Page 60 of Yes Boss
She stilled in his arms.
She pressed her palms flat against his chest and pushed, breaking the kiss with a force that surprised them both. She stepped back on the ground, ready to keep her distance, until Raghav swept forward and drew her right back into his arms. His grip was firm, his body pressed against hers.
“You already said yes,” he murmured against her lips. “You can’t push me away now. Ever.”
She let out a surprised breath and tried to wriggle free, but he only tightened his hold. His lips trailed down to her neck, soft and warm, and her anger flickered with something else—something breathless and urgent.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, one hand resting against the small of her back, the other cradling her head. His eyes locked on hers, a mixture of desire and concern.
She swallowed, chest heaving. “What’s wrong?” she shot back, voice shaking with anger or something else, she didn’t know. “You’ve made me the center of office gossip for a week. You’ve been—what? Photographing me without my knowledge? Setting up this whole guessing game?” Her free hand jabbed toward the gallery of images on the walls. “And you ask what’s wrong?”
Raghav held her tighter, as if challenging her anger. He brushed another kiss along her collarbone, and she gasped, breath catching. “I won’t apologize for wanting you,” he said softly. “For finding the one person who could make me do this.”
Her arms crossed, shoulders rising. She tried to push a strand of hair from her face, but his fingers brushed it away, sending a shiver through her.
“Everyone’s been betting on who my secret admirer is,” she said, voice trembling. “People have dissected my personal life over lunch. Kavya even set up a gambling pool on how far you’d go.”
He pressed his forehead to hers, lips hovering at hers. “I’ll fix it,” he promised, voice low.
“How?” she asked, trying to look fierce even as she leaned back against his chest. “By announcing you’ve been secretly wooing your assistant? That’ll really help my reputation.”
He rested his chin on her head. “I’ll tell them you’re my choice. Not a fling, not a game. And anyone who doesn’t respect what we have can find another job.”
The words were delivered with the same quiet authority he used to make million-dollar decisions. Absolute. Unapologetic.
She looked up trying to step back, but he tightened his hold on her again.
“You can’t threaten people’s jobs over gossip,” she said, though her voice came out as a squeak when he brushed his lips over hers.
“I’m not threatening. I’m stating facts,” he said, pressing his lips at the corner of her mouth. Meeting her gaze, he continued, “Your reputation will be protected. Mine, on the other hand, might suffer when people realize I’ve been reduced to sending stuffed animals and giant teddy bears.”
The corner of her mouth twitched despite herself. “I never knew you had a romantic bone in your body,” she said, the breathlessness in her voice giving way to something warmer,more teasing. “The great Raghav Khanna, secretly arranging chocolate deliveries and stealing photographs.”
To her surprise, he looked almost offended, his brow furrowing slightly. “First, I didn’t click these pictures. But I must admit I took these from security cameras. And, I researched what girls like,” he said with the same serious tone he used when explaining quarterly projections. “Secret admirer topped the list. The entire week was carefully planned, with metrics for each response.”
Ishani stared at him for a heartbeat, processing his words. Then, without warning, laughter bubbled up from her chest—uninhibited laughter that lit her entire face.
“You researched romance?” she managed between breaths, eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Of course I did,” Raghav replied, completely serious. “I approach all objectives with thorough preparation.”
This only made her laugh harder, her shoulders shaking with it. Raghav watched her, his expression softening with something like wonder as he witnessed the sound he’d been trying to earn for weeks.
“That laugh,” he said quietly, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face. “That’s what I wanted. For me.”
And it was—her laughter, unfiltered and genuine, directed at him and because of him. The final gift he’d been working toward all along.
Chapter 16
Her laughter faded, leaving behind a silence that felt heavier than before. Charged. Expectant.
Raghav watched her with hunger, as if her smile had broken something loose inside him, some final restraint he’d been clinging to.
He swept her into his arms. One arm curved beneath her knees, the other supporting her back. He lifted her effortlessly, holding her against his chest as if she weighed nothing.
“Raghav!” she gasped, arms instinctively wrapping around his neck for balance. “What are you—”
“There’s more,” he said, already moving through the suite with confident strides. He carried her past the gallery of photographs toward an adjoining door she hadn’t noticed earlier. “I didn’t bring you here just to look at pictures.”
