Chapter 1

• "You may kiss the bride"
• With the echoing sound of heavy claps, Stanley Smith gets hitched to the son of her brother's business partner.
• The entire venue has been decorated for the most awaited wedding. Almost every person wears a smile on their face whether out of joy for the newly married couple or not.
• Among all the happy faces, the twenty-six years old woman in a red sleeveless shirt, paired with a black pencil skirt is standing like a statue, her eyes darting on the newly married couple. It's not like she is unhappy with the marriage. She shares no relationship with any of the bride or groom.
• Letting out a deep sigh, she claps along with others.
• Emily Benson is a young woman with attractive features any woman wishes for. Still, there's not a single streak of pride in her actions. She is a social worker and owns the most reputable agency in Austin. However, despite being appreciated by most people, she's struggling to carry out the maintenance of her projects.
• People tend to appreciate social projects but only with their mouths, not their hands. She's running out of funds lately. Two of her biggest projects are stuck due to the lack of funds. Even after attending a bunch of seminars and setting her goals successfully, she's only being consoled. No one wants to fund a project which can't bring them profit.
• Mr David Smith is the only influential businessman in Austin who showed interest in her project and promised to work on it. Emily is here to attend his sister's wedding with all the strangers surrounding her.
• She has developed social anxiety in the past few years which keeps her in the corner on any occasion.
• It's the same today.
• "Miss Benson", Mrs Olivia Smith appears next to her with her fellows.
• She has been working with her husband, giving equal effort to his business and projects. Emily must need to communicate with her.
• "Hello, Mrs Smith", she pulls on a casual smile.
• "I think you're getting bored. Mind joining us at the party?"
• "I'm sorry. Mrs Smith. Parties aren't my cup of tea", out of the notion, she hesitates to turn down Mrs Smith.
• "You may be talking about the random parties, Miss Benson. This is definitely not what you're assuming. We won't dance to loud music", she cracks up.
• Emily fights with her inner conflicts without noticing the evil smirk on Olivia's face. She has been envious of Emily ever since she got along with David Smith.
• The rich yet insecure woman in her late twenties hasn't been able to take her husband praising Emily's potential professionally. Whilst David has been highly professional and only interested in Emily's work at such a young age, Olivia has taken it to a different level.
• "You better join us, Miss Benson", Olivia grins. "After all, we are gonna work together soon. It's better to develop the relationship instead of making it bitter by turning such a warm invitation down"
• Emily understands the hidden menace behind Olivia's sweet words and nods. She needs this collaboration anyhow.
• "Okay, I'm waiting for you at our table", Olivia points at the table filled with other women, laughing and gossiping aloud.
• Such an environment is highly unpleasant to Emily. However, she makes up her mind for the sake of those women she's working for.
• As she follows Olivia to the table, the bright lights go off and the entire venue turns into a dark party-themed spot. Music plays on. The bride and groom change into party attire with the change in the entire environment.
• Emily's POV
• It's been years since I witnessed such an environment. I can't handle music, noise, and people around me. It's suffocating on so many levels.
• "Dare or dare", Mrs Peyton beams— one of Olivia's fellows. "That's what we play"
• "Miss Benson is new to this. So, we should elaborate more", Olivia taps on my back before I anxiously drift away.
• "Sure. We don't have the 'truth and dare' thing. Truth is the option for kids, not for grown-up women like us"
• They laugh aloud. Though I have stretched my lips into a smile, my inside is thumping like a bullet train, already in anxiety.
• They start to play— one by one, giving dares to each other. Olivia had to call up her husband and say that she had fallen out of love with him. Peyton had to flirt with a waiter and Anna had to literally break up with her boyfriend. I don't know where this is heading to.
• "It's your turn, Miss Benson. You didn't give a better dare to anyone. Why not give you one?" Olivia giggles.
• I hold my breath with a smile.
• "So—" Olivia rolls her eyes around the dark hall with disco lights and chuckles. "I got a dare for you. Look over"
• She points behind me.
• Prepared for the upcoming anxiety, I turn around and freeze in the direction she's pointing.
• Kane!
• No— I scream inside my head. My heart stops beating for a whole second, anticipation consuming me. My ex-boyfriend is just a few metres away from me, near the drinks area.
• My body becomes numb with the view of that man who used to be my boyfriend four years back. He's not looking at me but I can see him properly despite the darkness. How can I be mistaken to recognize him?
