On a sudden impulse, he took her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger. The moment became charged with something indefinable. He didn’t know what had come over him—why he had done it—but only knew that he had felt compelled. He was at a loss for words as she looked up at him questioningly. He dragged his eyes away from hers, trying to bring back a semblance of normality to the super-charged moment. He wished he hadn’t been so impulsive.
Getting up, he dusted his palms against the seat of his trousers before he held out his hand to her. ‘I think we should go back to the villa. You need to rest for a while.’
It was the most exquisite ring she had ever seen. A large pinkish rock set in the centre of a platinum band amid a cluster of precious stones of different hues. It reminded her of the changing colours of a beautiful sunset. She looked up and saw the brilliance in Neel’s eyes—more priceless than any ring. The music swelled in the background and she saw happy faces all around—cheering, showering them with rose petals. Milee. Agra Aunty. Robi Da. Mom was gorgeous in a red-and-white saree and Dad beamed happily, his arm around Mom. But she had eyes only for Neel, who was whispering softly in her ear, ‘You’re my touchstone.’
Rayna woke up with a start, her heart beating wildly, her ears still ringing. The vivid images of the dream clung to her consciousness like wispy smoke curling from incense sticks. She sat up in bed and pushed her hands through her thick hair. What was all that about? She had been feeling out of sorts following the episode at the jetty and decided to take a nap. But all she’d been able to think of was Neel before she fell into a troubled sleep. She had bared her soul to him and when he had slipped the ring on her finger it had felt so right! It was as if their fake engagement had suddenly turned a wee bit real. No! She was the one who needed to get real! His awkwardness afterwards made it amply clear he’d regretted his move and he couldn’t wait to rush back to the villa.
She tumbled out of the bed and rushed to the bathroom. She needed to get ready for the sangeet celebrations or Milee would be the one suffering a panic attack!
Soon she had changed into a pale pink and white lehnga-choli ensemble with delicate zardozi embroidery-work on it. She wore a silver anklet on one foot to add a quirky touch before slipping on bangles and a chunky choker around her neck. She looked at her now bare ring finger and the image of the dream ring flashed in her mind—it would have been perfect with this outfit. Maybe she should design a ring like that. But for now she had a huge problem—for a woman who was supposed to be newly engaged, her ringless finger would definitely draw unwanted attention.
She rummaged through her jewellery box. She had several in there—some silver, some cocktail rings she had designed herself—but none would pass off as an engagement ring. She should have thought of it earlier, she castigated herself, and borrowed something appropriate from Milee. Now, it was too late—Milee would be at the Jade Room, where the ceremonies were to take place.
The knock on the door distracted her. Milee had probably sent someone to fetch her. She called out, ‘Come in.’ A frisson of awareness ran through her even before Neel strode in. No one else could make her insides crackle with electricity the way he did.
His eyes glided over her, savouring the perfect picture she presented. The backless choli showed off her smooth soft skin. The low-riding lehnga fitted her curvy hips snugly before falling into soft silky pink folds around her legs, and her feet were encased in silver-coloured heels. She turned to face him, her large eyes luminous beneath her thick lashes. Her rosebud lips, painted a seductive red, made him want to crush her in his arms and kiss her senseless. Her fingers fluttered to her ears as she put on a pair of ruby-studded danglers that looked a little too heavy for her delicate earlobes.
‘Good to go?’ he asked, when all he wanted to do was push her back onto the bed and make love to her all night long.
She nodded and the earrings grazed her neck softly. ‘I wish I had a—’ She stopped herself from finishing the thought. ‘Never mind. Let’s go.’
But he didn’t move a muscle. He stood there, looking like a suave Rajput prince in a traditional cream-coloured kurta-churidar and a night-blue Kashmiri jacket. He held a small velvet box in his hand. ‘I think I have just what you’re looking for.’
Her heart hitched. Her eyes widened in shock as he took out a beautiful diamond ring from the box.
‘It goes well with your dress and is also perfect for our…situation.’
