Page 31 of Yes Boss
She leaned forward to free the jammed paper, the movement arching her back just enough to bring her spine flush against his chest.
The contact was brief. Accidental.
Unavoidable.
Her jacket did little to block the heat of him. Raghav inhaled sharply, a sound so quiet it barely existed, except she felt it, right between her shoulders. Instead of stepping away, he adjusted with her, his chest following the curve of her back, close enough that his presence wrapped around her completely. Sandalwood. Something darker beneath it.
Ishani’s fingers closed around the crumpled edge of paper. She tugged carefully, easing it free.
“Got it.”
Only then did he move back.
She turned and found the space between them had not returned. The printer pressed lightly into her lower back. Raghav stood in front of her, close enough that a single breath would bridge the distance.
She tilted her head up.
His pupils had darkened, the office lights catching the edge of something raw in his gaze.
For three heartbeats, neither spoke. Ishani’s pulse fluttered at the base of her throat. His cologne filled her lungs with each shallow breath. Raghav’s gaze dropped to her parted lips, lingering there before rising slowly, deliberately to her eyes, leaving a trail of heat wherever it touched.
“Thank you, Boss,” she whispered.
The word didn’t restore order. It challenged it.
Raghav drew in a measured breath and stepped back at last, control snapping into place like a shield. As he moved away, his fingers brushed her wrist. The touch was light, fleeting, unmistakable.
“Next time,” he said evenly, rolling his sleeves down with deliberate care, “don’t call IT. Let me know.”
Ishani nodded, her professional demeanor back in place even as she felt the warmth from where he had been so close. “Of course,” she replied.
Raghav held her gaze a moment longer before turning and walking back toward his office, his stride purposeful. Ishani remained by the printer, watching him go, the crumpled paper still clutched in her hand.
???
“Ishani. My office.”
Raghav’s voice came through the intercom at ten minutes to seven. The line went dead.
Ishani sighed, rubbing her temple.
Why had she chosen this route again?
To observe him. That had been the plan. To understand Raghav Khanna up close, without filters or assumptions. To see if the man behind the reputation was real.
So when did it start feeling like something else? When did observation blurred into attraction? And attraction into something far more dangerous?
Was she here to watch him… or to make him fall for her? Or worse? Had she been the one falling all along?
The thought made her stomach drop.
What if she was only seeing what she wanted to see? What if his intensity, his attention, his protection were nothing morethan habit, control, instinct—things he gave and withdrew just as easily?
In that case, she was done for.
God. Completely done for.
She exhaled slowly.
