Destined to be One

Chapter 4

Dedicated to my very special friend helnabacker

Chapter 4

Eight years ago..

"Niyati!"

Niyati ignored her friend's warning shout and ran as fast she could to dodge the snowball flying towards her. She was not paying attention to where she was running to because she kept looking backwards. Had she looked ahead she would have seen the man standing at the end of a long driveway with a fascinating expression on his face.

Varun was about to walk up to the front door of his parents home when he heard his sister shout from the backyard of the house. He took a step towards the back when he saw a pretty girl running towards him at a full speed.

It wasn't just her pretty face that caught Varun's attention but the expression on her face captivated him. Her smile, her enjoyment of playing in the snow enchanted him. He came out of his trance when he realized she was running straight for him without any signs of stopping.

He didn't know what made him do it but he stood still instead of moving out of her path. He stepped into the snow just as she reached him and her body impacted with his. He went down by the force of her slight form. They both fell into the snow, with her on top of him.

Varun inhaled sharply when he felt her warm breath at his neck. His whole body felt as if it was on fire even though he was lying in the cold snow. Time stood still as he gazed at her pretty face.

Niyati felt the breath whoosh out of her lungs as she collided with a hard object. For a moment she felt disoriented then realized it wasn't a hard object but a warm body beneath her. At first she stiffened then felt a tingle go down her spine when she felt a warm breath on her right cheek and inhaled a spicy scent from the person lying beneath her.

She lifted her head slightly to see the face of the person who had broken her fall. The first thought that entered her mind was, "There he is, my prince charming." Her heart thumped in her chest as she gazed down at the face of the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.

Niyati was completely mesmerized by the chocolate brown eyes, short dark hair, and the square jaw. Her prince charming had the most sensual kissable lips she has ever seen on a man. She felt his arms tighten around her waist and she smiled down at him dreamily.

Varun's breath quickened at the admiration in the pretty dark eyes and the smile on her full, pouty lips. His head lifted automatically, reducing the distance between their faces to mere an inch, but they were both brought out of their dreamlike state when a sudden cold hit their faces.

He stood up quickly and put the girl away from him when he saw his sister approach them. He kept his gaze on his sister to avoid looking at the girl standing next to him.

Nidhi ran to him and hugged him tight, "You are finally home, brother of mine."

Varun hugged her back, "And you welcome me home by throwing snow in my face."

She stepped back and grinned at him, "Sorry! The snow wasn't meant for you, it was for my crazy friend here." She said as she hooked her arm around Niyati. "Varun, this is my college friend Niyati." She smile mischievously at the girl standing between them, "Niyati, meet my brother Varun."

He felt her gaze on him, "It is nice to meet you," her soft voice made him look at her once more. He nodded briefly before walking toward the front door of his home.

By the time he settled into his room he had come back to his full senses. He had blamed his reaction to Niyati to lack of female companionship while away at the Police Academy.

Dressed in his police academy sweatshirt and a pair of well-worn jeans he came down to the family room to find Niyati and his sister near the Christmas tree and his father watching a college football game.

"Where is mom?"

His eyes kept darting towards the slender form trying to hang an ornament on high branch of the Christmas tree.

Niyati had felt her hand tremble as the air in the room changed. She felt his presence in the room before he spoke and concentrated harder on getting the ornament hung. She was still shook up from the inside by her encounter with Varun. No other man had ever been able to evoke the kind of reaction like the one he had conjured up in her.

Paying only half attention to respond from his dad, Varun concentrated on curving his urge to go help Niyati with the ornament. He didn't know why his reaction to her was so strong.

Snapping out of his dreamlike state, when he heard a roar coming from the television, he turned his back to the far corner of the room and joined his father on the couch to watch football.

The game failed to hold his attention as his mind kept wandering back to the morning event and how Niyati had landed in his arms. He had never felt an instant attraction to a girl before like he had that morning. In fact he had avoided any type of relationships. It was not that he didn't like girls. He had dated while in college and even in high school but never felt an instant connection to any of the girls he had dated.

"Does this mean you feel you have connection to her?"

The voice in his head made him break out in sweat. He needed to snap out or else all his carefully laid out plans will be ruined. He didn't do relationship and he stayed far away from emotion called love.

All his relationships have been platonic until now and he wasn't about to change that because of an intense reaction to his sister's friend. He needs to put the morning incident aside and concentrate on his job with Baltimore police.

Niyati gave up on the ornament and focused on making sure the lights were in working order. She glanced towards the couch from the corner of her eyes and instantly regretted giving into the urge to look at him just once.

"Get a grip Niyati. This is not the first attractive man you have come across." Her inner voice reminded her. She tried her best to keep her mind on the task at hand but it was no use, her mind kept wandering.

Finally giving up on the tree decoration she excused herself and fled to her room to compose herself.

It took better part of the day for her to control herself enough to face him again. At dinner that night she avoided looking at him until the conversation turned to spring college courses and the news of Nidhi moving in with Niyati.

Varun's head snapped up when he heard Nidhi mention moving in with her best friend in the townhouse. "Why are you moving out of the dorm?"

His parents and Nidhi frowned at his disapproving tone, "Why not? Nidhi is perfectly safe with Niyati." His mom said reassuringly.

Varun decided to leave the matter for the moment and speak to his parents later about their decision to let Nidhi live with someone they didn't know well enough.

After a bit of silence, conversation turned to weather and Christmas celebrations, but Niyati hardly contributed to discussion at the table. She had a feeling Varun didn't approve of her and she was sure he didn't want Nidhi to move in with her.

Her doubts were confirmed when she heard him talking to his parents later that night.

"Mom, how well do you or Nidhi know this girl for you to let Nidhi move in with her?" Varun asked in frustration.

His parents exchanged a look, "Niyati is a nice girl. We trust her and your father is well acquainted with both of Niyati's grandmothers."

His mother's response failed to reassure Varun. He decided to keep an eye on both girls himself. He was going to be working in Baltimore anyway so it would be easy to check on Nidhi and make sure she didn't get in any trouble.

Niyati wanted to confront Varun but held herself in check. She feared she would only make things worse if she fueled Varun's animosity towards her. She didn't want to put Nidhi in position of choosing between her and Varun so she decided it was best to shelve her attraction to him and stay out of his way as much as possible during the rest of the Christmas break.

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