Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 Maisey Yates (sad books to read .txt) 📖

and disappointment out of his voice, and Divya noticed. She sat up straighter.

“That’s what we do for family. We take care of each other. We give up our selfish needs to help them.”

Their food arrived, which saved him from saying something he’d regret.

“If something happened to Sameer, I’d never be able to live with myself,” Divya said softly.

He pushed the food toward her. They dug in, ravenous after their adrenaline-filled morning.

“Sameer isn’t going to need you forever,” Ethan said carefully. “He will eventually kick it.”

Divya dipped a coconut shrimp in pineapple salsa. “Sameer is the reason I need to return to my family right now. But it still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want to spend my life on someone else’s terms. My mother was twenty-three years old when she married my father. For eighteen years, ever since she was five, she’d been studying classical Indian dance. Bharatnatyam. It’s a real art that takes decades to learn. She was so good that she earned several awards. When she married my father, she gave that all up to take care of his household and have his children. He would never let her dance publicly. I still remember when I was a little girl I’d catch her with ghunghuru—those are bells you wear on your feet for classical dance. She tried to hide it from me, but I’d hear the music coming from her room and the sound of the bells as she tapped her feet in perfect rhythm. When I was older, I asked her why she hid it from me, and she said it was because she didn’t want me to fall in love with something I could not have.”

“That’s not how it is in my family,” he said gently. “I would never tell my wife what she can and cannot do.” She fidgeted as he said the word wife, and his stomach clenched. “Come with me tonight and meet my family. You’ll see that we share the same family values but a very different sense of what a marriage partnership looks like. We’re not as far apart as you think.”

She chewed on her lip. “Are you sure?”

“It’s not as big a deal in my house to bring someone home as it is in yours. We don’t even have to tell them we’re involved, if you don’t want.”

She ate in silence for a few minutes.

“I’d like to meet your family. But I don’t want to hurt you.”

What she meant was that she didn’t want to lead him on. “I’m clear on the fact that you don’t want a long-term relationship. I understand the reasons why. I may not agree, but I understand.” And I plan to change your mind.

As they finished their meal, Ethan stole glances at Divya. She seemed to be lost in her own world. He’d put his cards on the table. It was her turn now to decide how she wanted to proceed. She needed to figure out whether she was brave enough to love him back.

“A rupee for your thoughts.”

She gave him a small smile. “Boy, you’re cheap. Not even a whole dollar?”

He took the last piece of the coconut shrimp, dipped it and held it out to her. She leaned forward and took the bite directly from his hand, flicking her tongue to lick the sauce off his fingers. He rubbed his thumb on her lips, then touched her cheek.

“I don’t want to say goodbye to you, Ethan.”

You say that Divya, but are you going to break my heart like the rest of them?

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was dusk by the time they arrived in Minneapolis. A Lexus sedan was waiting for them at the airport, with a big bow on top of it.

“It’s a present for my parents.” Ethan grinned. “My mom’s car is on its last legs.”

Divya pressed her lips together.

“What is it? I know you want to say something.”

She sighed. “You said your parents don’t like accepting help from you. Isn’t this a little extravagant?”

He waved her off as he loaded their luggage and the gift bags Roda had given him in New York into the trunk. “It’s an anniversary present.”

There was some traffic as they got onto the highway. “My parents are in Stillwater. When we have time tomorrow, I’ll show you the town. It’s really cute with antiques shops, riverboats and even a park with a giant teddy bear.” He loved taking his niece and nephew to Teddy Bear Park. He’d been sad when they’d outgrown it. Lately he’d had trouble connecting with them, like he used to when they were much younger and all it took to make them happy was a game of peekaboo or a ride on his shoulders. But he was hoping that the gifts he’d bought would help return his cool-uncle status. His chest constricted as he thought about how much he’d loved the baby phase with all of the kids. As they’d grown, he’d looked forward to reliving each part of their childhood with his own children.

He snuck a look at Divya. Why do I keep doing this to myself?

Traffic was light as he got on the highway. Was he doing the right thing, taking Divya to meet his family? He wanted her to see the love he had for them, to know that he understood her commitment to her own family. They weren’t as different as she thought.

His parents lived in an old neighborhood. When he was growing up, it had been small houses like his own, with large backyards full of children. After a few large companies had opened headquarters close to the community, the home prices had gone through the roof. By the time he was in middle school, the older houses had been torn down and replaced with towering mansions with private swimming pools and tennis courts. His parents’ house stuck out like a sore thumb in the neighborhood, but his father refused to sell or renovate. He wanted to keep it exactly as it was, and Ethan was