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The moment she uttered those words, he took a step closer to her, the shift in the energy immediate. Nandini barely had time to react before her back met the rough bark of the mango tree. She gasped softly, realising she was suddenly caged in. His body loomed close, his scent filling her senses.

“Hot?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.

Nandini’s eyes widened slightly at her slip of tongue. Oh no. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Did you just call mehot?” he repeated, a hint of that maddening, smug smile lurking on his lips.

Nandini swallowed hard. Her brain screamed at her to respond, but his nearness, his smirk, that infuriating confidence—none of it helped.

Summoning all her strength and what little pride she had left, she slipped out from under his arm and turned toward the house, her cheeks blazing like she’d swallowed the sun whole.

“Hot and outdated,” she shouted over her shoulder, not daring to look back.

She disappeared inside the villa before he could recover from her comeback.

Shaurya stood frozen under the mango tree, stunned.

Hot and outdated?

What kind of deranged, contradictory insult was that?

Was it even a thing?

He stared at the empty spot she’d disappeared into, still reeling. The woman had just compared his kiss to a damn flip phone.

A flip phone?Seriously?

He’d handled hostile boardrooms, negotiated with egotistical billionaires, and even delivered keynote speeches with cameras flashing in his face.

But apparently, nothing could ever prepare a man for being compared to a discontinued mobile device by a woman who’s second name was trouble.

He ran a hand through his hair in disbelief, still trying to wrap his head around what happened. It wasn’t just the outdated part. Sure, that jab had hit his ego like a slap with a velvet glove. But it was the hot part that got under his skin in an entirely different way. That one reckless word, spoken out like an afterthought, refused to leave his mind. Of course, people had complimented him before. He wasn’t a stranger to admiration or attention. But this? This felt different. It came from her—this maddening woman with a smart mouth and stars in her eyes.

And for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, he didn’t just like that she thought he was hot. He loved it.

Hell, it had been years since anyone had made him feel this unbalanced. Unprepared. Like he’d walked into a negotiation without reading the contract. And now here he was, arguing about metaphors involving flip phones and kissing techniques with a woman who could burn down his calm with one sentence.

She thought his kiss was outdated?

Fine.

Let her think that.

Because one way or another, he was going to change her mind.

With interest.

He looked up at the mango tree and muttered under his breath, “Flip phone, my ass.”

Then, with a shake of his head, he turned and walked back to his villa.

CHAPTER 12

Shaurya’s Villa – Next Day Afternoon

Shaurya had been sulking since sunrise. He had spent the better part of the morning brooding like a rejected soap opera hero. The kind of sulking that made him brood at his poolside garden for hours, sipping a now-lukewarm cup of black coffee and pretending to check emails on his laptop when, in reality, his screen was still stuck on the login page. His thoughts, unfortunately, were far busier than his inbox. The phrase kept echoing in his head like a bad ringtone.

Hot and outdated.