Heat flared beneath her skin. She straightened, jaw tight, pulse racing, refusing to look at him or give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Damn this man for always pushing her buttons.
Before she could retaliate, her grandfather spoke up.
“Are you both fighting again?” he asked.
Before she could reply, Akash said, “Why would we fight? We’ve just met after so long.”
Her grandfather studied her and then him before saying, “Good. You are both important to me, and you know how much I dislike you arguing.”
“I can’t help it if she gets aggravated with me over everything,” Akash said cheekily.
“I get aggravated at you for existing. Plain and simple.”
“Children,” her grandfather hissed. “Can you both behave for once?”
Akash raised his hands. “Apologies. I will try and be good.”
When her grandfather looked at her, she lowered her chin. He gave each of them a pointed look before turning away and resuming his conversation with Raashi. He’d seen her and Akash bicker more times than she cared to remember, and the last thing she needed was to set him off, especially not now, and definitely not where Akash was concerned.
Her grandfather was inexplicably fond of him, something she’d never understood. But she was going to have an important meeting with him soon, one she’d been preparing for meticulously. She needed him calm, focused, and nowhere near defensive about Akash. Hence, for the rest of the night, she was going to talk to everyone but Akash. She wasn’t going to let him ruin her mood again.
2
Akash Karia took a sip of his wine, studying the woman seated beside him. He smiled. Shauna had deliberately avoided looking in his direction for the past ten minutes, her attention fixed intently on the story her elder brother Sameer was narrating. But Akash could see the way her fingers clenched and unclenched around the stem of her wine glass, and the restless way her knee was bouncing under the table.
Amusement curled inside him. He knew he’d managed to rile her up again. Shauna Sehgal moved through the world like an ice queen—poised, superior, and untouchable. Hence, it pleased him more than it should that he was the one person who could crack her cold, immaculate façade.
He really shouldn’t enjoy riling her. Shouldn’t take satisfaction in seeing her worked up because of him. In fact, he ought to stay the fuck away from her. He’d tried for years. Yet he’d failed spectacularly every single time. He exhaled slowly as he studied her.
The ink-blue strappy dress hugged her curves perfectly. She pushed her chair back and crossed her legs. The hem of her dress slipped higher, revealing long, tanned legs and a temptingsweep of smooth skin. His gaze followed the movement before lifting to her face. High, sculpted cheekbones gave her face a natural elegance. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes were framed by thick lashes. Her makeup was understated yet flawless. Her eyes looked darker tonight, her lips painted with a deep rose gloss that caught the light. Her hair was swept back from her face, exposing the graceful line of her neck and shoulders. Shauna wore her poise like a second skin.
He inhaled, and immediately her perfume invaded his senses, floral, sharp, and spicy, just like her.
Dangerous. She was absolutely dangerous.
Shauna Sehgal was the storm he’d never been able to outrun. The one woman who’d haunted his thoughts ever since he’d laid eyes on her at Sheena and Rajiv’s wedding reception in Goa six years ago.
He had just landed from London and headed straight to the hotel where Sheena was getting married. He’d been making his way toward the beach where the ceremony was being held when he’d turned a corner, and there she was, dressed in a rust-orange lehenga, sunlight catching in her dark waves, the sea glittering behind her. He had literally stopped walking.
She’d been a vision. Shauna Sehgal had been the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She still was.
But it wasn’t just her beauty that had undone him then. It was herfire. Her spark. That bold, bossy, icy confidence that said she knew her place in the world and feared nothing and no one.
They’d been introduced at the wedding, and her twin, Rhea, had kept in touch with him in London as well. Both sisters were studying there then, just like he was, and they’d met up a few times. Those casual hangouts had soon blossomed into an easy friendship between the three of them. He’d learned their dreams, shared his own hopes, and somewhere along the way, both girls had begun to mean something to him.
While Rhea had soon become a dear friend, Shauna… she was something else. Her wit and sass kept him on his toes, and her laughter lingered in his mind long after their conversations ended. There was a quiet pull in the way she looked at him sometimes, a flash of curiosity in her eyes that made his heart beat a little too fast. Soon he’d begun to wonder if maybe—just maybe—she felt that same impossible spark that flared to life when they were together. Slowly, almost foolishly, he’d even begun to hope if he could make her a part of his future.
But then the truth of his past had come crashing into his life, and with it came the sharp realization that he could never have her. Like a fool, he’d rushed into dating another woman, hoping to forget her. It hadn’t lasted long.
And Shauna? She’d turned out to be far different from what he’d imagined her to be. He still remembered that one conversation he’d overheard between the sisters. A conversation that had changed his life. He’d heard his name on Shauna’s lips, followed by a dismissive comment that had cut straight through his heart. And from then on, his tangled, unfinished relationship with Shauna had grown bitter and complicated.
It still shocked him how Shauna had changed from a woman who once laughed with him into someone who seemed determined to hate him. She belittled everything he said, took offense at everything he did, and wielded her disdain like a sharpened blade aimed directly at him. And he was not the type to back down from a fight, especially with her.
Trading insults whenever their paths crossed had quickly become their twisted version of normal. He should’ve been offended by her constant jabs. He should have ignored her and moved on. Instead, he found himself seeking out every opportunity to rile her up. Watching her eyes ignite with irritation whenever he pushed the right buttons… God, it was addictive. Their bickering had become a game he couldn’t stopplaying, a battle he enjoyed far more than he should. They’d been at war for so long that he barely remembered what it felt like to speak to her normally.
Butthatnight in Singapore…
One second, they’d been at odds like always, and the next, he’d found himself staring at her in a way he hadn’t in a long time. Whether it had been the magic of the night, the drinks he’d had, or simply her—her fire, her sass, her beauty—he’d let himself be pulled toward her, allowed himself to feel too much for her and crave even more. And something in the way she’d looked at him had drawn him in, made him cross a line he never should’ve crossed.
