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He dragged her phone out of her hand and sent the pictures to a number.
His mouth twisted looking at her frown. “Proof that I was providing you security. I’ll send an additional invoice for this service.”
Her cheeks heated at the word service. “Let me know how much I owe,” she said. “I want to settle everything before the cruise.”
His eyes flashed, but his mouth was twisted into a lazy smile. “Sure,” he drawled. “There’s a lot more to be settled before the cruise ends.”
Her cheeks heated knowing he was talking about their deal.
“Welcome toSunrise,” a woman greeted.
They stopped at a winery to have lunch. The restaurant was small but the view was stunning. With the turquoise blue ocean in the front and a picturesque white with bright blue top building structures in the back it was picture worthy.
“Let me take the picture, madam,” the hostess offered after taking their order.
Suppressing an exasperated sigh, Sitara handed her the phone. Once again, she smiled, while the hostess took a picture of her and Aarav seated together with the backdrop of the white with blue top building structures.
“Ugh!” she said. “No more pictures.”
Putting her phone back into her purse, she enjoyed the simple meal with a glass of wine. The wine was delicious but potent.
After only one glass, she was pleasantly buzzed. Suddenly, it didn’t seem all that bad that she was spending the day with the jerk who broke her heart. She watched him as he offered to take pictures of an old couple and a group of old ladies who sat on the next tables in the winery.
“You are not all that bad,” she said when he sat back.
“Thanks,” he said drily.
She turned down another glass of wine and stuck to just food.
“No, really,” she continued. “I remember you always used to help others. All my neighbors, especially the older ones loved you.” He would fix any small electrical issues or help with minor maintenance at the neighbors’ homes.
“I recall you hated taking my help initially,” he drawled.
Her cheeks heated recalling how he had deliberately and often harassed her with petty complaints saying something or other needed to be fixed in her home. He did it to force conversation and proximity.
“That’s because you were deliberately a jerk to me!”
His mouth twisted into an amused smile. “True.”
“Just so you know, you haven’t changed much,” she said.
“Neither did you.”
She glared at him even as she felt weirdly nostalgic. It was as though the past seven years didn’t happen and they were still together exchanging banter.
Damnit, it must be the wine.
“Where are we going next?” she asked, wanting to cut off going down the memory lane.
They spent the rest of the afternoon going to a lighthouse, a cliff, an old temple and a beach that had stunning limestone formation. It was evening, when he dropped off the bike and they walked along the narrow, cobbled streets of a market. The place was relatively crowded, but she insisted on going because she wanted to buy mementos for her research team and Dr. Pathak and Preeti.
She bought mementos in a couple of stores. When she thought she was done shopping, her eyes got caught on something on a jewelry shop window display.
She sneaked a look at Aarav. He was standing casually, but she could sense he was alert and looking around. Rolling her eyes at his overreaction, she looked at him.
“I… uh… need to use the bathroom in the store. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He looked towards the jewelry store and then at her. “Ten minutes,” he said.
