Шома Нараянан – An Offer She Can't Refuse (страница 1)
Mallika gave him what she hoped was a sufficiently cool and professional smile.
‘I’ll tell you if I change my mind,’ she managed, as she pulled together her scattered thoughts.
‘The salary is negotiable,’ Darius added, but she shook her head.
‘It’s not about the money,’ she assured him.
Darius knew when not to push—he also knew he wasn’t going to give up so easily.
‘I need to go,’ she said. ‘Thanks for being so nice about everything.’
She put her hand out, and Darius got to his feet as he took it.
This is my sixth book for Harlequin Mills & Boon®, and it was perhaps the most fun to write. The idea popped into my head when I was talking to a colleague who’d taken a few months off to travel around Europe. What if I had a hero who was wildly successful at what he did and had made more than enough money to fulfil his boyhood dream of spending some years just travelling around and discovering more about the world? And what if, just before he left, he met a woman who made him think that perhaps there was more to life than just living out his dream?
It took a while to get my characters just right, but Darius in the book is now exactly as I imagined him—successful, strong-willed and very,
Happy reading!
SHOMA NARAYANAN started reading Mills and Boon® romances at the age of eleven, borrowing them from neighbours and hiding them inside textbooks so that her parents didn’t find out. At that time the thought of writing one herself never entered her head—she was convinced she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. When she was a little older she decided to become an engineer instead, and took a degree in electronics and telecommunications. Then she thought a career in management was probably a better bet, and went off to do an MBA. That was a decision she never regretted, because she met the man of her dreams in the first year of business school—fifteen years later they’re married with two adorable kids, whom they’re raising with the same careful attention to detail that they gave their second-year project on organisational behaviour.
A couple of years ago Shoma took up writing as a hobby—after successively trying her hand at baking, sewing, knitting, crochet and patchwork—and was amazed at how much she enjoyed it. Now she works grimly at her banking job through the week, and tries to balance writing with household chores during weekends. Her family has been unfailingly supportive of her latest hobby, and are also secretly very, very relieved that they don’t have to eat, wear or display the results!
An Offer She Can’t Refuse
Shoma Narayanan
To my family
Table of Contents
Dear Reader
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
DARIUS MISTRY WAS NOT used to taking orders from anyone. And especially not orders that came from a woman he was supposed to be interviewing. The fact that the woman had turned out to be surprisingly attractive was neither here nor there—this was strictly work, and her behaviour right now seemed more than a little strange.
‘Hold my hand,’ she was saying. ‘Come on, she’s almost here.’
Her current boss had just walked into the coffee shop, and Mallika was reacting as if it was a massive disaster. Granted, being caught by your boss while you were being interviewed for another job wasn’t the best start to an interview, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Mallika’s expression suggested a catastrophe on a life-threatening scale—like the
‘Please, Darius?’ she said, and when he didn’t react immediately she reached across the table and took his hand. ‘Look into my eyes,’ she pleaded.
He complied, trying not to notice how soft her skin was, and how her slim and capable-looking hand fitted perfectly into his.
‘At least try to
He laughed. ‘You’re not doing a great job either,’ he pointed out. ‘The whole “deer caught in headlights” look doesn’t suggest you’re crazy about me.’
She managed to chuckle at that, and her expression was so appealing that he sighed and put on what he hoped was a suitably infatuated look. Actually, after a second he found he was quite enjoying himself. He had a keen sense of humour, and despite his attempts to remain professional when faced with such an attractive interviewee, the situation was so completely ridiculous it was funny.
He was supposed to be evaluating Mallika for an important role in his company, and instead here he was, holding her hand and gazing deeply into her eyes. Rather beautiful eyes, actually—the momentarily helpless Bambi look was gone now, replaced with an apprehensive but intriguingly mischievous little sparkle.
‘My goodness, Mallika, what a surprise!’
The woman who’d stopped by their table was middle-aged and plump and terribly overdressed. Purple silk, loads of fussy jewellery, and make-up that would have put a Bollywood item girl to shame.
‘Hi, Vaishali,’ Mallika looked up with a suitably friendly smile, but she didn’t let go of Darius’s hand.
‘So this was your “urgent personal meeting”, was it?’ Vaishali leaned closer to Darius. ‘Mallika’s kept
‘We … um … met recently,’ Darius said, trying not to gag at the cloud of cloying perfume. It was like being smothered to death by lilies—the woman must have poured an entire bottle of perfume over herself.
‘Ah, well, you deserve to have some fun,’ the woman was saying to Mallika, patting her hand in a surprisingly motherly way. ‘I’ll leave you with your young man, shall I? See you at work tomorrow!’
Her husband had been waiting patiently by her side, and Vaishali tucked her hand in his arm and trotted off with a final wave.
Mallika sighed in relief. ‘Close shave,’ she said as she released Darius’s hand.
Clearly it was no longer of any use to her, but Darius felt absurdly bereft. When he’d first seen her he’d thought Mallika strikingly good-looking, in a natural, outdoorsy kind of way—not his type at all. Now, however, he found himself wishing that she’d held on to his hand just a little bit longer, and the feeling surprised him.
He wasn’t entirely sure how he had lost control of the situation, and why he had not asserted himself in his usual role. He usually went for graceful, ultra-feminine women—the kind who’d learnt ballet when they were young and who dabbled in poetry in their spare time. While she was conservatively dressed, in a business suit, Mallika looked as if she’d spent her youth playing cricket with boys and beating them in every game.
Writing off his reaction to her as a momentary aberration, Darius tried to make sense of what had just happened.
‘Is she that scary?’ Darius asked, and when Mallika didn’t answer, he prompted, ‘Your boss?’
She bit her lip. ‘No, she isn’t,’ she said after a brief pause. ‘She’s actually rather nice.’
He was about to ask her why she’d been so nervous, then, but he held the words back. This was a business meeting, and the fewer personal questions he asked the better. Only he didn’t feel very businesslike right now. When she’d bitten down on her lower lip his eyes had been automatically attracted to her mouth, and now he couldn’t look away. Her lips were full and soft-looking and utterly feminine, and completely in contrast to her direct gaze and the firm lines of her chiselled face …
Okay, this was crazy—sitting and staring at a woman he’d met fifteen minutes ago. One whom he was supposed to be interviewing for a directorship.
‘We didn’t get very far with our discussion,’ he said, trying to sound as if his interest in her was limited to her suitability for the role he’d been telling her about. ‘There’s a decent restaurant on the twenty-first floor. Would you prefer going there? Less chance your boss might pop up again.’