Chapter Ten
Nimita should not be having this warm fuzzy feeling when he agreed to spend the day with her, holed up in their room—naked. She had also not planned on sharing her feelings about her father. She had never said those words out loud. Not until today.
She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. They had settled on some beach time, so she tied her bikini top and slipped on her bottoms.
Nimita shook her head as if doing so would help her shed the warm fuzzy happy feeling in her body.
It did not. So she did what she always did.
She shoved the feelings into a small box and locked them away.
Not the wisest thing, but it didn’t matter.
She’d finally bit the bullet and booked her flight.
Two days from now, she’d be on a plane home.
And she’d never see Dave again. It didn’t matter what happened in Hawaii.
It was going to stay in Hawaii. He’d have to go back to his responsibilities soon, and so would she.
Might as well enjoy herself until she had to face her family.
“You okay in there?” Dave’s voice was music through the door.
“Yes.” She opened the door. His shirt was off, and he had changed into his swimming trunks. “Ready for the beach?”
“Not a chance.” His eyes were already dark with desire, and her body responded almost instantly.
He pulled the string on her bikini top and let it fall.
He moved closer and placed his hands on her bottom to lift her and carry her to the bed.
“We can go down to the beach…later.” He laid her down on the bed and crawled over her.
His body hovered mere millimeters above hers. It was sweet agony.
She arched her back so that their bodies just grazed each other and was rewarded with his skin on hers, drawing a groan from deep within him. “Later sounds perfect.”
This man was nothing like she could have ever imagined.
It was like he read her mind and knew what she needed and when, almost before she did.
After a couple rounds, she fell into a peaceful sleep, like nothing she could ever remember having before.
She woke with his arm around her middle.
She grabbed her new book and began reading, careful not to wake him.
Half an hour in, he started to fidget. He pulled her tighter and then slowly opened his eyes. She looked down at him, and her breath caught. Complete adoration, that was what she saw as he opened his eyes and found her next to him. No one had looked at her quite that way. Ever.
“Hey, you,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat and returning the book to the bedside table. She turned to face him, resting her head on her elbow.
“Hungry?” he asked her sleepily. “We could order room service.”
“Later.” She saw his eyes drift to her book. “How did you become such a reader?” she asked. Wait, what? Why was she doing the “get to know you better” thing? No. Never mind. Too late.
He rolled over and faced her, apparently happy to answer. “My sister was sick and in the hospital a lot when she was a kid. I used to keep her company and read to her. It entertained us both.”
Nimita chuckled. “You did all the voices, I bet.”
He turned to face her, a huge grin on his face.
“You know it.” He paused. “It was one of the few times she would smile and laugh. And she always, always asked for one more chapter.” He sighed.
“And I always read one more chapter.” He ran his fingers through her hair.
“Even when she got old enough to read on her own, she insisted that I read to her whenever she was in the hospital.”
“You’re a great big brother.” Nimita’s eyes were wet with tears. She used to read to Reena. She should be reading to her niece.
Dave shrugged.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He turned his more disarming smile on her, clearly to distract her from whatever he was thinking. She didn’t push.
“Keep looking at me like that, and we’ll never order any food.” She leaned over to him.
“Food is overrated.” He reached for her and kissed her. This time she melted into him.
* * *
Roshan had had one-night stands, flings and a couple failed relationships. But he could not remember feeling this way before. He should be working, keeping up to date with research, checking in on his patients’ tests, but he wasn’t. For the first time ever, he simply lived in the moment.
He could not get enough of Nimita. And it wasn’t just the sex. It was her. Her smile. Her laughter. Her honesty. Her empathy. She was leaving the day after tomorrow, and the thought dug a pit in his stomach.
She had made it clear that this was just a fling, that she did not want anything more. He had thought he wanted the same. He was sure that had been his intention. Too late, he realized that he had caught feelings.
Rein it in, Vishal’s voice boomed in his head. She doesn’t want anything more than Hawaii.
It was amazing, really, how Vishal could annoy him without even being present.
They sat entwined with each other, as they read the book. They stopped every so often to talk theories or make out or have sex.
