Chapter Six
Nathan
Hardly anything shocks me anymore. Arya’s answer does, however, raising my eyebrows to my hairline. She tears her gaze away, blinking rapidly at the tablecloth.
“He left me,” she utters so low that I almost don’t hear it. “Decided he didn’t want to marry me.”
A man who doesn’t want her wouldn’t react the way he did minutes ago. “He regrets it.”
Glistening brown eyes clash with mine, frowning hard. Her pouty lips part as she denies it. “I don’t think so.”
“After today, he’s already plotting how to win you back.”
“No way.” Her silky hair ripples around her round face as she shakes her head. “We’ve been over for seven months. He never once reached out. He only did so today because we ran into each other. If that’s not all, he was laughing with a woman when I saw him. Probably on a date.”
“Even if he was, he’s no longer interested in her. At the very least, he’s second-guessing his decision.”
“Because of jealousy?”
“He referred to himself as your fiancé after realizing you were with me.”
She bites the inside of her cheek, mulling it over. Another shake of her head as she shrugs. “It doesn’t matter.”
“So, you wouldn’t take him back if he begged you for a second chance?”
“No,” she reveals with a resolute jut of her chin. “I will never be able to trust or believe him like I used to. His being jealous implies he thinks of me as his toy that he doesn’t want to share because someone else wants it.”
“Hmmm.”
“What?”
“You keep surprising me.” I lean back.
She leans forward, holding my gaze. “Why?”
“Most women will assume his jealousy means he still cares.”
“I guess I’m not most women.”
The little I’ve heard about Arya Chopra in passing over the years is through Iris, who is best friends with her older sister, Bianca.
The sisters haven’t been on talking terms for more than two years, ever since Bianca married her husband, Dash Stern, and emancipated from her family.
Apparently, Arya played a huge role in it.
What? I can’t remember.
They painted her as a spoiled and selfish girl who put her happiness over her sister’s.
The soft-spoken woman sitting in front of me seems nothing like it. I can’t imagine her hurting someone purposely, much less her own blood. Perhaps, at one point, she was those two things, but I’m not seeing it now.
The way she talks sounds like she’s wise.
Gorgeous, too.
Straight and shoulder-length brown hair frames a round face with big, beautiful eyes, plump and high cheekbones that curve into full, pouty lips with a perfect Cupid’s bow on top. A good girl next door with an air of innocence.
Why the fuck her average and nerdy-looking ex would dump her is a mystery scientists need to solve.
“What do you think?” she curiously questions. “Was there only jealousy on his face? Did it feel like more?”
“You sound like you’re second-guessing yourself.” Her shoulders bunch with tension. I soften my tone. “Don’t. When he comes to see you, which he will, don’t run and hide. Face him head-on and make it known that he made a terrible mistake.”
Her fingers reach for the glass of water, idly stroking the stem instead of picking it up. “Uh-uh. I am never seeing him again.”
“I bet you thought the same as you stepped out of your house this morning. Look what happened.”
“It was a coincidence.”
“Prepare for more,” I state, drumming my fingers on the table. “There’s no avoiding an ex when you live in the same city.”
“How are you dealing with it?”
“Pardon?”
“I heard about your broken engagement.”
She turns the tables, making me tense now. Seems I’m not safe from talking about my past with even strangers. There’s a bite to my voice as I quip, “Heard or looked up online after we met the last time?”
An embarrassed hue hits her high cheekbones. The same shade as the night on the rooftop at the club, after she realized she was talking out loud.
Bossy… she had called me.
It had amused me.
I’m far from it now.
Her tongue peeks out as she nervously wets her bottom lip before replying, “My friends told me. They read the news because it was everywhere.”
Crossing my arms on the table, I bend closer until I can make out the small mole on her neck. Slim and delicate that my hand will make one perfect collar around it.
“I’m curious… why was I a topic of conversation?” She grows flustered, aching to stare anywhere but at me. I hold her entranced. “What else did you all discuss about me?”
“Nothing,” she gasps too quickly to be the truth. “Nothing inappropriate.”
“So something definitely inappropriate.”
She’s got the most stunning and longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen. They flutter, trying to hide the shyness in her brown orbs. My intrigue heightens with each second that she takes to avoid answering.
I should let her off the hook.
Then again, when have I ever done what I should?
“Tell me, Arya.” I smirk. “Don’t you think I have the right to know?”
She swallows, the blush creeping to the top of her chest. “They were just jesting. We were praising how you were such a gentleman for carrying me to the cab.”
“I’m far from a gentleman, angel.”
Her soft exhale teases my mouth, reminding me I’ve leaned closer. I inch back, taken aback by my body’s inadvertent move.
“Why would you help me twice if you aren’t a gentleman, Nathan?”
“Maybe I have an ulterior motive.”
“What would that be?”
“I’ll share after you confess what inappropriate things you talked with your friends about me.” I dangle the bait, wanting to see if she’ll bite.
It’s been a while since someone stirred a desire to verbally spar inside me. Or mildly fascinated me.
My days and nights have become monotonous. Except for one all-consuming thought that entices me every now and then. Alcohol is the only thing that subdues it.
A tiny smile finally peeks out on her lips, which she tries to conceal by biting her thumb and glancing down.
