Page 36 of Entangled Vows (Destined Diaries #2)

Ishika halted mid-step. “Right now? Can’t this wait until someone rolls hot stones down your spine?”

“Nope,” Mahika popped the ‘p’. “It needs to be done by tonight.”

Ishika narrowed her eyes. “Mahi, what the hell are you doing?”

Mahika offered a sweet smile that was downright wicked. “Oh, just a little payback. Nothing wild.”

“Define nothing wild.”

“I’m going to make Grizzly’s wardrobe a little... brighter.”

Ishika blinked. “I don’t get it.”

Mahika tilted her head, her tone syrupy-sweet. “Let’s just say his monochrome obsession is about to end.”

Ishika’s jaw dropped. “Wait! Are you—”

“Shhh,” Mahika cut her off, her lips twitching. “Tonight, let the man walk into his wardrobe completely unprepared for the nightmare waiting for him.”

Ishika groaned. “You’re crazy.”

“Says the woman who drove across the city at 1 a.m. for gulab jamun.”

“That’s different!” Ishika shot back. “Radhanagar Sweets closes after midnight, and they have the best gulab jamuns in the world. You know that.”

Mahika raised an eyebrow. “Still doesn’t make me the crazy one here.”

“Fine,” Ishika muttered, exasperated. “But what’s with this sudden vengeance streak?”

“He made me sleep in his bed with him, and...”

Ishika stared, stunned. “Wait. What? You both are having sex, and you didn’t tell me?!”

“Ishika, no,” Mahika said sharply. “There is no sex happening. Stop getting ahead of yourself.” She rubbed her temples, already regretting bringing it up. “The point is, he made me sleep in his bed. Then I spiked his smoothie with green chilies a few weeks ago, and he… he kissed me.”

Mahika paused, knowing this revelation was going to blow up like a time bomb.

Ishika literally jumped up and down, squealing, “Oh. My. God, Mahika. He kissed you? Like… actually kissed you?!”

“Can we not?” Mahika groaned. “That’s not what we’re discussing.”

“No, that’s exactly what we’re discussing now,” Ishika said, with a mix of anger and excitement. “And how dare you keep this info from me? We don’t have secrets between us, Mahi… and you hid such a big fucking thing from me? I’m hurt.” She pressed a hand to her heart like a heroine in a TV soap.

“C’mon, babe. I’m sorry, okay. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you. I did. But…” Mahika trailed off.

“But what?”

“Then all of it would become real… too real,” Mahika admitted quietly.

“What do you mean? Was the kiss not real?” Ishika frowned.

“It was. I’m just saying that if I had told you about it back then, whatever I was feeling afterwards would have become too real…”

Ishika’s mouth fell open. “Wait. You have feelings?”

“No…” Mahika answered too quickly. “Not feelings… not like that. But… I don’t know. I think I don’t exactly hate him now.”

Ishika glared at her as she demanded, “Tell me everything. How it happened. How was the kiss? Was it toe-curling or breath-stealing? I need details.”

Mahika groaned. “Are you seriously not going to let that go?”

“Absolutely not!!” Ishika shot back, eyes blazing. “My best friend just kissed her ridiculously hot, arrogant, marriage-of-convenience husband. I have every right to know how it happened.”

Mahika sighed in defeat, but her face softened with a dreamy expression.

“The kiss was like a vodka shot to my soul… It was hot, sexy, and… messy. It wasn’t gentle, but the moment his lips touched mine, I forgot everything else. Where I was, what I was doing… it was like common sense just went out the window. Honestly, it was the best kiss of my life."

“That sounds criminally hot.” Ishika whistled. “Girl, you’re damn lucky.”

Mahika threw her hands up. “What’s the point of getting kissed like that if he’s been avoiding me ever since?”

“But why?” Ishika gaped at her.

“I don’t know, okay?!” Mahika burst out, her voice laced with frustration.

“And I’m so pissed about it. I want to… I want to strangle him for being so damn annoying.

