The next time Annika met Shivaay was a month later. Surprisingly, this meeting went much better than their previous ones had. He came to her office, asking if she would be willing to organize his parents' wedding anniversary. Annika didn't need to be asked twice. Pinky Singh Oberoi was delightful, as Annika had found out at the business party, and she would love to arrange her and Shakti uncle's anniversary party.

"Great," Shivaay said, nodding. "It'll be at our mansion — no negotiations about that — so you'll have to come and work there. Start tomorrow?"

"Start tomorrow," Annika nodded, already going through her diary to work on a theme. Shivaay looked at her for a few moments, hesitating to say something, before sighing and giving up.

"I'll see myself out, then," He said, getting up to leave.

"Would you like some coffee?" Annika asked, realizing she was being impolite.

"Would you?" Shivaay asked quickly. Annika furrowed her brows.

"Um, I just had some tea, but I could order one for you..."

"Oh, that's fine," Shivaay shook his head. "I have a meeting to get to anyway." Nodding a goodbye, he left her office, leaving Annika confused. Why was Shivaay Singh Oberoi acting so...weird?

***

Annika was working late in Oberoi mansion that night. She usually managed to avoid Shivaay because the days she didn't, the two would end up arguing over something stupid for hours which would leave her with fewer hours to actually work in. But the anniversary party was fast approaching, and Annika was determined to make it a blast, especially given how close she had become to the family within just two weeks of working there. The only problem in this whole situation was Shivaay, of course. Annika didn't even mind their usual sparring, but sometimes he would just act out-of-character. Just the other day, for example, he had made ginger tea for her when she had complained about a headache. Annika decided that the best thing to do was to stay away from him as much as possible. She wasn't willing to admit to herself that there might be another reason for this willingness to avoid him. Something to do with the strange tingles she felt on her skin whenever he was near, or the accelerated heartbeat...

"Hey, you're still here?"

Annika groaned. So much for trying to avoid him. Turning around, she gave Shivaay a small smile. He had dropped his coat on the couch and managed to look handsome even after a day of work, his black shirt sleeves rolled till the elbows. Feeling conscious, Annika ran a hand through her own unruly hair.

"Yeah, just trying to figure out the stage decoration."

Shivaay nodded. The hall was empty except for them since the others had already retired to their rooms for the night.

"Did you have dinner?" He asked. Annika nodded.

"Yeah, I had it with the rest of them. You?"

"I'll just heat something up for myself," He said, shuffling his feet. He didn't move, however. Annika cleared her throat.

"The kitchen's that way," She pointed. Shivaay rolled his eyes.

"I'm going," He groaned. "No need to be so sassy all the time."

"What can I do, it's part of my personality. But you wouldn't know, because your entire personality consists of being a rich, spoilt man."

"Very funny," Shivaay remarked. "I was just going to ask you if you would like some coffee, but I guess your narcissism is enough to keep you going without any caffeine."

"That's true," Annika nodded, following him as he made his way towards the kitchen, "but I can't pass down the opportunity to drink coffee made by The Great Shivaay Singh Oberoi. Who knows, maybe even your coffee is filled with liquid gold."

Shivaay shook his head as he put his dinner in the microwave. "You know, your jokes are just getting worse by day."

Annika sighed in pretense. "Not my fault. Being around you would be detrimental for anyone's sense of humor."

"I beg to differ. I just think being around me makes you nervous, which in turn makes you crack lame jokes."

Annika's mouth fell open.

"That is not true! And why the hell would I get nervous around you?"

Instead of answering, Shivaay moved closer to her, backing her up against the kitchen counter. He placed his hands on the surface near her waist.

"I don't know," he whispered, starting cozily into Annika's eyes. "You tell me."

Annika, in turn, stared back at his stupidly handsome face. Of course she got nervous around him—he was the epitome of hotness. But he was also the epitome of arrogance and stupidity and Annika was not going to let him corner her like this. Clearing her throat, she placed her hands over his stupidly hard chest to push him away. He didn't budge. Annika scrunched her nose.

"What are you trying to do? Seduce me?"

Shivaay gave a lopsided grin. "Why, is it working?"

"Of course not! You are the last person I would ever be interested in, you know."

A flash of something crossed Shivaay's eyes, but it was gone before Annika could decipher. Exhaling, Shivaay moved away from her, and Annika instantly missed the heat of his body.

"I'm not interested in you either," He clarified, taking his dinner out of the oven. "I was just messing around."

"Of course," Annika replied, fixing her hair in awkwardness. "Anyway, it's late. I should leave now."

