& Then They Wed (Ampersand Love #2)

11. No Time to Weep

11

No Time to Weep

Aditi

A diti didn’t have to turn to know that Rian was behind her. The bubble of fear in her chest popped, relief slowly seeping in.

“Listen to her,” she heard him say as he came to stand beside her. “Unless you don't like having fingers.”

Harish’s grip loosened, but stubborn rat that he was, he didn’t let go.

“I can handle this,” Aditi declared boldly, glancing sideways at Rian. He looked relaxed, but the tight line of his mouth, the patently false smile, and the icy chill in his gaze told her that he was furious.

“I'm certain you can, Doc. I still don't enjoy seeing him put his hand on you.“

Unable to keep up the appearance of being self-sufficient against a man much stronger than her, she confessed, “I’m not enjoying it either.”

“You heard the lady.” Rian pointedly glared at the hand that was still wrapped around her wrist. “Drop it before there is bloodshed.”

“Are you threatening me?” Harish huffed, puffing his chest. His ego would never let him back away from a challenge.

“It’s not a threat,” Rian corrected, his tone deceivingly polite. “I’m promising you that when Aditi jabs your hand with this fork,” he explained, picking one from their table and handing it to her for emphasis, “I will hold your wrist just like you’ve held hers, and push it in harder until all you feel is gut-wrenching pain. No one will help you, unless I allow it. Which, I won't. This is my restaurant, my turf.”

Aditi wasn’t sure if it was the possibility of a fork injury or the revelation of who Rian was that finally made Harish let her go.

“You’re the owner?”

“Not quick on the uptake, are you?” Rian drawled, very much wanting to rip this man limb from limb. Aditi had not wanted him to interfere, and it was only this knowledge which had quelled the blood lust he’d experienced, seeing her get pushed around by this asshole.

Harish reddened at the insult. “How do you know this guy?” he demanded, too intimidated by Rian to continue a direct conversation with him.

Aditi ignored him, allowing Rian to place a hand on her back, ready to lead her out.

“Aditi, we’re not done talking.”

“Yes, we are,” she shot back, turning away when she heard his footsteps behind her.

“I’ll find you at the hospital.”

Aditi didn’t have time to react to this, because within the blink of an eye, Rian had stepped in between them, making it impossible for Harish to have direct access to her.

Perhaps he finally realised who he was up against, because Harish’s previous bravado faltered when faced with a stronger, taller man who was looking at him with steely eyes that promised a future full of pain.

The tension was palpable and Aditi wondered if the two would come to blows. Rian’s voice rumbled, low enough that perhaps only Harish and her could hear him speak.

“My camera’s have caught you manhandling Aditi. You threatened to stalk her at the hospital, of which I am a witness, along with my employees. While I’m being nice, take my advice. Maintain your distance.”

Harish gulped. “You can’t talk to me like that.”

“Just did.”

“I work with her.”

“Then work. But if she feels uncomfortable because of you, you’ll find yourself regretting your life choices.”

Aditi glanced at the sturdy back of the man she had been cursing for the last twenty-four hours. A man who had recognized from across the room that she was distressed and was even now shielding her from an unsavoury past.

Without meaning to, she stepped closer, needing his scent to feel calm and safe.

“Rian,” she called, placing one hand at the centre of his back. He turned towards her, his concerned gaze giving her a once over.

“Ready to go?” he asked, glad to see her nod.

Aditi stayed silent as he made his excuses, instructing his staff to escort Harish out without drawing too much attention. At her behest, they chose to walk around the block first instead of heading directly home. Aditi didn’t think she’d have been able to sit and stew inside a car anyway.

She glanced about, the crowds and lively chatter of people around her giving her something other than the argument to focus on. There was beauty in the chaos of Mumbai—always something to see and appreciate .

“Sorry,” he said as he kept pace with her. “I didn’t mean to interfere in your personal matters, but I couldn’t stand back and watch when he started to get physical.”

“Dosti mein, no sorry, no thank you.” She chuckled darkly, her weird sense of humour being the only shield stopping her from crumbling. The fear from her confrontation with Harish still lingered. At his exasperated look, she added, “I'm glad you stepped in.”

