EXITING THE HOSPITAL, I nearly ran into someone else.
Note to self: Running with my head down is dangerous and does not add to speed.
I looked up and into a pair of deep black eyes. The kind of eyes that could make a girl swoon.
If she were so inclined.
“Hi,” Tahir said.
“Hi.” Okay and my next line? “Umm, are you here to see Ram?”
“Actually, I was looking for you. Your cell phone was off, and I tried the house. Took a chance you might be here…how’s Ram?”
Ram? Who the hell cared about Ram at a time like this? “You were looking for me?” Threads of hope encircled my heart and made it pound.
“Maya—” Tahir stopped as a very pregnant woman and her harried-looking husband brushed by us.
“Don’t,” I said before he could finish his sentence. I couldn’t let him go on. Not when I’d been in the wrong as well. “Don’t apologize.”
He looked puzzled. “Apologize? I didn’t come here to apologize.”
Now I was the one looking puzzled. “You didn’t?”
“What is there to apologize for?”
Huh.
“Why are you here then? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
Tahir neatly stepped aside as a teenage boy on crutches came hobbling by. “I was supposed to take Ma to Universal Studios and took the day off.”
“What happened?”
“I decided to see you instead. She’ll deal…as they say.”
I laid my hand against his cheek. “The three of us will go to Universal Studios together.”
Tahir covered my hand with his and kissed me.
There we were in the hospital parking lot. I wasn’t one for PDAs—public displays of affection—but after a few moments in Tahir’s arms, I forgot there had ever been bird turd on my face.
“Wait.” I pulled away. “We have issues. We can’t just kiss and make up.”
He pulled me back. “Of course we can, hence the expression.”
My mind was spinning. A few hours ago I was ready to sleep with the fishes. But things had changed. I had changed. “Tahir…I’m the goddess. I really am.”
“To me you always were.” And then he added almost as an afterthought, “I think we should get married.”
“Okay, I may be a goddess, but I’m also messy, extravagant, and I sleep ten hours a day.”
His lips brushed my forehead. “I’ll do the cooking.”
“Thank God.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his shoulder.
He nuzzled my hair. “You take care of the world, Maya. I’ll take care of you.”
I closed my eyes. “It’s a deal.”