Chapter 17 #3
He straightened up, his back to her, and pulled the shirt off over his head.
Her mouth went dry. He wrung out his shirt, the muscles in his arms and back moving.
She must have made an involuntary noise, because he looked over his shoulder.
His eyes met hers and something passed between them.
Fire ignited in her belly in response. Heat flared up her chest and neck.
He held her gaze, breathing hard. Hunger burned through her.
She wanted to touch him, explore him. Sampath blinked.
Kalpana snapped back to reality. She quickly scooted back to her seat, her heart hammering.
Her face and neck felt like they were aflame.
Her first thought was Is this what chemistry feels like?
The second was that he had seen her looking.
He knew. And, unless she was terribly mistaken, he wanted her right back.
She stared out of the window, avoiding looking back.
What did she do with this information? She couldn’t deny it anymore.
She was attracted to Sampath. She was engaged to Marcus.
What kind of a flighty woman was she? She had always considered herself to be steady.
Level-headed. Not someone prone to sudden dives of lust. That sort of thing happened to other people.
Not someone like her. She was in love with Marcus, for heaven’s sake.
Behind her, the van door slid shut. The passenger door opened and shut again. She surmised that Lal had deemed Sampath dry enough to let in. The van started moving. No one spoke for the longest time.
Finally, Sampath said, ‘Kalpana, would you mind passing my bag through, please?’
She picked up the backpack and handed it across to him in the front seat, trying not to look at him. He took it from her and asked, ‘Are you okay?’
There wasn’t much choice but to look at his face. He gave her an apologetic smile. She wasn’t sure what he was apologising for. It wasn’t his fault she couldn’t keep her hormones under control.
‘I’m fine,’ she said and went back to looking out of the window.
***
Sampath checked his iPad and phone were still working. All fine, thank goodness. A quick glance into the back of the van showed him that Kalpana was studiously avoiding looking at him. He faced forward again and felt bad.
He hadn’t been able to help it. In that moment, when he’d looked up and seen her checking him out, he hadn’t been able to school his expression in time.
He knew she’d seen the hunger in his eyes.
She’d seen it and been shocked by it. Understandably so.
He was her wedding planner. She should be able to trust him completely.
He had let her down. Not to mention Marcus.
He checked the time on his phone. He had intended to take the late-night train back to Colombo that evening, but he knew there was an earlier train.
He couldn’t stay here any longer. He risked another glance into the rear of the van.
Kalpana’s back was radiating tension. No.
He couldn’t stay here. He had made things awkward.
The best thing he could do now is put some distance between them.
He had things to do in Colombo. A few days away should help him get his head straightened out. One of his cousins had suggested going out for a drink. Maybe he should take up the offer.
‘Lal,’ he said. ‘Would you be able to take me to the station at four?’
‘I thought your train was at seven.’
‘I think I can make the earlier one.’
Lal gave him a thoughtful look. ‘Okay. Yeah. Sure.’
They drove a few minutes more in silence. Then Lal said, ‘Have you forgiven me for not letting you get in when you were soggy?’
‘I’m still pretty damp.’ He was. The trousers were drying already from the sun on them, but the shirt was taking longer. He felt damp and disgusting.
‘Yeah, but this way you’ll only make the seats slightly wet, not sodden.’
He nodded. Lal knew his van better than anyone. ‘It’s fine.’ What was the point holding a grudge about it? What had happened with Kalpana had nothing to do with Lal or his van and everything to do with Sampath not being able to keep his feelings hidden properly.
They dropped Kalpana off at her hotel and Sampath hopped out. ‘I … won’t see you for a few days now,’ he said. ‘I’m heading off to Colombo in a few hours.’
‘Oh. Yes, of course. You said.’ She wasn’t making eye contact with him, which made this conversation awkward. Ordinarily, he would have talked to her to find out what was wrong, but he knew very well what was wrong. He had misstepped and now she was alone. Right now, when she needed a friend.
‘Marcus will be back soon and you’ll be able to have a nice relaxing few days,’ he said, even though the thought felt like knives in his gut. ‘No thinking about wedding stuff, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company.’
She nodded, but didn’t say anything. Wow. He really had blown it. He couldn’t exactly apologise to her, so he said, ‘I’ll see you in a few days, when you get back to Colombo.’
When he got back into the van, he saw her pull her shoulders back, lift her chin and march into the hotel. He watched in the side mirror for as long as he could see her and fought the urge to ask Lal to stop the van so that he could run back to her.