Despite her wishing she had one, with him suddenly standing in front of her bearing a beautiful ring, this was getting a bit too real for their fake engagement! The air was thick with anticipation. For what? she wondered. He did not want a real long-term relationship and he’d made that quite clear. So where was the need for this? As for herself…she didn’t even want to think about it. Sid might be history but she wasn’t ready for anything more serious than a fling. Or was she?
‘Wow,’ she said, trying to rein in her scrambled thoughts. ‘You actually go around with a diamond ring in your pocket?’
‘I’m surprised you missed the exclusive Cartier showroom in our resort. In case you don’t like it, you can exchange it—’
‘Have you gone out of your mind?’ she shrieked. ‘Cartier? It must have cost a bomb!’
He simply shrugged. ‘The price tag doesn’t matter. What does is that it’s just right—’
‘For our situation,’ she cut in sharply. ‘You already mentioned that!’
‘Do you have a better idea?’ He glanced at her jewellery box that lay open on the bed—its contents spilling out as if someone had been looking for a pin in a haystack.
She swallowed hard—trust him not to miss a thing. But she could not—would not—accept such an expensive gift!
He held out the ring. ‘So, will you put it on or should I?’
She grabbed the ring—her fingers tingling as they touched his. ‘I’ll wear it on one condition.’
‘Of course…there always are terms and conditions with you.’
She ignored his sarcasm. ‘You will take it back to the store as soon as we’re done here…with the wedding.’
‘It makes no difference to me. You may keep it—as a souvenir of our time together or give it to charity or whatever.’
‘I will return it to you.’ Her voice had a determined edge to it.
‘As you wish.’
The awkward silence that followed made Rayna a bit reckless. ‘It’s good to know I have a dependable genie who can make my every wish come true.’
She could have bit her tongue—she knew her statement was open to all kinds of interpretation.
‘Happy to be of service, m’lady!’ His eyes turned a shade darker and he pulled her close. ‘Maybe this is something you’re wishing for right now?’
His mouth caught hers and his tongue teased its way into hers. Desire shot through her—hot and intense—and her thoughts of playing it cool disappeared in an instant. It was only when the ring clattered to the marble floor that she came to her senses.
She pushed away from him and sucked in a huge gulp of oxygen. ‘We need to get going.’
With a thrill of pleasure, she realised from the look in his eyes that Neel wasn’t as calm as he pretended to be. He picked up the ring and gave it to her. ‘The naach-gaana…how can we miss all that?’
She fumbled for the lip colour on the dressing table. ‘You have something against celebrations?’
‘A wedding is not exactly my favourite event.’
His eyes stayed glued on her as she wiped off her smeared lipstick and smoothed on a fresh layer. She made even the simple act of applying lipstick erotic!
‘Wonder why?’ She pressed her lips together and dabbed off the edges with a tissue.
‘Unfortunately, they haven’t yet developed an antidote for a rare allergic reaction to big fat weddings,’ he said drily.
She grabbed her clutch purse and walked out. ‘You know what…sometimes you just need to let your hair down.’
Th
e Jade Room buzzed with guests. Apart from the close friends and family of both the groom and the bride, the VIPs were there in full attendance. The elegant Princess of Junagadh held court at one end of the room with her admirers hanging on to her every word. A couple of Bollywood stars added to the glam quotient as well.
As soon as Neel and Rayna entered, she was whisked away by her friends. One of the servers carrying a tray of beverages stopped to offer Neel a drink and he gratefully accepted a double shot of the Glenfiddich. Alcohol was the only thing that would see him through the evening. As the golden liquid burnt down his throat his thoughts turned to Rayna—in fact she was never far away from them. He was a bit amazed he had gone out of his way to buy the ring for her. Giving her an engagement ring—even if it was meant strictly for public viewing—was like stepping into an emotional minefield.
