EXCERPT:

Chapter 1

“I think we should get married.”

Priya Pillai looked up from her desk to find Christian Mikkelsen - genius tech whiz, general mayhem maker and absolute playboy, leaning against her desk, and considering her with an intensity that she couldn’t ignore. Her heart kicked in her chest at the ridiculous proposal he threw at her, as casually as he’d asked her yesterday if she’d accompany him to a conference in Switzerland. His blue eyes - usually alight with mischief, glinted with resolve.

Christian, other than being her boss & the CEO of Modi Mikkelsen Tech, was her dead fiancé’s best friend and the man she’d come to count on the most in the last few months. Despite the fact that they’d never been close before Jai had died an year ago.

Long legs stretched out in front of him, broad shoulders filling her vision, he - his physicality, was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Without counting the fact that he possessed a charming playfulness that was hard to ignore at the best of times. He had the usual piece of wood and tiny chisel in his hand. His gaze flipped to her face and to the block of wood, back and forth, as he carved her face.

At first, she’d found it disconcerting to find his gaze on her like that. Jai had once mentioned that it helped Christian focus a lot of that unending energy with his hands occupied like that. Christian was a genius when it came to numbers and code, seeing patterns where no one else could. But it wasn’t until Priya had seen the miniature he’d carved of Jai’s face that she realized – the depth of character he captured in them, that she realized how much more there was to Christian.

How much more beyond the good looks, easy charm and razor sharp mind.

Shaking her head, Priya shifted her focus back to her computer screen. She was so close to figuring out the bit of algorithm that had been blocking her for days. Taking a sip of her coffee, she hit compile. Only then did she turn her attention back to him. “It’s too early in the morning for your kind of jokes, Christian,” she said, keeping her tone casual. Warning herself to not betray her increasing fascination with…every nuance of his face, his gestures, and the barely contained energy vibe he gave out.

But she couldn’t help noting that while he looked immaculate in a crisp gray suit with a blue tie that she’d bought him two Christmases ago, he hadn’t shaved this morning. Dark blonde bristle covered his jaw, and dark smudges brought out the blue of his eyes.

Whose bed have you rolled out of this morning, she wanted to say. The supermodel Stella or the soccer player Ellen?

Really, if she thought about it - which she did far too much, Christian was at least an equal opportunity playboy. He didn’t seem to have a particular type - or rather any woman was his type and he…

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He prompted, running a hand over his jaw. His brows drew together forming that line between them that she wanted to trace with her finger, that she wanted to sometimes touch with…

She stifled a groan and looked away.

What the hell was wrong with her? Where were all these useless and inappropriate thoughts coming from? When had she started collating a database of Christian’s likes and dislikes in a woman?

She’d thought she was solving the problem of an overly protective - at times stifling the breath out of her, parent. Mama had always been a lioness because of Priya’s poor health. Her heart condition, the numerous trips in and out of the ER as a child and adolescent…had made sure her overprotective mother was always in hyper drive.

But with the period of depressed that had followed Jai’s death, she’d caged and stifled Priya, treating her like a precious vase rather than a living, breathing person.

Only Christian had recognized her grief. Only he had given her the space to mourn, instead of needing her to be okay for his own peace of mind. And when it had been time, he was the one that had dragged her - screaming and kicking, back to join the living.

She’d come to work for Modi & Mikkelsen technologies as a solutions architect - something she’d planned to do after graduating when Jai had been alive. She’d moved out of her parents’ house and into Christian’s apartment - with minimal fuss from Mama, because of course, Christian’s reassurance held more weight than Priya’s own. She’d even gone to a couple of parties with Christian and his friends and for the most part, enjoyed herself.

But this…this was a trap she hadn’t ever imagined she’d fall into.

Not for a second had she foreseen that sharing a space with him would lead to the kind of intimacy she both craved and was terrified of. Or that she’d have front row seats to Christian’s love life. And no, she wasn’t jealous.

To be jealous of his girlfriends meant she wanted Christian’s attention in the first place - as fickle as it was. She didn’t. Seeing him live his life with a revolving door of girlfriends only reminded her what she’d lost when she’d lost Jai. This was loneliness, nothing else.

It proves you aren’t dead inside, her cousin had said when Priya had confided this sudden, inexplicable fascination with Christian. You’re twenty two and horny. Christian’s a hot piece of ass. Your reaction is nothing but normal.

“Go away, Christian,” she said, rubbing a hand over her face. “Unlike you, I have a boss to answer to.”

“Oh, didn’t you hear? Grandpa and the board’s looking for reasons to kick me out.”

