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Surprise hit her in the gut. Somehow, over the last few months, Christian had become a bigger and bigger presence in her life. From dragging her back to work, from feeding her mother lie after lie that she was too busy working, thereby saving her from Mama’s stifling concern, to letting her stay at his penthouse apartment, challenging her mind by throwing unbelievably innovative problems at her... He’d been gradually guiding her out of her grief-stricken shell.
Beneath the arrogance and the ruthless charm he used so skillfully, Christian hid a heart of gold.
Maybe it wasn’t that strange that their grief over Jai’s loss had brought them closer together. After all, they’d both loved him, adored him. But this attraction for Christian that she’d begun to feel recently, this wasnotokay. If he got even a whiff of it, he was going to tease her endlessly—mock her like there was no tomorrow. Just the thought of it made her face burn.
“Come back to me, Starling. You’re off in some other land again,” Christian said, his voice unusually grave.
Priya bristled. “Stop calling me that,” she said automatically. Just as he’d intended.
It was a game between them since the first time they’d met. The bird was native to the Pacific Northwest area. A small, frail thing that had a beauty of its own. The nickname had always grated on her—maybe because it suited her.
“Fine, I’ll call you a crow, then,” he countered, as he always did.
Her mouth tilting up at the edges, she met his gaze. Those sensuous lips stretched into a wide smile—a real one that touched his eyes. Turning him from a simply good-looking man into a strikingly gorgeous one. Something arched across the distance between them—something far too real, something full of an ache and longing. Chest tight, Priya looked away before he could realize all of that came from her.
Which meant it was time to answer him seriously. “I don’t want to overcomplicate things, Christian.”
“It won’t.” He sighed. “I’m sick and tired of the board using any and all means to control me. You know it was a problem even when Jai was here. For every new direction we wanted to take the company in, they came up with a million excuses. And you...”
“What about me?” Priya said, tilting her chin up. An expression in his eyes made her spine snap with steel. She could stand his mockery, his teasing, but not his pity. “You don’t have to fight my battles, Christian. At least, not anymore.”
“What if I just stand like a shield in front of you to give you breathing space?”
Something about the angle of his head when he said it twisted her gut. Priya shot to her feet, frustration leeching away any calm she’d felt this morning. “Mama came to see you again?”
“Your parents came to see Ben. She—” Christian cleared his throat “—waylaid me on my way to work. She said they’re canceling their trip to India, that she doesn’t feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself. Your dad couldn’t get in a single word.”
Priya banged the table with her fist. “They’ve planned this reunion for the last decade. Her entire family’s coming—her sister from the UK and her aunt from Australia... Damn it. How do I get it into her head that I’m fine? That I don’t need a keeper?”
“You marry me,” Christian said, swooping into the space. Blocking her agitated steps. “Look at me, Pree.”
When she didn’t, he tilted her chin up. She had no idea what he saw in her face, but it made him take a step back. He rubbed a finger on his temple. “You trust me, don’t you?”
The thread of barely there hurt in his voice arrested all other concerns.
No, that wasn’t possible. Of all the upside-down things in her world, there was no way Christian could be hurt by her opinion of him. And yet, the longer she remained quiet, the more something deepened in his eyes. “Of course I trust you.” Then she laughed into the building silence because there was no way she could let him realize it was herself she didn’t trust. “I’m not the one with a billion-dollar empire tied to his brain and his name.”
He regarded her thoughtfully, that frown still in place.
“I see the logic in your plan,” Priya added, shoving aside her own confusion. “I’m just...”
“What is it, Priya?”
She rubbed a hand over her belly, recognizing the knot of fear there. “Okay, fine. We can do this...convenient-marriage thing. I’ll sign whatever prenup you want me to.”
“Please don’t insult me and our relationship by using that as a shield. You and I both know I’d trust you with every single dollar to my name.”
She nodded, knowing it was unfair. To them both. “At the end of it, I...” She looked into his eyes, and it felt like she was diving deep into something both terrifying and exhilarating, but she couldn’t stop. “I don’t want to lose you, Christian. As a friend, I mean. I couldn’t bear it if we...messed this up.”
He didn’t laugh it off like she thought he would. Or mock her. Or tease her. Or tell her that she was needlessly worrying about a nonexistent issue. That there was nothing to blur the lines in their relationship.
He simply gathered her to him—like he’d done in the hospital when she’d fallen apart after Jai had died.
Priya buried her face in his neck and breathed in the scent of him. Instinct overrode common sense as she wrapped her arms around him. He was warm and solidly male.His body around hers was both familiar and terribly exciting.
Because this time, it wasn’t simply solace she felt. Her belly rolled and every muscle in her urged her to get closer, to press harder against him. It was more, so much more. Something dangerously close to naked desire.
“I promise I won’t let anything come between us,” he said, breathing the words into her hair, and before she could blink, he put her away from him.
