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Authors: Adite Banerjie

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BOOK: Trouble Has a New Name
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She could have bit her tongue—she knew her statement was open to all kinds of interpretation.

‘Happy to be of service, m’lady!’ His eyes turned a shade darker and he pulled her close. ‘Maybe this is something you’re wishing for right now?’

His mouth caught hers and his tongue teased its way into hers. Desire shot through her—hot and intense—and her thoughts of playing it cool disappeared in an instant. It was only when the ring clattered to the marble floor that she came to her senses.

She pushed away from him and sucked in a huge gulp of oxygen. ‘We need to get going.’

With a thrill of pleasure, she realised from the look in his eyes that Neel wasn’t as calm as he pretended to be. He picked up the ring and gave it to her. ‘The
naach-gaana…
how can we miss all that?’

She fumbled for the lip colour on the dressing table. ‘You have something against celebrations?’

‘A wedding is not exactly my favourite event.’

His eyes stayed glued on her as she wiped off her smeared lipstick and smoothed on a fresh layer. She made even the simple act of applying lipstick erotic!

‘Wonder why?’ She pressed her lips together and dabbed off the edges with a tissue.

‘Unfortunately, they haven’t yet developed an antidote for a rare allergic reaction to big fat weddings,’ he said drily.

She grabbed her clutch purse and walked out. ‘You know what…sometimes you just need to let your hair down.’

The Jade Room buzzed with guests. Apart from the close friends and family of both the groom and the bride, the VIPs were there in full attendance. The elegant Princess of Junagadh held court at one end of the room with her admirers hanging on to her every word. A couple of Bollywood stars added to the glam quotient as well.

As soon as Neel and Rayna entered, she was whisked away by her friends. One of the servers carrying a tray of beverages stopped to offer Neel a drink and he gratefully accepted a double shot of the Glenfiddich. Alcohol was the only thing that would see him through the evening. As the golden liquid burnt down his throat his thoughts turned to Rayna—in fact she was never far away from them. He was a bit amazed he had gone out of his way to buy the ring for her. Giving her an engagement ring—even if it was meant strictly for public viewing—was like stepping into an emotional minefield.

But then he had discarded logic by the wayside the moment he’d allowed his sexual attraction for her to take the upper hand. If he wasn’t so desperate to bed her perhaps he would not have been so sensitive to her every mood, every furrow that wrinkled her brow and every expression that darkened those beautiful brown-gold eyes. Much as he hated to admit it, there was no denying his feelings for Rayna were beginning to run deeper than sheer physical attraction. To say that she intrigued him would be a huge understatement. She
evoked the caveman in him. He wanted to keep her safe and secure and all to himself. The vulnerability he’d seen in her only made him want to protect her. In some ways, she reminded him a bit of his younger self—before he had learnt to cope with people’s unspoken censure. Much before he’d stopped caring about how others judged him.

For months after he had walked out of Pia’s home on the night of their aborted wedding, he had been an object of ridicule. By extension, his mother and Meera too had to bear the brunt of the public humiliation. Wild rumours had raged within his extended family as to why the marriage had been called off—and he knew that with every telling the stories had only become more far-fetched and ridiculous. Some even suggested he had demanded a huge dowry from Pia’s father and when the man hadn’t been able to pay up, Neel had refused to marry her.

If only he’d had the guts to thrash it out with his so-called sympathisers and told them the truth about Pia and her father! In hindsight, he wished he had confided in Meera but he wanted to protect her from the harsh realities of life. Meera had interpreted his silence as an admission of his guilt—that he was to blame for the marriage fiasco, just as all the rumour-mongers had suggested. He now knew he had made the wrong call: his silence had completely destroyed her trust in him and by the time he had realised it, it had been too late. She had retreated into her shell and her volatile mood swings resurfaced, wreaking havoc in their small family unit.

A sudden burst of applause caught his attention. A motley group of dancers were gyrating to the techno
beat of
Gangnam.
And the star performer turned out to be none other than the groom himself. Neel couldn’t help but smile at Chris’s earnest and total absorption with the moves—the slight awkwardness to his dancing had its own charm. Everyone was up on their feet, cheering and wolf-whistling. Chris responded to the adulation with hip-breaking moves that would do a veteran Bollywood actor proud.

As spontaneous shouts of ‘encore’ burst forth, Rayna and the other dancers moved away to allow Chris to bask in the glory of his performance. She found herself walking towards Neel, who was still clapping, a huge grin plastered on his face.

‘So, it seems like you may have enjoyed yourself a teeny-weeny bit after all?’ Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

‘Chris definitely did!’ he said smoothly. ‘I didn’t realise he had a hidden talent for dancing.’

‘He was good, wasn’t he? He claims he’s been practising this for ever.’