And today, out of nowhere, he decides to walk into my office and, instead of acting like a normal human being and talking to me, he ruins my meeting.

Also, he just put in leave on my behalf without even bothering to ask me, and booked a spa day for me.

Like he just decided I needed a break and acted on it like a bossy husband. ”

“So, your problem is… he kissed you like that, avoided you, acted completely indifferent, and now he’s butting into your job by sending you on a spa trip instead of giving you another super-sexy kiss. That’s why you’re angry?” Ishika teased, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“No. Don’t be ridiculous,” Mahika snapped defensively, though a faint blush coloured her cheeks.

“Oh. My. God.” Ishika smirked, “You’re angry he didn’t try to go beyond kissing.”

“Seriously, I’m not angry because of that,” she growled, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably as her cheeks turned an even brighter pink.

“As you say,” Ishika snorted. “And your genius response to his no-repeat-kiss act is a wardrobe ambush?”

“Yup,” Mahika huffed. “He deserves a bit of mental torture to shake up his ridiculously perfect life. I ordered a ton of bright, pastel-coloured shirts and suits from that designer place he loves so much. They’re arriving tonight.

Sandhya Ma will bring the packages up, unpack and arrange everything, and move the old ones to storage. ”

Ishika burst into another fit of laughter. “What is wrong with you two? Toddlers with credit cards. That’s what you both are. Mahi, all of this is just hate-flavoured foreplay.”

“It is not foreplay!” Mahika shot back, throwing her head back in exasperation. “We used to hate each other. And now… now all that hate has diluted into some pathetic attempt at neutrality. I just wanted him to act normal around me after the kiss!”

“That,” Ishika said smugly, pointing at her, “is not neutral territory. All the crap you both are doing like seducing, hijacking meetings, sabotaging smoothies, sending your so-called enemy a scrap of cloth as a gift so she can relax… babe, that’s not neutral.

That’s I-want-to-get-into-your-pants territory. ”

“I don’t give a damn about any of that!” Mahika hissed, her voice almost venomous. “I hate how he makes me feel. As if I don’t even matter to him. As if I don’t affect him. And that’s what is making me mad. He is living his life normally as if nothing happened, while I’m just…”

“Trying to get his attention,” Ishika cut in, raising a brow.

Mahika stayed silent and tightened the scarf around her neck.

“Oh, please.” Ishika waved her hand dramatically. “Can we drop the whole ‘he’s unaffected by me’ routine?”

Mahika narrowed her eyes. “What’s your point, Ishi?”

“My point…” Ishika said, poking her shoulder, “…is that Vikram is not as unaffected by you as he’s letting you think.

That man sent you a bikini. The scrap of fabric that’s basically illegal in public.

And then he booked the entire spa so no one else could see you in it.

Girl, that man’s not even pretending anymore.

Let me repeat that… he wanted to see you in it.

That is not enemy energy, Mahi. That is I-want-you-to-ruin-me energy. ”

Mahika opened her mouth, then closed it.

“Even you know I’m right,” Ishika said smugly. “Even you want to climb him like a tree. Come on, admit it.”

“Get out of my head, Ishi.” Mahika gave an over-the-top sigh. “I can’t stand you.”

“And I can’t stand you,” Ishika shot back, looping their arms together.

“You don’t have to say it out loud. Your face is doing all the talking. Now, come on. Let’s go soak ourselves in overpriced oils and pretend you’re not mentally undressing your husband every day.”

Mahika sniffed indignantly. “I am not mentally undressing him. I’m mentally strangling him. Totally different activity.”

“Strangling... shirtless?” Ishika smirked.

Mahika groaned. “Shut up! Let’s just go to the spa. And there better be coffee.”

“Do you really think there will be?” Ishika asked, her eyes hopeful.

Mahika didn’t respond. She already knew the answer.

Sure enough, the spa receptionist greeted them with a blissful smile while holding two tall glasses of some vile green juice. Mahika stared at it as if it might be radioactive.

“Wonderful,” she said flatly. “Just freaking wonderful.”