SC is not even in denial mode to acknowledge love,instead he is very very guilty of hurting a girls pride whom he has refused to wed. and he is burdened with the all the things Kumud has done for him either its fighting for his innocence in Gau Hatya case or making him learn pottery by staying awake nights and help in selling pots and finally persuading Ila Ben to accept that money .
But he is not in love with her according to his heart and mind, but there is something which keeps bringing him back to her and to avoid that they both are hurting each other so that they can move on. when he touched her waist, it was spontaneous like when u hug someone who has done a lot for you, that was not a passion/love hug, it was a gratitude attempt from his side but realised later what he had done . if it was love he would have thought to himself about that but he also took it as mistake and wanted to apologise.
if it was love why would he feel guilty of hurting her heart , he could have easily told her about his love and mend her heart/pride which he has hurt.
While Kumad has always seen him as his prince charming who has refused to accompany her in her journey of love and is hurt and avoid to come any closer to him, SC has not yet been introduced to love formally , as he doesnt share any love with his dad/mom/massi...no bro and sis and Sunny is a friend who is more like a crying/listening shoulder.
So it will be SC journey towards love now as well while he will play Gumans bouncers and meanwhile discover his feelings for her . he is already getting addicted to Kumud so it wont take him long to give name to the new feelings he has developed after coming to Ratnagiri and soon he will discover that his heart now knows how to ❤️ LOVE ❤️