Page 33 of Journey to You

“Right. Let’s talk business as we eat.” Sunil rattled off an order in rapid Hindi to the hovering waiter as Dilip raised his beer. “Cheers, my friend. And how is your travelling companion?”

“Good.”

Ethan drank half his beer in two gulps, wishing he hadn’t opened his big mouth and mentioned Tam, not wanting to discuss her. The less he said the better, considering the constantrepetition in his head: replaying every scene of their trip, every hand touch, every smile, every kiss.

“You must bring her to dinner. My wife Sireesha will be thrilled to have you both—”

“Tamara’s in Goa.”

Dilip’s black eyes widened at his snapped response. “I see.”

“Glad someone does,” he muttered into his beer glass, grateful Sunil had answered a call on his phone and wasn’t privy to this conversation.

Trying to present a professional front to an investor sure as hell didn’t involve discussing his non-existent love life.

“You and your lady friend are having problems?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

Yeah, right, which was why he was on the east coast of India and Tam was on the west.

Dilip shook his head, steepling his fingers on his chest. “If you permit me to be so bold, I have a story for you, my friend.”

Darting a frantic glance in Sunil’s direction in the hope his call had ended, Ethan’s heart sank as the investor held up a finger, pushed away from the table, and headed for the foyer to continue his conversation.

“Look, Dilip, I’d rather focus on business—”

“Patience, my friend, patience.” Dilip squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to recall the story, before his bulging eyes snapped open and fixed on him. “When I met my Sireesha, I was a penniless student and she was engaged to the son of a prominent doctor. Our paths crossed at university one day, when she dropped her books and I helped pick them up, and from that moment I knew she was the one for me.”

“And you’re telling me this because?”

Dilip waggled a finger at him. “Because I never wavered from my pursuit of her, no matter how unlikely it was we would everbe a couple. I was determined to have her and all the obstacles in our way were inconsequential.”

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s great, but we’re different. There are complications—”

“Complications?” Dilip waved his hand like a magician waving a wand. If only he could make all of Ethan’s problems disappear.

“The only complication is up here.” Dilip tapped his head like an overzealous woodpecker. “You think too much, you overanalyse, you lose.” He pointed to his heart. “You need to think with this. Let your heart rule your head. I know you are a brilliant businessman, so this will be foreign to you, yes?”

Hell yeah. Ethan never let his heart rule his head, not anymore. His mother was the only woman who’d ever had a piece of his heart and she’d taken it with her the second she walked out of his life and left him to fend for himself, a bewildered five year old with no family, no money, no home.

“If you want her, this—” Dilip tapped his heart “—needs to rule this.” He pointed to his head. “Simple.”

Was it that simple? Was Ethan thinking too much, overanalysing, obstinately refusing to relinquish control despite the potentially incredible outcome?

What could be greater incentive to relinquish control a little than dating Tam?

Dilip snapped his fingers and jerked his head towards the door. “Sunil is returning. For now, we do business. But later, my friend, you remember what I’ve said.”

Ethan would. But would he have the sense to do anything about it?

Fifteen

Tamara needed a walk.

Her mum’s cooking had been amazing, but the authentic Goan cuisine she consumed too much of at every meal was sublime. She was particularly partial tobibinca, a rich dessert made from flour, sugar, ghee, coconut milk, and about twenty egg yolks, baked and flavoured with nutmeg and cardamom. Rich, delicious, addictive.

Exactly like Ethan, though his sweetness had evaporated around the time he’d stolen her hard-fought trust in him and flung it into the Ganges.

---