“Don’t answer that,” Meghna said quickly. “That’s not what I meant to say. I wanted to tell you—”
“I don’t know,” Karthik interrupted. He took a step toward her. “But I’m realizing that I was wrong about a lot of things. And Iwantto be wrong about this too.” He lifted a hand in her direction, then dropped it. He wanted to touch her. Her cheek. Her hair. Her arm. Anything. But he had no idea what she was thinking. What she was feeling. He forced himself to continue.
“I want to think that I could get married one day. That I could do it. That we could have a different kind of marriage than my parents, but I’m scared,” he admitted. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” Meghna replied immediately, and Karthik swallowed a wave of emotion. He didn’t deserve her faith in him. Her trust. But he’d do everything in his power to earn it.
“Karthik, are you saying that…” Meghna trailed off into silence, her beautiful eyes wide and searching.
He looked away, his gaze sweeping around the room. He needed a moment to compose himself. To gather his thoughts. To figure out how to say this.
“Remember what you told me?” he finally asked. “The first time we met?”
Meghna huffed out a laugh. “I said a lot of things the first time we met.”
Karthik’s lips curved into a soft smile. “You did. But this one…I thought about it for a long time. You said you’d accidentally fallen in love before. And I thought that was ludicrous. That it was impossible.” He shook his head. “But I was wrong.”
“What are you saying?”
He leaned toward her, so close that her face took up his entire field of vision.
“I’m saying I accidentally fell in love with you. But I don’t want you to feel any pressure. I don’t know how you feel, but I’d like us to have more time. We could continue the engagement. Get to know each other more. Give you time to see if you could…if you might…see a future. With me. I don’t know whether I’ll ever be able to change my mind about marriage, but I want to. I want to give you everything you want. To be everything you want.”
Meghna placed her fingers over Karthik’s lips, and he immediately stopped talking.
“You already are everything I want,” she said. And then she kissed him.
He froze for a millisecond, shocked over what she’d just said, then moved with fervor. His hand threaded through her hair, and his tongue swept into her mouth. She shivered, then swayed as if the muscles in her legs had gone slack. He pulled back, looked at her for a moment, then maneuvered the two of them so that he sat in one of the brown overstuffed chairs where they’d had their first conversation.
She straddled him, rising onto her knees so that for the first time she was taller than him. She pushed his hair back from his face, and he closed his eyes. Unable to believe this was happening. Unable to believe this was real.
“I wasn’t ready to say goodbye,” he said, his voice full of emotion.
She smiled and placed a soft kiss on the underside of his jaw. “Me either.” She ran her hand over his hair again, and he savored the sensation. “I was planning on telling you I had feelings for you. I’ve…I’ve had them for a while, but I didn’t know how you felt.”
He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she pulled back.
“Wait,” she said. “I…I need you to know that I was wrong too. With what I said before. I never…I never accidentally fell in love. I thought I had. Once. But I don’t think that was love. Not really. You know, I remember what you said that day too. That love takes time. Intention. Commitment. That it doesn’t happen accidentally. And I…I think you’re right.”
Karthik watched her intently, his hand moving up and down her back. Somehow, he understood everything she wasn’t quite saying. She wasn’t ready to say those words. To return his declaration of love. But that didn’t bother him. They both had things to work through. They both needed time.
“Maybe we’re both right,” he said quietly.
“Maybe.”
Their mouths met, and they lost themselves for a while in kisses that made Karthik feel like he didn’t know where he ended and Meghna began. They were one unit, hearts beating in unison, their breaths in sync. They were somehow able to anticipate how the other would move and match those movements in time.
“So…” Meghna said, once they’d taken a break to come up for air. She was sprawled across his body, her head against his chest, and his arms were wrapped tightly around her.
“So…” Karthik replied.
“We’re going to have to go back eventually.”
Karthik threw back his head and groaned dramatically, making Meghna laugh.
“I’m serious. We’ve been in here a long time. They’re going to think we’re—”
“That we’re what?”
