Sejal opened her mouth, but Krish beat her to the punch. “This is Seema.”
“Seema.” The woman gave her a hesitant smile, which Sejal returned. “I’m Aarthi. This is my husband, Patrick.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Sejal said. She gave them a wave, and then realized they were both staring at her arms. She looked down at her makeshift sock gloves. “Um, thanks for coming out.”
The woman’s sharp eyes cut over her. Sejal wondered if Aarthi knew that her entire outfit belonged to Krish. “You two look a little worse for wear.”
Patrick gestured to the car. “Let’s go back to the house and get you guys comfortable. I’m sure we can sort this all once you’ve rested a little.”
Sejal gave Krish a pointed look. His mouth was grim, but he gave a small shake of his head and gestured to the car. “We can’t go anywhere else right now,” he murmured to Sejal. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle this. Follow my lead.”
Another demand for trust from the agent. Argh.
He did save your life. If you can’t trust himat the moment, who can you trust?
Aarthi fell into stride next to her son, with Sejal dragging her feet, bringing up the rear, and they piled into the Jeep. Sejal fastened her belt in the back seat.
Aarthi turned around in her seat. “And how do you two know each other?” Her smile was tight, and she had eyes that were far more cop-like than her son’s. “You’re friends? Coworkers? Seema, are you also a—”
“Seema is an illusionist.”
Aarthi blinked. If the woman hadn’t been looking at her, Sejal would have kicked Krish. An illusionist! Yet another ill-advised decision from the man, to follow up them coming to his mom’s place.He might as well have painted a neon sign over her head telling his mom to disapprove of her. She forced a smile. “As a hobby.”
Aarthi didn’t look much more impressed by that.
She licked her lips, but before either of them could speak, Patrick cut in.
“Not now, Aarthi. Let the kids have a minute to catch their breath before you start grilling them.”
“I’m just asking.”
She was, and it wasn’t even a ridiculous question. It was small talk, and would have been easy enough to answer if she knew what Krish wanted her to say. There was nobody Sejal couldn’t con, but she needed some help, thanks, when a mom was involved.
Follow my lead.Easier said than done.
Except, Krish did seem to have things covered, though not in the way she would have thought. Before she could blink, he lifted her sock-gloved hand where it lay between them on the seat, brought the back of it to his mouth, and kissed it. His lips were warm through the cotton, and though her hands were covered and it wasn’t the kiss she’d been after earlier, it shot a bolt of lightning right to her belly.
Jesus. What a spark.
It was a spark so bright that she almost missed his next words. “This is my girlfriend.”
Chapter Ten
“There is no way that woman is your girlfriend.”
Krish supposed it had been foolish to think he could shower and change before his mother dragged him into the small office to grill him.
He waited a beat before turning around. Not because there was anything interesting on the monitor that showed the copse of trees where they’d been picked up, but because he needed a moment to make sure not a speck of his lie was visible on his face.
He could read people fairly well, but his mother was a human lie detector. “That’s unkind, Mother. You think I’m that hopeless?” Though he didn’t blame her. Sejal, with her messy hair and too-big borrowed clothes, didn’t fit his lifestyle. She looked too wild, too free, while he was a buttoned-up, boring suit.
Except when she stared up at him in the moonlight, her lips parted and soft, her eyes limpid pools inviting him to taste her. Then he felt like he was anything but boring.
You kissed her.
Yeah, he had, there in the cold darkness. He’d simply been... he didn’t know what. Affected by her unexpected kindness inbuying him the salad, or her cool head in a crisis, or the way she’d slumped against him for an hour in that truck while the driver told him about restaurants he’d visited. Her body had been so soft and warm against his side, her head occasionally drooping onto his shoulder...
Focus. Now isn’t the time to dwell on that kiss. Not around your mother.He finally turned around.
