could see were animated, laughing faces.
His words filtered through the thick fog swirling in her brain. ‘…keep it secret as we didn’t want to spoil Milee and Chris’s celebrations. But I guess you can’t keep love under wraps, can you?’
Her synapses snapped into place at the mention of that four-letter word.
Love? No, no, no!
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she hissed at him through clenched teeth.
The devilish grin he gave her did nothing to reassure her. Her heart knocked around inside her like a football hitting the goalposts.
‘You can thank me later,’ he murmured so only she could hear him. ‘For now, do
yourself
a favour and play along, will you?’
She was gobsmacked as the group went wild, applauding as if he was David Beckham and he’d scored the winning goal at the World Cup final!
Chris raised a toast to the newest couple on the block. ‘It’s the season for love! Wish you both a wonderful romantic journey ahead!’
Milee’s excited voice chimed in, ‘Hear Hear! How exciting!’ And she added in a whisper to Rayna, ‘What’s up,
yaar
? I’m going along with this but you’d better fill me in with the details pronto!’
Rayna wished she knew what Neel was up to. With the tabloid crisis looming on the horizon and now this announcement, was she going to go down like the
Titanic
? Gosh, this would cause so much scandal back home—not only did she have one wrecked relationship to her name but she had also signed up for a second one. To make matters worse, after Milee’s wedding hadwrapped up, she would have to explain away another broken ‘engagement’! If only she hadn’t come up with this silly idea in the first place—but why the hell did Neel have to bring it up now?
She glared at Neel. ‘I have had enough of this stupid game. Are you going to call off this charade or should I?’
The intense look he gave her made her mouth go dry. ‘Go ahead—be my guest.’
‘OK, guys,’ she called out to the group as she stared at him defiantly. ‘There is no need to take any of this seriously. Neel’s just having some fun at my expense.’
Several voices went up in protest. Radhika called out, ‘Oh, no! Neel, you’re telling the truth, right?’
‘My turn is over.’ He smiled. ‘You may choose to believe me or her. It’s up to you.’
She bristled at how easily he’d sidestepped the verbal missiles.
Radhika pounced on her. ‘Rayna, your turn. Truth or Dare?’
Rayna weighed her choices. Going with Truth would be like stepping on a live minefield. But was the alternative any better? ‘Dare.’
Milee beat the others to it. ‘Kiss Neel. Full on the lips, please. And let us judge who is telling the truth!’
Boom! You didn’t see that coming, did you, Rayna?
Wolf-whistles and applause accompanied Milee’s suggestion; she naughtily winked at Rayna.
‘Milee, I will kill you!’ Rayna muttered under her breath.
‘Serves you right for keeping secrets from your best friend.’
Agra Aunty glared at her in disapproval and yet Rayna’sstupid pride wouldn’t let her walk away from the dare. She was no wuss!
So take that, you all!
Heart thundering like a runaway train, she leaned towards Neel. She inhaled deeply and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
Or maybe she was a coward after all!
But before she could pull away he turned his cheek ever so slightly and the kiss landed slam bang on his mouth. His warm lips caught hers and, as he shamelessly deepened the kiss, a flame ignited deep within her. She didn’t know if it had been moments or minutes before she managed to drag herself away. Her heart was racing so hard it drowned out the wild applause around them. Zombie-like, she got up and her wobbly knees almost gave way. But she willed herself to walk away…She needed to find some sanity in a world that had just gone upside-down crazy.
Neel ran down to the beach in search of Rayna—but there wasn’t a soul in sight. The twinkling stars shone down
His words filtered through the thick fog swirling in her brain. ‘…keep it secret as we didn’t want to spoil Milee and Chris’s celebrations. But I guess you can’t keep love under wraps, can you?’
Her synapses snapped into place at the mention of that four-letter word.
Love? No, no, no!
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she hissed at him through clenched teeth.
The devilish grin he gave her did nothing to reassure her. Her heart knocked around inside her like a football hitting the goalposts.
‘You can thank me later,’ he murmured so only she could hear him. ‘For now, do
yourself
a favour and play along, will you?’
She was gobsmacked as the group went wild, applauding as if he was David Beckham and he’d scored the winning goal at the World Cup final!
Chris raised a toast to the newest couple on the block. ‘It’s the season for love! Wish you both a wonderful romantic journey ahead!’
Milee’s excited voice chimed in, ‘Hear Hear! How exciting!’ And she added in a whisper to Rayna, ‘What’s up,
yaar
? I’m going along with this but you’d better fill me in with the details pronto!’
Rayna wished she knew what Neel was up to. With the tabloid crisis looming on the horizon and now this announcement, was she going to go down like the
Titanic
? Gosh, this would cause so much scandal back home—not only did she have one wrecked relationship to her name but she had also signed up for a second one. To make matters worse, after Milee’s wedding hadwrapped up, she would have to explain away another broken ‘engagement’! If only she hadn’t come up with this silly idea in the first place—but why the hell did Neel have to bring it up now?
She glared at Neel. ‘I have had enough of this stupid game. Are you going to call off this charade or should I?’
The intense look he gave her made her mouth go dry. ‘Go ahead—be my guest.’
‘OK, guys,’ she called out to the group as she stared at him defiantly. ‘There is no need to take any of this seriously. Neel’s just having some fun at my expense.’
Several voices went up in protest. Radhika called out, ‘Oh, no! Neel, you’re telling the truth, right?’
‘My turn is over.’ He smiled. ‘You may choose to believe me or her. It’s up to you.’
She bristled at how easily he’d sidestepped the verbal missiles.
Radhika pounced on her. ‘Rayna, your turn. Truth or Dare?’
Rayna weighed her choices. Going with Truth would be like stepping on a live minefield. But was the alternative any better? ‘Dare.’
Milee beat the others to it. ‘Kiss Neel. Full on the lips, please. And let us judge who is telling the truth!’
Boom! You didn’t see that coming, did you, Rayna?
Wolf-whistles and applause accompanied Milee’s suggestion; she naughtily winked at Rayna.
‘Milee, I will kill you!’ Rayna muttered under her breath.
‘Serves you right for keeping secrets from your best friend.’
Agra Aunty glared at her in disapproval and yet Rayna’sstupid pride wouldn’t let her walk away from the dare. She was no wuss!
So take that, you all!
Heart thundering like a runaway train, she leaned towards Neel. She inhaled deeply and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
Or maybe she was a coward after all!
But before she could pull away he turned his cheek ever so slightly and the kiss landed slam bang on his mouth. His warm lips caught hers and, as he shamelessly deepened the kiss, a flame ignited deep within her. She didn’t know if it had been moments or minutes before she managed to drag herself away. Her heart was racing so hard it drowned out the wild applause around them. Zombie-like, she got up and her wobbly knees almost gave way. But she willed herself to walk away…She needed to find some sanity in a world that had just gone upside-down crazy.
Neel ran down to the beach in search of Rayna—but there wasn’t a soul in sight. The twinkling stars shone down
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