Chapter 13
Aditya leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the woman sitting across from him. Sabrina was looking around the restaurant, taking it all in—the opulent chandeliers, the soft flicker of candlelight on each table, the hum of quiet conversation around them.
She looked alive. At ease in a way he hadn’t seen her before.
Under the golden wash of the lights, her skin glowed.
The barest of makeup covered her face. Her lips were slightly glossed, her hair fell in waves past her shoulders, and her deep blue dress hugged her figure like it was made just for her.
And yet, it wasn’t just her appearance. It was the way she tilted her head as she studied the restaurant, the small crease between her brows as if she were memorizing it. It was the way she carried herself—confident, yet guarded.
He studied her quietly, feeling confused and a little unsettled.
Why was he suddenly so… Fuck. Akash was right.
He was getting fixated on Sabrina. But he needed to know why.
Why had she taken over his thoughts like she had?
Of all the women he’d met, flirted and slept with, no one had lingered like this.
No one had curled around his thoughts and taken up permanent residence in his mind the way she had.
What was it about her?
He should have been glad she’d walked away that morning.
He should have moved on too, the way he always did.
But he hadn’t. He couldn’t. There was something about Sabrina—her fire, her vulnerability, the way she’d responded to him like her body had known his for years.
When she’d moaned his name, when she’d come apart in his arms, when she’d fallen asleep tangled around him, his heart had done something strange and unfamiliar.
It hadn’t just raced. It had steadied, settled…
like it had finally arrived somewhere it belonged.
And he wasn’t ready to let that feeling go. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
Something had exploded between them last night. Raw, unexpected, and impossible to ignore. And now, sitting across from her, watching the candlelight flicker against her cheekbones, he felt it again. The pull. The ache. The need to know. He needed to figure out what the hell this was between them.
Why her?
Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? Why couldn’t he stop looking at her?
“You’re beautiful…” The words slipped out from his lips of their own accord.
Her head whipped toward him, her eyes wide in surprise.
He smiled. “I kept trying to figure it out all day… What was different about you here in Singapore. Now I know.”
Her brow lifted in question.
“It’s criminal how you’ve been hiding all this beauty behind those severe hairstyles and stiff outfits.”
A faint pink bloomed on her cheeks, and she looked down, pretending to smooth her napkin.
He felt a strange sense of satisfaction watching her fluster.
A waiter appeared beside them. Aditya conferred with him about their drinks.
Sabrina ordered a white wine, while he ordered a single malt for himself.
After the waiter stepped away, he looked at her again. Sabrina was still blushing slightly, but a small smile tugged at her lips. God, she was stunning.
“This is a lovely restaurant…” she said, finally looking at him.
“This is my favorite place to eat in Singapore,” Aditya said casually. “And now you know one more thing about me.”
She glanced away, trying to hide her smile before looking back at him. That soft, unsure expression on her face undid something in him.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he confessed quietly. “This—whatever this is between us—happened out of nowhere. But I can’t ignore it. And I know you feel it too.”
She shook her head, slow and silent. “No.”
Reaching across the table, he ran a single finger down the back of her hand. A light touch. Barely there. But she shuddered.
He gave her a pointed look. “Tell me you feel nothing when I touch you. Tell me you feel nothing when I’m close to you. I promise I’ll leave you alone. We’ll end this dinner and never speak about last night. But I need you to be absolutely honest, Sabrina. No lies. You owe me that much at least.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, and a pained expression crossed over her face. When she opened her eyes, they were clearer.
“There is something,” she admitted, her voice soft. “But I can’t act on it again.”
“Why?” he asked, leaning forward.
“Because I have responsibilities I can’t ignore,” she said, her tone steady even as her fingers curled into her palm. “And we have too many people in common. If things go south between us, how do we face each other again? How do we sit across from our friends pretending nothing happened?”
Her words sliced through the air between them. He studied her face, saw the tightness in her jaw, the conflict in her eyes, and realized just how much she was holding herself back. It was clearly not because she didn’t want this. But because she was afraid of everything else.
Aditya leaned forward. “I don’t care about our friends right now. If keeping this between us makes you feel safer, we’ll do that. It doesn’t matter to me. You matter.”
She looked down at her hands, her fingers twisting in her lap, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.
