He sat on a stool kitty-corner to her and they dug in. From the first bite Rani knew she was in love. “Wow, that’s the best lamb saag I’ve ever had.” She closed her eyes and savored the spices. When she looked again at Arjun he was staring at her, his honey-colored eyes completely dark.
“That face you just made, that is the reason I like to cook,” he said thickly.
She turned back to her food, hoping he hadn’t noticed the heat in her cheeks.
Once they were finished eating, she helped him clear the dishes and began washing the pots. “Rani, my housekeeper will be here tomorrow. You should rest your foot.”
“Those of us who don’t have housekeepers can’t stand the thought of going to bed with a dirty kitchen,” she joked.
“Is that your way of saying you’d like to go to bed here?”
Her hand flew to her mouth to shove the words back in. “That’s not what I meant at all.”
He laughed. “I’m just joking with you.”
“How about I make us some masala chai?” she offered hastily to get off the topic of her spending the night.
“You really should rest your foot.”
“I’m fine!”
“I do have a soft spot for homemade masala chai.”
He helped her find what she needed, then leaned over her shoulder as she added cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and milk to a pot of water. She added a touch of black pepper, keeping up a chatter about how she’d bribed a chai wallah in Delhi to give her his recipe. Arjun stood so close to her that if she moved an inch, she’d be touching him. Just a tiny step back and I’ll feel his solid chest against me.
“Are you learning to make masala chai now?”
She felt him nodding. “Lamb saag takes a while to prepare. Masala chai is much more efficient for the purposes of impressing women with my domestic prowess.”
“I don’t think you need to cook to impress women. I think every woman in India would gladly marry you.”
“Ah, but I’m not interested in all those women in India. Right now I would really like for this ABCD to notice me.”
Notice him? Her heart jumped into her throat. The Arjun Singh was trying to get her attention?
She took a tiny step back towards him, then turned so she was facing him. Her breasts brushed against his solid chest. A longing took hold of her, curled down her spine and lit a fire deep in her core. For just a moment, she wanted to be the woman a man like Arjun desired. To be the type of confident woman who could take control and seduce a man.
She looked up at him. Arjun’s eyes widened as she lifted herself on tiptoe and touched his lips with hers. His kiss was featherlight, teasing, probing, testing. She circled her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. He obliged, letting his tongue explore her. His hands were loose around her waist. She felt the hard ridge of his desire and the molten heat in her own core. She moved against him and heard him groan, which sent a new pulse of electricity through her.
What am I doing? The temptation to see what he felt like had been all-consuming, but suddenly her brain kicked in. He’s a client.
She made a sound and he slowly excruciatingly, ended the kiss. He moved his arms from her waist to her arms, unmolding their bodies, then rested his forehead on hers. “Rani.” His voice was husky, and never in her life had her name sounded so sexy. This was what it was supposed to feel like.
But did Arjun think the kiss was special too, or was every kiss like that for India’s hottest hottie?
“Oh no!” He pushed her aside just as the tea boiled over and splashed out of the pot. He turned the gas off, getting some of the hot liquid on his hand. He grimaced and shook it off.
Rani took a breath to force her mind back to reality. The kiss with Arjun had been a fantasy, one that she couldn’t indulge in again.
* * *
What is wrong with me? Arjun prided himself on being in control. He hadn’t planned on kissing Rani, let alone letting the kiss get so intense that he was seconds away from lifting her up and carrying her to his bedroom. That wasn’t his style. He liked to take things slow with a woman, and until tonight he’d never had a problem keeping his desire in check. Especially for someone he worked with.
Rani ran the faucet, grabbed his hand and stuck it under the cold water.
“I’m so sorry, I totally forgot about the tea.” Rani’s face was inches from his; she looked stricken.
He smiled. “For that kiss, I’d happily burn my hand again.”
She opened her mouth, then let her hand fall away from his.
“Arjun, I can’t.”
He turned the faucet off. His hand stung but he didn’t care.
Rani was putting distance between them. Damn it. Why didn’t I stop myself? He sensed that Rani was not very experienced with men. If he felt unsettled by that one kiss, he could only imagine how jolted she must be.
She bit her lip. The nervous gesture was so sexy that he had to resist the urge to run his thumb over her lips.
“Our firm has a very strict morals clause. I can be fired for getting involved with a client. I’m sorry, our relationship has to be business only.” She grabbed her jacket and put it on.
“Because your firm has a morals clause or because you aren’t interested?” Since when did he need to question a woman’s interest in him?
She shifted on her feet. “I don’t think there’s a woman in this world who wouldn’t be interested in you, Arjun. But I have my reputation to consider.”
“I understand your concern. But know that I’m very discreet. This would not affect our work together on the Mahal.”
“I don’t know...” she said uncertainly.
He stepped closer to her but didn’t touch her. “Tell me that kiss was nothing. Because I’ll be honest with you, I’ve had my share of women, and that kind of earth-shattering kiss is not common.”
The hint of a smile played on her lips and he knew he had her.
