Bollywood Comes to the Chatsfield

by Tara Pammi

  Step behind the hotel room doors of The Chatsfield, London…

  It’s an unusual family business, but being a chauffeur is the only thing that keeps Tanya Singh sane after a truly tough year. That is, until she meets her new client, famous Bollywood superstar John Patel and her teenage fantasy turns out to be even more gorgeous in real life!

  But he’s also the most arrogant man she’s ever met and soon a clash of words and gazes raises the tension to fever pitch! Spending hours alone with John is sweet torture. But can this Bollywood icon unlock her every desire and make her love again?

  Bollywood comes to The Chatsfield

  Tara Pammi

  Contents

  Cover

  Blurb

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Author Bio

  Discover The Chatsfield

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Tanya Singh opened Twitter on her smartphone and typed, her heart feeling like a lead weight in her chest.

  Day 365… still standing…

  And clicked Tweet.

  She had survived a whole year without Sunny. Without her best friend, without her husband, without the man she had loved all her life.

  And she hadn’t fragmented.

  Every morning for the last twelve months, she had sent out one tweet. Sometimes it was what had got her through the night. Marking off another day. In the beginning months, it was as if it kept her connected to Sunny. The way they had tweeted each other several times during the day…it had been morbid but she couldn’t let go of the habit.

  As it had been after the first few months, her phone instantly pinged, bringing a smile to her lips. She clicked it on and smiled as most of her friends tweeted back at her, sending hugs and kisses.

  To know that there was a world waiting outside, if or when she wanted to go back to it, had been her lifeline these past few months.

  She washed her face, keeping her gaze resolutely on her face in the full-length mirror in front of her. She couldn’t bear to look at her body and how her grief had painted itself over where her husband had once touched. A barrage of memories was waiting to close in on her if she did.

  Pulling on leggings and one of Sunny’s T-shirts that hung loose on her frame, she piled her hair into a ponytail. Maybe she could go for a walk.

  August sunlight streamed in through the small window of her room, and her gaze caught on the picture she had on her small nightstand of Sunny and her.

  Her chest tightened, and for an infinitesimal second she thought it wouldn’t relent. But as she had learned over the past year, the ache passed and she breathed again.

  Much as she had resisted her family’s cocooning, she was glad she had moved back in with her parents. Being amidst familiar things in her room, among her family, had helped.

  She ran her fingers over her old and musty piggy bank, her picture from when she had played football, and then her gaze fell on the life-size poster on the wall next to her bed.

  John Patel, Bollywood Star.

  She had had such a crush on him growing up. Sunny had teased her a million times but she hadn’t convinced herself to take it down.

  And yet, it had helped to see his smiling face there. A reminder of the girl she had been before the tragedy of the past year.

  She was a survivor. True, for now, all she was doing was breathing, eating, sleeping and living off her family. But at least, she was still standing.

  ***

  Tanya went downstairs, walked into the living room and bit back a sigh.

  Her older brother, Raj, her parents, her grandmother and several assorted cousins, all looked at her with grins and smirks of varying degrees. Having known those faces and those expressions all her life, her heart slid down to her feet.

  ‘Really? Another intervention? Are we doing this again?’ Tanya said, trying to cut back her frustration.

  Her granny’s loud question about what an intervention was sent them all into bursts of laughter. Including Tanya. Her cousin, Jessie, who was the closest to Tanya in age and her good friend, patiently explained it to granny.

  ‘Seriously, guys. I’m doing fine. See, I even showered, and wore clean clothes today. I don’t need to be-’

  Her brother Raj interrupted her, his hands raised in surrender. ‘Actually, we were hoping you’d help us out tonight, Tanya.’

  Blinking, Tanya looked from her brother to Jessie, the twinkle in her cousin’s eyes making her curious. For a few seconds, she couldn’t believe her brother was serious. ‘Sure…Yeah, of course. What can I help with?’

