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Akash chuckled, the sound vibrating against her hand. She chuckled as well.
“If you two are done fooling around during office hours, could you care to join us in the conference room?”
She looked to the side and froze. Rohan’s dark gaze was latched on her. His eyes coasted over her from top to toe, slowly, deliberately. Her whole body came to life under his appraisal. His eyes flicked between Akash’s hand clutching her hair and her hand on his mouth. His gaze remained there, hot and heavy. She dropped her hand as if burned.
Rohan’s jaw hardened, and he walked away in the direction of the conference room.
“Fuck.” Akash swore. “We totally lost track of time. Let’s go. He’s been a grouch the whole of last week, and I don’t want to upset him anymore.”
Akash quickly collected his laptop and notebook and rushed inside the conference room. Jiya took a sip of water to gather herself. Her whole body felt like it had caught fire. Like with one look, Rohan had lit a match to her, and she was burning under the flames. This was not good.
When she reached the conference room, all the seats were taken, except the one right at the end of the table, opposite Rohan’s and right next to Akash’s. Twelve of her colleagues were seated around the table, their laptops open and their eyes on the presentation slide open on the screen.
Rohan’s eyes tracked her as she sat down and put her plastic cup of juice in front of her. He stared at the cup for a second and then at her.
“Now that Miss Deewan has graced us with her presence, we can start. Mr. Modi, please begin,” Rohan commanded, dipping his teabag in a cup.
Each time she’d seen him in the last week, he’d been holding a mug in his hand. It was like he was addicted to green tea.
Their CFO began his presentation. Jiya had several interactions with him since she’d joined, and she knew he was very capable. She listened to Paras Modi as he carefully detailed all the investments they were planning to make for their clients in the coming quarter.
She took notes while he spoke, but each time she looked up, Rohan’s intense, deep grey eyes were on her. Tremors worked their way down her spine. She had to force herself to focus on the ongoing presentation. But it was hard. So hard, especially when the temptation to stop and stare back at him was growing stronger by the second.
A few minutes later, someone asked a question. Rohan’s attention focused on the speaker, and she finally allowed herself to study him. He was sans his jacket today; a pristine white shirt was stretched across his fabulous chest. The sleeves were rolled up, giving her a glimpse of strong forearms, lightly dusted with hair. His sharp cheekbones were lined with day-old scruff, adding to his sex appeal. His hair was pushed back on his forehead, and he was subconsciously twirling a pen in one hand, while the other rubbed against his lower lip—a frequent habit of his, she’d noted. His fingers were long and strong, and she wondered how they would feel coasting down her throat, going lower, down her… His eyes flicked to hers. She flushed. Even the tips of her ears burned. The look he gave her was intense…as if he was privy to her scandalous thoughts.
Damn.
His eyes remained on her. She recognized his interest in her and reveled in it. But that was something to be analyzed later when she was alone. She looked around, and everyone else was engrossed in the presentation except her.
She brought her attention back to the projector screen, but she knew…she knew that his gaze was on her.
Nonetheless, she ignored his searing gaze and him, and the buzz under her skin caused by him. She couldn’t afford to get distracted right now when the CFO was presenting their tasks for the next quarter.
“Shit! My pen stopped working. Do you have another?” Akash whispered from beside her. “Give me one, please.”
“Here you go,” she whispered, handing her pen to him.
Rohan’s loud voice boomed. “Miss Deewan, would you like to add anything to Mr. Modi’s investment suggestions?
All heads turned to her. Even Paras Modi looked a bit puzzled at Rohan’s question.
Jiya gulped. Rohan was deliberately putting her in the spotlight when he didn’t need to. There were other far more senior people he ought to have posed the question to, if at all. But for some Goddamned reason, he’d asked it of her. She chinned up. She knew her work. She wouldn’t let anyone get the better of her, not even him.
“I think we should shift five percent of our investments to Rudraksh Group.”
“You think so?” Rohan queried. “Explain then.”
“They have recently bought a diamond mine in South Africa, and their growth rate in the coming months is going to double if we believe what the analysts have to say.”
“That actually is a viable suggestion,” Akash pitched in.
His words started an entire debate. Various team members added their views, but since she had already said her piece, she remained quiet and listened.
Rohan leaned forward and spoke firmly, ending the ongoing conversation. “Let’s give Miss Deewan the benefit of the doubt and shift the last five percent of the investments to Rudraksh Group instead.”
“We can do that,” Paras said. “But, Rohan, this is a risk.”
“A good one, I think. My main agenda is always to make money for myself and my clients. And if there’s even the slightest chance of making more money, then I’m willing to take that risk. Also, I happen to have heard the same noise about Rudraksh as Miss Deewan. Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, the general consensus of the team is also to go with them. So, let’s do it.”
