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“That was evil, Rash.”
She gave him what she hoped was a cool look. “But I am evil, didn’t you know?”
“No, you’re not,” he murmured, his warm gaze making her cheeks flame brighter. “I know your secret now.”
“And what is my secret?” she asked, her heart doing a slow roll in her chest. He couldn’t possibly know, could he?
Oh baby. You’ve always been too good for him.
Harsh flicked the tip of her nose with his forefinger. “You’re a porcupine. Prickly on the outside, soft on the inside.”
“I’m not soft,” she muttered indignantly.
“It doesn’t matter.” Harsh’s voice dropped another octave. Raashi’s stomach dropped with it. “Ask me why…”
“Why?” she asked, a trifle breathlessly.
“Because I know how to handle your quills now, Porky.”
“You-“ But she never got to finish that sentence because their fathers swept up to them, the press and the rest of their entourages following closely behind.
“It’s time for the ring exchange.”
Suryakanth Kodela put a fatherly arm around Raashi’s shoulders, startling her. Harsh’s eyes narrowed at her jerk of reaction. Mr. Kodela led her to the front of the crowd, making her already thudding heart start to take flight. Harsh and her father brought up the rear. She looked around at the assorted faces surrounding them, zeroing in on her mother and siblings, all of whom were making their way through the mass of people to the front.
“Everybody, may I have your attention please?” Suryakanth Kodela slipped into Telugu, his oratory skills shining when he was in his comfort zone. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome another daughter into my home and into my heart. I am blessed. God has been very kind to me. Not only did he give me a wonderful wife, but he also gave me three wonderful children.”
Was it her imagination or did Harsh sound like he was choking on air? She couldn’t turn and look at him since his father had a death grip on her shoulders.
“And now these three wonderful children have brought three lovely people into our lives. So now, I don’t have two sons and one daughter. I have three sons and three daughters. If this is not God’s deepest blessings, what is? Maybe grandchildren next huh?” He laughed uproariously at his own joke, aided by the sycophants in the crowd.
“Gadde Garu.” He turned to Raashi’s father. “We are now family twice over.” The two older men embraced and the cameras went wild.
“Maybe they should get engaged,” Harsh murmured sotto voice, sidling up to her.
Raashi snorted loudly, an inelegant piggy sound that had her clapping a hand to her mouth, mortified. Harsh threw his head back and laughed, the contagious sound making everyone around them laugh too.
His mother appeared with a ring box at the same time as hers did. Total synchrony the families had achieved in this whole marriage thing. Raashi looked at the simple, solitaire diamond ring that twinkled at her from the box in Harsh’s hand.
The sheer wrongness of the moment struck her, taking her already strangled breath away. This was awful. Harsh should be sharing this moment with a woman he loved. She’d taken it away from him. First with her thoughtless remark and then by agreeing to marry him even when he was fighting the families and saying no. She’d backed him into a corner. He’d had no choice but to give in. To marry her.
No one will ever want you, Raashi.
“Porky?” Harsh tipped her chin up with one hand.
She stared at him mutely.
“Breathe,” he told her, a wicked grin sliding over his face as he slipped the ring on to her limp finger.
Cameras flashed, people cheered, the world around them went mad. But all Raashi saw was his beautiful eyes twinkling at her with cheer and good humour, almost amused at the predicament they found themselves in.
And for the first time in a long while, Raashi did just that. She breathed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Raashi looked at the humongous diamond now twinkling on her hand. “I could take someone’s eye out with this thing.”
“As long as it’s not mine,” he told her, waggling his hand in her face.
“Your name is on the top of my list,” she replied, batting at his hand. “Stop that.”
“Return the favour idiot,” he said. “Put a ring on it!”
