Her hand rested lightly next to his on the bench; he could see it through inches of water. Her pinkie was so close to his, he could just twitch his finger and be touching her. His gaze drifted to her lips. They were close enough to be kissing. Did she want that? Did he? As if she could read his thoughts, Jaya looked over at him, her brown eyes soft and inviting. Grey’s heart beat so loudly it was hard to hear his own thoughts.

What was he doing?

“I should go,” Grey said, beginning to haul himself out of the hot tub.

There was no point. There was no point in getting close to Jaya Rao, in getting close to anyone. He was… different from others. He was tainted. He couldn’t allow himself to feel anything for Jaya Rao, and he couldn’t let her feel things for him. It was as simple as that. So why the hell was he finding it so hard?

Jaya

Jaya watched him as he made a motion to leave, her pulse pounding. Had they almost just… kissed? There had been something in the air. Why were her hands trembling, for God’s sake? She’d found herself wondering what those lips would feel like molded to hers, what that sandpaper stubble might feel like against her cheek.

In the history of bad ideas, there had never been one worse than a Rao heiress kissing an Emerson aristocrat. And not just any Emerson aristocrat, but one who believed himself plagued by a curse that had originated with the Raos themselves. What would her family say? How would it reflect on her, on the Raos’ reputation, the eldest daughter cavorting with an Emerson at boarding school on the heels of the scandal involving the youngest daughter?

Not to mention, now that she was sure Grey hadn’t been behind Isha’s scandal, she had a problem. She was back to square one, trying to figure out who’d been behind the leak. Perhaps she could reach out to the journalist in Mysuru again, offer to pay him for a name. It might be a different Emerson. Just another reason on a very long list of why it was a bad idea to edge emotionally closer to Grey.

He obviously had his own doubts too. Why else would he have jumped up like that to get away from her?

Still, Jaya found herself reaching out, placing a hand on his forearm, his muscles like steel cords under the skin. “Don’t go,” she said softly. The realization that she wasn’t just being polite surprised her; she really didn’t want him to leave.

He turned to her, strands of dark hair dripping water onto his face. “I… I can’t…”

Jaya smiled. “It’s okay. We’ll just sit here and talk. Look, I’ll even move over.” She scooted a few feet so they were nowhere near each other anymore.

Grey paused for a second, studying her, and then the distance between them. Very slowly, as if he were waiting for her to change her mind, he sat.