“It was earth-shattering, Arjun. And if you weren’t my client, I would love to see more of you. And I mean that literally and figuratively.”
The intense longing in her eyes was enough to make him want to pull her close, but she crossed her arms, clearly fighting with herself. “This isn’t the right time for us. Maybe after I’m done with your hotel.”
After we’re done with the hotel, I’ll be married. While he and Hema had agreed to date other people before they were formally engaged, he had no intention of being with someone else once things became official between them.
He hung his head. “I’m sorry to hear that, Rani, but I understand. It’ll just be business between us, then.”
Six
Rani didn’t know how she managed to focus on work for the next four weeks. Her nights were spent tossing and turning as she tried not to think about that kiss, and fantasize about what more Arjun could do with his mouth.
She still hadn’t gotten over the fact that Arjun Singh was attracted to her. Plain old Rani. How she’d had the fortitude to turn him down was still a mystery.
The only thing saving her was work. As lead architect, she had to do more than just come up with the designs. She had to oversee the contractors and supply vendors, and take care of a thousand details. Enough to keep her traitorous mind from wandering.
Since the night of their kiss, Arjun hadn’t attended any of the meetings for the project. He’d sent Vanessa. Each time a meeting was about to start, Rani had waited breathlessly for him and he hadn’t come. She had politely asked about him only to be told that he was busy. She should’ve been relieved but was irritated. Is he avoiding me? What the hell!
She signed the last invoice on her desk and turned to her email. Despite being an architectural design firm, RKS’s offices were as bland as a government building’s. Her ten-foot-by-ten-foot space included a black functional desk, a gray mesh chair for her, and two guest c
hairs. The bookshelves were empty. With the promotion, she’d moved out of her cubicle and into the office and hadn’t had time to personalize it other than to put a picture of her parents and siblings on the desk.
Her office phone rang and she answered it, expecting it to be Vanessa again. The woman called no less than three times a day.
“Rani, it’s Bob.”
The voice was familiar but it took Rani a second to realize it was the Bob. Bob Seagel. She hadn’t spoken to him since he’d left RKS. The extent of their contact had been the occasional comment on a Facebook post.
“Bob, this is a surprise. How are you?”
“I’m great, Rani, how are you?”
She bit her lip. Why was Bob calling her out of the blue? “Fantastic. I finally made senior architect and am leading the remodel on the Mahal hotel. It’s keeping me busy.”
“I heard. Congratulations! That’s actually why I’m calling. A Vanessa Knott called me asking about you.”
Rani straightened.
“She made it sound like they hadn’t fully signed with RKS and she knew you’d worked for me and was checking a reference. I saw right through her of course. Every major firm in the country knows RKS managed to win the contract for the Mahal.”
That witch! What is she playing at?
“What did you tell her?”
“That you’re the best architect I’ve ever worked with. She kept digging, though, trying to get at our personal relationship, but I didn’t give her anything.”
Rani’s mouth was dry. “Bob, I appreciate you looking out for me. You left so fast two years ago we never got a chance to talk. I want you to know that I tried to stand up for you, to let them know you did nothing wrong. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel terrible about what happened to you because of me. I’m so sorry for...”
“Rani, stop.”
Rani bit her lip. She deserved whatever harsh things he had to say to her.
“I know you tried to protect me. Me leaving had nothing to do with our relationship.”
What! “Then why did you resign in such a hurry?”
Bob sighed. “Ian Rabat wanted me out. And not because of you. That was just a pretext. He offered me a really lucrative severance package to leave right away so he could promote Delia.”
“What? Why would he go to such lengths to promote her? She started a year before I did.” What Rani didn’t say is that Delia wasn’t even that good. Despite her years of experience, her designs were bland and her technical expertise was dated.
“Oh, you don’t know? Delia is Ian Rabat’s daughter from an affair he had almost forty years ago.”
Rani gasped. For all the sanctimonious advice Delia gave her about morals, she’d gotten the promotion because she was the boss’s illegitimate daughter.
“I found out when I was digging around for why Ian wanted me gone. Turned out that Delia was planning to leave for another firm so Ian needed to find a way to promote her so she’d stay.”
“And you agreed to this?”
“It was a good deal for me. And he hooked me up with a lucrative position at my current firm. But one of the conditions Ian had was that he wanted everyone to think I left because of you so Delia wouldn’t suspect he was pulling strings to get her promoted.”
“Does she know she’s his daughter?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly exhausted, Rani leaned back in her chair. “I wish you’d told me two years ago.”
Bob was silent. “I should have. At the time I was thinking very selfishly. Ian’s wife doesn’t know about Delia so he asked me to keep it quiet. I’m sorry you’ve been carrying the guilt around for so long, Rani. I would’ve told you if I knew you’d taken it so hard.”
“Well, thank you for telling me now. You can count on my discretion.”
“Oh, you don’t have to be discreet. Vanessa was nice enough to tell me the rumors Ian spread around Vegas once I left. He’s ruined my reputation in that entire town. By the way, watch out for Vanessa. After she called, I asked around about her. She’s Vegas all the way. Always after something better for herself.”
