Page 30 of Don't Date Your Nemesis

Yay, progress!

I had chosen a small diner two blocks from the hotel. They served massive burgers and didn’t care if you looked like you had survived a natural disaster. Which we both did.

We slid into a booth, sitting across from each other, and I watched her study the menu carefully.

“The bacon cheeseburger is good,” I politely offered.

Her dark eyes sent a chill through my body. “I’m not taking food recommendations from you.”

Okay, someone was still mad. Possibly hangry.

“Suit yourself.”

She ended up ordering fries and the bacon cheeseburger without meeting my amused eyes.

I ordered the same with fries and a chocolate shake because I would burn it all off in the pool later. For now, I was going to enjoy the calories and... the strange company.

Across the street, I glimpsed someone with a camera, but they seemed focused on something else. Probably a celebrity sighting. This was LA, and you couldn’t walk two blocks without seeing someone filming something.

The food arrived, and Deepika attacked her burger like a starved woman on a mission.

“When was the last time you ate?” I asked, stealing one of her fries.

“Yesterday,” she said, swatting my hand away. “Craft services on set. It was disappointing.”

I don’t remember her having dinner last night. I should have ordered room service.

“Everything’s disappointing compared to a proper burger.”

“Agreed.”

She took another massive bite, and I tried not to find it endearing.

But I failed.

We ate in companionable silence, which was... weird. Good weird. The kind of weird where I wasn’t planning my next insult or bracing for hers.

She finished her burger before me, which was impressive, and leaned back with a satisfied sigh, her eyes closed.

But there was a smear of sauce on her lower lip.

“You’ve got—” I said, gesturing vaguely at my mouth. “Right there.”

She wiped her mouth and completely missed it.

“Other side.”

She wiped again.

“Here, just—” I leaned across the table without thinking, reaching out to swipe my thumb across her bottom lip.

The moment I touched her, everything stopped. The world stopped, my heartbeat stopped, and even my body stopped working.

Her eyes widened, meeting mine, and I was suddenly, acutely aware of how soft her lips were under my thumb, how close we were, and how her breath had hitched.

The attraction between us wasn’t just simmering anymore. It was a live wire, crackling and dangerous. I remembered last night and how perfect the sex was. Our bodies melting against each other⁠—

I should pull back and make a joke to break the tension.