But then he had discarded logic by the wayside the moment he’d allowed his sexual attraction for her to take the upper hand. If he wasn’t so desperate to bed her perhaps he would not have been so sensitive to her every mood, every furrow that wrinkled her brow and every expression that darkened those beautiful brown-gold eyes. Much as he hated to admit it, there was no denying his feelings for Rayna were beginning to run deeper than sheer physical attraction. To say that she intrigued him would be a huge understatement. She evoked the caveman in him. He wanted to keep her safe and secure and all to himself. The vulnerability he’d seen in her only made him want to protect her. In some ways, she reminded him a bit of his younger self—before he had learnt to cope with people’s unspoken censure. Much before he’d stopped caring about how others judged him.
For months after he had walked out of Pia’s home on the night of their aborted wedding, he had been an object of ridicule. By extension, his mother and Meera too had to bear the brunt of the public humiliation. Wild rumours had raged within his extended family as to why the marriage had been called off—and he knew that with every telling the stories had only become more far-fetched and ridiculous. Some even suggested he had demanded a huge dowry from Pia’s father and when the man hadn’t been able to pay up, Neel had refused to marry her.
If only he’d had the guts to thrash it out with his so-called sympathisers and told them the truth about Pia and her father! In hindsight, he wished he had confided in Meera but he wanted to protect her from the harsh realities of life. Meera had interpreted his silence as an admission of his guilt—that he was to blame for the marriage fiasco, just as all the rumour-mongers had suggested. He now knew he had made the wrong call: his silence had completely destroyed her trust in him and by the time he had realised it, it had been too late. She had retreated into her shell and her volatile mood swings resurfaced, wreaking havoc in their small family unit.
A sudden burst of applause caught his attention. A motley group of dancers were gyrating to the techno beat of Gangnam. And the star performer turned out to be none other than the groom himself. Neel couldn’t help but smile at Chris’s earnest and total absorption with the moves—the slight awkwardness to his dancing had its own charm. Everyone was up on their feet, cheering and wolf-whistling. Chris responded to the adulation with hip-breaking moves that would do a veteran Bollywood actor proud.
As spontaneous shouts of ‘encore’ burst forth, Rayna and the other dancers moved away to allow Chris to bask in the glory of his performance. She found herself walking towards Neel, who was still clapping, a huge grin plastered on his face.
‘So, it seems like you may have enjoyed yourself a teeny-weeny bit after all?’ Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
‘Chris definitely did!’ he said smoothly. ‘I didn’t realise he had a hidden talent for dancing.’
‘He was good, wasn’t he? He claims he’s been practising this for ever.’
‘Chris is nothing if not meticulous.’ And he added cheekily, ‘He even managed to steal the limelight from you.’
‘Thank God!’ She rolled her eyes. ‘There just wasn’t enough time to practise!’
‘Why, I wonder,’ he whispered in a sexy silky voice near her ear.
She laughed. ‘Ask the groom’s best man!’
Rayna knew she was veering into dangerous turf by flirting outrageously with him. She was only setting herself up for heartbreak and yet she felt reckless. Much like a moth dazzled by the intensity of the flame, she too couldn’t resist the burning passion in his eyes.
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he growled. ‘Or I won’t be responsible for my actions.’
But before she could come back with a retort she heard Chris call out, ‘Hey, bro!’
Rayna reluctantly pulled away from Neel as Chris and Milee walked towards them. Neel ribbed Chris about his newfound passion for dancing. ‘Not planning to start an acting career in Bollywood, are you?’
‘No way, man!’ Chris gave a mock shudder. ‘That was one pelvis-crunching act I wouldn’t like to repeat. For love nor money!’
As they burst into laughter at Chris’s pained expression, Milee said, ‘Chris, I think at least one Bollywood diva seems to be quite worried by your performance.’
Rayna spotted Karisma and Sid among the guests, the former looking put out.
Milee nudged Chris. ‘Like it or not, honey, you’re a dancing star already.’
As the strains of a soft romantic number filled the hall, Milee squealed, ‘This is one of my favourites. Chris, let’s dance!’
Would Neel ask her for a dance? Her gaze darted towards him but he was looking at someone across the room. He quickly excused himself and strode towards Karisma and Sid. Her heart lurched. A showdown seemed inevitable. She watched as he talked quietly to the couple before ushering them out of the Jade Room. Anxiety knifed through her heart. He had promised to take care of the gossip magazine problem. What if his plan failed?