  ‘Maan’s out of town,’ Raj said, mentioning their older brother and exchanging a quick look with Jessie, ‘and I have a date tonight. Since you still have your licence around and you’ve been driving granny to the temple and back…I thought maybe you could help us out. We have a high-profile client flying into London this afternoon who requires chauffeuring services.’

  When Tanya remained silent, because she was dumbstruck that her over-protective, uber-cocooning brother thought she was fit and capable enough for an important assignment, Raj frowned. ‘If you’d rather hang with your friends or feel you’re not up for a night of driving around London, we’ll just call Andy in.’

  Andy was one of their long-standing chauffeurs.

  Tanya shook her head, sudden energy bursting into life inside her.

  She had fought the same battle with her uber-protective family about being ready to go back to work for at least three months now. Arguments with her brothers, her mama’s tears…finally, she had compromised and told the new flatmate she had found in London that she wouldn’t be joining her. She had told her accounting firm that she wasn’t up to coming back yet.

  Now, going to back to chauffeuring for her brothers seemed liked the best idea. She had always enjoyed it when she had been at university. And now, it could provide her with an insulated way to join the living again.

  Because she still wasn’t sure she could handle being around too many people.

  ‘I’m perfectly capable of handling a client for one night,’ Tanya said, feeling like she could do more than breathe and function again.

  ‘Then you’d better hurry,’ Raj replied.

  ‘Please tell me I can take the new Audi,’ Tanya said, feeling a thrill.

  Pulling her towards him for a hug, Raj kissed her temple. ‘Of course. He’ll be landing in a couple of hours. The mini fridge in the rear is stocked and the petrol tank is full. I’ll key in the route in the GPS device. You know the protocol with a high-profile client, right?’

  ‘Yep. I’ll sign the confidentiality agreement and the rest. Any particular quirks of this client that I should know about?’ she asked, remembering an American businesswoman she had driven around three years ago who wanted to be addressed as Ma’am.

  ‘Nothing,’ her brother replied, shying his gaze away from her, ‘That we know of. It’s the first time he’s hiring us.’

  Nodding, Tanya ran her sweaty hands over her slacks. ‘I still have my uniform.’ Reaching for him, she threw her arms around her big brother’s solid frame. ‘Thanks, Raj. Where is the client going first?’

  ‘The Chatsfield first. Then it’s going to be As Directed.’

  Her eyes widening, Tanya smiled. ‘Wow. Isn’t that the posh hotel that everyone in London’s talking about? I saw a quick feature on the telly about it. Oohh…I can’t wait to see the inside of it.’

  ‘You probably won’t get to see the inside of it,’ Raj added, and then winked at her. ‘But I’m sure you’ll have
a great evening anyway.’

  Tanya went upstairs to get ready. During the first few months after Sunny had died, it had felt like she would never smile or laugh or feel anything ever again.

  Tonight, the small thrill of seeing the grand hotel felt like a blessing. ‘One day at a time,’ she whispered to herself.

  Grinning, she looked up at John Patel’s poster on the wall, and started humming one of the hit songs from a movie of his.

  Chapter Two

  Tanya parked the car at the private airfield, stole a quick look in the rearview mirror and straightened the collar of her black suit jacket. She had braided her hair into a tight plait and was glad to see her unruly, wavy hair had stayed put with the mousse Jessie had lent her.

  Switching off the ignition, she stepped out just as the Lear jet hit the runway. She walked around, straightened her shoulders, linked her hands together and waited.

  Slowly, the thundering of the aircraft abated and the air stairs pulled out. An air hostess appeared first. Her arm extended, her face turned upward, she smiled at her tall passenger. The wide swathe of his black jacket was the first thing that Tanya noticed.

  Her breath stuttered in her throat as the man turned and she caught his profile.

  The tight cast of his face felt eerily familiar. She heard the gasp of disbelief that fell from her mouth as she noted the chiseled jawline, the familiar tilt of his head to one side.

