilesh, Paresh…it’s not happening. But thanks for keeping me posted.”
“You know I’ve got your back,” Deepa replied. “Besides, whatever happens to you is just a preview of what Megs and I will have to face too. We’re in this together, Pri.”
“Priya, beta,” Puppa returned to the phone. “Mumma and I are in a bit of a bind. Vinod Uncle and Poonam Auntie have taken time off for us. If you truly don’t need us at Moksha right now—”
“It’s totally fine,” Priya said, cutting him off. “Go to Vinod Uncle’s.” Go meet this Dinesh guy. Have chai, have theplas. Just don’t come back yet. “Everything is under control here.” Her voice wavered as Ethan closed the gap between. He was all heat and muscle, his nearness clouding her thoughts.
“Are you sure?” Puppa asked, then, with a trace of worry. “And Mr. Ethan? Will he be leaving, since Moksha isn’t usable right now?”
Priya froze for a beat. She hadn’t even considered that Ethan might go. She turned toward him, a twist of unease in her stomach. He met her eyes and gave a decisive, almost teasing shake of his head.
“He hasn’t mentioned leaving,” Priya replied, unable to hide the smile in her voice. “But you can call him yourself to confirm.” Her breath caught as Ethan’s fingers slid under her sweatshirt.
“Okay, then. And send me the photos of the fire. I’ll see if our insurance will cover it.”
Priya’s eyes fluttered shut as Ethan’s hands slipped beneath the waistband of her jeans.
“Priya?” Puppa asked. “Are you listening?”
“Uh-huh…Photos…Fire…” Her words trailed off as Ethan picked her up and sat her on the table.
“And I need that number from my address book. Do you still have it?”
“Yes,” Priya replied, as Ethan kissed her neck, his hands tracing a slow path down her back. “Yesss.”
A saltshaker toppled to the floor as her legs wrapped around him.
“Yes, what?” Puppa snapped. “What’s going on over there, Priya?”
Priya hopped off the table, giving Ethan the side-eye. He was clearly enjoying distracting her.
“I have the address book right here,” she said, flipping to the page with Mr. Foster’s number and giving it to Puppa.
“Mumma and I will call Mr. Ethan later,” Puppa said. “He is a real-life hero for saving you and Moksha.”
Ethan flexed his biceps, then mimed a slam dunk just as she hung up. “Would you look at that?” He grinned. “Your father likes me. I might have to swing by more often. Maybe even stay in the coach house again when I’m back in September for TIFF.”
“You’ll be back in September?” Priya asked, surprised. And he’d want to see me?
“Yeah. My movie with Sienna is premiering at the film festival.”
Priya frowned. The timeline she’d built for their fling, ending neatly with Ethan’s departure, scattered like leaves in the wind. If he was coming back in a few months’ time, that was going to complicate things in a big way.
“Try not to faint from excitement,” Ethan said, catching the look on her face. He caught her hand in his, tugging her closer, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Want to come with me to the premiere?”
“To the movie premiere?”
“No, darling, my highly classified sock-puppet performance,” Ethan said with a laugh. “Yes, the premiere.”
“Like on the red carpet?” Priya bit her lip. She couldn’t imagine walking any red carpet. With or without Ethan. What would she even wear?
“Would that really freak you out that much?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t want to be plastered all over the media, Ethan,” she said, letting go of his hand. “I thought we agreed this was just a fling.”
“I’m not asking for anything serious, Pri.
Just a fun night out—get dressed up, hit the town, maybe go out after.
You could come with Brooke if you don’t want to be seen with me,” he offered, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smile that almost looked sad.
He glanced away, and Priya felt awful. Ethan didn’t offer himself up for rejection easily, not after the way his father had hurt him.
Yet here he was, nudging the boundaries of their arrangement.
A part of her soared, buzzing with the possibility that he might want more.
But another part was terrified. They were so different, and they lived in entirely opposite worlds. He was Hollywood; she was…Moksha.
“I totally get it if you’re not ready,” Ethan said. “The press, the limelight, the attention…it can be overwhelming. And even though you’ve upgraded to Priya 2.0, you still like to live life as if it’s a program you can code. Neatly. Line by line.”
“Yeah, well, the program’s malfunctioning,” Priya said with a dry laugh.
Her divorce, her career, and her bank account flashed through her mind.
And now, as Ethan nibbled his way down the side of her neck, she realized her firewall had been breached too.
Her whole system was breaking down, byte by byte, and despite how scary it was, she was loving every second of it.
“Okay, okay. Time-out.” She caught his hands before they wandered farther. “There’s work to be done. Photos to send, a fridge to empty…”
“Fine.” Ethan drew back in mock disappointment. “You look after the photos, then we’ll tackle the fridge together.”
“How noble of you. My parents would be mortified if they knew you were moonlighting as a janitor in their absence.”
“It’s the least I can do. Especially considering what I plan to do with their daughter later.” He cradled her chin, brushing his lips over hers in a slow, tantalizing kiss. Just as Priya started to melt, he broke away.
“Chop-chop, Pri.” He grinned. “And no slacking off until it’s done.” With a cheeky swat to her backside, he turned her around and sent her on her way.