Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage

Tina punched in the numbers on her cell phone and settled back in her seat. Dev seemed to think he could get away with anything. He thought all he had to do was smile and he could get his way.

She noticed he’d changed tactics after they slept together. Instead of confrontation, he courted her. For the past week Dev had treated her as if she was a queen during the day and his courtesan at night. Tina shifted in her seat as she recalled how Dev had brought her to climax the night before. She wasn’t armed for that kind of battle.

Dev answered on the first ring. “Miss me already, jaan?”

Tina pressed her lips together as her heart leaped from the sound of his voice. “Don’t push your luck with me,” she said sweetly in English as she glanced at the driver.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to visit your mother,” he said. “I had to go to the office for an important meeting.”

She pressed the phone closer to her ear when she heard the shuffle of papers and the clink of glasses in the background. “You’re still in the meeting? Why did you pick up?”

“Because you called. What can I do for you, Tina? Name it and it’s yours.”

Was he acting that way because he had an audience? Tina dismissed that idea. Dev liked buying gifts but it was nothing like the joy he received when he helped her. He liked turning a problem over in his mind and finding a solution for her. There were times when Tina thought she had embarrassed him with her gratitude. Those were the only moments when she had seen his shy smile and the red streak highlighting his cheekbones.

“I just came back from my mother’s house where I heard all about the wedding preparations,” Tina said. “You are being far too generous.”

Dev scoffed at the idea. “Impossible.”

“You’re giving Meera and my mother everything they want!”

“Not everything. I can’t give the bride the sports car she wanted to arrive in at the wedding. I tried, but there are none available.”

Tina groaned. She didn’t know about the car. Did he know they were planning to cover the car with garlands and roses? “You need to learn to say no. You have no problems doing that with me.”

“Did I say no to you at all last night?” Dev’s voice rumbled. “Or this morning?”

Tina tried to shut down the memory but she clearly recalled every angle and plane of his gloriously masculine body. Her mouth watered as she remembered how Dev’s warm skin tasted when she pleasured him awake.

“Why are you doing this?” She dropped her tone and gave another glance at the front of the car. The driver didn’t know English but she wasn’t taking any chances. “We will be divorced before Meera has her wedding.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he said seriously, the flirtatious tone disappearing in an instant. “I didn’t give you the wedding you deserved.”

She pulled the phone away and looked at it before she placed it against her ear again. “What are you talking about?”

“We eloped when I should have given you the wedding of your dreams.”

“I liked our wedding.” The words tumbled from her mouth. She didn’t want to discuss that happy day with the man she was planning to divorce.

“You deserved more.” The way he said those words made Tina’s heart squeeze. “I see that now. I thought...”

“Thought what?” she prompted when his voice trailed off.

“That I had done my part by offering marriage,” he said softly, regretfully. “That I had exceeded expectations.”

“I know.” Everyone thought he had gone beyond the call of duty and she should be grateful. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“I’m trying to make amends. I can’t go back and fix that wedding.”

“So you’re going to make it up to me by giving my sister the wedding of her dreams? Taking care of it so I don’t have to?”

“Something like that,” he muttered.

“Dev, I liked our wedding. It was intimate and personal and most important, it wasn’t a spectacle.” She shuddered as she imagined what the wedding would have been like if they had invited the Bollywood royalty. “It could have easily been a circus, which was the last thing I wanted. I wanted it to be about us and that is what I got.”

As the silence pulsed between them, Tina realized how much she had revealed. Her marriage, her growing family, was all that had mattered to her. Now she was on the brink of losing everything.

“I have to go,” Tina said briskly. She was flustered and knew it came through in her voice. “I have a stylist and a makeup artist coming over to prepare for the award ceremony.”