Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 161 - Light My Fire

The black, glossy credit card lay in the palm of Shehnaaz’s hand, conspicuous and eye-catching against her fair skin.
She wanted so badly to return the card, but when she saw the hard, unyielding look on Sidharth’s handsome face, she knew that he would not take no for an answer. Shehnaaz shrank back, discouraged.
She stood helplessly in front of Sidharth, her expression a mixture of worry and delight. Her eyelashes
fluttered like butterflies, stirring the placid lake of the emotions within him into a surging wave.

Sidharth turned away. His hands had become restless, and he felt like smoking. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his trouser pocket, and began to toy with it. He could not make up his mind whether to smoke now, in front of Shehnaaz, or to hold off until she left.

Shehnaaz’s eyes were now glued to his hands. She could not help it: his hands were flawless, strong. She was
overcome with the urge to reach out and hold them—she needed to feel their gentle touch against her skin, give into them as they eased away the regrets and concerns she had felt all these months apart. She felt hot at the the thought of Sidharth’s hands caressing her, soothing her...
pleasuring her.

Sidharth was intrigued by the naked, undisguised look of desire and infatuation in Shehnaaz’s eyes. His leaned over slightly, and waved the cigarette pack in his hand before her eyes. “What are you looking at?Hmm?”

His “hmm” was light and teasing, but their was a seductive undertone to the words, low and crisp. It seemed to brush against Shehnaaz’s ear, and sent a red flush over her earlobe and down her neck.

Shehnaaz stepped backwards, flustered and afraid Sidharth would be able to tell what she was thinking. She took another unsteady step backwards as she stammered, “Uncle Sid, do you want to smoke? I-I’ll light your cigarette for you.”

She looked up, her eyes sparkling at Sidharth as she tried desperately to hide the whirlpool of emotions within
her.

His fire had already been lit.

Sidharth looked searchingly into her misty, shimmering eyes as he slowly returned the cigarette pack to his trouser pocket. “You were looking at my cigarette pack?”

“Y-Yes!.” Shehnaaz nodded quickly. It was a lame excuse, but she jumped at it. “It’s late. I have to go to bed.” She
looked up at Sidharth. “Uncle Sid… where will you be sleeping today?”

“The guest room.” Sidharth straightened up and stared at Shehnaaz briefly before he left the room.

Shehnaaz did not have an excuse to get him to stay in the master bedroom this time. She felt as though they had once again reached an obstacle that was keeping them apart.

However, her spirits lifted as soon as she changed into her pajamas—one of Sidharth’s T-shirts. She slept soundly
under the light goose down duvet, satisfied.

It was a deep and dreamless sleep. She woke up at early the next morning, refreshed and ready for a new day. After washing up, she opened the bedroom door and saw that Sidharth was already awake and impeccably dressed.

He stood before a bookshelf in the study, flipping through a set of documents.

The door to the study was just opposite the door to the master bedroom. It was wide open and allowed Shehnaaz to gaze at Sidharth openly.

Sidharth’s his dark gray, tailor-made cashmere trousers were crisp and impeccably straight. They were held
up by a broad, dark brown military-issue belt around his waist, attached to suspender straps of the same color. A dark blue shirt of fine wool was tucked into his trousers; the
muscles on his broad, V-shaped back flexed underneath the fitted garment. Shehnaaz’s heart raced as she watched him.