Page 67

He didn’t look convinced. At all.

“I’m not into hot neighbour romances!” she blurted out, taking a step back, wildly defensive. “And I don’t even like the whole grumpy-sunshine trope! It’s not my thing.”

He leaned against the counter, his arms crossed. “Alright. What is your thing, then?”

Without thinking, she shot back, “Dark romance.”

Silence.

Absolute, horrifying silence.

Oh God.

Her eyes widened as the words hit her. Why? Why couldn’t she just zip her mouth before him? Why did she have to blurt that out?

Shaurya’s expression shifted subtly, something darker and much more dangerous flickering behind his gaze. He took a deliberate step toward her.

“Dark romance?” he repeated, the edge in his voice unmistakable. “You know, in dark romance, it usually starts with a kiss…”

She swallowed, her heart hammering as he closed the distance between them, his presence looming over her.

“…but it ends with much more than that?”

The heat in the kitchen suddenly felt suffocating. But still, Nandini raised her chin, met his gaze, and somehow managed to whisper, “I know that.”

His eyes darkened, gleaming with something unreadable. For a beat, his fingers flexed slightly at his sides, as if fighting an overpowering urge to touch her. But then he blinked. He tore his gaze away from hers, and suddenly, as if realising something, he grabbed the ayurvedic oil from the table, where the romance book had been just seconds ago. Before she could reply, he turned and left in a flash, as if staying even a second longer would burn away whatever restraint he had left.

Nandini let out a long, shaky breath she hadn’t realised she was holding, the book still clutched in her hand.

What the hell had just happened?

They were supposed to sort out the embarrassment from yesterday. Set boundaries. Maybe go back to fighting about mango trees and being civil for Grandpa’s sake.

Instead, they’d tangled themselves even worse. One impulsive kiss had turned into full-blown confessions, book-based teasing, and something too hot for a kitchen that didn’t even have the flame on.

And now she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to run after him and yell… or pull him back in and test every last thing she’d just confessed to loving.Dark romance with a grumpy neighbour. Effing Hot!!

CHAPTER 13

Raichand Villa

Shaurya stepped back into the guest bedroom of Raichand Villa, holding the small brown bottle of Ayurvedic oil in his hand. Ever since Grandpa fell down the stairs a few days ago, his room had been moved to the guest bedroom on the ground floor. It was more accessible this way—no risky steps, just smooth wheeling from one part of the house to another. Easier for him, and easier for everyone else too.

He was still slightly flustered, his thoughts tangled from the kitchen exchange with Nandini. That hadn’t been a regular conversation. It had been a slow, sultry sparring match, laced with heat and tension that had left him breathless and very much aroused.

Inside the room, Grandpa and Varun were laughing loudly over something. Varun had just cracked a joke, probably one of his stupid puns, and Grandpa was holding his stomach as he cackled, his cheeks red and his eyes twinkling.

“There he is,” Grandpa called out, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “What took you so long to bring a bottle of my oil from the kitchen?”

Varun looked up, grinning. His eyes flicked to Shaurya’s face and narrowed slightly, just enough to notice the faint blushcreeping up his ears, the dazed look in his eyes, and the tension behind his jaw.

“Maybe it wasn’t the oil bottle that slowed him down,” Varun said, eyeing Shaurya with mock innocence. And then, leaning closer, he lowered his voice so only Shaurya could hear. “Maybe it was someone else in the kitchen. Someone wearing lime green today, right?”

Shaurya shot him a hard glare. “Shut it,” he muttered under his breath, slamming the bottle onto the side table next to Grandpa.

Grandpa raised a brow. “I didn’t ask you to justbringthe bottle,” he said, stretching out his arm with an exaggerated groan. “I want you toapplyit. This arm’s been aching ever since I fell.”

Shaurya blinked. “Yourarm? I thought it was your ankle that got twisted in the fall.”