The office looked the same.
Same glass walls. Same cold lighting. Same desk where everything had changed the night before.
But Aanya?
She didn't feel the same.
Every step into Khurana Industries was heavy with memory.Her lips still tingled from his kiss. Her skin still remembered his touch. And her heart… was an unpredictable mess.
She kept her head down, avoiding the curious glances from two passing employees. Did they know? Could they see it on her face?
When she reached her desk, Riaan's door was already open.
But he wasn't behind it.
Not seated. Not typing. Not pacing.
He was standing by the window, hands in his pockets, staring out like the city had answers he needed.
She cleared her throat.
He didn't turn.
"You're late," he said quietly.
"It's 8:00 a.m. exactly," she replied.
"Not emotionally."
That made her blink.
Then he turned to her — his gaze unreadable, but not cold. No, this time… it was conflicted.
Last night had shifted something in him too.
"Do you regret it?" she asked before she could stop herself.
He looked at her for a long moment.
"No," he said finally. "But I shouldn't have touched you."
Her throat tightened. "Why?"
"Because now I want to do it again."
Silence.
She stepped forward, her voice low. "Then why don't you?"
His jaw clenched. "Because I'm your boss. And if I start again… I won't stop."
A beat passed.
Then he added, "And I don't want to break you, Aanya."
She stared at him. "Maybe I don't need to be protected."
He shook his head, a soft scoff escaping. "You don't know the kind of man I become… when I stop pretending to be good."
He walked past her then — but this time, he paused at the door.
"Cancel my meetings," he said, voice hoarse. "I'm not in control today."
And then he was gone.
Leaving her standing there, heart pounding, desire tangled with something far more dangerous.
Emotion.