She swore off love. He didn’t get the memo.
Now they’re stuck on the same high-stakes grant, and resisting him might be the one challenge she can’t win.
Bernadette Murphy doesn’t need much—frosting, publications, and a bike. But after a career setback and a controlling ex, she’s learned to avoid three things: dating colleagues, taking big risks, and believing in happily-ever-afters.
She thought she was playing it safe. Until Ashish Mishra walks into a bar.
Ashish didn’t mean to start things with a lie—but when the woman he’s been dying to meet makes her disdain for professors painfully clear, he hesitates to tell her the truth. One night. No complications. Until they suddenly have to work together.
Bernie is ready to forget him—until Ashish walks into her office as the lead researcher on the multi-million-dollar grant she’s managing.
Now, she’s stuck with the one man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about second chances.
But trust isn’t easily measured, and neither is the courage to risk her heart again. Can Bernie open herself up to the possibility of love, or is falling for Ashish one risk too many?
