Arranged by the Stars (13 page)

She shivered in
anticipation of unknown possibility. She knew he cared, but how
much? “So no trip to New Delhi. I will have to find other living
arrangements. Thanks boss. It was a pleasure working with you.” She
paused and watched him flinch. “Maybe our paths will cross
sometime.” Her arms crossed over her chest. Why did it hurt so much
to cut him loose?

Now all she needed was
for him to leave so she could have her heart break into a million
pieces, and she could fall apart without him there to bear witness.
She could feel the room spin and either she was still reacting from
the medication or they were having an earthquake and the floor was
coming up to meet her. Either way, she didn’t need him there to see
her break.

“
You’ll stay
with me. I’ll pick you up at ten in the morning. Tell your aunt you
are staying with someone who can provide you with medical care. No
strings attached.” He didn’t turn back or give her a warm
goodbye.

For the
second time, she looked at an empty space and wondered if she was
dreaming. After reaching for the chart hanging on the edge of her
bed, she flipped through it looking for the drug sheet. What
drugs
were
they
giving her?

******

The hum of the air
conditioning unit sounded very much like the purr of the motor.
Kieran waited for the sound of the crash he knew would come. It
always came. Only this time the shriek came first and tumbled him
out of that world. He shook himself awake and looked around. It
wasn’t his scream. Not this time.

It came from the next
room.

Ash.

Within seconds he was at
her door. It was a bad idea to take responsibility for her care.
Worse to be here alone with her.

“
Ash, are you
okay?” He couldn’t hear anything.

He pushed the door open
and took a tentative step into the guest room.

She was still asleep.
Restless and twisting around. The sheet was twisted around her arm.
What was she afraid of?

He shook her gently.
“Ash?”

She twisted away from him
before slowly opening her eyes. When she realised he was in her
room, she pulled the sheet to her chin and sat up looking around
the room.

“
You were
screaming,” he said.

Her pupils were still
wide and her breathing was fast. He should have warned her to
expect nightmares. She’d been buried alive. He’d done nothing to
give her psychological support. He was such an idiot.

“
I’m sorry to
wake you.” Her gaze went to the clock. “It’s midnight and you have
work.”

His fingers brushed
through his hair. “Do you have nightmares about the compound?” He
couldn’t even say the word buried.

The room was smaller than
his. He’d offered her his room, but she’d insisted this one would
do just as well. She took her time answering. She’d been here for a
few days now and he should have asked her this before.

“
You would
think that being buried alive would be the worse, but it’s not.”
Her chin dropped and he could see the wetness gather around her
eyes. “When that shot rang through the air, all I could think about
was my parents. It was like I was taken back in time.”

His hand went to her
shoulder and he squeezed. That moment when she was shot, was not
one of his best moments. “Do you remember much of what happened to
your parents?”

She shook her head. “What
I told you mostly. The crash, the screaming and blood
everywhere.”

It was so easy to pull
her against his shoulder and give her comfort. As she leaned into
him, he breathed in deeply. “Do you remember much about your
parents?”

She shrugged. “They were
happy. I think, but they travelled a lot. I asked Didi about that
because I couldn’t remember a lot when I was younger.”

She shifted and her head
tucked more comfortably against his shoulder. His fingers pulled
back the dark folds of hair that fell against him.

“
She told me
that their father had this business partner who he’d known for
years. The business was doing very well and my grandfather thought
the natural progression would be to arrange a marriage between the
two eldest children of both houses.” She pulled away from him and
smiled. “It’s the Indian way, right?”

Why were arranged
marriages so popular?

“
That was
with your father?” he asked. Maybe that’s why she was marrying
Alok.

She laughed and shook her
head. “No way. When mum went to college she fell in love with dad
who was an entrepreneur. It was with mum and someone
else.”

This made even less
sense. “So your mum fell in love with your dad, and didn’t marry
her betrothed. Was she banished never to come back
home?”

Ash cocked her head. “Not
exactly. Grandfather reluctantly agreed to the marriage after a lot
of persuasion but he was never happy about it. Dad was a
businessman, so we moved a lot.” He watched her pick at the thread
on the sheet that covered her legs. “Mum would always talk about
having a nice home. I think she missed out on being a wife and
mother. We never had a place to call home, and as much as she tried
to make it work, it was hard.”

Kieran watched the
longing in her eyes and it started to make sense. She chose an
arranged marriage, which would give her stability. “Can I ask why
you chose Alok?” He swallowed against a dry throat wondering if he
really wanted to know the answer.

Ash avoided his gaze. “I
didn’t exactly choose him. You know it doesn’t work like that. Didi
made the arrangement. I agreed when I realised he would be a good
match.”

If this were arranged
years ago, she would have been very young and impressionable. “Did
she tell you why she chose him?”

Her hooded gaze watched
him. “It was to put things right once more. I was going to make
things right for the family.”

It was beginning to make
sense. “Alok is the son of the man your mother was to
marry.”

Ash sighed. “Something
like that. Quite romantic, don’t you think?”

He watched her for a
moment longer. Did she really believe what she said or was her aunt
selling her a story she knew she’d believe to make things go
smoothly? “I don’t think so Ash. I think you’re capable of
something much more.”

She turned and met his
gaze. “Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not. Anyway it’s past
midnight. You need to go to work in the morning. I am quite capable
of taking care of myself.” She gently pushed him off the
bed.

He stood. “When you’re
not being buried and shot at.”

She folded her arms
across her chest. “That only happened because I met
you.”

