by Nisha Sharma
She asked them to tell her their favorite whiskey stories, distracting them as she enjoyed the sweet bitterness that stung the tip of her tongue and coated her throat. As the brothers spoke, she could see the love they shared with each other, the humor that came with childhood memories. At one point, Zail threw ice cubes at his brother for recounting the time after he drank too much, he got sick and then their mother chased him with a rolling pin.
After half an hour, Zail stood and motioned to the stairs.
“I’m going to bail,” he said. “I don’t think you both are going to last much longer anyway, and this place gives me a headache. Next time, let’s meet in an actual bar. You okay taking her home, bhai?”
Mina shot up in her seat. “I beg your pardon, Zail Singh. I am right here and I can take care of myself just fine.” She grabbed her fifth—or was it sixth?—drink and tipped it back. She could barely taste it now. Her body was singing with so much feeling.
“Take care, sweetheart,” Zail said and leaned down to press a kiss on her cheek. “See you in the office.” She could feel Hem’s growl deep in his chest, like he was a damned animal.
“What was that?” she asked him after Zail slipped through the crowd.
“I didn’t like it that he touched you.”
“Really?”
“Hell, Mina, you don’t have to sound so giddy about it.”
“It’s just so . . . cute.”
Hem grinned, and he stroked a fingertip over her knee and teased the skin under the hem of her short dress. “I don’t share.”
“I’m not a thing to share. Man, this is why avoiding dating is so much easier than dealing with man-babies. Now don’t get all grumpy just because your brother gave me a smooch.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Back up. You don’t date at all?”
“Well. Sometimes, but it’s too hard to juggle a man-baby and a job. Also, I’m tall and speak my mind. It tends to piss people off.” She pointed to her crotch. “Which is why it’s just me and B.O.B. The battery-operated purple boyfriend of joy.”
“Goddamn, Mina.”
“Let’s cheers again, Hem,” she said cheerfully. “Maujaa!” This time, when she swallowed the whiskey, it felt thick and greasy in her stomach. She pressed both hands to her waist and groaned.
“Mina? You okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve been drinking pretty fast for the last, what, hour? Why don’t we slow down for a bit? I’ll get you some water to drink.”
Mina nodded and slumped against the couch. All thoughts of sex and seduction dissipated as her skin grew clammy. Was this what drinking a lot was supposed to feel like? Didn’t it take longer than, what, seven or eight drinks?
The nausea hit fast and furious. She’d only been downing whiskey for a short period of time. Granted, she hadn’t eaten a lot of food, but that shouldn’t make too much of a difference, right? Bile rose like a bubbling pot ready to overflow.
Fuck it, even her fog-brain could register that there was no graceful way to get out of her current predicament now.
“Hem? I’m going to throw up.”
A few seconds later, she vomited all over her dress, the couch, and Hem’s shoes.
Chapter Seven
If Hem hadn’t gone out to see Mina the night before, he would’ve treated his Saturday like any other day of the week. He’d wake up at 4:30, run or lift weights, shower, and then talk to his legal assistant about open action items. Since his last few meetings with Ajay, he’d taken on more of the family business projects, such as their award-winning vineyard and their European hotel so he could alleviate his brother’s workload. Unfortunately, that meant he was significantly busier than usual.
All of the things he had to do were nowhere near as distracting as the woman in his bed. Hem looked over at the rumpled sheets where Mina slept in one of his shirts. He sat on the armchair in the corner of the master suite, laptop in hand, and watched her wake, increment by slow increment.
She sat up and pushed her rioting curls out of her face. She was beautiful, even after the eventful night they had. Her makeup was long gone, and her skin looked a little tired, but there was no hiding the fact that she could make him weak.
He was not a weak man.
“Hem?”
He put his laptop on the coffee table and stood. She looked a little bleary-eyed but clearer than he expected after the amount of drinks she’d inhaled. “Morning, sunshine.”
Horror crossed her face, and Hem bit back a smile. She remembered what happened.
“I can’t believe I vomited all over your shoes.”
“Side table. Advil.”
She looked over and dove for the pills like they were a lifeline. She tossed it back and then guzzled water like she’d been in the desert for three days.
Hem crossed to her and sat on the edge of the bed within touching distance. When she finished her water, he took the glass and set it down, then caught her fingers in his. Long, slender fingers with nude polish. He reached out and stroked her cheek with the other hand, surprised when she didn’t push his hand away.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better than expected for my first time getting drunk. Maybe my Punjabi genes came through.”
“Headache?”
She tilted her head side to side, as if waiting for the pain to rattle around and settle in. “Yes, but a small one. Strange.”
“You probably did yourself a favor by throwing it all up last night.”
Mortification crossed Mina’s face and she pressed a hand to her cheek. “You and that poor waitress—”
“She got a big tip for helping clean you up.”
“And then you took me here because—”
“I didn’t want you home by yourself in case you got sick again. So I helped you brush your teeth. You handled changing, even though it took you twenty minutes, and I tucked you in to bed. See? I told you I’d take care of you.”
Mina’s cheeks tinted with the slightest hint of pink under her light brown complexion. “And where did you . . . ?”