“You’re not mad?”

Aditi’s chest filled with the breath she took before she released it in a loud huff, trying to reduce the anxiety that had built in her.

“Dealing with Harish is always draining. It was nice to have back up.”

“Who was he?”

“My ex.”

Rian had to control himself from reacting to that piece of information. He found himself curious about her old relationship. She had mentioned to him last night that it had ended badly. Given the abominable behaviour he’d witnessed, Rian had no doubt that the break up would have been ugly as well.

“Are you going to cry?” he asked, watching her pinched expression as she pretended to check the goods at a roadside hawker selling salted peanuts. She was hurt. Probably embarrassed. He hoped she knew that he wouldn’t judge her for feeling low. That she could lean on him if she needed to.

Before he could say anything further, her control snapped into place.

“I don’t cry,” she confessed, chewing the inside of her lips in consternation. She would rather shave her eyebrows than cry over Harish-fucking-Hebbar. She’d been there, done that, and buried it with a circle of salt around the grave so that even the ghost of that ugly relationship couldn’t be revived.

“You don’t cry. You ?” Rian found that hard to believe. Aditi was one of the most expressive people he had ever met.

“Over fictional characters? Sure. Over real people? Rarely. A person has to matter a lot for me to cry over them.”

He let that sink in, saying nothing as he paid for a cone of the salted peanuts before she could object. He handed some to Aditi as they each began their stroll towards the restaurant once more.

“I’m sorry your date was ruined because of me,” she sniffed.

Rian’s forehead creased at her apology. “That wasn’t a date. It was a business meeting,” he clarified, on the verge of admitting that even a date wouldn’t have stopped him from standing up for her.

Oddly enough, the seriousness of his thought was juxtaposed by her snorting, a dry look on her face when she twisted her neck to see him.

“I might not be so great at this whole dating thing,” she accepted with a sideways nod, “but even I know a date when I see one.”

“If it was a date, I wouldn’t have brought her to my restaurant at the busiest time of the evening.”

“Does she know that?”

Rian frowned.

“Bugs, she was interested in a lot more than just business,” Aditi said, taking undue pleasure in the crunchy texture of the nuts she was consuming. “She looked downright pissed when you excused yourself to leave with me. If she is still around, I can explain to her that we’re just temporary housemates. I don’t want to be a cockblocker.”

Rian almost got a peanut stuck in his throat, choking in surprise. He looked about him to see if anyone else had heard her. Thankfully, not.

“Do you ever listen to yourself when you speak?” He had never before met anyone who was the living definition of an open book. Rian was equal parts in awe of her ability to be forthright and candid as he was envious of it. One required a lot of conviction and self-love to be like Aditi.

“I have to be very careful about my bedside manners at work,” she admitted, munching on her snack. “I don’t bother holding back outside though.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I can see that.”

A moment later, he stopped, doing a double take when he realised that she was no longer walking beside him. Worried, he spun around, letting out a relieved breath when he found her an arm’s distance away.

“Doc?”

“There were times I couldn’t say anything,” she confessed, watching him with that odd look. “I had to stay quiet and provide care for a girl who was impregnated a month after her marriage. She was fourteen.”

Rian's heart dropped to his stomach, but he didn’t interrupt her.

“I had to release a lady and her child back into the care of her abusive in-laws. I had no power to speak up against it. I had to bite my tongue when my patient’s husband wouldn’t look at their newborn and told her she could only die after she bore him a son. She was barely two days postpartum with their third daughter. I have had to say nothing despite wanting to because that is part of the work I do. So yes, in my personal life, I say what is on my mind. Do not mistake my choice to speak freely as an inability to understand when to remain silent. I’m not stupid.”

This was the first glimpse of vulnerability he’d seen in her. Rian couldn’t help but feel that if he didn’t pick the correct response, he would damage something integral to the woman she was. To the woman he admired.

He took one step closer, just enough that he could respond without having to be loud, but far enough away that it was still considered respectable in public .

