Chapter 16 #2
“Not at all, but it’s pretty obvious that she is very, very ambitious.” With a little laugh, Cynthia gestured at her own body to draw the parallel, and Rohit made a point of keeping his eyes locked above her chin. “Maybe we’re too similar.”
Not possible. There was no one like Cynthia.
“I mean,” Cynthia added in a distracted tone as she quickly checked her phone, “she’s even dating my ex.”
The elevator doors opened to the lobby of the business center, and Rohit hurried after Cynthia. “Your ex?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “He and I never even made it to a three-month anniversary, so he barely counts.”
Although Cynthia sounded detached, Rohit’s mind hooked on to two little words with a level of ferocity that made him grit his teeth: Cynthia’s ex.
His thoughts leaped over tall buildings, and he couldn’t help but wonder if there were any lingering feelings there.
Cynthia wasn’t the type to pine over losers, but defeat also wasn’t her style.
“So it doesn’t bother you at all?”
They’d reached the front doors, but Cynthia paused, handle in her grasp. “What doesn’t bother me at all?”
A slow heat crawled onto Rohit’s cheeks, but his embarrassment was no match for his curiosity. “Your ex. Does any of the animosity stem from Melanie dating your ex?”
“ Eddie? ” Cynthia said.
So the loser had a loser name, too. “Yeah, him.”
Cynthia’s laugh was one part incredulity and two parts scorn. “God, no. That was years ago. When we broke up, I was barely tolerating him as it was.”
Good. Rohit’s stomach righted itself and he tactfully decided not to dwell on the fact that prior to about a week ago, it had seemed that Cynthia barely tolerated him, too.
There was no need for privacy today; it was cool outside, the overcast sky threatening one of Kelowna’s infamous spring downpours.
And yet, as if by some unspoken agreement, the two of them headed toward the ramp on the side of the building, and much like the other times, Cynthia—impatient, fast-walking, restless Cynthia—seemed perfectly content lingering in their spot.
The realization wrapped around Rohit like a pleasant hug that no chill could ever touch.
Cynthia leaned back against the safety railing and braced the sole of her high-heeled shoe on the lower bar, drawing Rohit’s attention to her shapely legs.
The hem of her dress had ridden up only the barest of inches, and yet Rohit could practically feel his pupils expanding outward as he took in the glimpse of soft, smooth skin above the curve of her bent knee.
She had a dark brown beauty mark just above her right kneecap, he noted forlornly. In the dark of the motel room, there hadn’t been enough time to chart the constellation of beauty marks and scars that dotted her gorgeous body. Rohit would give anything to trace their pattern if she let him.
With a brusque cough, he cracked his knuckles and shifted his weight, prompting Cynthia to cock her head in his direction.
“Did the results of the survey come as a shock to you?” she asked.
Leaning against the side of the building so he faced Cynthia, Rohit crossed his arms over his chest and thought of Cynthia’s dad. A flicker of guilt belied his answer: “The senior leadership team tries to look out for everyone’s best interests…”
“In a secluded boardroom that staff are never invited into.”
“Yeah, but they’re nice people at heart—”
“They’re old-fashioned and selective. This place feels like Greek Row sometimes. And no offense, but sometimes you fit right in.”
Rohit squinted. “What’s Greek Row?”
“It’s the part of university campuses where all the fraternity houses are.
What I mean is that sometimes the leaders here—who are all men , by the way—act like this place is a frat.
” Cynthia’s smile was bitter as she slipped her feet out of her shoes and hoisted herself onto the top bar. “No girls allowed.”
Rohit opened his mouth to argue, but when he looked at Cynthia again, his mouth slammed shut. One long look at the vulnerable downturn of her chin, the slight hunch of her shoulders pulling forward, was enough to erase any arguments or wayward thoughts from his mind.
It was time to listen.
“I work harder and longer than half the members of that leadership team, but do they notice?” Cynthia shot Rohit a furtive glance. “Does he ?”
Rohit swallowed. “You mean your dad.”
She averted her eyes. “I might as well be invisible around here. And clearly, I’m not the only one who feels that way.” Cynthia shook her head with a scoff. “I don’t know if I should feel comforted that there are others who feel the same or…”
“Or?”