“I slept here. Just in case you needed anything.”
Her expression relaxed into one of amusement. “That is so typical, Hemdeep Singh. Your Punjabi genes demand that you protect me even though I’ve never been a damsel in distress. I could’ve managed, you know.”
“I know,” he said. “But where we’re going in our relationship, I think it’s safe to say that I’m going to keep trying to make you happy and keep you safe.” Maybe his words seemed a little more forceful than they should’ve, because she sobered. He hated to see her tense, the way she pulled back from him as if the next steps between them weren’t a natural progression of the night before.
“I should probably go home.”
Hem stood, admiring the view she made in his t-shirt, surrounded by white bedsheets and comforter. She looked comfortable, and damn it if he didn’t want to crawl into bed next to her. But he couldn’t. Too soon for her. Too fast. He’d rushed Lisa into a committed relationship, and he’d lost her. The attraction he felt for Mina was so much more, so much stronger than the slow burn he’d experienced before. He wanted this woman, and he had to be careful with her.
“I knew you needed some new clothes to wear in the morning, so I borrowed my brother’s personal assistant to help. He’s apparently a magician and was able to buy a few things for you. He dropped them off an hour ago. They’re in the bathroom. Why don’t you get ready and join me in the kitchen for breakfast when you’re ready?”
She gaped at him. “You had a personal assistant shop for me?”
He nodded. “My first plan was to get your real clothes, but that didn’t work out.”
“What? Why not?”
“Long story short, your friend Rajneet called while you were passed out in my car, so I picked up. I explained what happened and asked her if she had a key to your place since there wasn’t one in your bag. She said you had keyless entry and didn’t have your code, but
she did, however, know your size. Raj also threatened me if I didn’t take care of you. Scary woman.”
The corner of Mina’s lip quirked. “That’s Raj.”
Hem nodded and turned to leave.
“Hem. Thanks. Really.”
“Don’t mention it.”
He was almost at the door, laptop in hand, when she called his name again. “Hem?”
“Yeah?”
There was a long pause, and he saw a flicker of something akin to need on her face. She shook her head. “Nothing.”
One minute he was standing across the room, watching her unsure expression and the cloud of hair tumbling over her shoulders, the next he was tossing his laptop on the armchair and striding to her. Her mouth formed a perfect O when he climbed onto the bed. He prowled toward her, and his pulse jumped when she quickly grabbed onto his shoulders and pulled him close.
Hem’s mouth claimed Mina’s, and the intense sweetness of her lips was like a release he hadn’t known he wanted so desperately. He lowered his body to press her into the mattress. His spiking lust fractured his thoughts. Mina’s arms wrapped around him, and she pulled the back of his T-shirt up to rake her fingers from shoulders to hips. His erection grew full and thick. The kiss turned rough and he was desperate to feel her skin to skin instead of the fucking blanket that blocked him from her soft, supple skin.
God, he wanted her. He stroked his tongue over hers and swallowed her gasp of pleasure, before pulling back. He had to stop. She was so sweet. He nipped her swollen lip, even as she lifted up, trying to keep his mouth on hers.
“Get dressed,” he said, vaulting off the bed.
“What?” she said breathlessly.
“Get dressed, Mina,” he repeated. “Unless you want to be fucked. Hard.”
He strode out without another backward glance. If she called him again, if she looked at him with the need that mirrored his, he wouldn’t stop until they were both done.
Even though the attraction was nuclear, what Mina and Hem shared was new. Hem wasn’t used to it. His last relationship took years of friendship before it progressed, and even then, it was built with boundaries. These feelings he was experiencing were uncharted territory for him, and he didn’t want to mess things up when there was a chance that it could be so much more than he’d ever had before.
Mina was so turned on that she sat for a full five minutes in a daze after Hem walked out. He’d just . . . left. She would’ve completely let him have his way with her, but instead, he’d walked out. She touched her swollen mouth and let out a ragged breath.
“Holy shit, Hemdeep Singh.”
Never in her life had she been kissed with that much focus, so much passion that her head spun. And she had to work with him for the next two and a half months. How was she going to handle seeing him in the office, wearing his restrained suits, and not imagine the rough fucking he’d promised? She had to think about something else, something less sexy, so that she could get dressed and put some distance between them.
She looked down at the soft cotton shirt she wore and smelled the lingering scent of spice and man.
The memory of projectile vomit was enough to tamper the effects of the kiss. Yup, she’d been sick everywhere in a public place.
“And now, it’s time to get up, Kohli.”
Mina pushed the plush comforter aside and crawled out of the California king bed. Sunlight streamed through the wall windows, stinging her eyes a bit as she stretched. For the most part, she had a bucket load of embarrassment and a few aches. And now, wet panties.
Vaguely remembering the penthouse layout from the night before, she crossed to pocket doors that opened to the bathroom. Every gleaming surface was white marble with veins of black and gray. The tiled floor was a rich black with flecks of silver. Mina spotted shopping bags sitting on the end of the countertop that stretched across one wall. Her replacement clothes.
