Priya in Heels (Entangled Embrace) Read Online Free PDF

to go to Dallas?”
    “I wonder if they considered bringing a guy here.”
    Vicki lowered her coffee mug and stared wide-eyed at me. “They wouldn’t!”
    “Just saying.”
    “As I grow more obstinate, they’ll have to get craftier. You’d tell me if they called or dropped by, right?”
    “Yes! The way our parents are, we’ll get duped into a double wedding.”
    “Cost effective.”
    “Now who sounds like an Indian mother?”
    Vicki stuck her tongue out.
    I teased, “All you have to say is that you’re dating the white guy down the hall.”
    “Tyler? Yum. Although that would kill them.”
    “God, you remember Asha Shah?”
    Vicki nodded in mournful memory.
    “She hooked up with a black guy. Her parents actually shipped her to India and married her off. You know how she’s doing?”
    “She has like three kids and stays at home. I think he drinks a lot.”
    “If she couldn’t make it out of getting shipped and married off, there’s no way she’ll divorce him and return. She should’ve stood up for herself. They might’ve disowned her, but that’s better, I think, than living her life out with that guy.”
    We shared a moment of silence and mutual concern.
    “My parents wouldn’t do that to me. Not that they could. Asha was still a teenager, but I’m a grown woman,” Vicki declared.
    “Same here…but…”
    “Too much pressure.”
    “So we’re meeting Manuk and his family at my parents’ house in a couple weeks. You want to go in my place? You can pose as me, like how Padme’s servant posed as her in public.”
    “What?”
    “ Star Wars .”
    “Nerd. Speaking of Padme, she’s getting married.”
    “Not her, too! We’re all being plucked off the radar.”
    “I saw her a few months ago and she mentioned being interested in someone. Maybe they wanted a quick engagement,” Vicki commented. “She seemed happy about the deal.” She slid an envelope across the counter that disclosed Padme’s wedding information.
    After taking a look, skimming over the details but appreciating the elaborate red and gold embossed invitation, I meandered toward the bedroom. Marriage was just that: a business deal.
    “What are you doing today?” Vicki asked.
    “Sleeping.”
    A good workout and a nice shower always zonked me out, but I didn’t sleep long, or well. I watched cartoons in bed. Yes, a twenty-four-year-old doctor liked cartoons. Adult cartoons, not the smutty ones, just the ones with adult humor. With so much studying and thinking and reading medical papers, cartoons were a nice getaway.
    Vicki made a racket in the kitchen when she returned after grocery shopping. Gradually, delicious scents filled the apartment, and when the big stuff hit a sizzling pan or cooked in the oven, a wall of mouth-watering goodness hit me.
    The aromatic scent of food filled my nostrils. What a heavenly way to wake up.
    I shoved off the covers, ran a hand through my still-damp hair, and walked into the hallway. The sound of Vicki’s giggling and a man’s voice stopped me dead in my tracks. Tyler . By now, I could recognize his voice anywhere.
    I rushed back into the bathroom. He couldn’t see me like this, all ghetto with bed breath. A thought occurred to me after I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and combed my hair. With fingers firm on foundation, something I rarely used because laziness didn’t call for makeup, I paused.
    “What are you doing?” I hissed at my reflection. “Do you care what he thinks? You don’t want him to think you’re pretty so he’ll keep coming around.”
    I shook my head at the absurdity and pensively strolled through the hallway and rounded the corner. Yes, I could’ve stayed in my room, but I had to see him. Just for a tiny second.
    Tyler sat on a stool across from the kitchen and leaned over the counter as Vicki pulled a casserole from the oven.
    “I bet it tastes as good as it smells. You must be an amazing cook.”
    She giggled.
    I rolled my eyes and paused in the hallway