Detached

CHAPTER 19

*MEERA'S POINT OF VIEW*

“Come get me when you’re ready.” He closed the door firmly behind him and I walked over to my closet, picking out clothes for the day. After running a brush through my wild hair a couple of times, it became apparent that there was no salvaging it. Instead, I pulled it up into a ponytail and clipped my bangs to the side. I looked in the mirror and frowned. I looked the same as I did every other day: baggy and loose. I longed to wear normal clothes, but it was easier this way to go unnoticed; it actually scared me when guys started to look at me with lust in their eyes.

I knew every man wasn’t like Smith, but just in case, I couldn’t bring myself to show any skin or curves. It was funny how that was different with Riyansh. I hadn’t thought twice about wearing my swimsuit in front of him yesterday. There was something about him that just made me trust him, giving me more confidence around him.

When I was done, I made my way out to Riyansh's room. “Hey,” he greeted cheerfully as he opened his door.

“Hey.”

“So, what do you want to do today? Is there anything good to do around here?” he asked as we walked down to the kitchen for lunch.

“Not really. There’s a small shopping mall about half an hour away. Want to go there? I could buy some new art supplies, ready for school,” I offered, shrugging.

“Sure okay, sounds good,” he agreed, smiling happily.

“Wow, you’re easy to please,” I teased, elbowing him in the ribs playfully.

He smiled. “I guess. I just don’t get much time off from training, so I don’t get to do normal things like that often.”

“Well, that sucks,” I said frowning.

“It doesn’t suck! I love my job; it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. The training’s finished now so things should calm down,” he explained, shrugging.

“Well not really, I mean, you got stuck on some crappy assignment to babysit me. My dad said that you won’t even get time off apart from scheduled school breaks. You must suck at being S. Task force, if they stuck you here,” I joked, smirking at him. Bless him; I bet he barely passed his training!

“Actually, I graduated top of my class with honours. I hold five new records at the academy, which I was the only one to break in twenty years,” he replied dismissively like it was no big deal.

I recoiled, shocked at the revelations. “Seriously? Then why did you get shipped off here with me? I mean, if you’re some awesome badass, why waste you here body guarding me? It’s not even a S. Task force's job, it’s the secret service’s responsibility to guard a Singhania and his family.” I looked at him, confused. It just seemed like a waste of talent to me.

He looked a little uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I just go wherever they assign me. Anyway, I’m glad I got ‘shipped off here’ as you put it, otherwise we wouldn’t have met,” he flirted, smiling at me cockily.

“Yeah, because otherwise you’d still be holding that claim of never spending the night with a girl, like the badass player that you are.” I pushed him sideways playfully so I could step through the door into the inner hallway first. He didn’t reply. He just grabbed my waist, lifting me off my feet and threw me easily over his shoulder as he carried on walking in the direction of the kitchen. I gasped as everything turned upside down. “Whoa, holy crap! Put me down, right now!” I shouted, but the order lost some of its authority when I started laughing.

“Nope, not until you apologise for calling me a player,” he refused playfully.

“Riyandh, put me down!” I instructed, struggling to get off him.

“I didn’t hear you apologise.”

“Agent Bhutt, you put me down right now. I know people, I could have you assassinated!” I joked.

He burst out laughing. “Right, and who do you know that could assassinate me?” he asked, still chuckling.

“Dean.”

“Dean Rakesh? That guy likes me more than he does you, and I’ve only met him twice, it would be easier to get him to assassinate you!” he countered, laughing wickedly.

“Put me down! All the blood’s rushing to my head,” I whined, giving up on my struggling because I could barely move an inch from the hold he had on me.

“Wow, you whine like a baby, Anna. Where’s the fighting spirit? You could have wrapped your arms around my waist to give yourself more stability and kneed me in the face, you know. I thought you were big on the self-defence,” he teased. He tugged on my legs, making me slide down into his arms before he sat me on the kitchen counter. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“No way! I could barely move, I tried to get down,” I protested, righting my clothes and trying to catch my breath from the experience of it.

“You have much to learn, young grasshopper,” he said, patting me on the head like a child.