The Runaway Bridegroom (14 page)

   Would
they be able to accept Veerendra even if they found the boy?

Twenty-three

   It appeared as if Lady Luck favoured Ranveer today. Just a few of his staff were left at the office at 5.30 pm. Being a Friday evening, it seemed that each one had his own agenda. Ranveer saw that Chanda was logged into the office LAN. He looked up when Shikha walked into his office.

   “Hey Boss, what’s up! Do you’ve any plans for the weekend?” Shikha did her best to sound cheerful while her whole body was boiling with the indifferent treatment meted out by Ranveer. He, of course, had been his usual self, only her expectations had increased with the tales that she had spun to Chanda.

   Ranveer thought for a couple of min
utes before carefully framing his reply. “Yeah, I do.” He didn’t elaborate much to her annoyance. Nor did he ask her what her plans were.

   This was the limit of rudeness, she fumed within. Just as she was about to spring her next question, Abhimanyu walked in. She wasn’t aware of Ranveer’s clear-cut instructions to Abhi - to interrupt whenever it appeared as if Shikha was getting personal with her boss.

   “Hey Ranveer! I’m planning to leave now. Is there anything you wanted done before I go?” He didn’t wait for Ranveer’s reply before he turned towards Shikha. “Hey Shikha, looks like you’re ready to leave. Can I give you a lift somewhere?”

   Shikha was extremely tempted to tell him what he could do with his offer. Abhimanyu and his terrible sense of timing! She looked desperately at both men, wondering how to handle the situation when Ranveer suggested with a smile, “That’s just perfect Abhi. Shikha’s leaving and I’m sure she’ll appreciate a ride. I’ll take a while here. You go on and have a great weekend, both of you.” One would believe that Ranveer wished that both Abhimanyu and Shikha would spend the weekend together.

   Shikha gritted her teeth and gave Ranveer a saccharine smile before walking out of the cabin, her head held high. Abhimanyu winked at Ranveer before stepping out right behind her.

   “Why don’t you leave me alone?” she snarled at Abhimanyu, her light brown eyes sparking venom. If looks could have killed, Abhimanyu would have fallen down dead right then.

   “Do you really want me to?” asked Abhimanyu softly, his intelligent eyes looking directly at her. It appeared as if he delved deep within her soul.

   A film of frustrated tears formed in Shikha’s eyes as she lowered her gaze in a hurry. It looked like she might have to settle for second best. Should she?

   Abhimanyu waited patiently for her to come to a decision. After a couple of minutes, Shikha raised her eyes to his face before saying, “Want to party?”

   Abhimanyu grinned as he offered his arm to her and the two walked out of the office building.

   Ranveer sighed deeply as he realised that there were just two other people left in the office besides Chanda and himself. He walked over to Parth and Sanjay. Parth was busy explaining something to Sanjay. The two of them didn’t notice Chanda who was sitting quietly in front of her computer on the opposite bay.

   Ranveer clapped Parth on his back as he asked, “Hey, you guys are working too hard for a Friday evening. What’s up?”

   Parth looked up at his young boss and grinned before looking at his watch. “Is it that late? I didn’t realise,” he said as Sanjay gave a quiet sigh of relief. He had been wanting to leave since the past half an hour as he saw the rest of the staff going one by one. But Parth had been teaching him something new and he hadn’t want to stop him. Now, it looked like the big boss was giving them permission to leave.

   “Yeah guys! It’s Friday. You’ve all been working so hard throughout the week. Now get out and have fun,” Ranveer said jovially. They would never have guessed how serious he was.

   Both the guys were out within five minutes. Ranveer watched them go before walking over to Chanda. She raised her head to look up at him with a shy smile. “At last,” said Ranveer, a happy sigh bursting forth within him as he sat on the work station next to her computer screen. Chanda wondered what he meant by that.

   Ranveer bent down to place a finger on Chanda’s chin to raise her face to his. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

   A flood of colour burst forth on Chanda’s cheeks as she lowered her black eyes, too shy to look within his velvet brown ones. Ranveer placed his lips on her forehead, his own eyes closing as a powerful emotion shook him. It looked like he had been waiting for this moment of privacy forever.

   It was a couple of min
utes before the two of them sprang apart guiltily when they heard the door open. It was the security guard checking that everyone had left the office before locking up for the night. Ranveer got up in a hurry to raise a hand and called out, “A few more minutes, Dev
ji
, I’ll inform you when we’re done.” Dev saluted him before leaving, closing the door behind him.

   Ranveer turned to look at Chanda. She had packed her shoulder bag and got up. It was obvious the moment was lost. A shuddering sigh burst forth from Ranveer as he looked at her. She was still red and refused to meet his eyes.

   “What would you like to do?” he asked Chanda. She looked up at him, her black eyes shining with excitement. Her voice shook when she replied, “Anything you say,” in a whisper.

   In the end, they decided to go to Ranveer’s home. A voice within Chanda warned her that they would be alone there. But she wanted to throw caution to the winds, just this once. 

