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“Why me?” she blurted as if she had no control over her thoughts, and it was one that had been bothering her since her parents informed her of the marriage with the Prince of Devaraya.
His brow furrowed slightly. “Why marry you?” He took another step closer and into her personal space. His stature was no longer intimidating but admirable, and the muskiness of his cologne filled the air making her jittery.
She nodded, unable to find the words to express her annoyance over the situation.
“Why not you?” His voice was an octave lower as his eyes fixated on her face. “You are a smart, caring, and…” his eyes scanned her face and added, “… a very beautiful woman. Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?” The way he said those words caused a zap of energy to pass through her. His words made her body arch, her breasts sticking out inadvertently like it wanted to show him her curves.
She let out a gasp. “What?” She knew he was messing with her head, but the crazy side of her wanted to bask in the glory of his compliments, even if they were sarcastic. “I just don’t get it.”
He stayed silent for a long moment. “What if you could do anything you wish with your life after one year?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she was sure she had misheard him. Maybe he meant she would get used to her misery in a year’s time? “What?” she asked as if she wanted him to say it again for confirmation.
“You heard me.” Like he wasn’t close enough, he leaned closer, his mouth to her ear, his breath warm on her cheek. “Agree to this marriage, stay put for a year, and you are free to do what you wish. I might even throw in a recommendation for any kind of job or offer financial investment for a business of your choice.”
Just as she was processing his words along with her bodily reaction to his proximity, the door to her room opened rather loudly, startling her. She turned to look in the direction of the door, only to run her lips along the side of his face as he stepped back.
Her mother and a bunch of older women who were there to get her dressed stood frozen at the sight of her and the unwanted fiancé standing too close to each other. And from that angle it may have looked like they were kissing.
Her mother was the first to react. “Oh, Jai, we didn’t know you were coming.”
He flashed the group a charming smile. “Just stopped by to see Sanjana.” He stepped further away from her. “She is all yours.” He made sure to greet each of the women before he left the room.
Sanjana was still reeling from the sensations she had felt in such a short time, even as he glanced her way before leaving her trembling inside. Her lips still tingled from the roughness of his stubble, and her breath was trapped by his scent.
“Sanjana, you, naughty girl,” one of her aunts tsked and added, “You couldn’t wait until tonight to get married and then be with your prince?”
There was laughter around her as she got dressed for the morning’s first event—a breakfast meet and greet for the families. Would that be an opportunity for her to ask him what he meant when he said she could be free after a year?
Did he not want her around after one year?But why that timeframe? She now had another million new questions.
Chapter 3
“Sanjana, slow down,” her sister hissed with a broad smile as she looked at the camera. “Your prince will not run away if you show up a minute late.”
Sanjana had no interest in the captures by the photographers. She needed to talk to the guy who offered her something she could only dream of. Growing up in a traditional family, only certain things were approved, and she had to promise many things to leave home and study in a different town.
Especially because of how stringent her grandmother was about an unmarried girl leaving home, she had to make a promise she would stay a virgin until marriage and would marry the man of her father’s choice. She didn’t care what commitments she was being asked to make at that time as she wanted to get away from home and be independent, live on her own, and do what she had always loved to do—train to be an airline pilot so she can travel the world.
She had never expected her father to arrange her marriage alliance before she got her flying hours logged in to get her commercial pilot license. Spending most her life in one town, she would obsessively read travel magazines and watch the shows and had decided while in high school that she would travel when she was grown up.
When it came to making a career choice, she realized there was a recommended path for her for education based on what her father pursued in the Indian Administrative Services. Her sister followed that path, and she found herself doing the same.
It wasn’t until she failed to pass the IAS entrance exam that she started to question if she was passionate enough to be in civil services. It felt like something she went along with to not disappoint her parents, especially her father.
As a distraction from the sadness and embarrassment of not passing the exam, she went along with a friend to a flying club and that’s when she got hooked on flying. Her dreams of traveling as an adult all converged at one job—being a pilot.
Fly to a new city with every trip!
For the past few months, she had been away from home under the pretext of preparing for next year’s entrance exam, but she had spent more time on her pilot training than studying. It was something she had not shared with anyone, not even her sister, and she didn’t know how to break the news to her family.
The prince’s proposal was actually a win-win. She would blame the lack of preparation time on the fact that she had to get married and perform wifely duties. And after a year, she would be free to take up a pilot job. Maybe that’s the job she would ask her fake husband for a recommendation or even better, employment.
A year was not a long time for her to wait for that freedom. But she needed to make sure the guy was not joking or, worse, setting a trap to get her into trouble with her father. She told herself she had to keep her guard up and make sure he didn’t take her for a ride. Although he had not shown any indication of doing so, she told herself to be careful.
Why did he need to lead her on? What would he get out of marrying her when he could possibly have any woman swooning at his feet with his stunning good looks? And to top it off, he wasthePrince of Devaraya and hot as hell.
In the short time she spent online researching him, she found hardly anything on him. Most was about his older brother. There was some family history and family portraits, but there was nothing else, not even on social media. She thought it was strange, but it aligned with how the current events were being organized—a highly secure resort with close family and no announcements anywhere about the royal wedding.
