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He stayed glued to Maya, drawing strength from her embrace. Tears shone in both their eyes. As they pulled back, the look in his eyes had shifted, altered by what passed between them. He wiped her tears with his thumb.
“I miss her, Maya.” His voice cracked, fresh tears pooling.
“Ssh,” she soothed, wiping his tears, her palm damp against his cheek as she cupped his face. Her gaze dropped to his quivering lips and something twisted inside her.
She didn't know who moved first. Their lips met tentatively, then hungrily as the dam burst. He fisted her hair, deepening the kiss and she melted against him, needing this as much as he did. They were both unprepared, yet it happened in the most natural way, forging their connection deeper than before. His mouth slanted over hers, their tears mixing as longing overtook them. She had never felt more complete than in this moment, in his arms, kissing his sorrow away.
Time faded away as they lost themselves in each other. All that existed was the heat of their entwined forms, and the exquisite taste of this long-awaited intimacy.
The sharp ring of the phone broke their heated kiss, and they pulled apart. Maya felt knocked out and dizzy. She strode to the table and quickly answered a work call. Ranveer made his way back to the table. Things were getting better every day. Maya had taken a step again, and it couldn't have been better than this. While she continued to talk to her colleague, he took the opportunity to admire her. She was purposely avoiding his gaze. The touch of her fingers in his hair still tickled his body, and the taste of her lips lingered in his mouth. She hung up in a few minutes.
“You kiss like you own me,” he teased almost immediately.
Maya swallowed her embarrassment.
“We should order the food,” she muttered, checking the items on the menu and ignoring his teasing. Ranveer smirked and decided not to bother her more. She needed time to absorb this. So be it.
*******************
Their return journey back to Paradise was again quiet. Maya took this time to re-evaluate everything she had heard from Ranveer today about his past. It covered a major portion of his life, but she knew there was more to it. Forcing him to answer all of her questions at once wouldn't work. They could continue this conversation later. Even Ranveer needed time to settle his mood. It was not an easy task for him to open up about the most sensitive part of his life. She was glad he didn't hold back, as if he himself wanted to tell her everything and ease his grief.
“Mumma slept?” Maya asked Laura, who met her at the door.
Ranveer waited with her.
“Yes. Ma’am is asleep. The nurse is with her.”
“Thank you, Laura.”
As they stepped into the house, Maya turned to him. If they left without addressing the memories of their today’s kiss, it would linger in their next conversations too. But she was too confused to talk to him now. She took a turn to her room when he held her hand. She froze.
“We have enough distance between us already, don’t let the kiss widen it more,” he mumbled. “I know that was in the spur of the moment. It was meant to comfort me, to take my tears away, to soothe my pain. And it worked. So, don’t let it snatch away what we have started building between us.”
She swallowed hard. He talked openly about it. Such a significant change in him now, unlike before. And it also showed how desperate he was to make their relationship work.
“I am not even thinking about the kiss,” she lied.
His mouth twisted ruefully.
“And don’t think it will speed up my decision for the proposal. I have many more things to ask you, to know from you.”
Ranveer nodded.
“I am not going anywhere, neither are you. We will talk.”
“We will talk,” she reiterated and finally slipped into her room.
*****************
After meeting her mother in the morning and spending some time with her, Maya made her way to the dining table for breakfast. She had been told that Ranveer Malhotra was waiting for her there. Though she was unprepared to see him again this morning over coffee, she didn’t decline his invitation. Plus, it would be much better than answering her mother’s questions about how the dinner with him was last night. Every time her mother asked her that, her face glowed, remembering their passionate kiss.
She watched him pouring some coffee for himself at the table, while Laura was discussing his schedule for the day. But as soon as he noticed her coming, he cut off Laura and asked her to leave them alone. Maya tried not to make it obvious on her face that she was still nervous.
“You have a very good staff. All of them efficient in what they do. Aman, Laura, Aisha, everyone. I cannot find one single defect in any of them.”
“I pay them that way, and if they wouldn’t have been efficient, I would never hire them.”
His arrogance was back.
