Page 18 of The Rules of Playing with Fire

She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. “You’ve had girlfriends you knew for an hour, and you’ve taken literal strangers to your bed. Isn’t that the truth?”

I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Alright, two things. One, you know too much about my personal life. I should stop sharing with you. And two, Sona is not just another woman…”

“Oh?” A pointed look, and I realized she had trapped me.

“Touché, Mom!” I raised my glass to her. Dad laughed as Mom smiled, taking the glass from my hand and setting it back on the table.

“Stop drinking if you are going to be driving soon,” she said. “Go get some coffee.”

“I’m not drunk,” I argued but got up to fetch coffee and water. When Tara caught me on my way back to the table, I said, “Hey, I’ll be heading out soon. Need to prep for tomorrow. I’ll let Amrit aunty know on my way out.”

She nodded, but her body perked up. “Actually, could I ask you for another favor? Well, it’s actually the same favor.”

“Sure.”

“Sona’s had a long day and can barely keep awake. Can you drop her off at mine? We might be a tad late getting out of here.”

A thud in my heart. A rush of blood to my brain. “Sure, not a problem.”

I returned to my parents feeling uncharacteristically upbeat. “Are you okay driving back?” I asked them. “Who’s driving tonight? I can drop you and arrange to get your car back later.”

“I’m driving because she’s wearing a saree.” Dad glanced at Mom with love. “We won’t be long, though, will we?”

“Probably another half hour or so. You don’t worry about us.”

“Alright then, I’ll head out. I’m driving Sona back,” I said, and before Mom could react, I added, “Not a word, Mom.”

She threw her head back in a delightful laugh. A laugh so infectious it made everyone smile involuntarily. Dad and I both grinned and shook our heads in unison.

SONA

My heart raced as I gathered my clutch and walked out with Mihir. He looked magnificent. From the moment I’d seen him at the bottom of the stairs, my heart had turned into a tuning fork, producing relentless vibrations. And the vibrations were not confined to my heart either. Every part of my body was drawn to him as if by an invisible force. His commanding figure, the mischievous person behind the no-nonsense façade, and the way he flirted and pursued me all evening had made it more exciting than I had anticipated.

I wanted him, but was that a good idea? For one, we were socially too close to engage in casual sex. Plus, my past was already holding up red flags. He’d asked if he was my type. He was exactly my type, the type I gravitated toward, the type that eventually left me devastated.

It was the fall chill, not the memories of my past, that hit me the moment we stepped out of the house and walked toward his car. Or so I chose to believe. A gentle shiver rocked my body, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Just a bit. Should have brought my winter coat.”

“The temperature drops fast after sunset,” he said, removing his blazer.

I huffed. “Cliché much?”

“Come on now, this is a gentleman’s privilege. In fact, I’ve never had a chance to do this,” he said and tenderly wrapped the blazer around my shoulders.

“I’m not buying that for a second, playboy. Sameer has told me all about you.”

“Has he now?”

As I pulled his jacket snug around me, the warmth of his body and his spicy wood fragrance enveloped me. But there was another note in that scent that I could not place, a mysterious one.

“What’s the dominant note in this cologne?” I asked as he held the car door open for me.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“There’s an unusual note in your fragrance that I can’t figure out,” I said and leaned in to smell him. “It’s…not very commonplace.”

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