“What? That’s preposterous. Jai and you breathed new life into the company.”

He shrugged. “Apparently, I’m bringing a lot of bad publicity to the company, what with all my many and varied affairs. Really, it’s just that old dog Chatsworth with a stick up his ass. He doesn’t like that the fact that I dumped his daughter.”

He looked down to find Priya glaring at him. Eyes warm, he assumed this angelic air that made her grin, despite the near constant alertness she needed to be at with him. He’d always been good at making her laugh, despite her determination to keep him at a distance. To dislike him even, in those first two years when Jai had introduced them.

“Oh come, Pree, is it my fault if the woman thinks I’d have proposed to her after a month of dating? While I agree that Samantha’s quite the beauty and brains package, did she forget my reputation? And for the record, she was the one who pursued me.”

“Imagine that,” Priya added, but her mind was churning away.

While she’d deep dived into an isolation hole for months after Jai’s accident, Christian, on the other hand, had hit the party circuit hard. Which was saying something since the man was already an inveterate playboy. It was as if without Jai’s solid, unflappable presence to ground him, Christian became wilder and wilder. No wonder Mr. Mikkelsen had threatened to throw him out of the company.

Because the one thing Christian did hold dear was MMTech. The tech company that Jai and he’d built through high school and college. That had become the backbone of his Mikkelsen Technologies in the last decade.

“While I agree with you that Ms. Chatsworth can do a lot better,” Priya said grinning, “it’s possible she saw something worth loving even in you, Christian. Greater miracles have been known to happen.”

“Now you’re just kicking me when I’m down,” he said, mock hurt in his voice. But the warmth in his blue eyes made her feel as if she’d won a prize. “The thing is I’ve got to beat the old man at his own game. And you’re the only one who can save me, Pree.”

This time, Priya didn’t have to fake the disbelief. “Save you, Christian? I’m far too much a realist for that.”

“So you do agree that I need saving?”

There was something in that question that felt off to Priya. That had a depth, a hunger she didn’t want to delve into.

She could feel his gaze sweeping over her face, a hunger to it that told her it wasn’t for the carving. As if he was waiting to see if she’d take the bait.

Ducking her gaze, she made a show of tidying desk, searching for something to bring their conversation back to neutral ground. “If you want the truth, you’ve been a bit out of control. I can’t blame Ben for trying to bring some…” she cleared her throat when he raised that devilish brow, “balance back into your life.” And because she should have said it long before now. “I don’t know what I’d have done without your support the past few months, Christian.”

“You’d have survived.”

“You have more faith in me than I do,” she added. On an impulse, she took his hand. His fingers had a deliciously abrasive texture, thanks to how incessantly he played with wood and his chisel. Sensation coiled deep in her belly, a cavern yawning up for more. She let go immediately. “I’m sorry for not being a better friend. For not realizing that you’ve lost him too.”

He pushed a hand through his hair, not meeting her eyes.

She cleared her throat, wondering if she’d made him uncomfortable. No, grief wasn’t something Christian shoved away. Then why? “You look a wreck, Christian. Ben has a reason to worry about you.”

“I’m not one of his precious beasts for him to corral and quietly be lead back into my stall.”

“And if Jai were here to say you’re spiraling, Christian”

He pressed the heel of his palm to his eyes and let out a breath. “I’m not interested in settling down, Pree. Not for anyone. Damn it, I’m twenty four years old.” Those penetrating eyes pinned her. “I wasn’t joking when I suggested we get married. It solves more than one problem.”

As if the very universe was helping him support his case, her cellphone chirped. Priya looked at the screen to find Mama’s anxious face peering up at her. Priya slammed it face down. It continued to chirp, the sound progressively getting on her nerves, until she thought she might scream.

It stopped. They both stared at the company phone on the desk. Right on cue, it started ringing.

Priya pushed her fingers through her hair, swallowing a growl of frustration.

“Don’t tell me you aren’t a little bit flattered to realize you’re the first woman I’ve proposed to,” Christian added, putting himself between her desk and her.

And his distraction worked.

Her hand on her heart, Priya fluttered her lashes. And threw in a mock gasp for effect. “Oh, my! How cynical of me to not realize what an honor this is. The first woman that the unconquerable Christian Mikkelsen proposed marriage to. Maybe I’ll get a sash that says that and wear it every day.”

“It would certainly be an improvement,” he said, his gaze doing a quick sweep of her beige pantsuit.

She craned her head towards him and lowered her voice into a theatrical whisper. “Your proposal needs a little work, Christian. Keep trying and the twentieth woman might accept.”