Page 24 of Love Locked
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It started snowing as they approached Roopganj, and suddenly a whiteout engulfed them. Such heavy snowfall in this area, that too in early December, was unheard of, so he switched the radio to the local station for a weather update.
“Several places in Shimla and around have been hit by a massive snowstorm. If you’re on the roads, be careful. Stay indoors, and preferably, do not venture out. Stay tuned for more weather updates after this song,” the announcer said.
“Great,” he muttered.
He turned it off and focused on the road. He knew it would be bad weather if it was snowing this heavily. He’d assumed they’d be over most of it when they reached the site. Kyra stirred, and her eyes fluttered open. Immediately, she repositioned herself in the seat, and her mouth fell open.
“How long has it been like this? How come it’s snowing?” She asked, looking at Kabir wide-eyed.
“About thirty minutes. It’s progressively worsening, but I’m not pulling over because I don’t think we can wait it out.”
She nodded. “But can you drive in this weather? It looks bad.”
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ve driven in such weather before. Want to look at the weather app for me while I drive?”
He called her a princess again! She opened her mouth to rebuke him, but instead, she simply shook her head because this was not the time to point out that she was no princess. She took the phone he was holding out to her.
“Uhh. Sure.”
After typing the passcode he told her, she opened the app to check for weather updates. As soon as the screen loaded, she frowned. “What is all this?”
As he looked at the screen, all he could see was red and blue, which indicated heavy snowfall and strong winds.
“Great.” His fist slammed against the steering wheel.
“What? What does it mean?” The concern in her tone wasn’t lost on him.
“Heavy snowstorm. Basically, we need to take it slow so we can make it to our destination safely. Looks like it might be like this for the rest of the way.”
Sitting up straight, she glanced at the GPS. A wave of worry washed across her beautiful face, but Kabir remained calm as always. She looked so young and fragile. He suddenly felt bad about picturing her in a lustful way.
Immediately, all his protective instincts kicked in, and he wanted nothing more than to wipe the worry off her face. By hugging her. By taking care of her. Or maybe…by kissing her.
And there went his mind again, even while driving in the middle of a brewing snowstorm.
Kyra was still focused on the weather app. Nervousness was written across her face as she bit her plump, tempting lower lip. She was scared. The fact that she reacted this way shouldn’t surprise him as she was raised in a sheltered environment.
Just recently, she had begun living on her own. In other words, he knew she would never take a risk like this under normal circumstances. Her life was like that of a princess. He called her princess for that very reason. Not to taunt her or anything.
“Trust me, princess. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Don’t call me princess.” She finally lost her temper.
“But you look like one.” He shrugged.
“You look like a stern grandfather. Would you prefer it if I called you one?” She countered in a mocking tone.
“Grandfather?” His tone was low. “I’ll pretend that you didn’t just say that.” He shook his head, concentrating on the road.
“You can continue to pretend to your heart’s content later, but now, let’s just keep our eyes on the road to safely reach our location.” Kyra glared at his handsome face.
Moments passed in deathly quiet with just the rumble of the engine and the whoosh of the wind. Kabir clenched his jaw, thankful that Kyra had the willpower to refrain from speaking anymore; coz he was on the verge of losing his patience, listening to her chatter. He quietly drove down the winding, congested, one-lane valley roads for the next 45 minutes, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.
He was glad they didn’t stop even though the driving conditions weren’t ideal; otherwise, they would’ve had to wait it out on the road. The weather was fluctuating wildly, and the last thing he needed was to be trapped in a car for hours in the blizzard with princess Kyra.
He mentally scolded himself to not let the princess slip out of his tongue from now on. Because he was not the one to stir the crazy. But she made him behave differently. They were together in this chaotic situation, which demanded they be civil with each other. So he was determined to be neutral, ignoring the undercurrent of any attraction between them. Suddenly, their phones buzzed with alerts when they were only ten minutes from the location.