‘Chris is nothing if not meticulous.’ And he added cheekily, ‘He even managed to steal the limelight from you.’

‘Thank God!’ She rolled her eyes. ‘There just wasn’t enough time to practise!’

‘Why, I wonder,’ he whispered in a sexy silky voice near her ear.

She laughed. ‘Ask the groom’s best man!’

Rayna knew she was veering into dangerous turf by flirting outrageously with him. She was only setting herself up for heartbreak and yet she felt reckless. Much like a moth dazzled by the intensity of the flame, she too couldn’t resist the burning passion in his eyes.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he growled. ‘Or I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

But before she could come back with a retort she heard Chris call out, ‘Hey, bro!’

Rayna reluctantly pulled away from Neel as Chris and Milee walked towards them. Neel ribbed Chris about his newfound passion for dancing. ‘Not planning to start an acting career in Bollywood, are you?’

‘No way, man!’ Chris gave a mock shudder. ‘That was one pelvis-crunching act I wouldn’t like to repeat. For love nor money!’

As they burst into laughter at Chris’s pained expression, Milee said, ‘Chris, I think at least one Bollywood diva seems to be quite worried by your performance.’

Rayna spotted Karisma and Sid among the guests, the former looking put out.

Milee nudged Chris. ‘Like it or not, honey, you’re a dancing star already.’

As the strains of a soft romantic number filled the hall, Milee squealed, ‘This is one of my favourites. Chris, let’s dance!’

Would Neel ask her for a dance? Her gaze darted towards him but he was looking at someone across the room. He quickly excused himself and strode towards Karisma and Sid. Her heart lurched. A showdown seemed inevitable. She watched as he talked quietly to the couple before ushering them out of the Jade Room. Anxiety knifed through her heart. He had promised to take care of the gossip magazine problem. What if his plan failed?

CHAPTER TEN

A
ZIZ
S
HAH HAD
been sent packing to Mumbai and all that needed to be done was to defuse the publicity bomb he had planted at
Celebrity Times.
Shiva had efficiently tracked down and connected Neel with the editor of the gossip magazine. Even before Shah’s aircraft touched down in Mumbai, Neel had persuaded the editor not to print the story and pictures. The threat of legal action was delivered subtly enough but it had done the job. To soften the blow he’d offered to buy premium ad space in the magazine for the next six months and the deal was sealed. Incentives always worked better than threats. Shiva had wired the money in exchange for a written confirmation that Aziz’s photographs and stories would never see the light of day. Neel had meant to confront Karisma and Sid with the fait accompli but it had totally skipped his mind until he had seen the duo walk into the Jade Room.

Sid was indignant at being unceremoniously ushered out of the
sangeet
celebrations, while Karisma remained unperturbed. But Neel had no patience for the conniving couple. At first both denied knowing anything about Aziz Shah’s deal with
Celebrity Times
but they knew
their sordid little game was up when he showed them the email from the editor.

The whole business had left a bitter taste in his mouth and he simply had had enough of this wedding
tamasha.
He would be glad when it was all over and done with. For now, he was the one that badly needed what his resort promised its guests—nirvana!

‘Chris and his mom are really cool, no?’ gushed Radhika as the
mehndi
ceremony was officially thrown open with Chris’s mother applying a little bit of the orange-red paste on her son’s soon-to-be bride’s palm.

Rayna couldn’t have agreed more. If Chris had been the star performer at the
sangeet
, then his mother stole the show at the henna ceremony. Dressed in a pretty turquoise
salwar kameez
, she had come prepared to play the role of the traditional mother-in-law to perfection. She even exchanged a few words with the Brahmin priest in Hindi, much to the delight of Milee’s admiring relatives.

Radhika eyed the rock on Rayna’s finger and stretched out her hand. ‘May I?’

Rayna squashed the urge to hide her hand behind her back and reluctantly let Radhika examine the ring, which she did with the precision of a pawn shop owner.

‘It’s gorgeous. You must be counting the days to your wedding, no?’

Rayna didn’t miss the envy-laced admiration in her voice. She had already heard it a gazillion times—how she was so lucky to have landed such a
prize catch
: a millionaire who was drop-dead gorgeous to boot.

‘We haven’t fixed a date yet.’ She kicked herself mentally yet again for coming up with this ridiculous
idea of a fake engagement. It might have been simpler if she’d just told them about her split with Sid and left it at that. Though, of course, then she would have faced a barrage of clucking pseudo-sympathisers. But her stupid pride hadn’t allowed her to go with the truth. So here she was—grinning and bearing it as everyone and her corpulent aunt showered her with compliments and gratuitous advice.

