MG FF: Forbidden Stranger Updated Part 20 pg 130 - Page 20

Originally posted by: jyoti_l

nice story...

plz do add me to ur PM list...sent u request...

thanks

excellent update

New concept

Originally posted by: sharmake11

excellent update

wow maan atracted to geet

but his work come first

me loving the flow of the story

thnx

thanks alot dear

Originally posted by: preethia

loved the update...

thanks dear

Originally posted by: vrsharma

New concept

loved it a lot

thank you so much

Originally posted by: uglyduckling_f

loving it!!!

thanks

Originally posted by: MaanKiGeet..

Awesome dear...continue soon...

thanks dear

Chapter Seven

Wednesday was one of Geet's days off. Normally tips were good enough that she worked four days a week, though on occasion she had put in five or six days'when tuition was coming due, when her car needed a new transmission, when her aunt had asked for money for a divorce. Though Geet hadn't seen Rasika in years, she'd given the cash to pay the lawyer and deposits on an apartment and utilities.

She hadn't heard from Rasika since. But that was all right. Geet had to live with her conscience, Rasika with hers.

Geet looked at Naintara, collapsed on the floor, one foot propped on the stripper's pole. They'd spent the last four hours working, Naintara mimicking moves before hesitantly trying a few of her own. She felt foolish, she'd admitted, but Geet had already figured that out. Every stiff line of her body had screamed it.

But by the end, she'd been a little more relaxed. She had something more than determination'a hint that someday this might come naturally to her.

"Sure," Geet agreed. She'd had a salad for lunch before Naintara had arrived, but that seemed a long time ago.

"I'm supposed to meet Maan at that Mexican place down the block from the club at five-thirty. Is that okay?"

No, Geet wanted to say. She had agreed to a meal with Naintara. It wasn't fait to throw in Maan after the fact. She didn't want to sit down at a table with him. Didn't want to share a meal. Didn't want to feel that intense gaze on her.

Didn't want to be reminded that he had a thing with Naintara.

"Yeah, sure," Geet said with an awkward smile. "That'll give me time to shower."

Naintara sniffed, then her nose wrinkled. "Yeah. Me, too. I'll see you there."

Padding along quietly, Dancer followed then to the door, then trotted into the yard to take care of business. The dog sniffed the flowers, stopped to watch a squirrel in the neighbour's yard, then stopped again to watch Naintara drive away.

"Not in any hurry, are you, puppy?" neither was Geet. Wasn't it enough that she saw Maan at the club?

But dancer finally trotted back onto the porch. Geet opened the screen door for her, then headed for the bathroom herself.

Ninety minutes later, she was showered and shampooed, smelling of exotic spices and looking like any thirty-year-old woman in faded jeans and a lace-edged T-shirt. Her still damp curls were piled on her head none too tidily and her makeup was her toned-down everyday version. She looked fine for dinner with a friend. Better then fine for dinner with that friend's boyfriend.

The restaurant was three doors down from Almost Heaven, a mock-adobe hacienda with a red-tile roof and lush vines flowering everywhere. Geet paused for a moment inside the door to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light, then the hostess pointed out the corner where Maan waited. Alone.

The table was a half-round booth, barely big enough for three, and he set with his back to the wall. He wore a white shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. His fingers were clasped around a practically full glass of beer, his head was tilted back and his eyes appeared to be closed.

"He's a good-looking man," the hostess murmured. "Do you suppose he has a father who's available?"

Geet shrugged. Tej Khurana had been dead for as long as she could remember, but according to gossip, before his death he'd always been available.

She wove her way between tables and other early diners to the booth, about half way there, she realised that his eyes had only appeared to be closed. Though he showed no signs of awareness, she felt the instant his gaze locked in on her.

When she slid onto the seat across from him, he raised his head and fully opened his eyes. "Hey."

"Hey." She ordered ice tea from the waiter who'd followed her, then gestured to the empty margarita glass beside him. "Where's Naintara?"

"In the bathroom. The margarita didn't sit well on an empty stomach. She was too nervous to eat lunch before going to your house."

Geet nodded. "She did fine today."

"Good."

That was the extent of their conversation until Naintara returned from the ladies room. She looked paler than usual and the smile she gave them both was sickly. Instead of waiting for Maan to stand up and let her slide into the middle, she bumped against him, pushing him over. He looked as if he wanted to protest'Geet certainly wanted to'but moved, giving her his seat.

"Oh, man," Naintara said, patting her face with her napkin. "No booze ever again. I see why you don't drink."

Since Maan was sipping his beer at the moment, Geet assumed the comment was directed to her. "I work too hard to stay in shape. If I'm going to splurge, it's going to be on chocolate and ice cream."

Maan gave her a long look'at least, the part of her he could see. "You don't look like you ever splurge." His voice was normal, his comment a simple statement. But it was the look that sent a tiny shiver down her spine, that raised her temperature a degree.

The look, and the fact that his girlfriend was sitting right next to him, oblivious.

Geet turned her attention to the menu, though she always ordered the same thing. Better than looking at Maan, though, and feeling that little sexual tingle, or looking at Naintara and feeling guilty.

After placing their orders with the waiter, Geet and Naintara chatted pretty much nothing until the food came. Halfway through the meal, Naintara put her fork down, pushed her plate away and fixed her gaze on Geet. "Would it be okay if I come by the club some night and just watch?"

