Page 52 of Driven By Desire
Steadying her with his hands on her waist so she didn’t take them both down to the ground, Krish let the sweet taste of her overwhelm him. Desire ignited in a blaze and had him forgetting where they were until a blare of a car horn cut through their preoccupation with each other.
Burying her face in his shirt, Max sighed as Krish threaded his fingers through her hair. His now habitual gesture soothed and gentled her and had her fevered flush slowly receding.
“You haven’t opened your gift.”
The husky whisper had him smiling. “That kiss wasn’t my present?”
Giving him a light whack, she nudged him. “Open it.”
Reluctantly relinquishing the soft, warm bundle of woman in his hands, he peeled back the wrapping to reveal a large book. The ten books on Architecture by Vitruvius. Along with it was a large notepad he hadn’t seen in years.
“Where did you find this?” A faint tremor shook his finger as he traced the faded, scribbled drawings.
“Chirag thought it might be in the loft so I went looking for it.” Worried that he wasn’t meeting her gaze, Max said uneasily, “I hope you don’t mind that I looked through the cartons.”
“There are close to twenty cartons in there.” Finally looking at her, he said, “All full of junk.”
“Memories.” Closing her hand gently over the fist clenched around the notepad, she said, “They’re full of memories.”
“Max-“ Her name came out on a ragged exhale. Pulling his fist out from her grasp, he took a step back. “I don’t have time for memories.”
“Not even good ones?”
“The good ones are the ones that hurt the most.”
Hurting for him, Max moved closer. “You didn’t see the rest of the gift.”
There was more? He didn’t think he could handle anymore. Wishing desperately she hadn’t opened up old wounds that had scabbed over years ago, Krish tried not to let the past shadow the moment.
Flipping the notepad, she pointed at several blank sheets attached to the back. “Make new memories, Krish.” Unaware of the tumult raging in the man in front of her, Max took a deep breath and risked her heart. “Make them with me.”
His eyes held hers for an interminable moment. Willing him to accept what she was offering, Max kept her eyes locked on his hoping he’d read the emotion in hers. The silence ballooned and enveloped them until Max couldn’t take it anymore. Unwilling to let him see how deeply his silence had hurt her, Max looked away from his intense, inscrutable gaze and towards the house.
“I should get back inside. Dad’s bound to be looking for me.”
Wobbling a little in her heels, she braced herself against the car to regain her balance. Blinking back the sudden stinging of tears, she breathed deeply and fought desperately to keep her mask in place.
“We’ve been planning an overnight family picnic at our farmhouse this weekend.” The quiet words stopped her with all the force of a brick wall. “Come with us.”
The enormity of what he was offering had her chest tightening. Facing him, she asked, “Are you sure?”
A strange vulnerability shadowed his eyes as he looked at her and nodded. When she took a hesitant step towards him, he opened his arms wide and pulled her into an embrace that stole her breath. Letting the warmth and strength of him enfold her, Max pressed a kiss to the heart that thundered in her ear.
“Merry Christmas, Krish. Thank you for the tools.”
“Merry Christmas, Max.” A slight hesitation later, he added simply, “Thank you for trying.”
Snuggling in closer, Max decided it was enough. For now.
CHAPTER 20
“Can I take Monopoly?”
“Sure.” Deleting another line on the proposal he was scanning, Krish didn’t look up from the laptop screen.
“You’re not listening to me!”
Sighing, he looked up this time. “You wanted to pack your make-your-own jewelry set, your new Nancy Drew novel, Ludo and now Monopoly. Did I miss anything?”