“Akash won’t tell anyone anything about us. I didn’t tell Rithwik anything either,” he added. “Not a word.”
Her gaze snapped back to him.
“I know,” she murmured. “After you left, I realized… you wouldn’t have. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve always come across as someone honest.”
His heart warmed listening to her words.
“So that’s one concern out of the way,” he declared. “What else is holding you back?”
“My son…” she whispered.
He frowned. “Why do you talk about your son like you’ll lose him if you do something for yourself?”
She looked at him, startled, and he knew he’d touched something raw.
“You won’t,” he said, his tone firmer. “What’s between us—this—is ours. Your son is a part of you, Sabrina. I get that he’ll always come first. He should. All I’m asking is for you to consider letting me fit into your life in whatever way you think is right.”
Her throat worked. She didn’t say anything for a long moment, as if still processing his words. But they were all true. The fact that she had a child didn’t change the way he felt about her. In fact, he respected her even more for thinking of her son first.
Finally, she said, “You just got out of a relationship.”
“A while ago,” he replied. “Not yesterday. And Kanika’s engaged now, and out of my life for good.”
“But you were serious about her.”
He shrugged slightly. “Was I? If I was really serious, wouldn’t I be the one she’s engaged to?”
He let that hang in the air between them, watching as her lips parted but no words came.
“So?” he asked quietly. “Have I handled all your objections?”
She hesitated, then whispered, “We hardly know each other.”
He smiled. “I know you’re scared of snakes. I know you love chocolate and can cook like a goddess. And that you’re allergic to seafood.”
A corner of her mouth twitched. The weight in his chest eased a little more.
“I want to give us a try,” he said softly. “We can go slow. Or fast. However you want. I’m leaving the pace up to you. But don’t shut the door on this before we’ve even tried.”
She looked at him, really looked at him, and he saw the war raging in her eyes, her hesitation battling with her own desires.
“I’ll… think about it,” she finally breathed out.
Aditya grinned, placing a hand over his heart in mock agony. “There you go again. Slaying me by making me wait. Merciless and beautiful.”
A loud laugh escaped her mouth, and he felt the echo of it deep inside his chest, shaking him up. This… this feeling was exactly why he wanted to be with her. She was stirring something inside him, waking something up that had so far been slumbering peacefully.
He finally looked down at his whiskey glass. He hadn’t even registered when the waiter had served their drinks.
Lifting it, he held it out toward her. “To a new and, hopefully, beautiful beginning.”
Sabrina slowly raised her glass of wine. Their glasses clinked gently. She took a sip, and so did he. And from that moment, the evening shifted.
He could see her relax. Her smile grew easier, and her laughter quicker. She spoke freely and openly, her gaze never flinching from his, her posture no longer stiff with resistance. It was like she was finally beginning to let herself see him, and let him see her in return.
He didn’t push. He didn’t need to. He’d wait for her reply. For now, he just basked in her company.
When dinner ended and he pulled up outside her building, he got out and opened the car door for her. The night air wrapped around them like a secret. She turned to say goodnight, but he gently reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.
“I’m going to wait for your answer,” he said against her skin. “Don’t make me wait too long, beautiful.”
Her breath hitched. For a second, her hand hesitated in his.
And then—God—her fingers reached up and brushed lightly against his jaw.
Just the barest whisper of a touch that shattered something inside him.
And then, almost as if catching herself, she dropped her hand, turned, and rushed inside the lobby of her building.
He didn’t move. Just watched her disappear behind the glass door, his heart pounding in his chest.
One touch.
That was all it had taken for his entire body to heat up. The ghost of her fingers on his jaw lingered like a kiss, and his chest... it ached in that raw, unfamiliar way he’d been trying to ignore since she’d run from his bed.
He exhaled shakily. What the hell was she doing to him?
He got back into the car but didn’t start it right away. Instead, he gripped the steering wheel with both hands as if it would help him anchor himself.
Sabrina hadn’t said yes. She hadn’t said no either. But it was enough.
Aditya Wahi had never waited on anyone before. Never chased. Never needed to.
But now?
Now he had something worth waiting for.
Something worth chasing.
Something that just might ruin him.
And he couldn’t wait to be ruined by her.