• Reality hits me as I immediately drive my eyes away from him, praying the dare not be related to him. I hope Olivia is pointing out someone else.
• Lord! I can't.
• "That's Mr Kane Gabriel", Olivia says.
• It happened to what I'm fearing the most.
• "One of our business partners. You'll have to go and kiss him"
• I shudder on the spot. She gotta be kidding me. My eyes open wide my heart pounding terribly.
• "Mrs Smith, I hope you're kidding", my voice shivers.
• "Not. Why would we? And you have a good opportunity to kiss such a handsome young man. Go on"
• "He's an eligible bachelor, Miss Benson", Peyton winks.
• My brain stops working.
• "Mrs Smith, I really can't", I turn to her, almost begging.
• "What's this behaviour, Miss Benson?" Anna frowns. "Do you want us to plead to you? Don't ruin our mood. Just go and kiss him. You can say it was a dare after you're done. He's humble enough to understand"
• I shake my head, unable to move. A storm is waiting for me. I can't face him.
• "Miss Benson, I don't like to be turned down. When you're impressing a client, you don't only do it with your work but also with your humbleness outside the work. I hope you won't displease me to do something I don't want to"
• Her smirk comes as a warning.
• It's been an entire year since I've been looking for an investor. My poor girls are waiting for their schools to get started and our ladies are waiting for the factory to reopen. If I lose this opportunity, it'll affect their lives more than mine.
• I turn around, gulping.
• Kane's back is facing me as he takes sips from his drink. He used to be too bad at consuming alcohol. One peg and he used to be out of sense. I don't know if he's still the same and can't handle much. The area is too dark to recognize anyone.
• He won't recognize me in the dark after having so many shots— I console myself with this thought and step toward him, walking past the people dancing around.
• My head overloads with the flood of memories that I haven't thought of for years.
• He's near— I can't believe he's just a few steps away from me after so many years.
• Why on this earth am I ending up here?
• I had only one wish while leaving the Texas city— never wanting to face him. The wish is crumbled today.
• However, settling my brain out of emotions, I stand there with my vibrating heart, attempting to hold his arm from behind. My hand shakes with two failed attempts.
• He shoves the glass aside and turns around abruptly.
• Panic possesses me. Even before our eyes can meet— in just a nanosecond, I grab his collar and pull him closer to me, capturing his intoxicating lips— tasted like vodka.
• I shudder from the core with those familiar lips tangling with mine. He doesn't respond, nor pushes me away when I kiss him nervously until his hard hand comes up to my neck, parting me away.
• Keeping only an inch of gap between us, he looks at me in the dark, not even seeing me properly. My heart sinks and beats faster than any other time, wondering what he would do now.
• Giving a rise in tension into my entire body, he seals my lips again with his ones, twirling me around.
• He drags me away from the counter, continuing to kiss me. My back slams against the wall harder as I feel my entire body pressed against his, the long arms caging me so harder that I can't even try to move.
• The kiss gets better and wilder with every passing second. He chews and consumes my lips like a hungry lion craving his favourite food for ages.
• With his warm tongue sliding down inside my mouth, the intensity builds inside me like an explosion. I go almost out of breath as he increases the pace of kissing me.
• My lazy hands land on his chest, doing the failed attempts to shove him away. He grabs my wrists and vigorously shoves them upon my head against the wall, grinding his body against mine. I lose control over my body completely with his strong arms capturing me like a prisoner.
• I can't move.
• I can't even breathe.
• I can only feel him and his crazy tongue strokes, his merciless bites over my lips.
• I give into him, tired of all the attempts, diving deep into the most intense kiss I have ever had.
• He never kissed me like this before. In our short relationship of fourteen months, I had never felt him kissing me so mercilessly, literally choking me like a beast.
• Except for the taste in his mouth, nothing is the same.
• I can't feel the love and affection it had before.
• Burning lust explodes with him with every lip stroke.
• I groan, choking and running out of air.
• If he doesn't leave me now, I think I'm gonna succumb to death right over here.
• Just when the thought crosses my mind, he shows some mercy, parting me away.
• I breathe heavily, squeezing my eyes shut, also feeling his cosy breath fanning my skin.
• Oh, Lord. No. I can't face him.
• I don't wanna face him.
• My fearful eyes part with the view of him just an inch away from my face.