She needed to get away from it all before she went stir-crazy, announced the ring was strictly on loan and the only real thing about her relationship was her desire for her fake fiancé. From the corner of her eye she saw Agra Aunty waddle towards her and she made herself scarce before she was put through another round of forty questions.

She was so hell-bent on escaping, it was only after her high heels sank into the soft sand and nearly tripped her up that she realised she was a tad overdressed for the beach. Stilettos and flowing designer
lehnga
were not exactly suitable beachwear. She sighed in frustration and kicked off her heels.

‘Come and sit here—or you will ruin your dress.’

Her heart did a little skippity-skip the moment she heard that sexy drawl. And when she spied Neel lying on a beach towel on the sand, stripped down to just his trousers, her heart started its demented chimp on a trapeze act again. Sitting thigh-to-thigh on a strip of towel with Neel was not going to do anything to rein in the chimp either.

‘Ah! So this is where you have been hiding?’ She hoped she sounded breezy rather than breathless. She picked up her discarded stilettos while she held the
lehnga
away from the sand with her other hand.

‘Not hiding. But, as I told you, weddings and me don’t mix.’ He reached for the bottle of beer next to him.

‘Were you jilted at your wedding
mandap
or something?’

He almost flinched at her throwaway remark but, before she could hold on to the thought, he snapped back, ‘You’re giving me a crick in my neck. Why don’t you stop hovering and sit down?’

‘Well, you have made it more than obvious you want to be left alone—’ she bristled ‘—I’ll leave you to bask in splendid isolation.’

Before she could turn away, he got up in one athletic move and caught her arm. ‘Stop being so prickly and relax.’

She looked at him, a challenge in her eyes. ‘OK. On one condition. If you tell me what exactly happened between you, Karisma and Sid.’

He groaned as if she was putting him through Chinese torture. ‘All that
happened
was I gave them a piece of my mind and that was the end of the matter.’

‘And what about the story that Aziz sent out to the gossip mag?’

He took a swig of beer and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. ‘Killed! The editor has confirmed it.’

Now, that was a huge relief!
The unsavoury prospect of finding her pictures splashed in the papers along with a sleazy write-up had been like a nagging headache that refused to go away. She wondered how he’d ‘killed’ the story and wished he would be a little more forthcoming with the details.

‘Don’t worry about Aziz and Karisma. It’s all been
sorted and I have read them the riot act. As for your ex…I don’t even want to go there.’

She didn’t miss his sarcasm but curiosity got the better of her. ‘Did Sid say something?’

Neel’s snort of laughter left her in no doubt of his impression of Sid. ‘He was quieter than a mouse. What the hell did you see in that good-for-nothing idiot in the first place?’

A valid enough question, which had been bothering her more and more during the past few days. But did he have to rub it in her face? ‘I’ll remember to consult with you the next time I get into a relationship.’

‘I wish! It would save us both a lot of bother.’

She simmered at the sheer arrogance of his reply—as if she had willed herself into a bad relationship with Sid. ‘Oh, really? Are you some kind of a love guru? No, wait. You’re one of those who would rather not commit to a woman in the first place, just in case something goes wrong.’

He shot her a withering look and scooped up his shirt. The tension stretched between them like a wire pulled to breaking point. He put it on with such force she feared the fabric would rip. His voice, though, didn’t have a shred of emotion in it. ‘You’re right about that…I should know better than to point fingers at you.’ Honestly speaking,
she
was the idiot for not having seen through Sid and his games and lashing out at Neel was not going to change that. Taking a deep breath, she murmured softly, ‘My relationship with Sid was going nowhere but I was in denial. And when he texted me that it was over between us I—’

‘He did what?’

She swallowed her pride and confessed she had been
treated like a soiled napkin by Sid. She needed to say it—if only to get it off her chest. Maybe this was the only way to close that chapter of her life once and for all.

‘We’d been dating on and off for just under a year and for the past couple of months he’d kept badgering me to move in with him. He’d begun to wear me down with his insistence.’ She took a deep breath and continued. ‘I was all ready to make the commitment and planned to tell him about my decision soon after Milee’s wedding. Well, things didn’t quite work out that way. The next thing I knew, he had texted me to say it was all over between us. No phone call, no conversation, no nothing. One stupid message and kaput!’

Instead of the anger she expected to come roaring back, she felt a sense of release. As if by admitting the truth to Neel she had finally purged herself of Sid’s toxic effect on her self-esteem. Relief surged through her. It was truly over and she was free—as if a dead weight had been lifted off her.

‘Gutless bastard!’ Neel muttered under his breath.

‘It’s all water under the bridge and, if you don’t mind, I would rather not talk about Sid any more,’ she said breezily.

‘Ditto!’ he echoed emphatically.

