Free The One She Was Warned About by Shoma Narayanan

this,’ he said huskily. ‘It drove me crazy, waiting two weeks till I could see you again.’
    Shweta nodded in agreement before fisting her hands in his hair and pulling his head down for another kiss. This was one situation where his new haircut wasn’t an improvement—it had been so much easier to get a grip when his hair was longer. Still, she did the best she could, and he reciprocated admirably. Both of them were a little breathless when they broke apart a few minutes later.
    ‘I wish I could take you home with me,’ he said. ‘But it’s too soon—I don’t want to rush you.’
    One part of Shweta’s brain was quite sure that she didn’t mind being rushed—the other part, however, grudgingly admitted that he was right.
    ‘I’ll call the car,’ he said.
    Shweta gave him a curious look. ‘You mean you’ll whistle to it and it’ll come to you? Like in a Bond movie?’
    Nikhil laughed. ‘No, I brought my driver along because I knew I’d be drinking,’ he said. ‘Come here—we have time for one last kiss.’
    And what a kiss it was. Shweta thought of protesting that she was in no hurry, that they could spend the rest of the night in the car park as far as she was concerned, but she had to bite the words back. Also, the kisses were getting a little too much for her self-control—another few and she’d be clawing the clothes off him. It was probably best that she go home before she completely disgraced herself. Either he wasn’t quite as attracted to her as he said he was, or he had super-human self-control, she thought resentfully as they waited for the driver to bring the car around.
    Once they were in the car Nikhil kept his hands off her completely. After he’d foiled her first two attempts to get closer to him Shweta sat grumpily in one corner, resisting his attempts to make polite conversation.
    ‘Are you free next weekend?’ he asked as she got out of the car.
    She nodded. Definitely not as attracted as she was, she thought. Next weekend seemed like aeons away, with the week yawning like a bottomless abyss in between.
    ‘Only I don’t think I can wait that long to see you again,’ he said, with a laugh in his voice as if he’d gauged exactly how frustrated she was feeling. ‘OK if I pick you up after work on Tuesday?’
    ‘Tuesday sounds good,’ she said politely. ‘Dinner again?’
    He thought it over. ‘Well, I guess we would need to eat,’ he said. ‘Though it wasn’t exactly dinner that I had in mind...’
    In her high heels she was almost as tall as he was. She stood on tiptoe and put a hand to the side of his face. Slowly she brought her lips close to his mouth and pressed them there. For a few seconds he stood frozen. Worried that he’d move away, she moved her hands up to clasp his head and deepened the kiss, leaning into him, her body pressed provocatively against his. This time his response was far more satisfactory and he returned the kiss, his lips hot and hungry against hers, while his arms held her in a possessive embrace.
    A piercing whistle from an upstairs window make them break apart and look up. Priya was leaning out of the window, waving madly.
    ‘Stupid cow,’ Shweta said crossly, once she’d got over her initial embarrassment. She made a face at Priya and gestured to her to go back inside. Priya gave her a huge grin, and mimed kissing. It took a particularly hard glare to get her to shut the window and go inside.
    ‘I’ll see you on Tuesday,’ she said to Nikhil, but he gave her a quizzical look. ‘Why do you and Priya share a flat? You don’t seem to like each other much.’
    Shweta stared at him. ‘She’s my best friend,’ she said sharply. ‘I thought you’d be able to figure that out without me having to tell you.’
    She was unlocking her front door when she heard his powerful car start up and she gave a little groan. She’d been stupid, she realised, snapping at him like that. But Priya was the closest thing she had to a sister, and