Page 83 of Since You Stole My Heart

He angled the cake towards her, and she eagerly sat up. A rush of warmth fluttered through her when she saw “Kash” written across the rainbow-frosted top in crooked red letters.

‘I tried my best to make it decent, but at this point I’m just hoping it’s edible,’ he said, pointing to the edge where the frosting melted over the side.

‘Don’t do that. It’s beautiful. I mean, look at these rocks,’ Kashvi said, pointing to the pink pebbles around the cake as she took the knife from him.

Swayam chortled. ‘Those were supposed to be roses. On the call, Mihu grilled me like a drill sergeant, shouting instructions. She said it would be easy to design if I piped it in circles, and now it looks like that. I’ll never forgive her for that lie.’

‘Just the fact that you did this is crazy,’ Kashvi chuckled.

‘I was going to make dinner too, but after that, I realised giving you food poisoning might not be the best way to celebrate.’

‘You’ve done more than enough,’ she whispered, slicing off a small portion.

Swayam pulled off a piece between his fingers and lifted it towards her. His dark gaze didn’t let her look away as she ate.

‘Good?’ he asked, though it didn’t sound innocent.

The sweet frosting melted on her tongue, and she hummed, ‘Really good.’

The words seemed to do something to him. His jaw tightened, and his eyes dropped to her lips.

‘Maybe I should check for myself,’ Swayam said, his voice rough, almost gravelly.

He leaned closer, his lips brushing the corner of her mouth to catch a smear of cream she had missed. Her breath escaped in a low gasp.

His tongue flicked briefly against her skin, and his groan made her shiver. He slipped an arm around her waist, his fingers pressing in just enough to remind her of the strength he was holding back.

With a slow breath, Swayam pulled back to look at her. ‘You know, I’m convinced the universe created your smile with the sole purpose of torturing me.’

He didn’t know the effect he had on her. That had to be the only reason he said things that made her heart skip a beat.

She laughed. ‘Only you would turn a compliment into a complaint.’

‘Oh no, don’t do that. Now you’re just killing me,’ he murmured.

Her eyes widened as the familiarity of his words hit her instantly. He had said that on their wedding day, and hearing it again now made her cheeks flush.

‘There’s no way you just found all of these by yourself,’ she said, pointing to her new books.

He winced. ‘I stole the list of books you’d given the group for your birthday.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘You planned a heist for this?’

‘Yeah, but Luv caught me, then joined in. He also got recommendations from everyone, so if you don’t like a book, you can blame him.’

‘All of this… you have no idea what it means to me.’

He shrugged. ‘I know books are your safe place, so I found a very, very special gift for you, but I couldn’t get it here in time. These are all my backup ideas.’

‘What was it?’ she asked, curious.

Swayam waved a hand. ‘I’m still holding out hope that it gets here in time, so no spoilers until then.’

Her eyes widened. ‘No, you’ve already done too much. You really don’t have to keep doing—’

‘I do,’ he cut in gently. ‘I will spoil you as much as I want. You don’t get to rob me of my proudest moments. I wish my original plan had worked, but I’m glad I finally did something right.’

‘You did everything right,’ Kashvi whispered.