‘I don’t have a passport,’ she said, trying to buy some time.
It was perfectly true, anyway. She’d asked her father once if she could get one and he’d sneered at the idea. Serve him right, she thought nastily. He’d have one less thing to brag about if she ended up going to Goa on her honeymoon. He was at his insufferable best right now, puffed up with pleasure at the thought of marrying his daughter into the general manager’s family.
Vikram’s mother looked disappointed. ‘Oh, dear. And there isn’t enough time to get one now. You might as well get it done with your new surname after you’re married. It’ll have to be some place in India, then.’ She got to her feet. ‘I’ll leave the two of you alone to discuss it.’
‘Do you want to change your surname after we marry?’ Vikram asked after his mother had left.
Tara gave him a startled look—it hadn’t occurred to her that she had a choice in the matter. ‘Isn’t it expected that I change it to yours?’
‘Who’s doing the expecting?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows. ‘Not me, definitely, and I don’t think anyone else’s opinion counts.’
It probably didn’t to him, but Tara herself didn’t have the courage to be quite so careless of other people’s views. Perhaps she’d get that way once she got away from her parents, she thought, her spirits lifting at the idea.
‘Honeymoon destinations,’ he said, as if the little interlude hadn’t happened at all. ‘Goa—Kerala—Rajasthan? Or something a little more out of the way?’
‘I don’t know,’ Tara said flatly. ‘I haven’t been to any of them, so it’s all the same to me.’
His face took on the remote expression that she’d mentally termed his switched-off face.
‘No preferences at all? Beaches? Backwaters? Palaces? No dream holiday destination?’
She shrugged. ‘Nowhere that’s suitable for a honeymoon,’ she said. ‘I’ve always wanted to go on a tiger safari. We went to Gir for a vacation when I was kid, and saw lions in the wild, but I’ve only seen a tiger once, and that was in a zoo.’
‘Let’s do that, then,’ Vikram said, surprising her. ‘We can go to the Jim Corbett National Park, or to one of the reserves in MP—Band-havgarh or Pench.’
‘Won’t that look a little odd?’ Tara asked.
Characteristically, Vikram shrugged. ‘It’s our business where we go,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to pull a few strings to get us a booking in time. And we can do Khajuraho either before or after.’
Tara’s face promptly flamed in embarrassment—Khajuraho was famous for its erotic temple sculptures, and she did not want to spend the rest of her life having her leg pulled by people who knew she’d gone there on her honeymoon.
‘OK, the Taj Mahal, then,’ Vikram said, noticing her confusion. ‘I suggested Khajuraho because it’s in the same state as Pench, but if the idea bothers you we can go and see the Taj.’ She looked unconvinced, and he added ‘By moonlight?’ in encouraging tones.
‘I can’t decide which would be worse,’ she muttered, and he laughed outright.
Tara had decided quite early on that Vikram’s laugh was one of the sexiest things about him, and an automatic little thrill ran through her. His laugh or his voice—the jury was still out on which was sexier. Maybe she should invite her friends to meet him and then do a poll. She realised suddenly that he was saying something, and gave him an enquiring look.
‘What’s the Taj done to upset you?’ he repeated.
‘It’s a tomb!’ Tara said defensively. ‘Besides, I’ve already seen it.’
It had been a hateful trip, staying in a cheap hotel and going to the Taj on a bus full of other penny-pinching small-town tourists. Seeing the Taj with Vikram would be something else all together—but visiting a monument to love when they were both marrying for convenience seemed ironic to say the least.
‘Hmm,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I’ll figure something else out, then.’ He touched her hair, threading his fingers slowly through its length. ‘Let me know what you want to do about your surname.’
‘I’d like to keep my own, if it’s all the same to you,’ Tara said. ‘I don’t like the sound of Naintara Krishnan.’
She stood up abruptly. The feel of his hands tangling in her hair was doing weird things to her insides, and the temptation to jump on him and claw his clothes off was immense. But both their mothers were in the next room. Being caught making out with her fiancé in the living room of her parents’ house would give bringing shame to the family a completely new and different twist.
‘Something wrong?’ Vikram asked when she got up and moved away.
‘No,’ Tara replied. ‘I’m tired of sitting in one place like a lump of dough, that’s all.’
He grinned at that, lounging back on the cushions. ‘You don’t look very doughy,’ he said. ‘More like a jumpy kitten. Come back here.’
There wasn’t even a hint of command in his voice, but Tara found herself obeying him automatically, going and sitting next to him on the sofa.
‘Nervous about the honeymoon?’ he asked softly, and she nodded.
‘It’s not just the honeymoon, it’s the whole marriage thing!’ she blurted out. ‘It’s taking on a life of its own. My mum is obsessing about my trousseau, yours is picking out honeymoon destinations, there’s a bunch of my dad’s relatives coming down from Chennai I’ve never met before in my life. I’ve completely lost track of what’s happening! And I’m finding it difficult to get my head around the whole thought of being married. This isn’t like going away to college, is it? It’s like a … a … brand-new life I’m getting into, and I don’t feel prepared. You seem so completely in control, and you know exactly what you want. I feel like a confused mess in comparison!’ She ran out of breath and stopped.
‘I’m a little nervous, too,’ he said quietly.
She blinked. ‘Are you?’ she asked, ‘Seriously?’
Vikram’s voice had a wry undertone as he replied. ‘Seriously. I guess I’m just better at hiding it than you are.’
‘Lawyer training.’ Tara sighed. ‘Playing your cards close to your chest. I wish someone had taught me how to do that. I inevitably say exactly what I’m thinking.’
‘That’s one of the nicest things about you,’ Vikram said, and smiled. ‘Don’t look so tragic, Tara, it’ll work out. We’re both sensible people, and each of us knows what the other one is expecting from this marriage. There’s no reason for things to go wrong.’
Put like that, their wedding sounded like a dry and soulless business arrangement. Tara sighed again. She’d told Vikram she didn’t believe in romance and being swept off her feet, but a small dose of affection would have helped.
Vikram watched her square her shoulders unconsciously, as if to prepare for a not very palatable task. Her smooth forehead was puckered in thought, and her lips were pursed slightly. She looked determined and vulnerable at the same time. So far he’d been very careful not to touch her, beyond a casual peck on the cheek or a caress on the hand, but the temptation to kiss her now was immense.
‘You’re leaving tomorrow, aren’t you?’ Tara asked, her head still downcast.
‘I’ve been away from work for almost two weeks,’ Vikram said. ‘I need to get back and get things in order before November.’
Tara didn’t reply, and he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tipping her face up so that he could look into her eyes.
‘Cheer