The memory of Maan "watching" the night before streaked through Geet, leaving heat and edginess behind. It made her throat tighten, made her hand tremble when she picked up her glass for a sip. "That's what we're here for," she replied with a smile she couldn't hold for more than a moment.

"I think maybe I could learn something. Could I meet some of the other dancers, too?"

"Sure. Anytime you want." Preferably on Maan's night off, though he'd be likely to accompany her. He had said he wanted to keep an eye on her, hadn't he?

Geet's father was the first and last man to care about keeping her safe. He had lost the physical ability to protect her when she was six, but emotionally, he had been there for her until the day he died. She missed that. Missed having someone who would worry if she didn't come home. Missed having someone to share things with.

She missed having a man in her life.

"Are you friends with all of them?" Naintara asked, then smiled deprecatingly. "I know I'm probably totally naive, but I imagine it's like some kind of sisterhood. You know, exotic dancers united against the rest of the world."

Geet glance at Maan, who was leaning back, one arm resting on the seat cushion at Naintara's back, apparently content to listen to the conversation without contributing. Geet shrugged. "I'm friendly with all of them, but not necessarily friends. It's like any group of women who work together. Some are nice, some aren't. Some are competitive, some are jealous. The younger girls are looking for friends or mentors'or mothers," she added drily, thinking of the eighteen and nineteen year old kids she had helped along. Even when she was nineteen, she'd felt years older.

"How old do you have to be to dance?"

"Eighteen most places."

"How old were you?"

She finished the last of her tea and folded her hands in her lap. "Eighteen."

Naintara shook her head. "Wow. I was finishing high school and starting college then. And you'"she elbowed Maan "'were probably raising hell back home at eighteen and making everyone grateful you were leaving for college, too."

"Hey, there were plenty of people who were sorry to see me go," he protested.

"Let me guess. All of them female and under the age of twenty."

"Twenty-two." His gaze narrowed, as if he were thinking hard, then relaxed again. "No, twenty-four."

Naintara laughed. Mention of girls in his past didn't seem to faze her at all. She must trust him a lot, Geet thought, and envied her that. Most of the men in her past had been trustworthy only about as far as she could have thrown them.

"How did you get into dancing?" Naintara asked, including Geet in the conversation again.

"I had a friend who danced. She badgered me into auditioning and..." she shrugged off as if to say, Here I am. And it was basically true. Just the shortened version. She had intended the dancing to be a temporary thing, just something that was fun and would give her a little extra cash to make life easy for once. Financially, life had gotten easier, practically from the first day. Emotionally, it had taken a nosedive. Her mother and her aunt had both objected strenuously'first to the dancing, then to her. They'd wheedled, coaxed, demanded, judged and damned, and her relationship with them had never recovered.

The waiters began clearing dishes from the table. "Would you like some desert? Fried ice cream, flan, sopaipillas?"

"Sopaipillas," Maan said. "With three spoons."

Geet's mouth watered, though she was experienced at resisting temptation. She took a sidelong look at Maan and reminded herself: very experienced.

"Great," Naintara said grumpily. "And I am supposed to be watching my weight."

"Your weight is fine," Maan said. His tone was absent minded and he didn't make any sweet gestures, like squeezing her hand or giving her that amazingly sexy smile. More curious to Geet, Naintara didn't seem to notice either the tone or the lack of gestures.

The woman wanted to strip because she wanted to know how it felt to have men look at her and think she was sexy. She had been stuffy all her life and wanted to be different, just for a time. She had a drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend whom other women thought was incredibly sexy, but she didn't seem least bit insecure.

Interesting relationship.

When the waiter returned with the sopaipillas, he set the platter in the centre of the table and left three napkin-wrapped spoons. The rectangle of fried dough were drizzled with cinnamon, chocolate and honey, and separated by mounds of soft whipped cream. Maan dug in and so did Naintara, after murmuring, "I'm sure I'll regret this..."

But after the first bite, she stiffened and her skin took on a pallid cast. "Oh," she said, injecting a wealth of meaning into the single syllable. "I don't'"

She slid to her feet; one hand pressed to her stomach, and held out her other hand. "Give me my purse, will you? I'm going home before'" a burp interrupted her. Flushing, she grabbed the purse Maan held out and bolted for the door.

"Shouldn't you go with her?" Geet asked.

There wasn't a shred of concern in Maan's expression.

"Do you want someone around when you puke up your guts?" he slid the platter close to her. "It's got chocolate, and whipped cream is close enough to ice cream."

"But'"

"Naintara will be fine. It'll just make her think twice about drinking on an empty stomach, or eating spicy food when she's just thrown up, or rich food."

"I'll just check'"

He extended his hand, and Geet stopped both her words and her movement to stand. "Let her go. She's embarrassed enough. She'll go home, crawl into bed and sleep it off."

Crawl into his bed. Sleep it off with him'sooner or later'at her side.

Precap: Another shrug, another sexy ripple. "I guess I'm just a curious guy."

"Haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat?"

Outwardly, nothing changed; he still sat, loose limbed and relaxed. He still swirled his spoon in the sauce. His gaze was still lazy, even disinterested. But something about him seemed very interested. "Is that a warning?"

Please let me know how the part is

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Loved the update! I sense that Geet is a tad jealous & also maybe a bit suspicious on their fake relationship...
Precap seems very interesting, update soon!