Twenty-four

   Neither of them spoke a word as Ranveer drove his BMW to his house. There was a lot of traffic anyway and the driving required all of his concentration. He didn’t notice Chanda giving him surreptitious looks from the corner of her eyes.

   While Chanda felt shy with Ranveer, she was also totally enamoured by him. Just a few days back she had been wondering what it would be like to be kissed by Ranveer. It looked like she was going to find out soon. A fine tremor shook her body as excitement flowed within her. Her pulse beat a powerful tattoo while she impatiently waited for them to reach his row house.

   Ranveer opened the door and tossed his bag impatiently on the table near the entrance while shutting the entrance door at the same time. He took Chanda’s bag and put it down beside his own and turned towards her. The next minute he had pushed her up against the wall and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

   His heart beat hard and fast as he did his best to control his raging libido. He had to keep reminding himself that she was very young but the come-hither looks that she had been tossing him over the past few days were finally making him come apart.

   Chanda raised her hands to place them on his shoulders. His muscles felt rigid and she ran her hands soothingly over them without even being aware of what she was doing, but it felt good. She could feel Ranveer’s hot breath and the slight rasp of his hair roughened cheeks on her neck and the combination excited her too much. She brought her hands down to his back to gather him close.

   Ranveer shuddered with the myriad sensations that flooded his system as he felt Chanda’s soft body close to his own. He lifted his head to look down at her. Chanda opened her eyes to see Ranveer’s handsome face so close to her own. She couldn’t resist going on her tiptoes and placing her lips to his masculine cheek. Ranveer felt her soft lips against his face and melted. He lifted her bodily and carried her over to the sofa and sat down, placing her on his lap.

   Ranveer traced the perfect oval of Chanda’s soft face with his index finger. Chanda savoured the sensation, her eyes closed. The black eyes opened suddenly when she felt his finger trace the shape of her lips. His touch was erotic and Chanda couldn’t resist kissing his finger. Ranveer smiled as he removed his finger and replaced it with his lips.

   He pressed his lips ever so gently against Chanda’s rosy mouth. And he continued to study the outline of her lips with his tongue now. A fine tremor shook Chanda’s body as her nerve-endings woke up with a vengeance. She had never been kissed before. 

   Ranveer raised his head to look at Chanda. Unable to meet his sharp gaze, Chanda buried her face on his broad chest. She could feel his heart thudding heavily and realised that she was affecting him almost as much as he did her. Her arms went around him as she settled more comfortably on Ranveer’s lap.

   Ranveer held her close with his left arm while he ran the fingers of his right hand through her silky hair, massaging her scalp gently. He seemed to know all her sensitive chords. His hand moved down to pull the zipper of her leather jacket. She allowed him to take it off before helping him out of his. While Ranveer kept drinking in her beauty, Chanda refused to meet his knowing eyes.

   A firm finger went under her chin to lift her face up. “What’s it, Chanda? Don’t you want to look at me?” he asked.

   Chanda’s eyelids lifted with great difficulty as if they were weighed down by a heavy weight. She shook her head as she replied, “Of course not.”

   Ranveer grinned, his face transformed. “You mean of course you don’t want to look at me?” he asked, tongue-in-cheek, quite confident about his handsome looks.

   Chanda blushed and smiled at the same time. “Ranveer!” she shook her head at him, “you know I didn’t mean that.”

   “So tell me, what did you mean?” he asked, quite persistent.

   How could she tell him that she felt shy of the way he looked at her with such intensity in his velvety brown eyes? No way was she going to admit that.

   Chanda looked at Ranveer’s face, her eyes tracing the classic lines the same way that his finger had traced hers. What would he say if she did exactly that? Chanda acted before she thought further.

   Ranveer was pleasantly surprised when she raised her index finger to check out his features. The slim finger traced his hairline from left to right and then she drew the finger over his thick, dark eyebrows. His eyes closed when she ran the same finger over his eyelids and then over his sharp nose. Her left hand joined in the quest as she rubbed her palms over his cheeks, enjoying the tingle of a day’s growth of beard. Chanda brought both her thumbs to trace the shape of Ranveer’s lips.

   “Do you smoke?”

   “Huh?” Ranveer’s bloodshot eyes opened suddenly at that strange question. He had been in a trance enjoying her caress and was quite startled at the query. It took him a minute to understand what she had asked. While he worked hard at gathering his thoughts, Chanda looked at him curiously.

   Finally comprehending her words, he replied, “I used to. Why?”

   “I thought your lips were dark, you know; that of a smoker.”

   “And when and why were you thinking of my lips?” asked Ranveer, a teasing smile on the said lips.

   A wild blush stole over Chanda’s cheeks as she removed her hands from his face in a hurry. She tried to get out of his hold only to find his arms tighten around her. Ranveer pulled her close as he said, “You do understand that I don’t mind?”

   She looked at him, startled. What did he not mind? Seeing her frown, Ranveer elaborated with a wide grin, “You thinking about my lips.”

   Chanda realised that she wasn’t going to get away with that and decided to turn the tables on him. She raised her arms to put them around his neck and pulled his head down as she whispered in his ear, “I’m glad you don’t as I think of them all my waking hours.”