That’s rich coming from you.
Rani somehow found the words to politely end the call. Bob promised to keep in touch, though she had no intention of staying friends with him. All that time feeling guilty about Bob, standing up for him no matter how detrimental it was to my reputation, and he’s only been looking out for himself. Her entire life had been spent fulfilling other people’s needs. First her parents’, then her in-laws’, and then RKS’s. She’d let the company use her. She was done with that. It was time for her to get what she wanted, to take control of her life. She was going to do something for herself.
Seven
It had been another night spent tossing and turning. Despite cranking the AC so high that Em had threatened to throw her out, Rani woke up hot and tortured with the feel of Arjun’s kiss burned into her soul.
She’d written a terse email to him yesterday asking whether he knew Vanessa had called Bob about her. His response had come immediately to ask whether they could move today’s owners condo walk-through to seven o’clock in the evening. Vanessa had emailed to say she wouldn’t be coming.
Rani was proud of how the condo had turned out. RKS had allowed her to call in every contractor favor they were owed, not because they were trying to help her, but because they wanted to secure the contract to design the rest of the hotel, including its five hundred guest rooms, the conference rooms and the casino. Every architectural firm in Vegas was still courting Arjun and RKS didn’t want to lose out.
She looked around the room one last time. She had asked the contractors to leave so she could take the meeting alone with Arjun. There was a knock on the door just as the clock struck seven.
Her heart thundered. She checked her reflection in the antique mirror in the foyer. She had splurged and bought herself a skirt suit with a stylish short jacket, and paired it with a sleeveless crimson blouse with a deep V-neck. She took a breath and opened the door.
And there he was! Dressed in jeans and an open collared shirt, Arjun looked effortlessly hot.
“Mr. Singh,” she said with a purposefully mischievous tone, “I’m glad this meeting is worth your time.” Rani would never have spoken to another client that way, but a familiarity hummed between them as he gave her a dimpled smile.
“Ms. Gupta.” His tone was measured but his eyes unabashedly traveled the length of her body. And just like that, eating ramen noodles for a week to afford the new clothes was worth it.
She waved him inside. The antique mirror reflected the jaali wall that separated the foyer from the great room. A staircase led to the upper level with the bedrooms, which had a balcony overlooking the large living area and kitchen below.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to attend our meetings. I ran into an issue with the gaming commission that’s taken up my time.”
“No apologies necessary. Vanessa is highly capable. Why didn’t she come?”
“I suspended her, and am thinking of firing her.”
Rani’s hand flew to her mouth. “Not on my account, I hope? I didn’t mean for her to lose her job, I just wanted to know whether you had put her up to it.” Though if she was honest with herself, she never suspected Arjun would have done something like that. She’d wanted him to put Vanessa in her place.
“Of course not. And I don’t allow my staff to behave that way.”
Rani took a step back at his tone. “It isn’t bad enough to fire her.”
“She called your former boss to get dirt on you. I suspect it’s because she was jealous. It was highly unprofessional.”
“Why would she be jealous of me?”
Arjun rolled his eyes. “Because she could see I was interested in you, Rani. She called me on it after our dinner at Delhi
Dhaba.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told her it was none of her business. And speaking of business, let’s get through ours, shall we?”
Rani’s heart sank at his crisp tone. “Okay, then. As you can see, we have the main living areas finished. Upstairs, only the master bedroom is finished, but the other four will have the same look and feel.”
He ran his hand over the wood carvings in the antique mirror frame, then walked to the living room. RKS had an excellent interior decorating team, but Rani had overseen every selection here. Divans upholstered in a rich royal-blue-and-silver pattern lined the walls underneath the balcony overhang. In the center of the room were two long couches facing each other with two large armchairs on either side forming a square. Silver hammered coffee and end tables provided an accent. The floors were a dark hand-scraped wood. Beyond the living room, the open kitchen had copper pots offset by antique white cabinets with brass handles and quartz counters. The furniture was minimal but traditional.
Arjun walked through the space, examining each piece of furniture, light fixture and decoration. Rani stood back, enjoying the silent smile that played on his lips when he touched a carved wood elephant that was her favorite piece. She should’ve been anxious about whether he liked her work but she was enjoying the luxury of watching his athletic figure flex and bend as he examined things. Was it really wrong to want him? Just once, maybe twice? To feel like a woman sexy enough for a man like him?
She cleared her throat. “How does the space feel?”
There was no hesitation in his reply. “Like home.”
She smiled. “Your home maybe. My home has Ikea furniture and a stove from the seventies.”
He smiled. “You’re right. My house does have extraordinary luxuries. But what I mean is the colors, the fabrics and the wood. It all reminds me of Rajasthan. Thank you, Rani. This is what I wanted, the feel of my home.”
“I can’t even imagine the astronomical price you will charge for this condo.”
“I don’t plan to rent it out.”
Marriage by Arrangement Page 6