Page 17 of Always? Forever.
Samaira:Out of a billion people out there, you wantyour firsts on me?
I text back, my insecurities creeping in. Even if I knew he was just flirting without meaning anything, it still made my heart flutter when he said that I was the only one he proposed to.
It didn’t take him long to answer
“More sure than I have been of anything until recently”
And now I know for sure, that if I wasn’t careful, I would end up falling for Sugarcup and get heartbroken.
The next day
It was a Saturday morning, me and Kartik had decided to meet to discuss how we were going to break the details about our marriage of convenience to our best friends. I had kept the ring Kartik gave me in a box at home. I was scared of two things, either I would lose or someone would see it and make a big deal out of me getting engaged and then it all would be for real. I think deep down I knew it was the latter that scared me the most.
As I was getting ready I decided to wear the ring around my neck for now. It was real and I intended to give it back to him. There wasn’t any need for me to wear a real ring. I wasn’t the woman for Kartik. He deserved to give a real ring to someone who he loved. I wasn’t that someone. I was sure that would never be. So, it didn’t feel right.
We were meeting at Rory’s bookstore, the place where we first met. By the time I arrived, Kartik was already there with a cup of coffee talking to Jess and Rory while leaning against a bookshelf. I rolled my eyes. Of course that coffee technically wasn’t coffee, it was just coffee without milk.Typical, I muttered. Just then he turned sideways and looked right at me. There wasn’t anyone during this time in the bookstore. It was quite early. As soon as he looked at me, he straightened up from his position. He had a look on his face that I couldn’t decipher. But if I had read any romance novels, which I had, I would describe it as,“he got a dark look in his eyes which would have made any woman drop everything and kiss him in an instant, it was that look that at that moment no one else existed, it was just him and me. It was that look like he wanted to kiss me senseless.”
I blushed, no one had looked at me like that. I hated to admit I likedhimlooking at me like that. It wasn’t until Rory cleared her throat that made Kartik snap out of whatever trance he was in and smile at me broadly.
“Hey Samaira, look Kartik was just telling me about how you two got engaged.”
Jess spoke, the grumpy old man liked me which was an achievement in itself which was why I was feeling guilty that Kartik lied to them.
Kartik
The moment she walked in, it was like I couldn’t see anything but her, which was quite weird considering I thought she got on my nerves. But I knew I was attracted to her ever since our argument in the cafe. I brought a peace offering to her, a frappuccino. I wasn’t planning on telling Jess and Rory but Icouldn't help it. After she told me, if I was sure about her, I could easily see her overthinking this and making her doubt everything. I had to cheer her up, so I bought some flowers and a cup of “coffee.”
As soon as Jess greeted her I knew I was in trouble, how did I know this? If looks could kill, I would have been dead. I assumed as much as she didn’t like to lie. But I had no idea she wanted to tell the truth to Jess and Rory too. She had narrowed her eyes at me and looked at me with a stoic expression on her face. I was scared.
“Did he now?” she said
“Hey beautiful” I greeted her, leaned in, and gave her a kiss on her cheek. She looked flushed. I grinned widely. So I did have an effect on her
“You should have told us, after all, you both did meet here in my bookstore,” Rory said disappointed
Samaira turned to her with a guilty smile as she shuffled beside me, putting her left arm around my waist and putting her right on my chest. I froze. I wasn’t expecting that. I surely wasn’t expecting to feel what I was feeling at that moment. I had never felt that. Not with my ex-girlfriend. Not with anyone else. I hoped to God that she didn’t feel my heart beating really fast under her hand.
“It all happened so fast Rory but we are surely thankful to you that we found each other. I have never met someonewho despised me at first so much and now can’t seem to take his eyes off me. I mean I have never come across a guy who is charming, utterly handsome, and who also knows how to respectwomen. Also, the way he proposed was the sweetest thing ever, I would have definitely preferred something in private without any audience but then again Kartik…” she sighs “...is Kartik he had to be super cheesy and romantic but after that, it was Always and Forever.”
She said looking into my eyes and for a second there I thought my world stopped.
Rory said something as she dragged a mumbling Jess away, about a book stock that just came in and how she and Jess had to handle that. But I couldn’t hear much.
At that moment I knew if I didn’t kiss her I would regret it. I leaned in slowly to give her enough time to back out if she’d like but she didn’t, she just widened her eyes and she continued to look at me with her beautiful brown eyes. Our lips brushed, our noses touching each other as if teasing the other one and her breath hitched,
“What if I kissed you right now?” I whispered against her lips
“I’d complain if you didn’t” she whispered
And that was all I needed, I slipped my hands around her waist and pulled her closer, we were kissing but just not yet. I was afraid that I would spook her if I went too fast. Just as the longing became unbearable my lips met hers. Samaira’s hands slipped on my neck as her fingers gripped my hair and her eyes closed. My hand on her waist pulled her closer and her chest pressed against mine. I wanted to savor that moment, but as much as I wanted to look ather, my eyes shut automatically. Her lips were warm and soft. They parted slightly, allowing my tongue to slip inside. Holding her I walked her backwards as we crashed into a wall. Keeping my one hand on the wallbeside her I shuffled closer to her if it was possible. It felt wonderful having to taste her like this like she was mine. Her lips felt soft against my own. I could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath my nose, fingers carding through her hair as we breathed each other in.
Slowly, she pulled away slowly and I groaned softly as I kept my eyes clenched shut for a moment afterward, not wanting to wake up from this dream I’d brought to life, savoring the moment. As soon as the kiss ended, I knew if I wasn’t careful I would be the one falling for her and getting my heart broken once this ended. That thought made reality come crashing down on me. This wasn’t real. As much as the kiss felt out of the world, it wasn’t real. We both breathed heavily as we parted.
Samaira had a look on her face as if she had seen a ghost, she untangled herself from me and I instantly felt the loss of the physical contact. Her hand faintly touched her lips as she tried to come back to reality. I couldn’t stop looking at her, if somebody saw me they would think I was mesmerized by her beauty. Her face donned a faint tint of pink across her cheeks. She was blushing. At that moment I knew all I wanted to do was make her blush.
She kept looking everywhere but me, a smile crept on my face as it was the first time I had seen her speechless and it was the kind of speechless I would want her to be.
I did that!
