Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Naina couldn’t help but notice that Tejas was oddly quiet the entire auto ride back to the office, that he didn’t say a word as they headed to the stuffy, dark archive room. He was clearly still mad at her. Well, as long as it didn’t affect their work together…
Naina flicked on the lights, and they got to work in silence, rifling through old homicide and murder cases. At least for five minutes, after which Tejas spoke, an edge to his voice. “Did it even matter to you?”
Naina forced herself to look up from the May 2010 section as Tejas continued, “Those two weeks. Those perfect two weeks that I never stopped thinking about. Did you even miss me after I left?”
After I left. Naina’s left eye pricked with a tear behind her glasses.
She thought back to their final night, when he’d touched her like he never had before, almost as though it were his unspoken parting gift to her.
If she had realized he would be gone by morning, she would have kissed him for longer.
Much longer. She’d have soaked in his scent, relished in the warmth of his skin on hers.
She hadn’t forgotten the sight of that empty hostel room or the taste of her tears as she cried her feelings into a blanket that still smelled like him. How could she?
But she’d had a flight to catch, a life in Bangalore to get back to, Appa and Anil and AKC to return to.
Tejas would never know that she’d faced the window with her silent sobs the entire flight back.
That she’d promised herself she would forget about Goa and Tejas and fall back into her workaholic ways because, damn it, that’s what people like Naina Shetty did.
They married their work, because nobody else loved them enough to stay.
Naina’s nostrils flared. “You were the one who disappeared before I woke up,” she reminded him.
“Because I couldn’t bear the thought of you walking away from me!” he exclaimed. “And we both know you wouldn’t have given me a second glance before leaving.”
“You know what?” Naina said irritably as she turned back to the archives. “We shouldn’t be talking about Goa right now. We’re at work.”
Tejas scoffed, and she heard him slam a drawer shut. “Just look at me, Naina.”
Naina pressed her eyes shut, exhaled, then whirled around to match his gaze.
He stood leaning against the shelf, his muscled arms folded and straining the fabric of his shirt.
She remembered those arms, not just from their summer fling, but from the other night.
And God, she missed being held by them, feeling the security that only came from someone’s solid, warm, loving embrace.
No one had held her like that since Goa—well, until Tejas did at karaoke night.
“All I’m asking for is closure,” he said, taking one step forward.
When she didn’t retreat, he took another step.
He raked a hand over his tousled curls, lowering his gaze to her lips.
“Tell me you don’t feel anything for me anymore.
Tell me you never did. That I was just some guy you got under to get over your ex. That you never—”
“Stop,” Naina breathed through clenched teeth. The first tear slid down her cheek. “We can’t do this. We shouldn’t. Not now.”
“Then when?” he urged. He followed the path of that tear down her cheek, the touch of his finger hot but gentle. “Please tell me what you’re thinking. I just need an answer, and”—his voice broke—“and then I’ll never bother you about this again. I promise.”
Naina looked up at him through her tears as he withdrew his finger from her cheek and stepped back to allow more distance between them. She licked her lips, noticing how his eyes followed the movement. “You want to know what I’m thinking?”
“Yes,” he whispered.
She was in a dangerous place, somewhere between stupid lust and soft concern.
Two emotions she should not be feeling for the coworker who could ruin her focus and break her heart if he wanted to.
But feelings were hard to fight—and for the first time in her life, all Naina wanted was to lose.
“The only thing I’m thinking,” she finally said, “is how I’ve never been kissed in the archive room. ”
Tejas’s brows furrowed. Whatever he’d expected her to say, this clearly wasn’t it. “You’ve never been kissed in the archive room,” he repeated.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Do you”—he rested a tentative hand beside her head, dipping his mouth to the side of her face—“want to be kissed in the archive room?”
She didn’t have it in herself to process his words; her senses had been entirely taken over by the woodsy scent of his aftershave, the scratch of his stubble on her cheek.
Tejas set his other hand beside her head, pinning her in place. “Naina Shetty,” he said, his voice a rumble against her ear, and fuck, her last name had never sounded this hot before, “do you want me to kiss you in the archive room?”
Naina couldn’t reply with words. Her brain had shut off the moment his breath had tickled her ear. All she could manage was a faint whimper and a tug at his tie, nudging him closer, bridging the gap between them.
This first kiss was nothing like the one from eighteen months ago.
No hesitation, no deliberating, no waiting for the other to respond.
This was urgent, desperate, borderline needy.
Naina’s fingers pulled on the front of Tejas’s shirt, her tongue moving against his with a ferocity she’d never known she had in her.
His hands found her hips, one hand curled protectively over the skin under her shirt, the other holding her steady against the shelf.
Fuck. Naina wanted—no, needed—more. More, more, more.
Her fingers moved lower to unbutton his shirt, but he broke their kiss abruptly. “No, wait, stop,” he said.
“Let me guess,” Naina said, sinking into the shelf, “I’ve been so out of practice that I’m now a terrible kisser?”
Tejas laughed. He brushed a lock of hair off her shoulder, his fingers lingering on her neck. “We’re at work, Naina.”
