Page 12 of Driven By Desire
“What if I do?”
The quiet question had a trickle of awareness snake its way up her spine. Their eyes met and held for a long, charged moment. Wondering at her own sanity, she found herself whispering, “Why the change of heart?”
“Because you have the compassion to hold a perfect stranger’s hand in support, because you made my baby sister smile when she’d forgotten how to and most importantly, because you don’t just see the car, you see what my father saw in it.”
When she didn’t respond immediately, he straightened. “Shall we discuss it over dinner?”
“Dinner?” Startled, she said, “Mr. Mehra, that’s not necessary. We can talk about it without dinner.”
“Krish, please. After everything that’s happened over the last few days, I can’t still be Mr. Mehra to you. It’s just food, Max, and I can assure you it’s nowhere as good as what your father dished out yesterday.” When she continued to stare at him like a startled doe, he grinned. “We promise not to eat you for dinner.”
The rest might not but she wasn’t so sure about him. Following him, she wondered why she felt like she was slowly losing control of her previously carefully ordered life.
CHAPTER 6
“It says cook on medium flame for twelve minutes.”
“It is on medium flame.” The growled answer was followed by the sound of onions being butchered.
“No, it’s not,” Chirag insisted. “It’s on simmer.” Glancing at the alarm clock placed on the kitchen counter, he added, “And five out of those twelve minutes are already over.”
Wisely swallowing the laughter bubbling up in her throat, Max watched as the eldest two brothers stared at the open flame like it held the secrets to the universe. They had an iPad with the recipe open leaning against an empty pressure cooker. That doubled up as the Holy Grail. Amusement had her smiling even as a slight shifting had her glancing down at Pooja who was parked next to her, ostensibly giving her company. Sullen company.
Heart softening at the misery in the little face, she leaned closer to whisper, “Do you think it’s safe?”
Curiosity lightening her face, Pooja looked up at her. “Is what safe?”
“Whatever it is that’s boiling in that pot over there.”
An unwilling grin tugging at her lips, she stared at her two oldest brothers. “If it’s anything like last night, we’re having pizza for dinner.”
The giggling that erupted had Krish looking up from his massacred onions. Face softening, he took in the two heads close together as they whispered to each other.
“Been a while.” Chirag’s soft murmur had him nodding in agreement just as the front door slammed.
“Guess what!!!” Breezing into the kitchen, Aditya came to an abrupt halt when he saw Max at the kitchen table. Caution crept through his previous excitement as his eyes moved between Krish and Max.
“Is everything okay?”
“It was until you walked through the door.” Chirag smirked as he skirted him on his way to the refrigerator.
“That’s a bit rich coming from a guy in a flowered apron,” Adi shot back even as he shoved his hands into his pockets and fought the urge to shuffle his feet. His eldest brother tended to have that effect on him when he screwed up. Especially when that still healing wound on his brother’s forehead reminded him of how badly he had screwed up.
“What’s your big news?”
Krish’s mild question had him relaxing. Still perplexed at Max’s presence in their kitchen, he smiled at her and ruffled his sister’s hair in greeting.
“I got in. I got into IIM - Ahmedabad.”
The kitchen erupted in a cacophony of noise that had Max pushing her chair back and trying to melt into a corner. Chirag and Pooja attacked Aditya in what she hoped was joy and affection. She watched as laughing, Adi scooped Pooja up and settled her on his hip like he would a two year old and for once she saw her respond like the child she still was. Curving into him, she plastered a kiss on his cheek. Chirag gave him one last congratulatory thump on his back that almost toppled him before grabbing his sister for an impromptu jig around the kitchen. Aditya joined in and the three of them capered around the kitchen like maniacs.
It would have been easy to miss in the infectious excitement swirling around the room but as always Max found her eyes drawn to the man standing quietly near the kitchen counter. The betraying tremor of his fingers and the suspicious glaze in his eyes were gone in the few seconds it took him to step forward and grab his brother. However, even the satisfactorily macho hug couldn’t conceal the depth of emotion in the eyes he closed as his brother held on with equal affection.
“Congratulations. Mom and dad must be celebrating up there.” The low murmur had Max blinking suddenly wet eyes.
“I bet they had a lot to do with my getting in. I can just see mom haunting the Dean into approving my application.”
Laughing, they broke apart just as Chirag let out a yell that had Max’s ears ringing. “It’s burning!!!”
