laughed.
Samira held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, we’ll behave.” She leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. “Now tell us what happened, and don’t leave out a single detail.”
“Aren’t you married to the hottest reality TV star in Australia?” Harper asked.
“Yeah, and your point?” Samira mock huffed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t love a bit of juicy gossip, and Manny falling for you definitely qualifies.” She jerked a thumb at Pia. “Cuz is right, Manny doesn’t do commitment, and we’re not trying to scare you off by saying it, just telling you how it is.”
“He told me that himself when we both stipulated having a fling while we were overseas, but things changed . . .” Harper felt heat creeping into her cheeks, and she resisted the urge to press her hands to them. “We had a good chat this morning, and turns out we’re trying the relationship thing.”
“Good for you,” Pia said, a second before Samira added, “So tell us more about this fling.”
Harper grinned, happy to have something to impart rather than being a bystander as usual. While she’d known Nishi forever, she’d only met Samira and Pia through her friend, and they’d caught up regularly in the lead-up to the wedding. She liked the cousins and they had bonded over a shared love of Gilmore Girls reruns, Ryan Gosling flicks, and masala chai. It was a bonus that Samira happened to be a friend of Manny’s. And Harper was sure that had nothing to do with Samira organizing this catch-up today. Yeah, right.
“Well, you know about the wedding debacle.”
Samira nodded. “Not the most auspicious beginning, but you must’ve had a lot of fun resolving your differences.” She made a lewd sign with her forefinger moving in and out of a circle formed with her opposite thumb and index.
“You are so immature.” Pia elbowed Samira and rolled her eyes. “Now quit it so we can get the lowdown.”
Appearing suitably chastised, Samira clasped her hands together and rested them on the table. “Okay, I’ll be good.”
“At the Storr Hotel in Auckland, I ran into Manny. He’d just finished up a medical conference, I was freaking out over losing my assistant, and he volunteered to help me out.”
Samira’s and Pia’s jaws dropped in unison, like those clowns at a sideshow where you popped Ping-Pong balls in their mouth.
“He what?” Pia asked.
“He helped me out of a jam. Was really sweet about it, actually. Took orders like a pro, and if it wasn’t for him I would’ve made a mess of the job.”
Biting back a grin at their matching shocked expressions, she continued. “He was taking a few days off after the conference, and I had another job to do at the new Storr Hotel in Lake Taupo, so he offered to accompany me down there too.”
Samira’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Let me get this straight. He helps you out of a tight spot, takes orders from you, you fall for his gallantry, and suddenly you’re dating?” She shook her head. “I don’t buy it. What aren’t you telling us?”
Aiming for bashful, Harper shrugged. “Well, there may have been a few romantic dates here and there, and some sexy time.”
Pia whistled. “Look at your cheeks. They’re fire-engine red.”
Samira wiggled her eyebrows. “That good, huh?”
“Better,” Harper murmured, remembering all the ways Manny had pleasured her, not surprised she’d become addicted so quickly. “He’s a special guy.”
“He’s one of the good ones,” Samira said, but Harper detected a hint of recalcitrance.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Samira cast Pia a quick sideways glance before refocusing on her. “I like Manny. He’s fun. But he does have a reputation among the Indian community as being the unobtainable bachelor.”
“Some of the aunties call him the Unicorn behind his back,” Pia added.
As proof of where Harper’s mind was at when it came to her new boyfriend, mentioning unicorn had her thinking about his impressive horn and she struggled not to snicker.
“So you think he’s just fooling around with me?”
Samira hesitated, before saying, “We don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Thanks, that’s sweet, but don’t worry, I’m going into this with my eyes open.”
Thankfully, the arrival of their dosas and lassis put paid to further conversation about her relationship. But as Harper tore into her paper-thin crispy rice pancake and scooped up the spicy potato filling, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been too quick to accept Manny’s spiel about her being an exception to his no-relationship rule.
And what that might spell if he’d spun her a whole lot