“Oh my god,” she said when she began emptying the bags. Inside was a La Perla lace balconette bra and matching thong in her size. It was a beautiful lingerie set, and although she’d indulged in La Perla before, her sets were pretty basic and reserved for special occasions.
A vivid cobalt blue V-neck sundress with a swing skirt was next, and then a pair of wedge heels with blue-and-white polka dot fabric ankle ties. She stroked her hand over the shoes and the dress for a moment before taking out the hair and skin products from the second bag. Ajay’s assistant had thought of everything.
She had to pay Hem back. Two people who weren’t in a relationship yet should not be buying each other expensive lingerie and scented creams. For Mina, there was too much riding on her due diligence work at Bharat, Inc., for her to be sidetracked by a man, even if that man was someone like Hem.
She stared at her dull complexion in the mirror for a moment before she tackled brushing her teeth and then washed the rest of the grime away in the glass-enclosed rain shower. She French-braided her wet hair into submission and then left all the products she used in one of the bags. She couldn’t justify taking them with her.
She passed two bedrooms and a half bath all exquisitely decorated before she entered the living space. She let out a sigh as she took in the most beautiful great rooms she’d ever seen. The glass wall overlooking Manhattan was a full two stories. A circular couch faced a gas fireplace with a large flat screen mounted over the mantel. The kitchen and a bar station fit in the back corner of the penthouse, featuring a curved marble island. The rich scent of coffee filled the room, and the built-in oven light illuminated a foil tray. The spicy scent of Indian food—paranthas maybe?—filled the air.
“The penthouse loft is pretty sweet, but the kitchen island is what sold me on this place.”
Mina looked up to the second story where and Hem leaned over the edge of a half wall.
“You bought a penthouse with two-story views of midtown because of the kitchen island?”
He started down the spiral stairs to the main level. “And the rooftop terrace. Oh, and the private parking. This place was my first investment but it became my permanent living quarters recently. Did Ajay’s assistant pack everything you need?”
“Like you don’t know,” Mina said with a smirk.
“Know what?”
“About the La Perla, Hem.”
His gaze heated as he approached her like a stalking predator. “It’s better if you show me. Just so I know it fits correctly.”
She held up a hand like a traffic cop. “Wait! First, let’s address the underwear.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Mina laughed. “No, seriously. You cannot be purchasing designer lingerie for me. It’s presumptuous.”
“Technically, I didn’t,” he said with a shrug. “I just told Rafael to get you whatever women need, and he’s the one who purchased the lingerie.”
“Hem.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, I admit that I like the idea of your clothes here. Of buying clothes for you. I dated someone a while back who would’ve gone to war with me if I so much as purchased a T-shirt for her and we’d dated for years.”
Mina winced. That was a little extreme. She’d definitely accept more than a T-shirt as a gift after a few years of dating, but Mina didn’t know Hem’s ex-girlfriend, so she wasn’t going to pass judgment that quickly. At least not out loud.
“Look, we need to have a discussion about this thing between us. About what happened last night and . . . and this morning.”
He hesitated, then took her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. “Okay. Want some coffee? Or are you a chai person?”
“Uh, I’d normally be okay with coffee but if you have chai, I won’t turn it down.”
He raised an eyebrow, before heading over to a cabinet close to the oven. He pulled down a canister of what looked like loose-leaf tea. With deft efficiency Mina didn’t know he possessed, Hem put a pot of water on the stovetop to boil. He also took out a mug, a strainer, ginger, and sugar.
“I
’m impressed,” she said. “Your mother taught you well.”
“My nani, actually. We used to go stay at her farmhouse outside Chandigarh during the summer months when we were boys. She said that the one thing she always wished for was a husband who would bring her a cup of chai on occasion, not the reverse, so she taught us all how to make it.”
“I think I still have distant relatives in Amritsar, but I’m not sure. My father stopped speaking with his family because he had a love marriage, not an arranged one.”
“How long has it been since you’ve visited India?” Hem asked.
“I went with my mom and dad when I was a kid and haven’t gotten a chance to go back since. I keep up the Punjabi because it’s important to know what the hell my uncles are talking about when they think no one else is looking.”
Mina rounded the island and hoisted herself up so she could sit and watch him more closely. He grated the ginger as if he’d done it a thousand times and added it to the water. When it began to simmer, he poured in three tablespoons of the loose-leaf tea, along with a teaspoon of masala that he pulled from a steel canister. It smelled like cardamom and cloves.
Hem walked over to the custom-designed fridge and took out a glass bottle of milk.
“What?” he said, shooting her a look as he put the milk back.
“Nothing.”
“Somethings on your mind, hiriye.”
Beloved.
The endearment rocked her. Now was probably the best time to talk about why they didn’t belong together, at least not while they worked together. There was too much riding on her decision to get sidetracked. She wanted partner, damn it.
“Hem, I know that you came to the club last night because I sort of initiated the invite. I’m not going to lie. I’m attracted to you. But maybe we should keep things professional, at least until I’m done working at your father’s company. Our involvement could be considered a conflict of interest.”
He placed the cup of chai next to her and Mina sighed at the scent rising from the steaming caramel-colored liquid.