CHAPTER TEN
AZIZ SHAH HAD been sent packing to Mumbai and all that needed to be done was to defuse the publicity bomb he had planted at Celebrity Times. Shiva had efficiently tracked down and connected Neel with the editor of the gossip magazine. Even before Shah’s aircraft touched down in Mumbai, Neel had persuaded the editor not to print the story and pictures. The threat of legal action was delivered subtly enough but it had done the job. To soften the blow he’d offered to buy premium ad space in the magazine for the next six months and the deal was sealed. Incentives always worked better than threats. Shiva had wired the money in exchange for a written confirmation that Aziz’s photographs and stories would never see the light of day. Neel had meant to confront Karisma and Sid with the fait accompli but it had totally skipped his mind until he had seen the duo walk into the Jade Room.
Sid was indignant at being unceremoniously ushered out of the sangeet celebrations, while Karisma remained unperturbed. But Neel had no patience for the conniving couple. At first both denied knowing anything about Aziz Shah’s deal with Celebrity Times but they knew their sordid little game was up when he showed them the email from the editor.
The whole business had left a bitter taste in his mouth and he simply had had enough of this wedding tamasha. He would be glad when it was all over and done with. For now, he was the one that badly needed what his resort promised its guests—nirvana!
‘Chris and his mom are really cool, no?’ gushed Radhika as the mehndi ceremony was officially thrown open with Chris’s mother applying a little bit of the orange-red paste on her son’s soon-to-be bride’s palm.
Rayna couldn’t have agreed more. If Chris had been the star performer at the sangeet, then his mother stole the show at the henna ceremony. Dressed in a pretty turquoise salwar kameez, she had come prepared to play the role of the traditional mother-in-law to perfection. She even exchanged a few words with the Brahmin priest in Hindi, much to the delight of Milee’s admiring relatives.
Radhika eyed the rock on Rayna’s finger and stretched out her hand. ‘May I?’
Rayna squashed the urge to hide her hand behind her back and reluctantly let Radhika examine the ring, which she did with the precis
ion of a pawn shop owner.
‘It’s gorgeous. You must be counting the days to your wedding, no?’
Rayna didn’t miss the envy-laced admiration in her voice. She had already heard it a gazillion times—how she was so lucky to have landed such a prize catch: a millionaire who was drop-dead gorgeous to boot.
‘We haven’t fixed a date yet.’ She kicked herself mentally yet again for coming up with this ridiculous idea of a fake engagement. It might have been simpler if she’d just told them about her split with Sid and left it at that. Though, of course, then she would have faced a barrage of clucking pseudo-sympathisers. But her stupid pride hadn’t allowed her to go with the truth. So here she was—grinning and bearing it as everyone and her corpulent aunt showered her with compliments and gratuitous advice.
She needed to get away from it all before she went stir-crazy, announced the ring was strictly on loan and the only real thing about her relationship was her desire for her fake fiancé. From the corner of her eye she saw Agra Aunty waddle towards her and she made herself scarce before she was put through another round of forty questions.
She was so hell-bent on escaping, it was only after her high heels sank into the soft sand and nearly tripped her up that she realised she was a tad overdressed for the beach. Stilettos and flowing designer lehnga were not exactly suitable beachwear. She sighed in frustration and kicked off her heels.
‘Come and sit here—or you will ruin your dress.’
Her heart did a little skippity-skip the moment she heard that sexy drawl. And when she spied Neel lying on a beach towel on the sand, stripped down to just his trousers, her heart started its demented chimp on a trapeze act again. Sitting thigh-to-thigh on a strip of towel with Neel was not going to do anything to rein in the chimp either.
‘Ah! So this is where you have been hiding?’ She hoped she sounded breezy rather than breathless. She picked up her discarded stilettos while she held the lehnga away from the sand with her other hand.
‘Not hiding. But, as I told you, weddings and me don’t mix.’ He reached for the bottle of beer next to him.
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