She took in his visage, his cheeky grin and pinkened skin, and she almost smiled back.
This was ridiculous. She was a strong woman who shouldn’t be swayed by reckless flirtations and adoring grins.
And she wasn’t. Usually.
Vihaan may have been her worst mistake. But he was also the only exception to all her rules.
“Stop smiling at me!” she barked, flustered with the way her body was reacting to him. With the way her mind wanted to let him in. With how she wanted to cry at having lost him when she’d never truly had him at all.
“Why?”
“It’s weird. We don’t smile at each other.”
His bark of laughter set off wild flutters within her. “You’re a suspicious woman.”
“It’s how I have survived.”
“How exactly is that?”
She speared him with a look: honest, a little sad, entirely serious.
“By maintaining my boundaries.”
23
Changing Tides
Vihaan
He’d never been onefor rules.
Rules were meant to be broken, and boundaries were meant to be crossed. Especially when those served to keep Vera away from him.
The crushing sense of emptiness when he couldn’t see her was a feeling he detested. It was sobering to realise, however, that neither his presence nor absence affected her. Vihaan sighed internally, watching the woman he couldn’t ignore inform him of all the ways in which she expected him to maintain a distance.
Fat chance.
“This,” Vera gestured to about a foot around her, circling with her finger, “is a no-smiling zone.”
“What if I break your zone rules? How exactly do you plan to stop me from smiling at you?” Vihaan stepped closer on purpose, the devil on his shoulder cackling at the idea of riling her up.
“Aaagh,” she growled, fingers curled into claws mid-air like a tigress ready to maul her victim. Despite her anger, Vihaan felt amusement trickle through him. Somehow, a spitfire Vera put him far more at ease than a Vera who looked like she was hiding from him, or worse, unaware of him.
“You are such an. . .annoyingman.”
“Run out of unique curses already? I was starting to look forward to what new combination you’d call me next. Made me feel so special.”
“Shut up.”
“Make me.”
“Why can’t you ever listen?!”
“Earn my obedience,” he dared, barely holding himself back from touching her when he picked up the muted flash of interest in her dark eyes. Damnit, if only he could figure out how to get her guards down. He drew his phone out to type something. “Say this word and I’ll leave you alone.”
One glance at his screen had her lowering her claws, confusion flickering across her pretty face. She never could resist a challenge.
“Wuh…” She squinted, her brain working hard. “Wor-chest-uhr-shy-uhr.”