"Don't," Shivaay said, in a voice that made Annika look up. Gosh, that sounded hot. "I mean, I promised you coffee. Sit with me for dinner and then, maybe you can see if I actually put liquid gold in my drinks?" He offered.

"Your jokes are worse than mine," Annika scoffed, but followed him to the dinner table nonetheless. As they chatted over dinner about their work, family, everything, Annika realized that Shivaay really wasn't as bad as she had thought. Heck, she could now see why Mallika di had dated him—he was hot, smart, and even sweet when he wanted to be. His sense of humor needed some improvement, but Annika was sure she could fix that.

Wait, what? Stop thinking about him in that way, idiot! Annika chided herself. As promised, Shivaay brewed coffee for the two of them: espresso for himself and a delicious café latte for Annika. Despite her ego, Annika had to compliment him. After chatting some more over their coffee, Annika decided to leave. Shivaay walked her till the gate of the mansion.

"Where's your car?" He asked.

"Oh, I have to call an Uber. Anuj bhaiya—my driver—has guests over at home so I let him go." Annika took out her phone to book an Uber but Shivaay stopped her.

"I'll drive you home," He said, taking out his car keys. Annika was about to protest, but Shivaay was already walking towards his Audi and Annika had no option but to follow. She settled comfortably in his annoyingly expensive car and they drove off.

"Should I put my address on your GPS?" Annika asked him.

"No need, I know where your house is," Shivaay replied nonchalantly. Annika raised an eyebrow.

"Stalker much?"

"You wish. I'd gone there last month to discuss a deal with Harsh uncle."

"Strange," Annika frowned. "I don't think I was home."

"You weren't," Shivaay almost sighed. "You'd gone to a friend's place."

Annika nodded but looked skeptical. Had he asked her dad where she was? Shaking her head, Annika brushed away the thought. Soon, they reached her house, and Shivaay parked near the gate.

"Well, thank you, Mr. SSO. I have to say you weren't half the asshole you usually are, tonight. I'm surprised. And impressed."

"Well, what can I say?" Shivaay grinned. "There are a lot of things about me that impress women."

Annika rolled her eyes. "Such as?"

Shivaay looked at her for a few seconds, and shook his head.

"Nah, you're too innocent for that answer." Saying that, he got out of the car and moved to open Annika's door. Annika, for her part, scoffed.

"What do you mean by that?" She demanded to know once she got out. "How am I "innocent"?"

Shivaay shrugged his shoulders. "You only have to look at yourself when I'm close to you."

Despite herself, Annika blushed. It wasn't her fault that her body became all tingly and warm when he was near. "Don't kid yourself," She answered.

"I'm not," Shivaay was quick to reply, moving closer to her. Annika was soon backed up against his car. "But it's okay," he continued, his voice a low whisper as he leaned in closer. "because I've been told by my brothers that even my face gets all red when I'm around you, and not always due to anger."

Annika was about to protest, but when he pressed his mouth against hers, there was nothing else she could do other than responding to that sinfully delicious kiss. She didn't realize when her arms went around his neck or when her fingers got lost in his hair, while his hands were steady on her waist. For a while, it was just their lips that moved, his tongue doing most of the work as he explored the crevices of her mouth. Annika couldn't even care at this point that they were literally in front of her house and that her parents could walk out any second. Kissing Shivaay was better than anything she had experienced before, and now she knew that his mouth, indeed, was good at something other than barking orders at others. Things started heating up when Shivaay moved his hands from her hips to place them on her behind, and Annika grinned against his mouth. Whatever happened to Mallika di saying he was a gentleman?

Oh shit, Mallika di!

Gasping for more reasons than one, Annika quickly broke the kiss and pushed him. Being in a daze that he was, Shivaay stumbled a little and looked at her confused.

"Annika—"

Too late, Annika had already rushed past him and into the house. Running until she reached her bedroom, Annika took deep breaths to calm herself down. She couldn't believe she had kissed Shivaay. Shivaay Singh Oberoi, Mallika di's ex! The man Annika had hated with all her guts for breaking her sister's heart. Annika's eyes welled up with tears. She had gone ahead and broken the girl code. Getting into bed without even changing her clothes, Annika tried to forget about this whole episode. Fine, she had kissed Shivaay in a moment of misjudgment, and it had felt good, too. But it meant nothing. Tomorrow, she would tell Shivaay to forget about it all, because there was no way the two of them could be a thing. Not with the history he shared with her sister.

Despite herself, Annika cried herself to sleep that night, and the worst part was, she didn't know if it was because she had betrayed her cousin, or because there was no future for her and Shivaay.