First Comes Like (Modern Love #3) - Alisha Rai Page 0,125

clasped her hands on the granite counter. They were both silent for a moment, and then both spoke at once. “I’m sorry—”

“I need to ask—”

They stopped, and Dev gestured. “Sorry, go ahead.”

“No, you go ahead. What are you sorry for?”

This felt vaguely like a trap, but Dev forged ahead. “I’m sorry I bought a house without consulting you at all.”

Jia’s mouth turned down. “Asking me first would have been nice.”

“I’m used to doing this stuff, is all. The boring chores. I thought it would be a nice surprise, and if it was a done deal, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

Jia nodded slowly. “Okay. That makes sense.”

“We can still back out. We can go look at houses together, find one we both like and want to live in.”

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t hate the house. Yeah, I was annoyed at first, but then I saw the place, and you did a really good job. It’s probably exactly the place I would have picked. Like, consult me next time, but this once, it turned out okay.”

Relief washed over him, followed immediately by confusion. “But wait, then why were you upset? You seemed mad.”

“Because you got me my own place.” Her voice was so tiny, he had to lean forward to listen.

Then he wondered if he’d misheard her. “You got upset because I said the back house could be yours?”

“You said I could live there. Away from you and Luna.” The hurt in her gaze hurt him. “How did you think that would make me feel? Like you didn’t want me around. Like maybe you found me annoying or too much or . . .”

He closed his hands over hers, and she stopped. “Jia . . . no. I want to be with you all the time. There is nothing I love more than spending time with you.” He struggled to express himself. “When I’m with you, it’s like . . . like I’m covered in a blanket of peace. Peace that makes me laugh.”

He was rewarded with a choked chuckle. “What a terrible analogy.”

“I know. I’m better at flowery analogies in Hindi.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “You staying in that house . . . it was a suggestion, because I wanted to give you options. You lived with your family, then Ayesha, then Katrina and Rhiannon. I wanted to give you some independence before you lived with me. Adil Uncle and my aunt did that. Did the nikah to make things legal, and then lived separately until a year later.”

“Well, I don’t want that.”

“I don’t either. I want you to be happy. I was merely giving you options so you could be happy.”

“We both need to be happy. If you tell me I should live alone, I’m going to assume that’s what would make you happy.”

“It wouldn’t. I would tolerate it.”

She picked at her cuticles. “Then you have to say that. The back house can be for Adil Uncle or guests or a studio. I live with you. In your bed, in your house.”

Dev’s lips slowly turned up. “I would be okay with that.”

She slipped off the stool to wrap her arms around his neck. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in her floral scent, relief filling him.

She kissed his neck, then kissed up to his ear. “Guess what,” she whispered.

He turned his head, so their lips were close to each other. “What?”

“I love you.”

His smile came from deep inside of him, and he got off the stool to pick her up and hug her close. Her body was soft and got softer as he carried her to their bedroom. “I love you, too. Are you sure you like that house?”

“Yes. But I get to renovate it. You may have opinions,” she added graciously, as she slipped out of his hold and began unbuttoning her shirt. “But don’t you dare think you’re fixing it up without me.”

He couldn’t resist kissing her on her pursed lips. When they were naked and tangled together, and he was driving inside her, he wondered how he’d gotten so lucky.

The pleasure came upon him quickly, but the greatest pleasure was afterward, when she curled up in his arms happily. “I’m lucky,” she said, her voice muffled.

He hadn’t realized he’d spoken out loud. “We both are. Fate certainly took a twisted road to get us here. A comedy of errors.” How many variables had brought them to this place? His family’s name, his cousin’s foolishness, his old