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“Oh, please,” Nandini muttered, grabbing the brass cake stand like it was suddenly made of lava. “We don’t want this. Wait here.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned to the shopkeeper. “Just add it to our bill, please.”

Gripping the box tightly, she spun around and marched toward the exit. Through the glass doors, she spotted Shaurya by his sleek black SUV, unlocking it with an air of arrogance.

Perfect.

She picked up her pace.

“Hey! Wait.”

He turned just in time to see Nandini storm across the parking lot, her curls bouncing behind her and her expression murderous. With her lips set in a firm line, her fists clenched, and her chin raised, it looked as if she was ready for a battle. And for some idiotic reason, his brain chose that exact moment to whisper:Hot.

Seriously? He inwardly chided himself, straightening up from the car. There was absolutely nothing appropriate about finding someone attractive when they looked like they wanted to strangle you.

But the fiery look on her face was infuriating, intense, and sexy as hell.

He clenched his jaw and squared his shoulders, forcing every last rebellious thought back into the furthest corner of his mind. She wasn’t storming over here to flirt. She was marching toward him with the full intention of launching another verbal grenade. Probably about the cake stand. Or about his‘I have better taste, anyway’jab that had clearly hit a nerve.

Yep. This was definitely a fight incoming.

Before he could even open his mouth, she shoved the cake stand into his chest with enough force to make him stumble back.

“Take it,” she said. “You earned it. With that brilliant, condescending little comment of yours.”

“I don’t need—” he began.

“Save it,” she snapped, jabbing a finger at him. “You could’ve just said‘no problem’or even nothing at all. But no, you had togo and say‘I have better taste, anyway’like you’re some kind of style guru with superior taste in everything, and my grandfather has the tackiest taste in the world.”

“I never said that.”

“Oh, please. You didn’t have to. You implied it.”

Shaurya rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t aware you were also fluent in implication analysis.”

“I’m fluent inyourtone for sure,” she retorted, stepping closer. “It’s always arrogant, always smug, and always like you’re better than everyone around you.”

He exhaled slowly, like she was testing the last thread of his patience. “And yet, here you are, pinningmeagainstmycar in a parking lot over a cake stand.”

She blinked, just realising that she was standing very, very close to him, and her hand was still on his chest.

Their eyes locked, and just like that, his gaze swept over her face. A breath passed between them, thick with something that had nothing to do with the cake stand anymore.

“That’s because you’re impossible,” she muttered.

“And you’re overdramatic.”

“You’re rude.”

“You’re loud.”

“I’m not—” she began, but then his mouth curved slightly as if her frustration was his favourite form of entertainment. Nandini flushed and quickly dropped her hand from his chest.

Just as she opened her mouth to deliver another retort, Shaurya straightened slightly and looked around the parking lot. A couple walked by with their cart, giving them a curious glance.

“I guess it’s better if you don’t publicly display our… umm… fondness for each other like this,” he said.

She blinked, unable to believe her ears. “Our what?”