Page 34 of Protect Me
My door was wedged open, spilling light into the simple, clean interior. If I’d gotten anything from Appa, his obsession with cleanliness was it. She glanced inside, then quickly away. We stepped through her doorway next. She stopped, eyes wide.
Her silence made me nervous.
“Think it’ll be okay?” I asked.
Katelyn strode over, picked up the picture of my parents dancing under fireworks during Diwali. She hugged it to her.
“This is my favorite picture of them. Did you know that?”
“Lucky guess.”
“This room is wonderful. I . . . thank you.”
Before she could work herself into an awkward tizzy, I lifted a hand. “Ready for house rules?” I asked.
She rolled her lips together and nodded like a teenager about to get a life sentence. The picture made a gentlethunkas she set it back down.
“First, no thanking me.”
Her expression crinkled into a frown, but I waved a hand.
“Stop. Stop. You’re a . . . friend.”
The word nearly choked me, because I’d almost saidfamilybut couldn’t tolerate that word. Not as it applied to Katelyn. No way in hell would I think about the curve of her hips or the gentle slope of her neck if she was part of my family.
Firm boundary.
“I’m always happy to help out where I can,” I continued, before I asked if I could kiss her. “Second, no cleaning the bathroom, because that’s gross. Only I should have to clean the bathroom as owner of this townhouse. Third, help yourself to anything—food, space, TV, whatever.”
“That’s it?”
“You’re going to have to live with me, and that is punishment enough.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. She managed a wry smile. Living with her delightful mannerism?
This wouldn’t suck at all.
“Right,” she declared with resolve. “This is most excellent and big and will be perfect and exceeds all expectations. Can we . . .” She licked her lips. I almost lost my mind at the unintentionally sexy gesture. “Can we discuss rent while we’re on the topic of rules? How much—”
“No,” I said brightly. “Thank you. That is rule number four.”
“Vik!”
Ignoring her, I spun. “No speaking of rent. Rule number 4. Go ahead and get settled. Dinner’ll be ready in twenty.”
“But—“
I held up a hand. She stopped, snorted, and then sighed.
I grinned as I exited the room, headed toward simmering spices and sambar.
Victory was mine.
Katelyn wandered into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, after she’d carried the final boxes into her new room. The clatter of toothbrushes and the hum of dresser drawers opening and closing followed. While the kitchen filled with the aromatic symphony of red chilis and coriander seeds, she filled the rest of my place with sound.
I missed noise.
Being a bachelor had been my life path, but the quiet affected me every now and then. Amma’s nagging voice, telling me tofind a woman and get married, already!tagged along with me every day.
