I stood there wondering if I could sprint for the nearest exit. Stupid strappy shoes, I’d never make it.
He leaned in close and whispered in my ear, ‘I know what you’re thinking, and I’m not going to let you escape again. You can either take a seat and have dinner with me like a normal date,’ he grinned at his word choice, ‘or,’ he paused thoughtfully then threatened, ‘you can sit on my lap while I force-feed you.’
I hissed, ‘You wouldn’t dare. You’re too much of a gentleman to force me to do anything. It’s an empty bluff, Mr. Asks-For-Permission.’
‘Even a gentleman has his limits. One way or another, we’re going to have a civil conversation. I’m hoping I get to feed you from my lap, but it’s your choice.’
He straightened up again and waited. I unceremoniously plunked down in my chair and scooted in noisily to the table. He laughed softly and took the chair across from me. I felt guilty because of the dress and readjusted my skirt so it wouldn’t wrinkle.
I glared at him as our waitress came over. She set my menu down quickly, and I had to watch as she took an extra long time giving him his menu. She stood near his shoulder and pointed out several choices while leaning over his arm. After she finally left, I rolled my eyes in disgust.
Ren took his time perusing the menu and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. I didn’t even pick my menu up. He shot me meaningful glances while I sat silently, trying to avoid making eye con-tact. When she came back, she spoke to him briefly and gestured to me.
I smiled, and in a syrupy sweet voice, said, ‘I’ll have whatever will get me out of here the fastest. Like a salad, maybe.’
Ren smiled benignly back at me and rattled off what sounded like a banquet of choices, which the waitress was more than happy to take her time writing down. She kept touching him and laughing with him too. Which I found very, very annoying.
When she left, he leaned back in his chair and sipped his water.
I broke the silence first and hissed at him quietly, ‘I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you only have about two minutes left, so I hope you ordered the steak tartare, Tiger.’
He grinned mischievously. ‘We’ll see, Kells. We’ll see.’
‘Fine. No skin off my nose. I can’t wait to see what happens when a white tiger runs through this nice establishment creating mayhem and havoc. Perhaps they will lose one of their stars because they put their patrons in danger. Maybe your new waitress girlfriend will run away screaming.’ I smiled at the thought.
Ren affected shock, ‘Why, Kelsey! Are you jealous?’
I snorted in a very unladylike way, ‘No! Of course not.’
He grinned. Nervously, I played with my napkin. ‘I can’t believe you convinced Mr. Kadam to play along with you like this. It’s shock-ing, really.’
He opened his napkin and winked at the waitress when she came to bring us a basket of rolls.
When she left, I challenged, ‘Are you winking at her? Unbelievable!’
He laughed quietly and pulled out a steaming roll, buttered it, and put it on my plate. ‘Eat, Kelsey,’ he commanded. Then he sat forward. ‘Unless you are reconsidering seeing the view from my lap.’
Angrily, I tore apart my roll and swallowed a few pieces before I even noticed how delicious they were – light and flaky with little flecks of orange rind mixed into the dough. I would have eaten another one, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
The waitress returned shortly with two helpers, and they piled dish after dish on our table. Sure enough, he had ordered a smorgasbord. There was not one inch left on our table. He took my plate and piled it high with aromatic, mouth-watering selections. After placing it in front of me, he began filling his own. When he was finished, he set his plate down, looked at me, and raised an eyebrow.
I leaned forward and whispered angrily, ‘I am not going to sit on your lap, so don’t get your hopes up, Mister.’
He still waited until I picked up a fork and took a few bites. I speared a bite of macadamia nut crusted ruby snapper and said, ‘Whew. Time’s up. Isn’t it? The clock is ticking. You must be sweating it, huh? I mean, you could turn any second.’
He just took a bite of curried lamb and then some saffron rice and sat there chewing as cool as a cucumber.
I watched him closely for a full two minutes and then folded up my napkin.
‘Okay, I give. Why are you acting so smug and confident? When are you going to tell me what’s going on?’
He wiped his mouth carefully and took a sip of water. ‘What’s going on, my prema, is that the curse has been lifted.’
My mouth dropped open. ‘What? If it was lifted, why were you a tiger for the last two days?’
‘Well, to be clear, the curse is not completely gone. I seem to have been granted a partial removal of the curse.’
‘Partial? Partial meaning what, exactly?’
‘Partial, meaning a certain number of hours per day. Six hours to be exact.’
I recited the prophecy in my mind and remembered that there were four sides to the monolith, and four times six was . . . ‘Twenty-four.’
He paused, ‘Twenty-four what?’
‘Well, six hours makes sense because there are four gifts to obtain for Durga and four sides of the monolith. We’ve only completed one of the tasks, so you only get six hours.’
He smiled. ‘I guess I get to keep you around then, at least until the other tasks are finished.’
I snorted. ‘Don’t hold your breath, Tarzan. I might not need to be present for the other tasks. Now that you’re a man part of the time, you and Kishan can resolve this problem yourselves, I’m sure.’
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at me. ‘Don’t under-estimate your level of . . . involvement, Kelsey. Even if you weren’t needed anymore to break the curse, do you think I’d simply let you go? Let you walk out of my life without a backward glance?’
I nervously began toying with my food and decided to say nothing. That was exactly what I’d been planning to do.
Something had changed. The hurt and confused Ren that made me feel guilty for rejecting him in kishkindha was gone. He was now supremely confident, almost arrogant, and very sure of himself.
He kept his eyes on my face while he ate. When he finished all the food on his plate, he filled it again, scooping up at least half of every dish on the table.
I squirmed under his gaze and played with my food. He looked like the cat that had the canary or the student who had all the answers to the test before the teacher even told the class about it. He was disgustingly pleased with himself, and I sensed that there was much more to his newfound confidence than just getting time back as a man.
He seemed to know my secret thoughts and feelings. His confi-dence set me on edge. I felt like I was backed into a corner.
‘The answer to that question is . . . I won’t. You belong with me. Which leads me to the discussion I wanted to have with you.’
‘Where I belong is for me to decide, and though I may listen to what you have to say, that doesn’t mean I will agree with you.’
‘Fair enough.’ Ren pushed his empty plate to the side. ‘We have some unfinished business to take care of.’
‘If you mean the other tasks we have to do, I’m already aware of that.’
‘I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about us.’
‘What about us?’ I put my hands under the table and wiped my clammy palms on my napkin.
‘I think there are a few things we’ve left unsaid, and I think it’s time we said them.’
‘I’m not withholding anything from you, if that’s what you mean.’
‘You are.’
‘No. I’m not.’
‘Are you refusing to acknowledge what has happened between us?’
‘I’m not refusing anything. Don’t try to put words in my mouth.’
‘I’m not. I’m simply trying to convince a stubborn woman to admit that she has feelings for me.’
‘If I did have feelings for you, you’d be the first one to know.’
‘Are you saying that you don’t feel anything for me?’
‘That’s not what I’m saying.’
‘Then what are you saying?’
‘I’m saying . . . nothing!’ I sputtered.