“And will you be drinking all night with Ryan?” Her singsongy tone was seriously irritating.
“No. I’ll be home soon,” he blurted out. Why didn’t he just sayyes?
He felt Riya get out of bed. He hung up.
“Hey, sorry. That was Hetal...”
Her beautiful, strong back was to him. “No problem. We should probably go anyway. Work tomorrow.” She stood and grabbed her clothes, not turning to face him.
“I just didn’t want her to know—”
Riya turned her profile to him. “Of course not. It’s just a onetime thing, so why confuse the family?” She pulled on the sexy blue lace fabric that he had so enjoyed removing, then her shorts and T-shirt.
“Well, I meant—”
“It’s fine, Dhillon.” She fixed her hair back into its ponytail, still not turning to look at him. “We’re grieving. Emotions were high. One-night stands happen.”
His heart plummeted somewhere deep into his stomach.Of course.As much as he’d tried to guard himself, tell himself it was only tonight, there had been that damn hopeful part of him that said Riya would never treathimas a one-night stand. That Riya wanted him as much as he wanted her... But what did he know? He had been ready to marry a woman he didn’t truly love.
“Yeah. Sure. Okay.” He stood with his back to her.
After everything they’d just shared, they were now supremely self-conscious. He had been vulnerable with her like he’d never been before, but now he couldn’t even make eye contact. He dressed and turned back to face her. She was beautiful. Her cheeks still held the flush he had put there; her lips were still swollen from his kisses. But her eyes had gone hard. The walls were back up, and she was unreadable.
She stared at him, and Dhillon wanted to believe she was studying him, just as he had studied her.
“Ready?” That rasp he found completely irresistible now sounded almost cold.
He looked around the room for his belongings, his gaze raking the unmade bed. He grabbed the sheets on his side and motioned for Riya to grab her side. She sighed but did so. They made the bed, tucking the sheets in nice and tight.
When they were done, there was no evidence of what had happened in the bed.
None at all.
fifteen
RIYA
The car ride was silent and tense. Of course it was. Dhillon was in a hurry to get home, probably ready to forget this whole night. He couldn’t even tell Hetal where he was and who he was with. Even if it had been for only one night. It was appalling.
She had been all set to spend the night with him. She hadn’t felt so whole and loved since before the fire. Clearly, she had read the whole thing wrong. Straitlaced Dhillon was not about to start a relationship with her. She was too wild, too...not what he needed in his planned life. Plus, she was a firefighter, and he hated that, too.
She had allowed herself to believe just for that time that Dhillon loved her, that they could be together. That they could find a way. She’d been a fool to allow that fantasy for even a few minutes, but she had.
Reality was a bitch.
Dhillon parked in the driveway of their houses and turned off the ignition. Without a word, or even a glance at her, he got out of the car. She did the same.
“You know, Dhillon...” She looked him in the eye, which was easier now that they weren’t looking at each other over a bed where they had just expressed things with their bodies that they could not—or would not—with their words. “Let’s not make this weird.”
“Okay. It’s not weird.” He couldn’t even meet her gaze. Did he think she didn’t know when he was lying?
“Great. So we’re...good.” Now she was lying. Yet another reason to not be together. They were both willing to lie to each other.
Dhillon shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. We’ll just pretend this never happened.” He seemed irritated.
“Okay.” What the hell was he so annoyed about? He was the one who couldn’t stand to admit who he’d spent the night with. “Good.”
He watched her over the hood of the car. A flash of something fell across his face. Regret? His expression softened, and he opened his mouth as if about to say something. But before he could, she heard her father’s voice.