  Jet-black hair flopped in the breeze as he nodded at some comment the air hostess made and turned around, giving Tanya a view of his face. Wraparound shades sat on a distinctive nose. And the mouth…

  It was a mouth that had been oohed and aaahed over by millions of women in India as it engaged in a shockingly erotic kiss that had startled and surprised and made him a fantasy lover to an entire generation of women.

  She had been only sixteen, but she remembered the sensation it had caused in the Indian media and the discussion among her own family members. Tanya had been one of the millions who had adored him in that movie. God, she had watched the clip of him begging the heroine for a kiss and then touching his mouth to hers…

  Something akin to a molten fire started in her belly and she bit her lip. Damn it, it had been a movie from a decade ago. It had been a manufactured moment, a kiss on demand. Nothing about it had been real.

  And neither was he the perfect guy he had played in that movie.

  His dark good looks just as compelling in real life as on the silver screen, John Patel looked so gorgeous that keeping her posture straight as he approached was hard. It was as if the wind could knock her down.

  Suddenly, the twinkle in her cousin’s eyes, the barely hushed enthusiasm of her family, her brother Raj giving her a job after months of keeping hawk eyes on her, why, even after repeated questions from her, no one had told her the name of the client…

  Everything made sense.

  Glad that her star-struck expression was hidden by her shades, Tanya forced her shaking knees to move forward, one step at a time.

  Her throat felt dry, her hands tingled as she neared him. A laugh bubbled up inside to accompany her anxiety. In her wildest dreams, she had never imagined she would one day see John Patel, stand close enough to touch him. Not that she was going to.

  Six feet tall, with an imposing physique that neatly filled out the white dress shirt underneath the black jacket, he was incredibly real. She studied him greedily.

  But that sexy mouth was twisted into the most ferocious scowl she had ever seen. It cut through the silly haze that shrouded her senses.

  Her neatly manicured fingers staying his arm, the air hostess whispered something that Tanya, standing at the bottom of the steps, could not hear. Another air hostess, who seemed barely out of her teens, stood next to her, her excitement palpable in her twitching form.

  ‘Sorry, no pictures please,’ Mr Bollywood replied and goosebumps settled over Tanya’s skin, as if that deep, rasping timbre was embedded into her psyche to invoke only one kind of reaction.

  God, she needed to forget about that kiss.

  As Tanya watched with mounting anxiety, the second woman made a sudden movement, linked her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  Or at least tried to.

  Her mouth landed somewhere on his neck/jaw and instantly, the easy charm fell away like a mask. With a controlled violence that had Tanya’s heart ratcheting in her chest, he disengaged the woman from him and said something.

  Her smile disappearing, the woman looked as if she had been slapped.

  Without a backward glance, John stepped down.

  Tanya was about to step forward and introduce herself when she heard an expletive fall from his lips. Straining to examine his neck, he tugged at his expensive shirt. And that’s when Tanya saw it. The blood red lipstick stain on the inside of his collar.

  Instant heat crawled up her neck and by sheer will, she resisted the urge to look up.

  Stepping forward, Tanya extended her arm. ‘Welcome to London, Mr Patel. I’m Tanya Singh, your chauffeur.’

  If he was surprised at seeing a female chauffeur, he didn’t show it. His fingers resting on his collar, he gave her a quick once over and every square inch of her body tingled at the perusal that lasted barely two seconds. He finally took her extended hand and shook it.

  His hands were rough, almost abrasive against her smooth palms. She fought to keep the curiosity, and the unbidden awareness flooding through, her at bay.

  That was all he needed, his chauffeur making googly-eyes at him. Swallowing the rumble of shock flooding through her, Tanya quickly looked behind him and grabbed his small briefcase.

  ‘Let’s get one thing clear, Ms Singh,’ she heard him say in cutting tones, and slowly turned around.