“Heartbroken.”
It was a word he’d never expect to hear from Cynthia’s mouth, and the look of wariness on her face after uttering such an admission drilled into Rohit’s chest, resulting in a quick, sharp pinch just left of his sternum.
Unable to help himself, he pushed away from the wall to approach Cynthia where she sat on the safety railing.
He didn’t second-guess himself as he braced his hands on either side of her body and leaned in so her bent knees were inches away from his chest.
Under any other circumstances, it might’ve been an intimate moment, but romance was the last thing on Rohit’s mind.
All he could think about was willing some of his warmth and admiration for Cynthia from his body to hers to ease at least a little of her heart’s pain.
He’d do anything, he realized, anything she needed.
“Have you ever talked to your dad about this?” he asked.
Cynthia’s voice cooled. “I’m not going to ask for a pat on the head. Besides, that’s not what I want. What I want is—” Cynthia stopped herself abruptly with a slight shake of her head. “Never mind. It’s not important.”
Everything about you is important , Rohit wanted to say.
Everything about you matters. But in just a few subtle motions, Cynthia’s entire demeanor changed.
With her chin lifting slightly and her shoulders pressing back, Rohit was confronted by the Cynthia he knew—whom everybody at Kumar Construction knew—all too well: proud, aloof, and fiercely independent.
Stay away , the steeliness in her eyes warned.
Still, he’d glimpsed her vulnerability, as fleeting as it was, and couldn’t resist inching forward with caution. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean to make you feel this way.”
Cynthia cocked her head to the side and despite the fraying edges of tension between them, Rohit was struck by how unbelievably beautiful she was.
Had he any money to spare, he’d bet half a year’s salary that an artist would swell with pride to capture her glossy black hair, rippling like an inky, silk curtain on her shoulder, the elegant line of her long, smooth neck.
But no paintbrush could truly capture the essence of this regal, mysterious woman.
Rohit himself had only glimpsed the rawness inside, the softer, more fragile parts that could reach right into him with the barest tilt of her chin and scrape away at the inside of his chest cavity, leaving him pleasantly breathless and gasping for more.
She was a million unknowable pieces and Rohit feared he was a baffled Matthew Macfadyen staring at Keira Knightley across a crowded dance floor. He was too far gone.
“Well, this isn’t about me, is it?” Cynthia said. “This is about the staff at Kumar Construction and that’s what we should focus on.”
At the finality in her tone, Rohit swallowed his protests and nodded. “So, what do you think we should do?”
Cynthia treated him to a genuine, no-holds-barred smile, and pleasure spilled through Rohit, filling his chest back up again, reinflating his lungs.
“I have ideas,” she replied, leaning forward and bringing her knees in contact with his chest. Finally. “Let’s go grab a coffee and I’ll tell you about them.”
A thousand times yes , Rohit thought, as powerless against the smile spreading across his face as he was against his hands finding the sides of her waist to help her off the railing.
He couldn’t bring himself to let go right away; under the guise of steadying her so she could slip on her shoes, he stayed as still as a statue as he stared at her red-tipped toes.
Her head was bent to the task of finding her footing but in those too short precious seconds, Rohit’s imagination went wild: how easy it would be for him to place his fingers on the soft underside of her chin and tilt her head up so he could kiss those perfect lips, parted in surprise. He wanted to. Badly.
But he knew he shouldn’t. After the year they’d had, he could never be the one to make the first move, no matter how much every single nerve ending—from the tips of his hair to the ends of his toes—begged to taste just a little bit of this strong, gorgeous woman whose mind ran laps around everyone she encountered.
He wanted to share her breath, feel her skin against his again.
The imprint from their first time had nearly faded, and his skin itched for her to mark him again.
When Cynthia turned to lead the way off the wheelchair ramp, Rohit’s hands reluctantly let go, but he couldn’t help but indulge in the selfish luxury of a deep, quiet inhale that sent his senses in a flurry of teasing, comforting, tantalizing, and mystifying sensations.
Sandalwood.