First Comes Like
Page 32
“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 words, perfectly placed paparazzi.
Jia rolled over onto him and stretched. “What is it called when it’s not mistakes that get you to the end? A comedy of perfection?”
Dev chuckled. “Or of love. A comedy of love?”
“I’ll take it,” she announced, kissing him.
He’d take it, too.
JIA WOKE UP to Dev saying something in Hindi against her ear. Her eyes were bleary, the room dark. She was a little sweaty from being wrapped up in his big spoon, but that was a small price to pay.
She had no illusions that everything would be perfect now. This was real life. They had families and friends and lives they had to figure out how to mesh together. She was confident in their chances, though. They’d talk and communicate and laugh and push and challenge each other. What more could she possibly ask for?
Her stomach chose that moment to growl. They’d made love for a long time, forgoing all sustenance. A girl needed to eat.
He whispered something again, which reminded her that she needed to download a language app soon. She turned her head to look over her shoulder. “What did you say?” It was probably about his arm being numb. She had been sleeping on it for a while. The trials of the big spoon.
Dev kissed her neck. His hand skated up her belly and she shivered. “I said, that line from my show was true. I did search the universe for you.”
The heroine rests securely in her lover’s arms while the spotlight dims.
She interlaced her fingers with his and pulled him in close. Food could wait. This was sustenance, too. “I’m so glad that search led to this.”
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*
About the Author
* * *
Meet Alisha Rai
About the Book
* * *
Dear Readers
Reading Group Guide
About the Author
Meet Alisha Rai
ALISHA RAI pens award-winning contemporary romances and is the first author to have an indie-published book appear on the Washington Post’s annual Best Books list. Her books have also been recognized as Best Books of the Year by NPR, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, Kirkus, Bustle, and Cosmopolitan. She spends most of her time daydreaming, traveling, and tweeting.
To find out more about her books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit www.alisharai.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
About the Book
Dear Readers
Dear Readers,
When I titled this series Modern Love, I did so with a wink. One of the things I find beautiful and frustrating about contemporary novels is that they’re a snapshot of reality at the time they’re written. The world can and does change rapidly. Not much can actually stay “modern” indefinitely.
Love, though? Love is always fresh and new and cutting-edge. In a hundred years, when people have progressed to swiping holograms instead of pictures, and the technology in these books belongs in museums, I hope one of my great-grandnieces pauses in her self-driving hovercraft to identify with the love in Modern Love.
I wrote First Comes Like during a globally difficult snapshot of time, one filled with loss and isolation and stress for me and everyone I know. I have always been an optimistic person, and I write optimistic books, but finding optimism during such a massive crisis is a challenge even for us professional romantics.
In order to keep going, I sought out every tiny pocket of happiness I could find. Sometimes that meant marveling at how technology could keep my far-flung friends and family connected. Sometimes it meant driving out to an almost deserted ghost town so I could gaze at art crafted by long-gone artists.* Sometimes it just meant cheering when a plant I thought I killed sprouted a tiny new leaf.
But many times, most times, it meant sitting on my couch with a good book written by a favorite author.
I hope this book and this series is a pocket of happiness for you, whether you’re reading it on release day or having it scanned into your brain via a chip in a hundred years. Thank you for taking this road trip with me.
All my love,
Alisha
*Like Rhiannon, Katrina, and Jia, I’m a California transplant, and exploring this state has been a great joy. I’ve taken significant liberties fictionalizing Bombay Beach in this book, but the art installations are all real and worth a visit. If you do go play influencer, please remember to support the local economy however you can!
Reading Group Guide
Jia is furious and mortified when she discovers she’s been catfished. Can you imagine ever being in a similar situation? How would you react?
Do you think Jia is right to eventually, even grudgingly, forgive Arjun?
What does being a social media influencer mean to you? Do you see it as a “real” job?
Jia hates being described as “too much” or “a lot.” Do you understand why that upsets her?
Dev thought both his grandparents didn’t approve of his mother because she was of a lower class and different religion. His grandmother seems to welcome Jia, despite their differences. Do you believe Shweta when she says her husband didn’t permit her to have a say back then? Or is she simply extremely eager for Dev to get married?
Jia’s relationship with her eldest sisters can be contentious. Are they too hard on her? Is she too defensive with them?
Do you think Jia and Luna will eventually get along? Do you think she will treat Luna like a daughter/niece or more like a sister?
Lakshmi makes Jia realize that most of her insecurities stem from a fear of disappointing people. Can you empathize with that fear? How could she overcome it?
Do you think Chandu misled the press to believe Jia and Dev were engaged purely out of practical reasons? Or do you think he had an ulterior motive?
Jia notes that she and Dev are both at a crossroads in their professional lives, even as their personal lives seem settled. Where do you see the couple in five years?
Also by Alisha Rai
MODERN LOVE
The Right Swipe • Girl Gone Viral
THE FORBIDDEN HEARTS SERIES
Hate to Want You • Wrong to Need You
Hurts to Love You
THE PLEASURE SERIES
Glutton for Pleasure • Serving Pleasure
THE CAMPBELL SIBLINGS SERIES
A Gentleman in the Street
The Right Man for the Job
THE BEDROOM GAMES SERIES
Play with Me • Risk & Reward
Bet on Me
THE KARIMI SIBLINGS
Falling for Him • Waiting for Her
THE FANTASY SERIES
Be My Fantasy • Stay My Fantasy
SINGLE TITLES
Hot as Hades • Cabin Fever
Night Whispers • Never Have I Ever
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
FIRST COMES LIKE. Copyright © 2021 by Alisha Rai. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa
Cover illustration by Raina Tinker
FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-287790-1
Version 12172020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-287815-1 (paperback)
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-305943-6 (hardcover library edition)
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