  He sounded gloriously annoyed. His shades were gone, and the brilliance of his brown gaze stilled her. ‘This trip to London is my escape after a year of acrimonious divorce proceedings. All I want is privacy tonight as I conduct my business. If there’s even a remote chance that you’re going to lose your sense around me, as that newly-fired air hostess up there just demonstrated, know that I’ve zero tolerance for being mauled just because women can’t keep their hormones in check.’

  Shock, dismay, fury, everything cycled through Tanya.

  The nerve of the man! That woman had definitely crossed the boundaries of professional behaviour, but did he think all women were like that?

  Of course he did.

  A stinging retort rose to her lips but she forced herself to breathe through it. The first rule of etiquette for this job was that the client was always right, even if he was an arrogant, utterly gorgeous, privileged SOB who was used to having the world at his feet.

  Biting her cheek, Tanya looked at him steadily. ‘I assure you, Mr Patel, you’re in no danger from me. I have more sense than to throw myself at a man who’s a fictionalised, fantasy sex symbol rather than anything real.’

  The moment she heard those words, Tanya knew she had ended up breaking the rule anyway.

  His mouth twitched, a curious light shining in his eyes.

  Darn it, she didn’t want to get her brothers into trouble. They had poured blood and sweat to build their business into what it was today.

  His gaze settled on her as if he’d just realized that she wasn’t just going to simper and smile.

  ‘So I take it fictionalised, fantasy sex symbols don’t puncture through that starched, repressed exterior?’

  And again, she took the bait without blinking, astounded anew by the man’s arrogance. ‘I’m repressing nothing. Not every woman is overrun by hormones at the sight of you,’ she said through gritted teeth, ‘nor are you God’s gift to women, however much most of my sex has made you believe you are.’

  This time, he laughed, throwing his head back. And under the glorious sound of it, she felt as if she had crawled out from a damp, dark hole into dazzling sunshine.

  Fantasy or not, the man was breathtakingly gorgeous. And the way he laughed, with grooves
in his cheeks, his brown eyes lighting up, there was nothing but humor and charm in it.

  Shaking his head, he moved closer. The subtle scent of his cologne mingled with his own, infused the air she breathed. The heat from his body was like a silky stroke against her skin, a teasing hello. It tugged at her so tangibly that Tanya curled her toes in her leather shoes to keep balance.

  ‘Don’t worry, Ms Singh. I’m under no delusions as to my power over the opposite sex. I’ve just had my balls twisted in a vise this last year by my ex-wife. And you know what? I lost the one thing that mattered to me most.’

  Regret crowing through her, Tanya opened the boot and put his briefcase inside. He had been arrogant in his presumption, but the unprofessional behavior of the air hostess had given him reason to be annoyed. And instead of reassuring him that she was nothing but professional, Tanya herself had gone on the defensive. Because, every word out of his mouth had been true. Even now, she felt a soft, simmering tingle in his presence. And it made her feel off balance.

  It was not his fault that her dormant emotions had suddenly sprung to life.

  She was about to say something banal when he rubbed at the lipstick on his collar again. ‘I have an important meeting within fifteen minutes of our arrival. Let’s hope the Chatsfield staff can find me a new shirt,’ he muttered, almost to himself.

  And instantly, Tanya felt the awkwardness of her silence melt away. ‘I can take care of that stain for you, Mr Patel.’

  Without waiting for his response, she walked to the boot and popped it open. Grabbing the leather bag she always carried with her when she was out on an assignment, she opened it and grinned triumphantly when she located the special makeup-removing wipes her brother had ordered a few months ago to be included in the utility kits for each of the vehicles the car service owned.

  She grabbed one and turned around. When she reached Mr Bollywood however, Tanya stilled with her hand raised towards him.

  Their eyes collided and held. The impact of his hot gaze was like a caress against her face, a subtle challenge glinting in it. Suddenly, she wished she hadn’t offered, had just left him to the mercies of the hotel staff. She wanted to turn around and walk away.