He tried to think if he’d
ever met anyone like her before but came up empty. Yes, he knew she
was trouble from the moment he’d met her, but why was his heart
speeding up at such a rate that it was impossible to breathe? His
hands curled into tight fists at his side.

As many times as he could
say this was not going to happen he knew it was too late. He had
already lost the battle.

*****

Ten days, and five hours
of pure boredom. She looked out the balcony and contemplated
jumping. Even without the aid of a bungy cord. Ash didn’t care that
the man behind her had spent hours trying to save her life. Neither
did she care that he had spent weeks taking care of her. “If I
don’t get out of this room, I will jump.”

Kieran sighed and left
the tray on the kitchen counter. “I know this must be difficult for
you but you need to rest. I’ve made your favourite breakfast. Why
don’t you sit out on the balcony and I will bring it out to
you.”

She was not a child who
needed to be told what to do and she sure as hell didn’t need
Kieran Kanna treating her like priceless china. “My stitches have
been out for days. My real doctor said as long as I take it easy, I
can mobilise or ambulate or whatever else that means. I take it he
means I can move about.”

Kieran avoided her gaze.
What was he hiding? He’d been acting strange for the last few days
and she wasn’t sure why. “Are you going to tell me what’s bugging
you?”

“
How about
breakfast first? If you’re still up to it, we can take a day trip.
Maybe something that wouldn’t get you into trouble. So that would
be no beaches, no drugs. Maybe something the tourists would do,” he
said.

Ash raised her eyebrow.
Now she was more than suspicious. She gave the room a once over and
wondered if there was anything she’d missed. He hadn’t acted out of
the norm aside from the behaviour modification. Whatever it was, it
had to have happened in the last―

“
You’re not
listening to me, are you?” he asked handing her a glass of orange
juice.

No she wasn’t. It wasn’t
really her fault. It was clearly his. He was wearing one of his
loose fitting t-shirts again. Why he bothered, she wasn’t sure.
They still managed to show off his well-defined muscles and for
someone who’d been locked in a hotel room for the last ten days, it
was like candy to a toddler.

After all, she had
hormones. Plenty of it. She was one to appreciate the male body and
he had plenty of it to appreciate. She took a large sip of the
juice and almost choked. “I need to get out of this
room.”

He tsked. “I knew you
weren’t listening. So what movie would you like to
watch?”

Three hours in close
proximity with him would be the perfect solution. Not. “Tell me
you’re not serious. I’ve been buried alive, shot and locked in
hospital, not to mention this room, and that’s the best sort of
entertainment you can come up with?”

If that was guilt that
darkened his gaze it kicked her gut and forced out an ounce of
sympathy. She forgot he went through the experience too. She picked
at the piece of toast from the tray and chewed on it. “I’m sorry.
Can’t we go sightseeing?”

His chin dropped.
“Anything you want to do.”

That was too easy.
“What’s going on Kieran? You don’t usually grant me all my
requests.”

He shifted until he was
next to her and the sofa dipped and she found herself even closer.
She left both the juice and the toast back on the tray and turned
to him. He was as stiff as a board. Without even thinking her hand
went out to touch his cheek and she almost pulled back when he
flinched, but then she realised it wasn’t rejection. So if it
wasn’t rejection, what troubled him?

“
I got a call
from your aunt yesterday.” He struggled to get the next words
out.

Ash wrapped her hand
around his shoulder. She knew what his next words would be. Didi
wanted her on the next flight to New Delhi. Her only saving grace
was that the stars were in her favour and she didn’t have to marry
Alok. Yet.

He’d never asked her why
she’d agreed to the marriage. In fact it was never discussed. They
spoke about many things. Never their future. “You told her I was
doing better and she wants me back home.”

Kieran leaned back and
closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, his gaze met
hers. “That wasn’t all she wanted me to tell you. The priest had
news. The stars have changed and there is one good day for your
marriage to take place. Two weeks from now the stars are aligned
for you and Alok.”

What?

There was no way this was
happening. Not now. Not when she’d found―

Found what? She didn’t
even know what she found. Alok was safe. Kieran was not. He hadn’t
even told her how he felt. If anything. “So what must I
do?”

He walked to the balcony.
The very balcony she was willing to jump off earlier. She went and
stood behind him, and felt heat fall off him. “You’ve made a
commitment to marry this man. You’ve never said why. How would I
know what you should do?”

He was right. But that
was before she met him. Before the promise of a man like Kieran.
Couldn’t he understand that?

He turned and she found
her lips an inch away from his. Could he not see how perfect they
would be together? What about the chemistry they had? She’d never
felt that with Alok. Not in the ten years she’d known him, did her
belly do flip flops like it was doing now.

She stood on her toes
until her lips brushed his. His breath caught and she opened her
mouth against his. He tasted like coffee. But she expected that.
Coffee and chocolate. So he’d figured out her secret.
When?

He surprised her by
opening his mouth and slipping his tongue against hers in a
sensuous stroking movement. She gasped as sensation flooded her
mouth and her nerves. Blood gushed through her veins and her ears
pounded. At first he started teasing and nipping at her tongue and
mouth, but before she could get used to the sensations invading her
palate his hand moved to her back and she grabbed the back of his
t-shirt wanting more.

As if he sensed the
urgency he pulled her arms up and pushed her against the wall.
She’d seen movies and dreamed of scenes where a man would kiss her
this thoroughly. Her mouth opened wider as she waited for his
tongue to plunge into her mouth and when it did, she sighed and
sucked his tongue into her mouth. Her nipples were so sensitised
that as soon as his hand touched them she moaned and pushed against
him, knowing that with every move she made, heat was rapidly
surging through her bloodstream.