Page 12 of Stumped

“She’s interesting.”

“Are you going to tell her who you are?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Now, I need you to keep a low profile and go home.”

“Okay.”

“This is going to be a shitstorm to navigate, so don’t make it worse,” he reminds me.

“Once we finish eating.”

“Do not fuck her.”

Of course I want to fuck her, but I also want tobewith her. “No promises,” I tell him.

“Don’t do anything I would do.”

I chuckle and hang up, fully aware he’s going to be blowing up my phone for the next few hours. I trust him to keep me safe and employed with a roof over my head. But telling me what I can and cannot do with my personal life? Not part of the contract I signed.

“Everything okay?” Kuriakose asks as I join him and Vera.

“Just Dhruv being Dhruv.”

Vera holds out a plate of vadas. “Ordered these while they got the rest of our food ready.”

I’m glad she doesn’t ask any questions about Dhruv or why my shoulders are practically up at my ears. She knows something is wrong by the way she rubs my arm while I bite into a vada. The hot, greasy, crunchy palm-sized snack is a weakness. One my nutritionist suggests I don’t eat. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt either of us.

Kuriakose returns to his conversation with the men at the stall, leaving us alone. There are a few people leaning against the tall tables, also looking like they’ve also arrived after a wild night of drinking and partying. The fact that Vera knows aboutthis place—and all the spots we visited—makes me wonder how much of a party girl she really is.

“If you’re not careful, your face will get stuck like that. And for a handsome fellow, that would be such a shame.”

I blink, confused by her words until my forehead relaxes. Now she’s holding two plates with dosas?2 and what looks like chicken curry. My mouth waters as I take one from her, my stomach rumbling loudly to remind me how hungry I actually am. When Vera moans with her eyes closed as she enjoys her meal, Dhruv’s warning to not fuck her echoes in my head. If that’s what she wants, I won’t stop either of us. And if our night ends here where I only get to hear her moan over dosa and chicken curry, then so be it.

My phone pings loudly in my pocket, earning a confused look from Vera. With my cap down, Iamkeeping a low profile. But my agent is going to worry about this until I’m safely tucked away in my bed.

“Whoever Dhruv is, he clearly doesn’t like you spending late nights out of your house.”

I chuckle. “He’s looking out for me. Making sure I don’t get into any trouble.”

“What ifIwas trouble?”

We haven’t been subtle about our attraction to each other and we’ve said we’d like to fuck the other enough times. But there is something about the way she says it that makes my dick twitch. I wouldn’t hesitate to get intoherkind of trouble.

“Don’t start with me,” I warn her.

“Or what?”

“I can think of a few suitable punishments.”

She smirks and licks her fingers. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

I don’t even know what I’m capable of, but I can’t wait to find out.

“I can’t wait to find out,” she says, echoing my thoughts.

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