Hayden Owens is just a typical graduate student working his way through school as a barista for the Owens Coffee Company -- no relation. But he keeps the "no relation" part to himself when he meets dashing, older Neal Kirchner, a successful architect from an old-money family. Hayden doesn't exactly lie, but he figures it can't hurt for Neal to believe he's a rich kid. After all, Hayden doesn't want Neal thinking he's a gold digger.<br><br>Neal Kirchner is Asian Indian and British decent. His parents became Christians, shoving their heritage to the side. Neal has returned to the customs and religion his grandmother cherished. On top of being a very successful architect he's heir to the Indian Rose Tea Company, a business that's been in his family for generations.<br><br>Neal's passion is high performance cars and he meets Hayden at a fundraiser for the automotive engineering department of Clemson University. They are immediately smitten with each other. The closer they become, the harder it gets for Hayden to come clean. Something always seems to get in the way. When a company bankruptcy and a jilted, vindictive woman threaten to expose his charade, Hayden thinks it's all gone down the drain. Luckily Neal is ready with some innocent trickery of his own, but will their relationship survive?

High Test

“I completely missed the cool and smooth mark though, didn’t I?” Neal cut Hayden off. He let go of Hayden and put both hands in his pockets.


No, you blew by cool and smooth a long time ago


Hayden smiled and said, “I don’t have enough information to decide yet.” Where did thatlittle clever, flirty statement come from?


“I’ll have to work on providing more information.” The corner of Neal’s mouth twitched up.


Hayden inched toward the end of the case, intending to get behind the counter. He caught a glimpse of Steffie shooing him back onto the floor. Feeling like the proverbial deer in headlights, Hayden froze in his tracks.


Neal glanced around the coffeehouse. “Pretty dead tonight, huh? I like this—just us.”


“Yeah, most of our customers come in during business hours.” Hayden shrugged. He heard Steffie hit the bean grinder. The noise made Hayden jump. “They need those caffeine shots to work a long day.”


Chapter 8