Wrong Impressions

Chapter 7

Happy birthday Teja...

His voice and that smirk, both dangerous and inviting, gave her goosebumps. Could anyone sound so good? Only him probably. Teja pressed a palm on her temple and closed her eyes. Putting so much effort in trying to deduce whether he was real or if these were tricks her mind was playing due to excessive alcohol consumption made her feel heavy-headed as the fuzzy feeling returned. It wasn't possible for him to be here. He was supposed to be in India and well, even if he did come here, what were the chances they'd land up in the same state? She believed in co-incidences but not to the extent where it seemed unreal.

"You're not real, are you?" Teja murmured softly but her voice was audible enough for him to hear. To make sure it wasn't a self-created scenario, the girl squinted through her right eye to re-check, pinching herself when she could still see a blurred outline of him. "Ouch!" That pinch hurt! But at least this was no hallucination. He was actually there. Her eyes flew open and she stared at him, drinking him in. Well... as much as she could in her drunken state. Karan stood there, a look of amusement plastered on his face (one he usually carried whenever he found something interesting or funny, a trait Teja had observed in the one meeting they shared), his vivid eyes unashamedly taking her in, making her already fuzzy brain go haywire. Teja could anyway not think straight and when he looked at her like that, her mind stopped working. She might be the one to shun his attempts earlier, but in no way did it mean that she did not find him attractive. Tejasswi Prakash definitely found Karan Kundrra attractive... the kind that made butterflies flutter in her stomach with one simple look. During this whole interaction, he was still watching her, probably wondering what in the world was she up to and that thought pulled her out of her daze. She panicked at the thought and spun on her heels to face the bar where the bartender had put her drink on the table. Right. Drink... the nth one she was given because it was her birthday. Probably a bad idea since she was already so drunk but she needed this one. Grabbing the glass, the girl took a sip, trying to process the situation but didn't get a long way as his presence behind her put her on alert, making her heart lurch. She could feel it... yes... she could feel the warmth radiating from someone right behind her and was sure that this someone was Karan.

"Aren't you drunk enough already?"

He asked, his lips dangerously close to her ear, freezing Teja in her place. He may have spoken simple words but the way his silky voice glided over her skin, making it tingle, she had to force herself to breathe. Focus... Teja... Focus.

Karan paused right behind her, their bodies touching... almost but not quite, and reached for the glass in her hand, freeing it out of her grasp. She seemed quite drunk and the last thing he wanted was for her to completely lose out on her conscious – something he usually didn't care about since he had no limits when it came to drinking himself and believed everyone was adult enough to know their limits. But right there with Teja, he felt a protective urge towards her. Like he wanted to wrap her in fragile packing and keep her safe. Would you blame him, though? Tejasswi looked so delicate, so breakable, so sensitive that all he wanted to do was protect her. He knew she was anything but all that, yet it was how he felt. What surprised him was the submission. How much ever he knew her, Karan expected some resistance on her part - one that would end up in them arguing which seemed to be her favorite thing to do where he was concerned but no. She willingly let him take her drink away and when she finally turned to face him, Karan noticed that her cheeks were colored a deep red. In other circumstances, he would have taken a playful jibe at her but he did not want to scare her away... not in her intoxicated state, hence decided to keep mum.

Facing him was a bad idea. The moment she did, their eyes met and everything seemed to dissolve around them. There it was... the look she didn't understand. The look that made her feel. She couldn't help it, couldn't help the feeling he left all over her, whenever they locked eyes... the instant reactions in her stomach, the racing heartbeats, the sudden dizziness it gave her, enough to send her spiraling. Teja had to force her gaze away to get her mind in order. "Not quite," she finally responded, not admitting to the obvious and taking a step back towards the bar counter to put some distance between them. At least that was what she attempted for but her steps faltered and she stumbled forward directly into him, her hand clutching the front of his shirt for support. Karan was quick to react – he caught her before her legs gave away, his arm wrapped around her waist as he pulled her close to him, steadying her on her feet. If she was feeling the tingling burn at their intimacy earlier, her skin had officially been set on fire. Teja wasn't one to fall for anyone easily, nor did she think she was falling for him or anything, but it had been a while since she felt this way for a man, let alone be so close to one. Karan already made her feel things from the very first day and him being so close was just reviving those again, taking her back to their post-dinner hangout. At present, all she could think of was his hands around her bare waist and how his lips were inches away from her. They seemed to be on the same wavelength since his baby browns flickered towards her lips... just for a second though. Karan seemed to be equally affected by their closeness as he got all flustered realizing she had caught his look and tore his gaze away from her mouth. It was this reaction that finally broke her out of the intensity, making her giggle. The man who was always casting flirty remarks her way and making no attempt to hide his flirtatious nature was actually feeling shy because she caught the direction of his thoughts. The atmosphere became lighthearted as Teja slapped a hand on her mouth to stop the laugh but it didn't subside.