Hour by hour, things were getting so much more complicated.
But you’re still going to continue to use Sejal to get to her aunt?He adjusted his coat. He hated to admit it, but that part of the plan was getting murkier. And not just because of her thighs.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
His head swiveled around at Sejal’s low voice, and he hoped she didn’t know that he’d been ruminating about her thighs. Again.
He took in her appearance and, though no thighs were on display, nearly swallowed his tongue again. Unlike his rather low-key clothes, she’d changed into a body-hugging wine-colored sweater dress that went to her ankles, and paired it with low boots. The chic wool coat over her shoulders was cropped and didn’t hide a single curve. She wore a wig, and long black hair cascaded over her shoulders.
She looked nice. Better than nice. Beautiful even. Krish opened his mouth, but all that came out was “You found that outfit in this store?” The same store that sold flannels and various types of screws?
She looked down at her dress. “I did, yes. Don’t worry, it was on sale.”
He waved that concern away. His parents had more money than they could spend easily, thanks to his mom’s investments, and he’d eventually pay them back. “And the hair?”
She touched the strands. “Yeah, Halloween is coming up. They had a small selection of wigs. What do you think?”
“It’s... different, but I suppose that’s what we’re going for.” Truth be told, he found that he preferred Sejal’s short hair with the buzzed undercut. No, it wasn’t that he preferred it, he hastily corrected himself. A boyfriend or a husband could prefer things like hairstyles. He just... liked how she looked.
His fingers itched to snatch the wig from her head so she could go back to the funky, one-of-a-kind Sejal he knew.
She tilted her head. “What I meant was, do you think it could pass as my actual hair?”
He didn’t know enough about wigs to know if it was good or bad. “Oh. I suppose so.”
She came closer. “It feels a little waxy, but I think from a distance it should be okay.”
He wasn’t about to touch it, or any part of her. “I think it’s fine.”
“You okay?”
Krish came to his feet. He needed to pull himself together. He couldn’t let her see that he was bothered, that his brain was hopping from thought to thought. Or that he felt guilty.
That’s right. Go back to being slightly wary of her.“I am, yes.”
Sejal glanced around. “I was worried about being out and about, but there’s not a lot of people around right now.”
“Folks here are really protective of their own. If someone came asking about us, they’d get no information.”
“You’re their own?”
“My mom makes friends anywhere she goes.” An evasive answer, because no, he didn’t feel like he belonged to anyone or anywhere. However, he’d be afforded the same level of silence and protection that his mother was. “You have the necessities?”
She lifted her bags. “Yes.”
“Great. Let’s head back.” They walked to the Jeep, which was parked right in front of the store.
Sejal peered around. The curiosity in her gaze seemed genuine. “This seems like such a cute town.”
“It is.”
“Was the town you grew up in similar?”
“Yup.”
“But you got on a bus out of there as soon as you were able.”
He put their purchases in the trunk and closed the door with a loudthunk. “Yeah. It was nice, but not always easy.”
