Page 76 of Entangled Vows

“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’sexactlywhat 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. Youhavefeelings?”

“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 haveeveryright 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’mnotangry 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.”