Page 81

“You okay?” he asked. “You look… pissed.”

She jabbed a finger against his chest. “Pissed doesn’t even begin to cover it, Mr. Ahuja.”

Shaurya blinked slowly as if he was studying an art piece instead of an irate woman. He had seen her flustered, annoyed, even exasperated, but never this angry at him.

“All week you’ve been giving me these…looks,” she accused. “Those intense, unreadable stares that make me question my own reflection.”

He raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile.

“And today?” She threw her hands in the air. “Today, you suddenly decide to be Mr. Community Sweetheart? Letting my friends hang all over you like you’re the last protein bar in a yoga retreat? Letting them talk about you swimming in the club pool like they’reauditioningyou for Baywatch?”

“I wasn’t flirting,” he replied calmly. “I was…talking.”

“Talking?” she mimicked with a scoff. “You refused pizza from me but took it from Kavya like she was offering you a gold medal. What was that, calorie-selective diplomacy?”

He stepped toward her, his amusement turning into something darker. Something molten.

“You sound jealous, Nandini,” he said.

She didn’t retreat. Instead, she stepped closer. Her chin tipped up defiantly as looked him square in the eyes.

“Iamjealous,” she whispered. “Because you’remyneighbour. Mine. Not theirs.Ishould have your attention. Not Jyoti. Not Kavya. Not any of them.”

Something shifted in his eyes, and before she could catch her breath, he reached forward and cupped her face roughly but gently, his thumbs stroking the heat blooming on her cheeks.

“Nandini,” he whispered, and just the sound of her name from his lips made her breath hitch. “I remember the last time you said I ambushed you with a kiss. No warning. No breather.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs.

“So this time,” he murmured, his voice a deliberate promise, “I’m giving you both.”

Her lips parted. Her hands clenched the fabric of her dress at her sides to keep them from reaching for him first.

He leaned in, his lips a breath away from hers.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” he said huskily, his gaze locked with hers. “And to hell with angles, metaphors, or timing. I promise, this is a fully updated version.”

Her knees turned to jelly, and every nerve in her body buzzed like a live wire.

His lips hovered just inches from hers. “Do I have your permission?”

She could barely speak, but she couldn’t wait to say it. “Yes,” she breathed with certainty.

And then he kissed her, his lips claiming hers in a way that made her world tilt. He sucked on them gently, slowly and made those sounds that proved how much he had wanted her.

This time, there was no confusion. No mistaken identity. No darkness hiding them. It was just him and her and all the heat they’d both been denying for too long.

And Nandini, who had come here to yell, argue, maybe even throw a spoon at him?

Could only melt into him and kiss him back.

Over and over again.

His hands cradled her face like she was made of something precious as he smooched her again and again. Even when theypaused to breathe for a second, their lips found each other, and they kissed again, hungrily. She clutched his shirt, drawing him closer, tasting him like she was in no hurry to end this kiss.

Shaurya Ahuja was an incredible kisser.

He backed her against the edge of the table, his one hand gently sliding down from her shoulder to her arm and then on her waist, dipping further towards the hem of her dress. She parted her lips right then to let him slide his tongue into her mouth and taste her. She tasted like she was his.