were amused and caressing as he looked at her, and she felt her knees go just a little bit wobbly.
‘You think I’m asking you out because I want to be your buddy ?’
‘Something like that,’ she muttered—and gave an undignified little squawk as she was efficiently swept into his arms.
‘A buddy?’ Nikhil said. ‘Hmm, that’s an idea. Purely platonic, right?’
Shweta could feel her heart hammering, and pressed so close against his chest she was sure he could feel it too. When he bent his head to kiss her lips she tensed, going rigid in his arms. He kissed her very lightly, as if just tasting her lips, but when she unconsciously leaned towards him the kiss grew harder, more demanding. The sensation was exquisite, and Shweta felt positively bereft when he drew away.
She took a couple of quick breaths. ‘Not purely platonic, then?’ she asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
‘Not platonic,’ he said, and his slow, incredibly sexy smile set her heart pounding away like a trip-hammer on steroids. ‘That OK with you?’
It was more than OK, but Shweta couldn’t say so without sounding impossibly over-keen. Trying to play it cool, she gave him a flippant smile. ‘I can live with it,’ she said—and gasped as he pulled her close for another scorching-hot kiss.
‘I’ll see you in Mumbai, then,’ he said.
And before she could gather her senses enough to reply he was off.
Shweta watched him stride into the hotel. So much for there being no chemistry between them, she thought as a feeling of pure euphoria swept over her. Somewhere at the back of her head she knew that she shouldn’t rush into a relationship blindly, but just now she wanted to enjoy the moment without bothering about the future.
FOUR
It was more than two weeks after she’d returned to Mumbai that Shweta managed to meet Nikhil for dinner. He’d been out of town for a few days, and then she’d had a project to finish within some pretty crazy deadlines. After that, she’d gone down to Pune to meet her dad and her aunt. Now that she was finally back Nikhil had reserved a table at a rather swanky new restaurant at the Mahalakshmi race course for Saturday evening.
‘Where are you off to?’ Priya asked, lounging on her bed as Shweta made yet another attempt to get her eyeliner on straight.
‘Nowhere special.’ She wasn’t sure why she was keeping her dinner date with Nikhil a secret, but she hadn’t told Priya earlier and it would be more than a little embarrassing to tell her now. ‘I’m meeting a couple of old college friends for drinks, and we might go out for dinner afterwards.’
‘Can I come with you?’ Priya asked. ‘Rahul’s out of town, and I’m so bored... Maybe one of your college friends could help cheer me up?’
‘Sorry,’ Shweta said, shooting Priya an amused glance over her shoulder. ‘They’re not your type, and we have a lot of catching up to do. I’ll tell you what—I’ll lend you some of my DVDs. You can watch a nice movie.’
‘You have rubbish taste in movies,’ Priya said moodily, going over to the drawer where Shweta kept her DVD collection. ‘It’s all such grim, arty stuff—no chick flicks, and you don’t even have a good action movie in this lot.’ She watched Shweta as she outlined her mouth with lipliner and proceeded to colour it in with lipstick.
‘You’re meeting a guy ,’ she said. Shweta glared at her as she broke into a wide smile.
‘Of course— that’s why you don’t want me to come along! I haven’t seen you make so much effort over your face in months, and you changed in and out of three dresses before you chose this one. Who is it?’
‘No one you know,’ Shweta said, slamming her make-up drawer shut and squirting a last bit of perfume over herself.
‘Nonsense. I know everything about you.’ Priya thought for a bit. ‘I know! It’s that hottie from the Kerala trip. What was his name again? Naveen? Nirav? No—Nikhil. That’s it—you’re meeting
‘You think I’m asking you out because I want to be your buddy ?’
‘Something like that,’ she muttered—and gave an undignified little squawk as she was efficiently swept into his arms.
‘A buddy?’ Nikhil said. ‘Hmm, that’s an idea. Purely platonic, right?’
Shweta could feel her heart hammering, and pressed so close against his chest she was sure he could feel it too. When he bent his head to kiss her lips she tensed, going rigid in his arms. He kissed her very lightly, as if just tasting her lips, but when she unconsciously leaned towards him the kiss grew harder, more demanding. The sensation was exquisite, and Shweta felt positively bereft when he drew away.
She took a couple of quick breaths. ‘Not purely platonic, then?’ she asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
‘Not platonic,’ he said, and his slow, incredibly sexy smile set her heart pounding away like a trip-hammer on steroids. ‘That OK with you?’
It was more than OK, but Shweta couldn’t say so without sounding impossibly over-keen. Trying to play it cool, she gave him a flippant smile. ‘I can live with it,’ she said—and gasped as he pulled her close for another scorching-hot kiss.
‘I’ll see you in Mumbai, then,’ he said.
And before she could gather her senses enough to reply he was off.
Shweta watched him stride into the hotel. So much for there being no chemistry between them, she thought as a feeling of pure euphoria swept over her. Somewhere at the back of her head she knew that she shouldn’t rush into a relationship blindly, but just now she wanted to enjoy the moment without bothering about the future.
FOUR
It was more than two weeks after she’d returned to Mumbai that Shweta managed to meet Nikhil for dinner. He’d been out of town for a few days, and then she’d had a project to finish within some pretty crazy deadlines. After that, she’d gone down to Pune to meet her dad and her aunt. Now that she was finally back Nikhil had reserved a table at a rather swanky new restaurant at the Mahalakshmi race course for Saturday evening.
‘Where are you off to?’ Priya asked, lounging on her bed as Shweta made yet another attempt to get her eyeliner on straight.
‘Nowhere special.’ She wasn’t sure why she was keeping her dinner date with Nikhil a secret, but she hadn’t told Priya earlier and it would be more than a little embarrassing to tell her now. ‘I’m meeting a couple of old college friends for drinks, and we might go out for dinner afterwards.’
‘Can I come with you?’ Priya asked. ‘Rahul’s out of town, and I’m so bored... Maybe one of your college friends could help cheer me up?’
‘Sorry,’ Shweta said, shooting Priya an amused glance over her shoulder. ‘They’re not your type, and we have a lot of catching up to do. I’ll tell you what—I’ll lend you some of my DVDs. You can watch a nice movie.’
‘You have rubbish taste in movies,’ Priya said moodily, going over to the drawer where Shweta kept her DVD collection. ‘It’s all such grim, arty stuff—no chick flicks, and you don’t even have a good action movie in this lot.’ She watched Shweta as she outlined her mouth with lipliner and proceeded to colour it in with lipstick.
‘You’re meeting a guy ,’ she said. Shweta glared at her as she broke into a wide smile.
‘Of course— that’s why you don’t want me to come along! I haven’t seen you make so much effort over your face in months, and you changed in and out of three dresses before you chose this one. Who is it?’
‘No one you know,’ Shweta said, slamming her make-up drawer shut and squirting a last bit of perfume over herself.
‘Nonsense. I know everything about you.’ Priya thought for a bit. ‘I know! It’s that hottie from the Kerala trip. What was his name again? Naveen? Nirav? No—Nikhil. That’s it—you’re meeting
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