She wasn’t going to tell her father. This was Nadim. Her friend. The man who’d kept sixteen sourdough starters instead of throwing any out. She couldn’t throw him under the bus before she understood what she was looking at.

But clearly she did need to find out what he was hiding from her. She was relying on him so much. And her family’s business was at stake. She needed to know if he could be trusted. “Saira, don’t tell Dad, but ask Rish for more information. Was Nadim into shady stuff, too?”

Saira nodded. “Okay, fine. Let me dig a little deeper.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Reena studied the pictures again once Saira had left. Nadim looked like a self-absorbed dimwit surrounded by other self-absorbed dimwits. Not the responsible project manager her father had hired. One eyebrow raised in mirth and lips ever so lightly pursed. Duck-face. Her new friend had duck-face on a yacht.

Her phone rang. Of course, Nadim’s name flashed on her screen. She answered it.

“I’ll come straight by after work,” he said when she answered. “Want me to pick up some takeout?”

He was coming by? She’d hoped she would have a little more time to process all this before she had to face him again. “Um, that’s okay. Thanks, though. I planned a quiet night at home. I did too much socializing on the weekend.”

“Reena, did you forget?” His voice lowered. “We have to do the lice treatment tonight.”

Her shoulders slumped. Yeah. Even if Duncan said she was lice-free, she’d still rather do the treatment again to be sure, and it needed to be Nadim who did it. As mortifying as it was to have her sexy neighbor shampoo and check her hair, she couldn’t let another person witness her shame.

Wait, sexy? Where did that come from? She’d just been worried he had deep dark secrets and now he’s sexy? Stupid libido … Reena wondered if it was time to get laid, so she could really focus on this issue with Nadim.

That did not make sense.

“Reena, you there? Will you let me do this for you?”

“What?”

“Are you okay? You seem a little spacey.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m asking if I can bring you dinner tonight. Maybe that Thai place you told me about?”

Reena needed to get a grip as soon as possible. She sighed. “Yeah, sounds fine.” She let him know which dishes she liked and hung up.

Once Reena was done unpacking, she started cleaning to calm her nerves. Deep cleaning. Starting with the kitchen, she scrubbed, scoured, and polished until her fingers were numb and her mind was clear enough to make a decision: It was high time she and Nadim talked. Really talked. No more skirting any serious topics, no more pretending their pasts didn’t exist. She was going to ask him about his life in London and see if he mentioned the yacht people. She wouldn’t wait for Saira’s gossip train. No more deflecting.