Roshan could not have had a more perfect day with a more perfect woman.
He had to remind himself that this was a fling.
But the more he reminded himself, the less he listened.
The woman he was looking at did not mesh with the girl he’d known in high school.
Truth was, he hadn’t taken the time to know her back then, focused only on the tutoring sessions and not the tutor.
And the more he learned about this woman, the more he wanted to know.
They were lying in bed after making love, soft and sweet and slow this time. They were facing each other, legs entwined, the sheets soft and cool over them.
“What happened to your mom?” He knew he wasn’t supposed to ask—or even want to know, but he couldn’t help himself. He braced for her mouth to harden, for her eyes to get that vacant look in them and shut him out.
But none of that happened.
“She died in a car crash,” Nimita said softly. From her expression, she was possibly more surprised than Roshan at the words that left her mouth.
That was why.
He said nothing, even as his heart broke for her. He simply sat quietly and waited for her to speak.
“She was driving, and I was a passenger.” She sighed and closed her eyes.
“I can still smell the car interior, my mom’s perfume.
” She paused and met his eyes, as if drawing strength from him.
“She was T-boned at a light. They told me she died right then. Quick and painless.” She furrowed her brow, her eyes filled with tears.
“Like that was supposed to make me feel better.” When the first tear fell, she wiped it away, looking at the wetness on her fingers as if surprised.
“I thought I was all done crying. Huh.” She wiped again.
“I don’t remember much. I was stuck in the car for what felt like forever while they worked on extricating me.
I wasn’t hurt badly. Broken arm. Bruises, scrapes.
People were like ‘at least you only had minor injuries.’” She pursed her mouth.
“Like losing your mother was a ‘minor injury.’”
He reached for her and pulled her close. She allowed it.
“I am so sorry that happened to you,” he said into her hair.
She was crying properly now. Pressing herself to him…like she needed him. He held her close and let her cry and said nothing else.
* * *
Part of her could not believe she was crying in Dave’s arms, but the bigger part of her didn’t care and felt safe and warm under his firm embrace. When she was done, she pulled back. There was more, but she couldn’t speak it into existence. “So now I always drive. I simply don’t trust anyone else.”
“Always?” Roshan asked.
“Always.”
“You get panic attacks if you don’t drive.” It was more of a knowing statement than a question.
She pressed her mouth tight and nodded.
“Yeah. I get that.”
“Do you?” He did not fail to surprise her.
He nodded. “You’re trying to keep control of what you can. In your mind, the driver dies. So, if you’re the driver, you can’t let anyone down but yourself.”
Normally, she would be freaked out that anyone knew her this well. She looked into his deep brown eyes, searching for judgment or disgust. Instead, she found understanding and kindness. She gave a small nod.
They sat in comfortable silence.
She broke the silence. “Tell me about your sister.” Nimita was sure there was some unspoken rule of vacation hookups that said no deep family talk.
But right now, she chose to ignore any and all rules.
She wanted to know about what was important to him.
His sister was important. If he didn’t answer, she’d shut up.
“She’s in remission. Has been for almost four years.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yeah. She has to get tested a lot, though. There’s always a danger of relapse, and she has to be careful. Chemo left her with brittle bones. She pretends this is not true and ignores my advice all the time.”
She chuckled at his wry tone. He didn’t seem averse to sharing now, so she asked, “Okay, so what does she do? Does she have a boyfriend?”
“She’s a teacher. And no.”
“Would she tell you if she had a boyfriend?”
His eyes widened. “We are very close, so yes.”
“You’re not that overprotective brother who can’t stand the idea of his little sister having a boyfriend, are you?”
He stared at her. “No. No. Of course not.” He grinned at her.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe. But only because she could get sick again. She has a high-risk subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A lot of kids are lucky, they get treated, have a few hard years and stay in remission.”
“But not Malini?”
“No.” His voice was strained. “She’s relapsed twice. The last time she was eighteen, though, so she’s close to the five-year mark. It’s not a guarantee of health, but it’s a big milestone for leukemia patients. The likelihood of remission after five years is very low.”