A gust of sea breeze enveloped them, wrapping the folds of her
lehnga
around his legs. She laughed a bit self-consciously as she tried to retain control over the silky fabric and he grinned at her.

‘Seems like it’s going to rain,’ she said, beating back the sudden shyness that overcame her.

He shrugged. ‘Maybe. Maybe not. If you wish, we can go back indoors.’

She knew she should grab that offer and make a run
for it—instead, she wanted to celebrate her freedom. Here, under the star-spangled sky. But how wise was it to let her defences down in front of Neel? She really didn’t need to jump from the frying pan straight into the fire, did she? If she had any sense she would be scurrying back inside and bolting the door to her bedroom against Neel—and her heart too!

‘No, let’s stay out for a while. It’s so wonderful out here,’ she heard herself say.
Rayna Dutt, you are such a stupid, stupid, girl!

‘When I first came to the island, I couldn’t have enough of it,’ Neel said as they strolled on the beach. ‘The thing I love most is taking the speedboat out for a spin—riding the sea on a full moon’s night with the stars shining down.’

‘Wow. But I don’t think I could do it ever.’

‘Are you scared it will trigger another panic attack?’ Neel watched her intently as she smiled uncertainly.

He caught her hand and carried it to his chest. ‘Don’t let your fear get the better of you, Rayna.’

She looked up into his eyes and could feel his heart thud strongly against her palm. She felt safe with him but she was not so sure of herself.

Uncertainty flickered in her large eyes.

‘Do you trust me?’ he asked.

Her response was instantaneous. ‘Yes.’

‘Then come with me… I promise you won’t regret it.’

And she believed him. She didn’t know why. Nor did she care to. She just knew he was right.

‘OK,’ she whispered.

‘That’s my girl,’ he said, carrying her hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss into her palm. She was all jelly-kneed under the onslaught of his attention.

As they neared the boarding point at the pier she nearly lost her nerve at the sight of the speedboat.

In a flash Neel scooped her up in his arms and walked down the wooden ramp that reached out into the sea till they reached the anchored speedboat that was bobbing gently on the water.

She put her arms around his neck and looked up. The warm, spicy scent of his aftershave enveloped her and she couldn’t take her eyes off his stubble-roughened face. Her heart jerked wildly—was she reacting to being up close and personal with him or was it fear pumping through her bloodstream?

He set her down and helped her into the boat. She clung to his outstretched arm nervously, but the magic of the night, the wind whipping her hair and Neel’s silent encouragement eased her fears.

‘We will cruise around for a bit and if at any point you feel uncomfortable just holler. OK?’

She nodded as he settled her into a cosy nook and prepared to steer the speedboat away into the sea.

Streaks of silver moonlight danced on the waters as they sped away from the shore. Nothing mattered except the rush of water against the boat, the salt-tinged breeze on her face and the stars shining down. They cruised around for a while before Neel put the engine on neutral. The serenity of the night—with only the sound of the ocean—embraced them. It was as if they were the only two human beings on the planet. She gazed up at the stars and murmured, ‘This is truly magical.’

‘The vastness of it all makes your worries and fears appear totally meaningless, doesn’t it?’ He paused for a beat before adding, ‘I was running away from a lot
of things… It was here that I found myself. Found the sanity to carry on and do what I needed to do.’

The catch in his voice told her he was still haunted by his past and she wondered what could have been so terrible to be affecting him like this years later. ‘I can’t imagine you hiding from anything.’

He laughed self-mockingly. ‘Been there. Done that. And you know the worst part? There is no place to run—and in your heart you always know it.’ Yet he had been unable to stop. Because stopping would mean acknowledging the pain, the shame, the guilt. Stopping would mean admitting that the blame lay with him. Realising he had been stupid to give his trust so easily to those who weren’t worthy of it; realising he was powerless to go back and fix the things that had gone so horribly wrong for those he genuinely cared about. Despite all the realisations, he couldn’t change a thing. The past was unforgiving and it would tinge his future for ever.

She could tell a window into his soul had cracked open. There was something about sitting here with nothing but the sky spread above and the sea all around that made you want to cleanse your heart and let the sorrows wash away into nothingness. The whys and the hows of past hurt didn’t matter—what did was that they were purged.

‘They say: face your fears and be rid of them.’ His lips curved in a soft smile. ‘Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you it’s the hardest thing to do. And yet you didn’t hesitate to face your fear, to challenge it head-on.’

She laughed self-consciously. ‘Left to myself, I would be a thousand miles away.’

‘And I would have chased you. There’s no way you
could have missed all this…’ A thrill of pleasure ran through her as his fingers traced the curve of her cheek. ‘But I’m glad you are here with me…though I must confess I had an ulterior motive for bringing you here.’

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