Page 13 of Driven By Desire
Belatedly registering the smell of dinner charring, she watched Chirag and Krish prod at the dish with equally chagrined expressions. Ripping his faded apron from him, Krish dumped the ruined dish in the kitchen sink. “So, we’re definitely not eating that. What do you guys think we should order?”
“Not pizza!!” Pooja’s groan had her brothers grinning even as other suggestions were yelled out.
“I should go.” Awkward now that the evening had taken such a personal turn, Max reached for her purse.
“Nooooo.” The howl was unanimous from three different sources. Only one looked at her with shuttered eyes.
Staggering a little as Pooja ran over to throw her thin hands around her waist, Max wrenched her gaze away from him and looked down at the defiant, upturned face.
“Stay.” The insistent whisper had Max looking helplessly up at the men who looked as startled as she felt. Instinctively tightening her arms around the child, Max found herself nodding. Seeking to break the moment, she asked, “So if not pizza, what are we having?”
“Nan King Chinese.” This time the whisper was for her ears only.
Smiling slightly, she ran her fingers through Pooja’s hair and asked, “As the guest, can I choose?”
“Of course.” Aditya grinned at her, “as long as we’re not having pani puri for dinner.”
Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, Max said, “How does Nan King Chinese sound? I’ve been craving their chilly chicken for a while now.”
Blissfully clueless as usual to the undercurrents swirling through the room, Aditya booed her choice. “Nan King!!! Plebeian.”
“Someone’s been learning some big words thanks to all that studying for GMAT and CAT.” Smacking his brother on the back of his head and hoping it would knock some sense into him,Chirag added, “I could do with some Nan King food too. I’ll go pick it up if everyone could tell me what they want. Delivery will take forever during peak hours.”
Acutely aware that neither Max nor Krish looked away from each other to answer him, he took down Aditya and Pooja’s requests.
The intensity of the eyes that bored into her own had Max having a hitherto never experienced before breathless moment. A silent thank you dampened those previously unfathomable eyes even as Krish pushed away from the kitchen counter. “I’ll get it.” Grabbing the scribbled list from Chirag’s hand, he checked that her chilly chicken was on it before asking, “Anything else you’re craving?”
Yes, you!Not trusting her voice, Max shook her head and turned away before her devilish subconscious came up with anything else.
Krish was almost to the door when he heard Pooja ask, “What does plebeian mean?”
“Someone with exceptionally good taste.” The burst of laughter that followed the husky answer warmed his heart. Even the thought of the hellish traffic he now had to navigate to get dinner from Nan King couldn’t dim his smile.
---***---
War was declared over the last chicken drumstick. After a particularly feral fight, Pooja emerged the uncontested winner. As she did a victory lap around the living room to Max’s enthusiastic applause and hooting, Krish pushed back from the table to start clearing up. Not in the least bit surprised when both Chirag and Aditya raced each other to the door to avoidclean up duty, he threw a hand towel at them which caught Adi on the back of his head.
Chuckling, he turned and started piling dishes in the sink only to stop when two slender hands joined in the task. Looking down at the glossy hair cascading down her back, he fought the urge to reach out and tangle his fingers in it.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.” Opening the tap, she picked up one of the plates and started to rinse and scrub. “We never got a chance to talk about the car.”
Automatically taking the plate she handed him, he started to dry it before placing it on the draining rack positioned by the sink.
“Are you sure you don’t want to call the contacts I mentioned?”
“Yes.” He followed up the unequivocal reply with the one point left to be discussed. “If you could let me know your charges and the payment schedule you normally operate on, I’ll have the money wired to your account.”
“I thought you were a businessman.” Shaking a lock of hair out of her face, she continued, “Not going to negotiate before we seal the deal?”
“No,” Exquisitely gentle fingers tucked the errant lock of hair behind her ear before he said, “I have a feeling this deal would be worth any price.”
Struggling to speak around her heart which had taken up residence in her throat, Max held a soapy plate between them as a barrier. In a bid to keep things professional, she said, “I can email you an estimate tomorrow. If that suits you, we can work up a schedule and timeline that works for both of us.”
Forcing himself to step back and find the same professional tone she was striving for, Krish nodded. “That sounds good.”
Rinsing out the plate in her hand, Max focused on the pile of dirty dishes like it held the key to her sanity. At the moment, it seemed like it did. Reaching for normalcy, she murmured, “Pooja’s in the drawing room doing her homework and-“