It’s too late because it’s burned into my mind.
I was wrong.
Arya isn’t gorgeous.
She’s breathtaking with a natural sensuality.
Yeah, her ex is definitely coming crawling back. I’ll bet all my billions on it. The question is how firm she’ll remain in her stance not to take him back, given how heartbroken she is over the loss of him.
“I don’t have to because I’ve already figured it out,” she counters smugly. “Well, your ulterior motive for right now.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense, angel.”
“You don’t want to talk about your ex.” My amusement withers away. Her gaze softens in understanding. “I get it. Not everyone shares their woes with strangers. I only hope you have people you can lean on, like I have my friends.”
“What about your family?” I’m aware I’m being a hypocrite by coercing her to divulge personal things about her while keeping my emotions sealed tight.
She knows it as well, yet she keeps satisfying my curiosity. “My parents have been there for me.”
A bald-faced lie.
It’s all in the vanished smile on her face. In the stutter in her tone. In her clenched grip around the glass of water.
My conscience warns me to back off. What’s with the foreign need to make her lay her soul bare to me? However, my mouth has a mind of its own. “And Bianca?”
She tenses from head to toe, a shutter slamming down on her emotions. “I’ll share if you confess why you’re deflecting talking about your ex.”
Ah! I’ve finally hit a wall.
“Off-limits? Understood.” Our waiter chooses this moment to bring our food. “Perfect timing.”
I notice Arya relax from the corner of my eye.
Was there some truth to what Iris told me then? Is little Arya not as sweet and pure as she seems?
When we’re alone once more, I ask, “How’s your ankle?”
“It was a minor sprain,” she replies after finishing a bite of her salad. “It’s healed now.” Dabbing the corner of her mouth with the napkin, she meets my gaze. “Thank you for rescuing me that night. If you hadn’t been there…”
“You’re safe now.” I soothe her distress after a shudder passes through her. “The club should’ve had more bouncers keeping an eye on things.”
“I hope you didn’t get into any trouble with his group afterward.”
I take a sip of my coffee. “I had them kicked out.”
Later on, I gave the owner a piece of my mind.
“My friend was pretty certain they were underage.”
“She wasn’t wrong,” I confirm. “Their IDs were fake. One of them had the name Rabindranath Tagore.”
“You’re kidding?” she laughs, choking on her drink.
“I wish.”
“Who would name himself after a Nobel Prize laureate?”
“I bet he didn’t know it himself.”
“You may be right.” Her laughter slows down into a breathless giggle. “That’s just too funny.”
We finish the rest of our lunch in amicable silence. After I pay the bill, which she insists on paying half of and being promptly denied, I guide her out with my hand on the small of her back.[RK6]
Did she shiver or was it my imagination?
A relieved sigh escapes her when there’s no sign of her ex-fiancé.
He really did a number on her.
Like you’re doing any better.
Losing Iris was a harsh blow, but it isn’t the only one. It’s been an endless circle of misery and now it’s all culminated into one big wound.
Arya turns once we’re outside. The top of her head reaches just shy of my shoulders. Blinking up at me, she smiles.
It enchants me yet again.
“Thanks again, Nathan.” In a teasing voice, she rasps, “Ulterior motive or not, you are a gentleman.”
My lips twitch as I shake my head. “Want me to call a cab?”
“I drove here.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
She hefts her string purse higher on her arm. “You don’t have to.”
“Didn’t you call me bossy?”
Her cheeks pinken. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“Tell me where you’re parked, Arya.”
We fall into a stroll as she points to the very last SUV in the second row. We’re crossing to the other side when I see a car speeding toward us, no hint of slowing down.
Arya is staring ahead, oblivious to it.
She takes another step, straight into the path of the vehicle.
“Arya!” I grab her elbow, yanking her to me and flipping us around just as the driver races past into the traffic. “Motherfuck─”
A soft whimper pulls my focus from the road.
I look down at a wildly shaking Arya. Her head is buried against my chest as she fists the lapels of my jacket.
“Hey,” I rasp gently, stroking her back. “You’re okay. Shh…”
She continues to tremble in shock.
Wrapping both my arms around her, I hug her tightly until the last aftershock ebbs. Threading my fingers through her locks, I tip her head back. “Angel.”
She fixes her striking eyes on mine, the color as dark as melted chocolate.
I cup one side of her face, my thumb teasing her bottom lip. The skin is so cottony soft and plush. My teeth ache to take a bite.
The urge comes out of nowhere.
The fuck?
I release her, ready to step back, when she stretches up on her toes and presses her lips against mine. I’m swarmed by the scent of jasmine and vanilla as our bodies flush against each other’s. Her soft curves fit perfectly against my hard muscles.
I’ve barely processed her bold move when she shyly kisses my lips. A light peck that I feel in my bones.
It jolts me to my senses.
Spanning her waist with both my hands, I push her away.
Our eyes lock.
The second it dawns on her what I did, those round eyes go huge with mortification. “Oh my gosh!”
“Arya─”
“I… I’m so sorry.” Her eyes tear up, face going crimson. “I didn’t… I’m sorry.”
Without giving me a chance to utter a word, she turns on her heel and runs away.
I don’t chase after her.