Chapter 25 Veera

Chapter 25 Veera

They spent the weekend in bed, their bodies pressed together until they were glued with sweat and heat. The food that Veera

had made for both of them went cold, but they ate it like starving wolves anyway.

At first, they didn't speak about the future. They focused on pleasure, on pushing each other to their limits and exploring

each other's wants and needs. But on Sunday morning, there was no escaping it.

"I don't think we have any food left in the house," Deepak said. They were sprawled across his bed, with rumpled sheets and

crumpled blankets. The Juliet balcony doors were closed again because of the cooler air. Deepak lay between her thighs, his

ear pressed against her soft belly, his thumb brushing the underside of her breasts.

"I feel like we should shower and go out for coffee," Veera said, as she brushed the curls away from his forehead. "There

is a new bakery a few blocks down. They do latte art."

Deepak's laughter was a soft rumble against her skin. "I know how much you like the latte art."

"They also have blueberry scones," Veera added, hoping to tempt him into the breakfast date. She loved those quiet moments

at a bistro table where his legs would bracket hers, and they'd share pastries.

His lips brushed against the side of her breast before he said, "You always know what I like."

"I do."

They descended into silence, and she felt his muscles tighten against her.

"Veera..."

"Deepak," she replied. Then she closed her eyes. It's now or never , she thought. She was one to walk away when her life became overwhelming, when she would need time, a lot of time, to process

her emotions, but she was never one to run away from the truth.

"When did you first see me?" she asked quietly. "When did you first look at me and think that I was someone more than your

friend?"

Deepak shifted against her until he lay at her side, curling her close. She recognized his familiar soft expression, the stubble

on his cheek, the disheveled hair, and reached up to run her fingertips over the curve of his jaw. She felt his warm skin,

the muscle of his arms as he held her against him.

"I've always seen you, Vee," he said softly. "That was never the problem."

"You know what I mean."

There was a long pause. "I don't know when it happened," he said honestly. "I wish I could tell you that there was a specific

moment that I looked at you and I thought that I wanted us to be more than friends. I wish I hadn't been so focused on what

I thought I should do, instead of what was right in front of me. After eight months of not having you in my life, when we

met in that police station, I knew I had wasted so much time. Then I heard the words we committed to during our ceremony,

and I didn't want to say them to anyone else but you."

Her skin cooled from his words, and she shivered as she began to detangle herself from his body. That was what she'd been afraid of, she thought. Because there was a chance that maybe, his attraction to her was rooted in the fact that Olivia was no longer an option for him. She sat up against the headboard and pulled the sheet over her naked breasts.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She saw the look of confusion on his face as he sat naked in front of her.

"I don't want to be a stand-in, Deepak. I don't want to be a replacement for Olivia."

Some of the confusion melted into amusement. "Vee, Olivia and I were never romantically involved. There was no love between

us. There was a business deal."

"Isn't that what we have now?"

Deepak shifted so he was leaning at her side, his hands cupping her face. "If you believe that, then I've failed you in so

many ways," he said softly. "And I value you so much that I would never disrespect you like that. I swear to you, Veera, I

will never take you for granted again. I will never not appreciate what you mean to me."

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her mouth, her lips parting as he pulled her impossibly closer. Veera's head swam. She

pressed her palms against his chest and felt the strong beat of his heart.

She wanted to tell him how she felt, how much love she'd stored up for him all this time, but she wasn't ready.

He didn't look like he was ready to hear it, either, even as he asked, "Where does that leave us?"

"We don't have much time until the board meeting," she said slowly.

"This isn't about work," he replied. "This is about you and me. I don't want you to ever think this is about work now, Vee."

"We never had a real relationship, and we can't truly have a relationship until this board meeting is finished. A romantic relationship. I just want to . . . date."

"Date," he said blandly.

"Date," she repeated. "I want more romance." Then she leaned forward and kissed him on his chin. "I want more coffee chats

and movie marathons where you fall asleep twenty minutes into a rom-com."

"They're boring," he muttered.

If he still wanted to be with her regardless of the results of the board meeting, then she'd tell him all of it. Her feelings,

how frustrated she was with his tunnel vision, and how she wanted to live with him in his Brooklyn house, sign a practical

prenuptial agreement, register their marriage at the courthouse, and live and work together.

But right now, they'd be together the way she'd always wanted, the way they needed, before they jumped six steps ahead into

marriage.

She saw the tension in his face, the disagreement reflected in his eyes, but he pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"Fine," he said.

"Fine?"

"Fine," he replied. "I can date. We'll date, we'll go out, we'll sleep in my bed, and when you see that we're just as good

as ever, then I hope you decide to stop saying the word fake in front of the word married ."

She wouldn't, couldn't until they spoke of love. Until she told him that she loved him more than tradition and culture and

ceremony. Until nothing mattered but what they felt for each other.

Veera nodded. She used the edge of his expensive sheets to dab at her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds good," she finally said.

He settled back with her wrist in hand, a thumb brushing over her tattoo with the pad of his thumb. "Good," he said. "You know what is so important to me?"

"What?"

"The fact that you're my best friend," he replied. "It's so ridiculous to say at our age. Best friendship. Friendships now

are about giving each other space, or accepting cancellations and knowing that life has come up. But with you, when I use

the words best friend , I think it's about always being there in my life, every day, always within reach. With you, we aren't Veera Mathur, Mathur

Financial Group, or Deepak Datta, Illyria Media heir. We're whoever we want to be. Cheesy, right? Your face is telling me

it's cheesy."

No, it wasn't , she thought. Veera brushed another tear off her cheek and cleared her throat. "I'm so glad you're cheesy," she whispered.

"Oh, yeah? Good," he replied, eyes brightening. "Then if we're dating, it's time for a morning-after coffee run. Let's get

that scone."

"You mean latte art," she corrected.

Then she laughed as he dove on top of her, covered her face in sloppy kisses, then scooped her up to carry her into the bathroom.

Maybe , she thought. Maybe this will work out after all. She just hoped that when the board meeting was over, he'd still choose her.