Karthik stepped out of the bathroom, his hair damp and pushed back from his face. He wore the same suit and shirt he had worn yesterday, but now they were a little rumpled. He tucked his shirt in andfrowned at it, as if the wrinkles had personally offended him. Meghna resisted the urge to laugh.
“I have an iron you can use, but I don’t think we have the time.”
Karthik checked the time on his phone and grimaced. “You’re right. I need to leave now.” He sighed, swiping and tapping the screen. “I’ll get a car.”
Meghna jangled her keys. “No need. I’ll drive you.”
He looked up. “You sure? Don’t you have a lunch?”
She shrugged, walking toward the door. “Ankita and I can do lunch another day.”
He followed her out, and she locked up behind them.
When she got into the car, a whiff of tea tree oil and lemon wafted in her direction from the passenger seat. “You used my shampoo?” she asked.
“You said I could.”
“Yeah, I know, I just…” She pulled out of the apartment complex and entered the address for the airport into her GPS. “I didn’t realize that meant you’d smell like me.”
He frowned. “Do you…not like it?”
“No, I mean, I picked out that shampoo. I like the smell. I just like the way you normally smell.”
He was quiet for a moment, but when he spoke his voice was pitched lower than normal. “What do I smell like?”
She got on the highway and answered distractedly. “You know, woodsy. Earthy. Like…petrichor.”
“Petrichor?”
“Yeah. It’s that smell when rain hits the pavement.”
He didn’t say anything in response, so she glanced over at him, only to see a self-satisfied look on his face.
“Don’t be weird about this,” she warned.
“I’m not,” he said smugly. “I just didn’t realize youlovedthe way I smell.”
“I said ‘like.’ Not ‘love.’ ”
“Sounds like you love it, though.”
She let out a noncommittal sound, but hid the smile that threatened to break out on her face.
“Just for the record,” Karthik said. “I like the way you smell too.”
“Thanks.”
The car went quiet, and for the first time Meghna didn’t feel like she had to say anything to break the silence. She almost enjoyed it. There was something new in the air between them. Something almost…comfortable. She wanted to continue sitting in this feeling, but it was time to bring up the elephant in the room.
“You want to talk about the kiss, right?”
Meghna’s mouth opened in surprise. “How did you know?”
“I’ve been watching you for the last five minutes. You seemed to be working up the courage to bring it up, so I thought I’d help you out.”
“Well, thanks for that, but we both know it wasn’t just one kiss.” She let out a long breath and kept her eyes on the road. She didn’t want to see his reaction to what she was about to say.
“Karthik, what are we doing?”
