The girls. All three. Ambushed me.
I placed a hand on my hip, let out an unsteady breath, and opened the door. They barged in, chattering and chirping and clenching my arms, jumping up and down like teenagers. What in the world was going on?
Reema pulled out a bottle of champagne. Sana brought chocolates. Preeti searched for glasses. They hurried me to the couch, settled in around me, popped open the bottle, and poured.
“You better spill everything,” Reema said.
“There’s nothing to tell,” I replied.
“Yeah, right, there’s nothing to tell. This man came to us asking for support.”
“And a fine man at that,” Sana added, blushing.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re overreacting. He just wants, I don’t know, closure or something on why I walked out of meeting him.”
“You have to give him something for trying,” Sana said.
“I don’t owe him anything.”
“If you heard how eloquently and matter-of-factly he shut down all those naysayers after you left, you would.”
“No one told him to do that.”
“But if you’d been there,” Reema said, “you’d be all up on him right this second.”
They giggled, and Sana’s blush deepened. She nodded in agreement.
“Let’s be practical for a minute, shall we?” I sat up. “Let’s say we went out and it didn’t end well. Do you know how much we’d fight? We already bicker all day.”
“He’s not argumentative,” Preeti replied. “He does that because you’re so easy to rile up and it’s the only way to keep you talking.”
“How do you know that?”
“He said so.”
I groaned. “You guys are ridiculous. Before you know it, my parents are involved, and other parents want to push their daughters in, and it’s a battle to the death, get him before he has a chance to make up his mind, eliminate everyone else at all costs.”
The girls were silent for a second before agreeing. Reema said, “Yeah, Gujarati matchmaking is pretty cutthroat. But anyway, that doesn’t mean you can’t give the guy a fair shot.”
I tapped my glass and watched the bubbles race to the surface. “Even worse, what if we like each other? Aunties would be descending upon us like vultures. Having them pry into him and his family…it’s a lot. For me, it’s just another day. For his family? They’d realize I’m not worth it.”
“You’re worth everything in the world,” Reema said.
My heart swelled, but I had to be honest. “He’s not ready to take on that sort of stress. He and his family fit in so well with the community, and I don’t. He should consider Kaajal.”
“But he doesn’t want Kaajal. Trust us, the amount of times he walked away from her was embarrassing.”
I choked down a laugh. “He wants to get married. I don’t.”
“What if he just wants to date?”
“Come on, ladies. Do you really think he’s just a ‘dating’ kind of guy?”
They flicked their chocolate or swirled their glasses, but they all looked away.
My hopes dwindled into nothing as my friends finally realized that I spoke the truth. “Exactly,” I said softly.
“Go out with me,” a voice called from behind me that following Monday. It was too early in the week for this.
I would recognize that deep, throaty voice anywhere. I smirked and finished sorting through my paperwork before turning to find him at my office door.
Jay sported a deliciously dark gray suit, dapper as always, and his arms were crossed like he was tasked with preventing me from leaving.
“You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“I think you should go out with me,” he refuted.
“Why bother?” I exhaled, placing my blazer on the wall hook beside his head.
He took in every inch of my curve-hugging silk blouse and pencil skirt. “I need to see where things can go.”
“What else ya got?”
“I want you to tell me that you’re not interested after giving this a serious shot.”
I tried to move him aside, tried to squeeze between him and the doorframe, but he gently backed me against the wall, his hand carefully touching my waist, his chest grazing mine.
“Is this okay?” he whispered.
I should’ve said no instead of nodding, not because his barely there touch wasn’t okay, but because I wouldn’t be able to deny him a thing if he kept this close to me. Because if he got any closer, we might actually tear off each other’s designer clothes and find ourselves in some hot, emotional mess.
He closed the door without giving space between us, his gaze never faltering from mine. And, holy crap, my breath hitched.
“What are you doing?” I asked, out of breath and absolutely hating that he could hear it. I was literally one touch away from wanting him to devour me. He barely touched me, and yet my entire body ached for him.
“Asking you out, again and again,” his said, his voice dropping.
My stomach fluttered, and I concentrated on controlling my breathing. “You know that I have work to do.”
“There are plenty of people who volunteered to work overtime this week.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “There’s actually no room for you in the labs. You’d just get in their way.”
“I still don’t have time for you,” I said, my stare stuck to his mouth.
“Are you certain?” He placed a hand against the wall, beside my head, and tilted his face closer to mine.
I didn’t understand why my knees practically buckled, or why I wanted to feel the softness of those full lips on mine. Or, more important, why I didn’t just take control and kiss him first. But then he’d know that I was attracted to him, and that would encourage him to keep this silly notion rolling.
He ran a featherlight touch down my jaw. Did he expect me to quiver with need? Manipulate me into agreeing to his terms?
Liya Thakkar was not that weak.
I pressed against him, our eyes still locked. Gripping his jacket, I raised myself onto my tiptoes and whispered, “If you want to screw me, just say so.”
His jaw hardened into a clench so tight, his teeth might’ve broken. “Why would you say that?”
I had him figured out, and the truth definitely hurt, but what other reason was there? “Because you’re a man. Why else would you go through this trouble, knowing the gossip about me? By now, all of it has reached you and your mother, and neither one of you think marrying me is beneficial for your family. Sudden interest after I turned you down and explained that I don’t want marriage? Why else are you trying to get me? Which rumors got you thinking about how good I am in bed?”
He pulled away from my hands and walked out, all the while his nostrils flaring.
“Didn’t think I’d catch on to the truth?” I called after him.
As I stood there, my blood boiling, my lips quivered from the realization that most men saw nothing more in me than a good time. Something cracked in my chest. Maybe…I had hoped Jay would be different.
I startled when he stormed back in. His angry eyes bored into mine, which pissed me off even more.