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“It’s hard not to,” she said dryly. “Especially when your shirts just rip themselves off your body.”
Harsh laughed, the sound bursting out of him. Several people turned to look at them, smiling automatically. Even Raashi managed a reluctant smile.
His driver pulled up in front of them and he opened the car door, standing back for Raashi to get in. It took him a moment to realise she hadn’t expected him to open the door for her and had instead scurried around to the other side of the car, opened the door and gotten in. Leaving him standing like an idiot with an open car door in his hand.
“Umm, Rash.” He bent and poked his head into the car surprising Raashi while she was buckling herself in. “What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry, what?” She looked genuinely confused.
He slid in through the open door he still held and slammed it shut behind him, the plush quiet and dark of his car surrounding them.
“I was holding the door open for you!”
“Oh!” She frowned. “But why? My hands work. I can open my own doors.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you have to.”
She stared at him, her face a picture of puzzlement and something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on.
He leaned forward and tapped his driver on the shoulder. “Shankar Anna, Bar Q.”
Raashi’s frown deepened. “No. We have to go to Kodela House for the family dinner. Your family wants us to come straight there.”
Harsh leaned back in his seat, settling in more comfortably. “The first thing you’ll learn about me, Rash, is that I never do what my family wants.”
He put his hand over her face and gently shoved her back in her seat. “Get comfortable darling and stay buckled up. It’s going to be a wild ride.”
Sixteen
RAASHI
She sank into the seat behind her. They weren’t going to Kodela House? Some of the tension bracketing her shoulders eased at the thought of not having to face the press. A temporary reprieve, but she’d take anything she got.
She stared out of the window at the brightly lit storefronts that flashed by. Traffic was manic this time of night and their little cocoon of air-conditioned comfort felt perfect after the manic few days that had just passed. She was grateful for it, for not having to be ‘on’ for the public eye all the time. She had no idea how her sister did it. But she supposed love made people do weird things. She should know…
“Thinking deep thoughts there, Rash.”
Harsh’s gravelly baritone broke through her dangerous mental meanderings.
“What would you know about deep, Satan?” she snapped automatically, her little mental detour leaving her more shaken than she’d expected. “You have the emotional depth of a puddle.”
She saw it. The split second of hurt he masked before he smirked, his lips turning up in that derisive sneer that was detestably familiar.
“People do love splashing in puddles,” he drawled.
“I-“ she began, meaning to apologise but the car drew to a stop in a tiny, dark lane. The largish house they’d stopped in front of looked old and vacant. No lights were on inside the large bay windows and the curtains looked to be drawn.
“Let’s go,” Harsh said, getting out of the car.
“Umm.” Raashi stepped out on her side a lot more hesitantly. Her foot landed on the edge of a pothole and her ankle twisted slightly. “Shit!” she swore.
“Are you okay?” Harsh was by her side in an instant. He grabbed her flailing hand and held her upright.
She winced, straightening with his support and glancing at the abandoned house again. “Did you bring me here to kill me?” she asked, her doubts about the dodgy venue amplifying
“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “Now, stop throwing me off schedule. Let’s get inside. Chop chop.”
“Chop chop?” Raashi laughed, a ridiculous fit of giggles taking over. Giggles! She never giggled!
