Page 23 of Claiming His Bollywood Cinderella

Her pulse returned to a normal pace as Vikram finally strode past her. Three long minutes later, he called out her name. She felt like a disobedient child being called to the headmaster’s office.

The front cabin had nothing on the sheer luxury that was the rear one, separated by a sturdy beige door. There was a bed in here with cream sheets, that was bigger than the one she’d shared with Maya when they’d been teenagers. A compact en suite bathroom was in one corner, the door slightly ajar to show her a tiny glimpse of a shower with sleek gold fittings. Her mouth was going to perpetually stay open at this rate.

Vikram sat down on the bed and bent over to undo his shoelaces. The wet shirt did wonders to the musculature of his back and all Naina wanted to do was to trace her finger down the line of his spine. And maybe then follow it up with her tongue. And then maybe sink her teeth into that area where his shoulder met his neck. Like he’d done to her just before he’d climaxed inside her.

She didn’t want to lose the slight mark he’d given her so she’d been standing lopsided in her shower ever since that night in the library, trying to not let anything that could make it go away touch her skin there. Her fingers went to the spot now.

The wet gurgle of his shoes as he yanked them off made her pull her hand away.

He had caught her watching him. The knowledge was there in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, what?” she said extra politely, realizing he’d said something.

“I asked you if you’ve—”

“I’ve gone through the entire to-do list with Rita and run every errand you requested.”

He pulled his shirt out from his trousers, pulled it over his head and threw it into a small basket.

“Where’s my luggage, Ms. Menon?”

“What?” Naina muttered, now faced with the amazing prospect that was his naked chest. As she’d thought that night at the masked ball, he didn’t have one of those stupidly ripped bodies that reminded her of weightlifters pumped up on steroids. What he did have was hard, beautifully defined pectoral muscles, with a sparse coating of hair that converged into a line running down his abs.

Tight, equally well-defined abdominal muscles. That she hadn’t touched or licked or kissed yet.

So much wasted opportunity.

“Ms. Menon?”

“What?” she snapped at him.

Towel in hand, he stilled. A wicked glint appeared in his eyes. “You’re muttering about wasted opportunities. Do you want to clarify?”

“No,” she whispered, face aflame.

“It’s clear you’re not used to seeing half-naked men. But I was shivering in that thing, which is not very manly of me and I’d hoped you’d bring my stuff in here.”

“First of all, Itooam used to seeing half-naked men,” she retorted.“All the time.”

He waited with a raised brow and a twitching mouth. She sounded like her friend Pinky who’d boasted to have French-kissed a boy when they’d been twelve. Pinky, it turned out, had been licking away at her favorite teddy bear’s mouth.

“Secondly, it’s entirely manly to shiver when you’re in wet clothes. And thirdly, what stuff?”

“My luggage. You were supposed to pick it up.”

Mortification painted her face with heat. “Of course, that’s why you called me in here. I...” She opened the door, went back to the front cabin, found where the attendant had put it and dragged it back to him. She’d acted like a complete bumbling idiot. And she liked herself the least when she did that.

“Look, you’re...” She moved her hand to signal his body. “I just lost my head there for a second. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

“Are you going to apologize every time I catch you staring at me?”

Affront filled her, like air pumped into a balloon. “I will not... I...” Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t stare at every good-looking man, okay? It’s just that you...”

“What about me, Ms. Menon?”

The interest in his voice caught her before she admitted what she absolutely couldn’t. “I told you, I had a silly little crush on you as a teenager. It catches me out sometimes. That’s all.”

“That’s all, yeah,” he said, nodding. He sounded disappointed. “Can you step out for a moment and let me change out of these wet clothes?”

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