AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Raashi scanned the room and the few inhabitants scattered around the largish hall. “So, this is some kind of secret society? A cult? A secret handshake kinda deal?”
Harsh barked a laugh. “Hardly. It’s a restaurant owned by someone who understands the need for privacy.”
“How come the families don’t know of it?” She was fascinated by the idea of a place where no one could find her. No one she knew that was.
“They keep their client list short and exclusive. The people who come know better than to broadcast it.” Harsh shrugged. “It runs opposite to their need for privacy and space.”
It was marvelous. She took in the minimalist décor and the dim lighting. Everything was aimed towards offering comfort, seclusion, and the absolute joy of non-discovery.
“How did you hear of this place?” she asked Harsh. When she looked at him it was to realise he was watching her. Very closely. She flushed slightly under that steady scrutiny.
“My friend owns it.” He pulled out a squashed pack of cigarettes from the front of his jeans and tapped one out. He held out the box to her, but she shook her head.
“No bad habits, Rash?” he asked, grinning around the cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth.
“I do have the drinking and talking rubbish problem,” she offered, like a delinquent giving in to peer pressure.
Harsh laughed, blowing a perfect smoke ring into the air. It was a good laugh, a wonderful laugh even. It made her feel warm and squishy inside. Very little made her feel warm and squishy.
“We all have that problem, Rash. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“You know, Kodela,” she said. “You’re not all bad.”
He smiled. The warm and squishy feeling inside her turned slightly molten. “You’re not all bad either, Rash.”
Seventeen
HARSH
She was a pocket size version of dynamite. You needed to handle her right or she’d blow, shattering you to smithereens with the impact. But when you got it right, man the thrill was something else. Was that her attraction, he mused? The challenge?
He watched her swallow the last bite of her pork bao, her pink tongue darting out to lick her lower lip. Lust slammed through him, making him bobble his cigarette and almost set fire to himself. He put it out before he could do any more damage.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked, reaching for the biryani and heaping a little mound of it on to her plate.
His stomach grumbled as he looked from his quinoa salad to her buffet like spread. The woman had the appetite of a truck driver and was completely unashamed of it. He fucking loved it. He was sick and tired of people picking at a lettuce leaf in front of him. He looked at his quinoa salad again. No lettuce but pretty much the same principle.
“Share?” he asked, pointing at the biryani bowl.
Raashi grinned, shoving the entire bowl across at him. “Wondered how long it would take for you to cave. I figured you’d last longer than this.”
“You are the devil,” he said, pointing a fork at her. “I’m going to need an extra hour at the gym to work this off.”
She made a pfft noise, not seeming very bothered by his travails. Why would she be anyway? This woman was his biggest travail.
He pffted back at her, even as he served himself a little biryani. It was nothing compared to the mountain on her plate, but still it was something. His tastebuds came alive as the fragrance of the rice wafted up to him.
“What’s your deal?” she asked, scraping up more biryani to shovel into the bottomless pit that was her stomach.
“My deal?” Harsh took a smaller bite of his, moaning as the flavours exploded in his mouth.
“Your deal,” she repeated. “Why are you-“
But whatever she’d been about to say died a premature death as her gaze locked on something behind him. Harsh frowned, turning to see what had gotten her attention.
Not something. Someone.
As he watched, the spoon in Raashi’s hand started to tremble, grains of rice falling off and raining down on to her plate. Her face was bone white, her eyes wide, pupils blown as she stared at the man seated in the far end of the room.
