Chapter 10
It was cold and dark when she stepped out of her apartment on Saturday morning. Mantra pulled the hoodie over her head and walked toward her car carrying her overnight bag.
She spent the night tossing in her bed unable to fall asleep. She could not figure out her own emotions. She felt antsy about the trip and didn’t know what she expected. Yash was not the kind of man she would date, but something about him made her want to rip his clothes off.
He was sinfully sexy, and the way his eyes scanned her, she felt naked. It was as if he saw right through her and knew exactly how she felt, and nobody had ever made her feel so vulnerable.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant next to his SUV. It was a few minutes before four. She texted him and waited in her car.
Yash neither responded nor showed up in the parking lot.
“What an ass… I’m sure he’s still sleeping.” She threw her phone on the seat and rested her head on the seat. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes.
A moment later, a small knock made her open her eyes. She looked right into penetrating eyes. Her heart kick-started, and her skin tingled as usual. She managed to smile as she opened her door.
“Good morning.” He handed her a travel mug.
“Thank you.” She took a sip of the drink and almost spewed it out. The liquid was hot and tasted like coffee, but it was strong, and strong wasn’t a strong enough word to describe it. It gave her a zing making her wonder what kind of coffee was in the mug.
“Oh… I think that’s my drink.” He took the travel mug from her and placed another one in her hand.
“What the heck is that?” she asked still recovering from the jitters the one sip gave her.
“Too strong for you?” He chuckled.
She shook her head and opened the back door of her car to reach for her bag.
“I’ll get your bag. Tell me if you like your drink.” He reached for her bag and tossed it in the backseat of his SUV along with his bag.
She took a sip of her drink, and it tasted like hot water. “What is this? I taste nothing.”
“Still under the influence of my drink?” he asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“What is that drink? It tasted like coffee, but I’m wondering if it is real coffee.”
The edges of his mouth twisted up. “It’s just strong coffee. My kind of coffee.”
He took a sip of it and placed the mug back in the cup holder. She watched him relish on the sip, and something rumbled inside her. The dim light inside the car showed the stain of her lip gloss on the rim of the mug and just watching his lips closing in on the stain made her nerves feel raw.
She pushed her knees together tightening her hold on the mug in her hands and took a deep breath. Her senses were on high alert, and every whiff of his musky cologne she breathed in did something to her. His every breath was playing like loud music in her ears, her eyes wanted to turn and fixate on him, and her skin tingled like he was touching her.
She took a deep breath and let out a curse word.
“You okay?” he asked without taking his eyes off the road.
She couldn’t talk. She was worried she would kiss him if she opened her mouth.
Ridiculous. What the heck is happening?
She gulped down a few more sips of the drink in her hand, but it offered no relief. Her mind wanted more. She wanted the drink she had tasted earlier and wanted it coated with his taste.
“Mantra.” His words rang in her ears making her jump.
“Yash, stop the car.” She placed her coffee mug in one of the cup holders and fisted her fingers in anticipation.
He pulled the car over to the side of the road. Her breath was coming fast, and she had no control over her mind when she clicked her seat belt open and leaned to her side to take her lips to his.
After the initial surprise, his lips softened, and she tasted him. His taste perfectly blended with the fresh coffee. He ran his hand over the nape of her neck and dove deeper into the kiss.
She moaned cupping her palm on his cheek unable to control the moment. His tongue wandered touching every corner of her mouth, and she opened up to the delectable invasion.
His fingers gripped her hair pulling her back to drag his lips along her jawline. “Mantra…”
Her name sounded so erotic on his lips that it sent a jolt of energy through her body—enough to shake her up. She abruptly pulled away and sat back in her seat, her face turned away from him.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.” She couldn’t get herself to look at him.
“Hey… look at me.”
“I… I’m sorry… just don’t…” She felt his fingers on her chin. She shut her eyes tightly unable to look into his eyes.
“Hey…”
She kept her eyes shut hoping he would leave her alone, but the next moment, she felt his lips lazily graze on hers. Her breath hitched, and she could not move away. Her treacherous body had her mind thinking it wanted more, more of him.
“I don’t like being left hanging.” His voice was gruff, and his breath felt warm on her skin.
“It was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have…”
“I’m not sorry you asked me to pull over.”
She pulled back and opened her eyes to look at him. The end of his mouth was twisted up, the mysterious spark in his eyes making him irresistible in the dim light of the car.
“Yash, this is a bad idea. I do not want any of this, and if you…”
He hushed her and looked away. Without another word, he put the car in gear and got back on the road.
She shut her eyes and let her head rest on the window. She was very aware of him but forced her mind into a suspended state hoping the awkwardness would melt away like it was a dream.
*****
The sunlight hit her in the eyes, and it took her a moment to remember the weirdness from earlier that day. Her eyes were still shut, but she knew he wasn’t where he was before she dozed off. His masculine scent lingered in the car, but it wasn’t moving.
She opened one eye, a tiny slit to see what was going on. The car was parked on the side of the road by a beach. She sat straight up from the seat that was reclined all the way back and looked around.
The beach was empty except for a group of people gathered around someone. She squinted and noticed the men on the beach had cameras and lighting equipment.
She pulled out her phone and saw it was almost eight in the morning. She checked her location, and they were almost halfway to their final destination.
Yash had to be around somewhere, hopefully not too far. She sent him a text.
Mantra: Are you around?
A couple of minutes passed but no reply. She started to get anxious and dialed his number. He answered after many rings.
“Is this sleeping beauty?”
“Not cool,” she snapped.
“If you are all caught up on your sleep, come join me.” His tone was playful.
“And where might that be?”
“To your left, walk toward the group holding the cameras.”
“Oh, you are one of those people?”
“Yes… there’s coffee here.” His words were very casual, but something about the way he said it made her catch her breath.
“Okay.” She hung up without another word.
She stepped out of the car and pulled her hoodie over her head. It was a chilly morning, and she wondered what his business to attend to was on the beach.
As she walked closer to the group, she heard the dull whirring of an engine. She looked up to see if there were toys flying in the air, but as she got closer, she realized it was a more powerful engine.
A motorbike.
The small group, so it had appeared from afar, was a group of almost twenty people who were all gathered in a circle with their focus at the center.
She was only a few feet from the group when she noticed the motorbike and then through the clearing between the men, she saw him.
She swallowed a gasp of air at the sight in front of her. Yash was on the bike, sprawled lazily, his white dress shirt fully open, his rock-hard abs on full display.
She shivered at the cold, but something deep inside her ignited. Her mouth went dry when their eyes met.
“Need a moment, guys,” he announced getting off the bike. He walked toward her as she stood frozen in the sand.
Yash came to a halt less than a foot away. “Hey.”
“Hi… is this why we had to leave early.”
“Yeah, part of the job. I should be done shortly.”
“That’s okay, I’m in no hurry,” she managed to say in spite of the sight in front of her. All she could think of was to run her fingers on the clear lines defining his chest.
“They have a decent breakfast spread if you are hungry.” He pointed to a small tent with a table set up with food.
“No, I’m fine.”
“If you can wait, I promise to take you somewhere nice for brunch.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m gonna go back to the car.”
“Or you can watch me. I don’t mind. I’ve gotten used to it, and it won’t bother me.”
Bad idea because all she could think about was climbing over him on the motorbike.
“I’ll wait in the car.” She smiled weakly and turned away from him and let out a deep sigh. He was drugging the air she was breathing, and that was the only explanation for her body’s response to his presence.