“Doc,” he said, choosing the simplest words possible. “The only one who is stupid is someone who thinks you are."

Instantly, the tightness in her chest eased. Her lips curved up in a bashful smile, and no other words were exchanged. When his sincerity was so evident, no other words were needed.

It was some time after they’d returned to his apartment, sitting around his kitchen island while they split dessert, when Aditi spoke up again.

“The offer is still open,” she began, stabbing a fork through the gulab-jamun cheesecake they’d acquired after their stroll. “I can talk to your date and. . .”

“Not a date,” Rian interrupted, trapping her fork with his to bring her attention to him. “I am not interested in her.”

“Are you interested in anyone, Bugs?” Aditi asked instead, using her free hand to steal the last piece. Triumphant, she beamed in happiness as she popped the last piece into her mouth, licking the remnants off her fingers with gusto.

Rian couldn’t look away even if he tried, each dart of her tongue painting tortuously erotic pictures of things he could experience if he found the courage to accept her offer of a fling. He gulped. He’d thought of little else since she’d admitted to being attracted to him. If only he was as comfortable accepting his desires as she was.

“I’ve been so focused on finding a guy, I never asked if you like someone too?”

Considering all he’d been able to think of was her, that was not an answer he was willing to share. Aditi snapped her fingers in his face, bringing clarity back to him. “No. I don’t like anyone. Don’t have time. ”

Aditi peered at him, amused. “Love doesn’t need time. It only needs a moment.”

"Careful, Doc. Your medical licence might get revoked if you keep talking like this,” he teased, watching her pick up the plate when he made a move to collect their forks. “You studied science. You're supposed to rely on facts, not feelings."

"Love can be a fact and a feeling,” she glibly replied, gesturing to him to sit back down. She proceeded to rinse the dishes in the sink, loading them meticulously into the dishwasher.

Rian watched Aditi move about his kitchen, at ease with where things were kept, needing no direction from him. The domesticity of the moment held him in its thrall, an intense longing blooming in him for something he couldn’t recognize.

“Fact or not,” he cleared his throat, trying to avoid feeling overcome by this new emotion, “I'm not going to go down that path again."

“Again?” She glided up to him, wiping her hands on the dish towel. “Bad experience?”

He shrugged. “It’s not for me, Doc. Love is uncomfortable and all-consuming.”

“Isn’t that the point of love? To be so consumed by how you feel for someone that everything else just feels. . . less.”

Her words tickled some sleeping part of his heart to a mild wakefulness.

“Well, I should call it a night. My date was a bust but at least I had good dessert.” Aditi grinned, sounding mostly recovered from the stress of the evening. “Now, if only I could manage a good dessert, a good date and a good kiss—all in one evening—that would be tremendous.”

She turned towards him, smiling still. With him being seated, the difference in their heights was no longer as pronounced. She cocked her head, only now realising how close they were. Her eyes grew warm, deepening to a dark brown. Without a warning, she leaned in.

Rian stilled, his breath hitching when her nose bumped against his skin. His entire being stood at attention when her soft lips brushed against the hollows of his cheek. It was a delicate graze, but held him arrested. He blinked rapidly, his body awash in goosebumps as she pulled away.

“Thank you.” Her voice was a bare murmur above the blood rushing to his ears.

“For?”

“For stepping in when I needed help. For trying to cheer me up, and for turning a bad evening into a good one. You’re a pretty good friend to have.”

Friend. It was quite possibly the most hated word in his dictionary as of this moment. What a ridiculous and unnecessary addition to any language.

“We’re. . .” He gulped, needing to take a breath. “We’re not friends.”

She didn’t argue, smiling at him indulgently. Like she accepted his need to maintain this farce of a distance between them.

“Good night, Bugs.” She sashayed down the hall and into her room, unaware that Rian still hadn’t recovered.

It had been a chaste kiss, but had left his gut twisting with need. “Good night, Doc,” he whispered, well after the lights under her door dimmed, wondering how the feel of her pillowy lips on his skin hadn’t worn off yet.

And dreading the moment it would.