Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) - Sonali Dev Page 0,60

saw Yash wasn’t idiotic, it was pure lunacy.

His hands were stuffed into his pockets and his eyes were filled with so much unfettered anticipation that for a second India imagined his lips moving. You’ll come, right?

How could she be foolish enough to think about that right now? He has a girlfriend.

He belongs to someone else.

A sick sensation gathered in her belly.

Shoving it down, she pulled the door open. “Yash? Is everything okay?” Relief flooded his eyes at the sight of her, turning the gray dark and intense.

“I . . . I need to talk to you. May I come in?”

How she had loved how formal he was. How polite, how gallant.

Stop it. Stop.

“Hey, Yash!” China said behind her, making her jump.

Yash started too. Inasmuch as this new Yash would show being startled to anyone.

Brandy was close behind him, her usual icy demeanor firmly in place. “Hi, Brandy. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just wasn’t . . . well, come in.” Moving aside to let them in, India gave herself the hardest mental shake in history.

Brandy got right to her usual sweep of the place. “Is there anyone else here?”

China glared at her. “Why? Have you not pinned anyone to the ground in a while? Missing it?”

India placed a big-sister hand on her arm. Holding China down when she wanted to fly at anyone who pissed her off had always been one of India’s jobs.

They crowded into the entrance foyer lined with empty shoe racks and coat hooks. Which didn’t stop Brandy from studying everything as though it hid moats from which someone might ambush them. Or, more accurately, ambush Yash. When India thought about it that way, she was completely fine with Brandy’s paranoia.

China caught India’s eye and slid a glance at her office, a silent plea for India to not mention that Song was here.

“Yes, there is.” India never lied and she wasn’t comfortable skirting the truth either. Brandy was just doing her job. But Song had a right to privacy. “Our mother is upstairs.” Mom was in the incense workshop working tirelessly on incense sticks they had no orders for.

“I . . .” Yash hadn’t looked away from her even for a moment. His expression was impossible to interpret. Or at least, her interpretation was highly unlikely. The last time he’d been here, he’d run out of here as though she’d thrown gasoline on him and lit a match. “If you’re busy I can come back later?”

She made a sound that could be interpreted as a yes or a no. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved that she had the week off or if she wished she had an excuse to not see him. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d cancel everything to help him, but only because: one, she’d help anyone who needed help; and two, she wanted him to win the election. It was time for someone to fix the mess their state was in. Yes, she’d read his health care policy, and, yes, it had caused her entire body to be seized with hope.

All eyes were watching her and she realized that they were waiting for her to lead them to her office. Or somewhere.

The pleading in China’s eyes bordered on threatening. The office was not an option. “Do you mind if we talked upstairs again?”

A full-bodied relief rolled across him. “That sounds good. Thank you,” he said, just as Brandy started walking toward India’s office.

“Is there anyone else here?” Brandy repeated.

“No.” China was in front of Brandy in a second. Blocking her path.

Nose-to-nose, they stared each other down, neither looking like backing off was an option. India was pretty certain they’d both missed the backing-off gene. China, in fact, looked like she was itching to return Brandy’s favor and flip her to the floor.

“Do you mind if I check?” Brandy’s tone made it not so much a request as an order.

“Yes, we would mind if you check.” China did a perfect imitation of Brandy’s tone.

“If there’s no one there, why can’t I check?” Brandy said, piling her stubbornness on top of China’s.

“Because you just marched into our home and invaded our space and, generous as we are, we prefer to be the ones to decide which parts of our home we’d like violated.” Even in her sputtering rage, she threw Yash an apologetic look. “Not that you can’t come here whenever you want, Yash.”

“No, you’re right,” Yash said. “I . . . I shouldn’t have just barged in like this. We’ll