Naina lurched away from him, her knees wobbling from the aftermath of that kiss. Fuck. She had just made out with him in the archive room. A first for her, yes, and one that she’d never forget. But certainly there were cameras here? What if she got fired? And oh God, the case—
“It’s okay,” Tejas said, backing away, arms raised in surrender like he knew what she was thinking. His eyes went to the security camera in the corner, and he added, “I’m sure they don’t check the cameras every day.”
She wiped her face with a shaky hand. “Tejas, I—I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have…we…I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said, straightening his tie over his collar again. “We did. And trust me, Naina Shetty.” His face broke into a smirk that sent shivers down to her toes. “This won’t be the last time. I’m not letting you go again.”
Naina’s heart was beating so fast, she might as well have run a 10K.
She ran her sweaty hands along the sides of her shirt and got out a soft “Okay.” What else could she say?
Her logical brain hadn’t quite kicked in yet, and the heat between her legs wouldn’t dare protest. If they weren’t at work, she would have—they would have—oh fuck.
“I’m going to head back to my desk,” she said, trying to avert her gaze from his sexy, disheveled hair. His red mouth, stained from her lipstick. Those sturdy arms that looked as good as they felt wrapped around her—
Stop it, Naina. Without another word, she headed back up the stairs to the main office, her heels loud against the tiled floor.
Seconds before she slid into her chair, she changed her mind and tapped the top of Anil’s chair.
“I need your advice,” she said as she took off her smudged glasses and started wiping them with the corner of her shirt.
“Give me a minute,” he said. He minimized his browser, put his laptop on standby, and swiveled around. When his eyes fell to her hands, still wiping the glasses, his face split into a know-it-all grin. His voice dropped to a whisper. “You didn’t.”
She played with the neckline of her shirt, hoping it hid the flush creeping along her collarbone, and put her glasses back on. “Not here, Anil.”
He followed her into the elevator lobby, his long legs carrying him faster than hers. They stopped beside the elevator, and Naina blew out a breath. “Okay. Yes. He kissed me.”
Anil pumped his fist in the air. Jerk. “Tell me you did it in the archive room,” he pressed. “The 1990s aisle is especially perfect for—”
“I don’t want to hear about your romps with whoever in the 1990s aisle, and no, we didn’t do it. It was just a…” She scratched behind her ear. “A very steamy kiss. To be honest, I’m still turned on.”
“Then what happened?” Anil asked. She bit her lip, and he groaned. “Nay, please do not tell me you said you had to work and then ran up here to talk to me, leaving that poor guy all by himself in a dark archive room full of spiders and cobwebs.”
“Spiders? Just a second ago you were saying it’s perfect for—”
“Nay?” Anil folded his arms, glaring.
“That’s exactly what happened,” she mumbled. Her eyes fell on his wristwatch, and she jumped at the chance to change the damn topic. “It’s almost six! Shouldn’t you be heading home?”
“Fine, I’ll let you off just this once.” He held back a laugh. “Good luck with the case…and do something about this thing with Tejas, please. Or maybe just do him. Nudge nudge, wink wink.”
Naina cleared her throat. “Thanks. How’s your life love going, by the way?” she added so he wouldn’t bring Tejas up again. “You met a guy at karaoke, right?”
Anil’s cheeks reddened. “Uh, we may have gone out a few more times since then.”
“Anil!” she whisper-yelled. “What the hell? I need details!”
He adjusted his collar, wincing. “It’s still new, and I don’t wanna jinx it. See you tomorrow, Nay.”
“Fine, see you.”
Once Anil was gone, Naina spun around, facing the wall, and raked her hands through her hair.
Part of her wanted nothing more than to go back downstairs to Tejas and fuck his brains out.
But the other part, the one that knew it would never work out between her and anyone, needed to be in control.
So she touched up her lipstick with her pocket mirror, plastered on a smile, and returned to work, deciding nothing but Preethi’s case would have her attention for the next four hours.
Minutes later, her shoulders straightened at the whiff of Tejas’s pine cologne. He brushed past her cubicle, dropping a note on her desk in his wake without a look back at her.
Naina stared at the paper for a whole minute before smoothing it out. Tejas’s messy handwriting greeted her. Meet me tonight. 9 pm. I want to finish what we started.
Below that message was a home address in Indiranagar—his apartment, probably. Naina coughed and turned around to look at the rest of the office. Thankfully, everyone was focused on their work, except for Tejas, who caught her eye from across the room and lifted a brow.
She held her breath for the smallest of seconds, deliberating, then exhaled. She needed to get him out of her system, and maybe if they just did it once—one final time…
Okay, she mouthed.
He smiled and returned to his laptop. Seconds later, her Teams chimed with a message.
Tejas
Could you send me the autopsy report again?
Naina
Sure. [file attached]
Thanks
Her neck prickled, the heat of his gaze searing into her skin even from a distance, but she didn’t dare look back. Tejas’s note rested beside her keyboard, and the anticipation of tonight—and what it might lead to—mounted as she shuffled in place, adjusting her skirt.
Fuck, she thought. I’m in trouble.