The air between them thickened with tension, almost palpable, as the dinner progressed. Ananya remained silent, keeping her head down, but her mind was racing. She couldn’t ignore the pull, the strange magnetism Aarav exuded. She told herself it was wrong—this man was her father’s closest friend, someone she had known for years—but he had never looked at her like this before.

Aarav was more dangerous than she had imagined.