Besides, it wasn’t like she was good with parents. She was rough around the edges even without the drama of her last name.
She squared her shoulders. Whatever. She’d do her best to play the fuck out of his girlfriend and shove down all of these feelings and forget last night, just like he was able to do. “So my name is Seema, I’m your innocent girlfriend and therefore an object of sympathy, my ex is chasing us, I am not connected to Cobra, and...”
“And I am not an FBI agent.”
She paused. “What?”
“My mom doesn’t know I’m an agent. She would worry.”
Her lips parted. “You’ve been lying to your mother for decades about your job?”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“You’d be surprised what I’m capable of.”
“Is all of this really necessary?”
“Yes. My mom is our best bet for getting to California.”
Or in her case, her terminal destination, which was Vegas. She could refuse to play along, but where would that get her?
You are so close. Enemy of my enemy and all that.
Besides, though Krish had seemed awkward before his shower, he was fine with her now, looking her directly in the eye. If he could be cool as a cucumber, so could she, damn it.“Okay. Good enough. For now.”
“Great. You hungry?” He strode past her to the door, a man on a mission.
Not really, but she could fake that, too. “Starving. Let’s hit the stage.”
She followed Krish downstairs, filing away the rustic charm of the farmhouse, the details she’d been too exhausted to absorb yesterday. Huge windows dominated the first floor, and she looked out as they descended. There was nothing but land as far as the eye could see, land and beautiful, lonely mountains in the distance.Isolatedwas the first word that came to mind. “You grew up around here?”
“No, but similarly rural. In Montana.”
“You were born in Montana?”
“I lived there from the time I was about five,” he said shortly.
“Did you live in another state before that?” she persisted.
“We lived in India. I was born there.” He gestured for her to precede him through a door, and they entered a dining room. It was as neat as a pin, and as minimalist as their room. They went through another swinging door, and the delicious smells became even stronger, along with the dulcet voices of the Carpenters singing about heartbreak. The kitchen was more modern than the rest of the house, full of gleaming stainless steel and granite. Patrick stood behind Aarthi, his hands around her waist as he nuzzled her neck.
Aw. That was cute.
Who are you?
This Hallmark-esque setting with the staged house was clearly breaking her brain. She was definitely not feeling an odd senseof longing, watching this clearly in love older couple, right? She, who was wary of even sleeping in the same bed as a man. Unless that man was Krish.
Fuck.
Krish cleared his throat, and Aarthi cut off her childish giggle immediately, and straightened. “Krish.”
Patrick wasn’t quite so startled. He lingered, keeping his arm around his wife’s waist. “Good morning, kids.”
“Good morning,” Sejal responded, and Krish nodded.
His mother eyed them both. “Interesting choice, these outfits.”
