Page 77 of The Art of Taking Second Chances

He kissed my cheek and rolled me over to hold me from behind, our naked bodies flush like two matching pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

While our bodies cooled, he flung his hand idly over me, strumming my nipple.

“What happens now?” I asked, extending my hand to his thigh.

“Now I have you and I don’t care what happens to me.”

I turned over to face him. “How bad are we talking?”

He exhaled against my forehead before planting a firm kiss. “Nothing compared to how happy you make me, Tara.”

He leaned in for another kiss. “You know, Amar led me to believe you both got together after I left. And I thought, it’s alright. I can never be cross with either of you.”

“What?” My knees pulled into my stomach as I burst into a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

I touched his cheek. “You’re such a silly, insecure man.”

“Hey!” He frowned with indignation.

“Amar is my friend. He’s been my friend since before I knew you, and that has never changed. Why would you think that about us?”

“I asked him, and he didn’t deny it.”

I smiled and moved my hand to his heart. “Sameer, if we’re together again, we need to trust each other. You let your insecurity ruin every close relationship in your life. You have to let it go. You can’t let it ruin our relationship—any relationship—anymore. Do you understand?”

He nodded.

“That’s the reason it was so easy to fool you when I came to the party with Mihir. You assume I’m too good for you, that I deserve someone better. Someone kinder like Amar, more successful like Sujit, or an alpha like Mihir. That I would easily fall for any of them over you.”

His eyes widened, and he held my hands tight as my words sank in.

“But I want you. It’s how you make me feel. We’re all messed up in our own way, Sameer. The idea of perfection has never appealed to me. Perfect is an illusion, a ruse to hide imperfections. Believing in the beauty of the imperfect is how I learned to love myself. How I came to love you. The imperfect is beautiful because it is real. However flawed you think you are, I chose you all those years ago, and I choose you today. I will always choose you, and you need to trust that.”

“And I deserve you.” He blinked with sincerity. “I hesitated to contact you all these years because I was convinced I didn’t. But I do.”

“Yes, you do.” I cupped his face. “You deserve me just as much as I deserve you. You’re a good man. I need you to trust me on that too.

“I trust you. I trust you with everything I have.”

“Including Love and Loss?” I asked, borrowing his cheeky grin.

“Except that.” His voice immediately turned from soft to commanding. “That’s mine, Ms. Kadam, as we’ve already established.” And I burst out laughing again.

He pulled me over his body and kissed me hard. I looked into his eyes and ran a finger over my bitemarks on his shoulder. “You always made me feel good, Tara, only now you also know how to fuck me hard.”

I grimaced as he grinned and enveloped me in his arms.

When we finally exited the bedroom, the hot sun had mellowed into an evening breeze. We retreated to the balcony with coffee, then ordered Chinese. The setting sun cast a soft glow on Sameer’s handsome face, and I was instantly reminded of Sujit. I sucked in a ragged breath as I felt myself coming back down to earth.

“I need to talk to Sujit,” I said while we waited for the food to arrive.

“It won’t be easy breaking it to Aarti.”

“She loves you, you know.”

“Tara, if you want me to end it before her party on Saturday, I’ll do it. Whatever decisions we make from here on out, we’ll make together. Do you want me to?”

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