Calvin nodded, and the boys solemnly dapped each other.
“This is what you forgot?” Tahsin asked, exasperated, but Esa shook his head.
“Nope. I forgot this,” he said, and walked over to Atlas. Reaching down, he hugged the big dog, who only yawned in response, displaying all her teeth. Esa stood up. “Okay, now we can go.”
Shaking her head, Tahsin turned to apologize to Rob, only to find him deep in conversation with her husband.
“Actually, Tahsin, maybe we can stay a bit longer,” Naveed said, looking at his wife. Sameera recognized the gleam in his eyes. He got the same expression on his face when he unboxed a new Gundam robot. “Rob and I might have a solution to both of our problems.”
Sameera, Nadiya, and Tom exchanged baffled glances, but judging from the smug look on Esa’s face, he had some inkling of what was going on.
“Spill it, squirt,” Sameera said, but her brother only danced away.
“I suggest you all get comfortable. I have a feeling we’re not going anywhere today. It’s a Christmas miracle!” Esa proclaimed.
“Not our holiday,” Nadiya reminded him.
Tahsin and Barb had joined the discussion by now, leaving the younger set to watch their parents, perplexed.
“What could they possibly be talking aboutnow?” Sameera asked. Her sister was surprisingly nonchalant about the delay. She ploppeddown into the armchair Andy had favored and shrugged out of her jacket.
“Dad and Rob were talking on the way to the airport about a business thing,” she said. “They were going to talk more over the phone, but I guess now is as good a time as ever.”
Sameera traded an exasperated glance with Tom, but he seemed thoughtful. “Coffee?” he suggested, and they retired to the kitchen, where Tom did something complicated with the espresso machine, his back to her.
“If we leave in the next twenty minutes, we should be okay,” Sameera started, cutting the tension between them. Her heart started to beat fast, as it tended to do whenever they were alone together. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to put up with my family—or me—for another night.” Her laugh sounded artificial to her own ears, and when Tom turned to look at her, his face was set.
“I want to put up with you,” he said, biting off the words as if they were painful. “I could barely manage to say goodbye at the airport. I don’t know if I can let you go a second time.”
Sameera stared at him. “But you didn’t even hug me goodbye!” she protested.
Tom’s hands were fists at his sides. Now he crowded her against the kitchen island. He leaned close, eyes dark with hunger. “I didn’t want to hug you,” he growled. “I knew if I touched you, there was no way you were getting on that plane, Sameera Malik.”
This kiss wasn’t chaste, or tender, or a friendly brush of his lips against hers. His kiss saidI want youandI need youanddon’t go, all at once, the force of his passion making her lean back against the countertop, until she regained her senses and pushed back.
“You didn’t even ask me tostay,” she said accusingly, one finger poking into his chest. He pulled her roughly to him again.
“You have a life in Atlanta,” he gasped when they finally came up for air. “I didn’t want to make this harder on you.”
A deep sense of contentment filled her, and she nudged him with her hips, still firmly held against his. “I think you’re hard enough,” she teased.
“I didn’t want you to feel obliged, like you owed me anything,” he started again. “I can’t make any promises because I don’t know how long I’ll be here. But if—”
“When,” Sameera corrected him, kissing him softly once. “Whenyou return, and after you make me a batch of samosas, and after you’ve kissed me senseless.”
His chuckle was warm caramel along her spine, and his arms tightened around her waist. “After all that,” he agreed. “Then what?”
“Then we figure it out together,” Sameera said. “I’m not going anywhere. Are you?”
He shook his head, and they kissed some more before making coffee for everyone. Their parents were still in deep discussion, but her sister quirked an eyebrow at Sameera before indicating that Tom had something on his cheek.
“That shade of pink looks good on you,” she joked, and Tom swiped Sameera’s lipstick from his face without a trace of embarrassment.
“Get used to it,” he said, handing out the coffee.
Naveed waited until everyone had taken a seat before speaking. “Rob and I didn’t want to say anything before, until we had a chance to really talk. Esa provided a reason to keep our conversation going.”
“Conversation about what?” Sameera asked. Tom sat beside her, and beneath the table, his hand gripped her knee in a familiar gesture, as if it belonged there.
