The beginning

Chapter 4

Deepika and Ranveer fled to their respective rooms as soon as they were free. When the door shut behind him, Ranveer leaned against it trying to comprehend what had just happened. He felt like the ground had suddenly shifted beneath him and he was in unaccustomed territory. He'd never felt such an intense pull towards someone before. This was ten, a hundred, a thousand times worse than what he'd felt the previous few times he'd met her. He tried to analyse it. 

No doubt Deepika was the most stunning woman he'd ever seen, no doubt she was a warm, cheerful person, but when he held her, when he looked into her eyes, it was as if some part of him, long lost, had finally found a home. Every time they touched it was as if a circuit was completed. He'd never believed in corny ideas like soulmates, didn't even know if he believed in them now, but he had no other fitting word or explanation for the intensity of his response. 

Good god. He needed to get out of there, get away from her, clear his head, no matter how much his heart and body told him to just pull her closer. He needed to regain control of his reactions before he did something stupid and drove her away.

If he'd been thinking clearly, he'd have noticed that she was just as dazed as he was. In the room across from Ranveer's, Deepika sat at the dressing table staring unseeing at herself in the mirror, a vivid replay of the previous few minutes running through her mind. 

God, what was wrong with her? She'd forgotten that she was being filmed. She, who always knew where the camera was and the best angles to shoot. She'd lost track of everything because of the feel of a man's heartbeat? She shook her head in an attempt to clear it but failed miserably, her brain and body reminding her constantly of the feel of him. She needed to get out of here, to regain perspective, to come back with some semblance of control over her actions. 

She changed clothes quickly back to what she'd worn before. When she stepped out of her room she came face to face with Ranveer who was exiting his. Their eyes caught and held as they stood a few feet away from each other. 

Deepika could feel a blush climbing up her face as he took a couple of steps forward. He raised a hand automatically to cup her cheek before stopping himself abruptly a step away from her. 

"I'll, umm, see you tomorrow, okay?" he practically stuttered. "Do you have a ride home?" he asked, and mentally cursed himself. He did NOT need to spend time with her in an enclosed space almost alone. 

"Yes, my driver is here, he'll take me home," she said. "Thanks for asking," she smiled sweetly at him and he felt his heart turn over in his chest. The way she looked at him through her lashes, cheeks blushing, smile gracing her lovely lips... He leaned into her without any conscious thought or volition. 

Deepika's heart, already beating double time because of Ranveer's proximity, began to race when he leaned in closer and raised a hand to her face. She was mesmerized by the look in his eyes, which was a mixture of wonder, arousal, and something infinitely soft that she had no name for. She didn't know what her eyes were saying; her mind had blanked out completely. 

Her gaze shifted to his lips. They looked soft and inviting. When she raised her eyes to look into his again, she saw an edge of heat in them as he stared alternately at her lips and back at her eyes. She hadn't even realised it, but she'd taken small steps backward as he leaned closer and stepped in tandem with her. 

The shock of hitting the closed door to her room made her gasp and come back to herself. She saw him blink and colour as he stepped back from her almost at the same moment. "I..." She didn't know what to say. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered shakily and almost ran past him to the living room of the apartment where Sanjay sir waited with the script. She picked it up, exchanged the customary pleasantries, and left as quickly as she could.