Saathiya - A Rikara OS/TS Book

A Proposal

Gauri Trivedi tugged the formal gown higher, irritated that she even had to wear such an outfit. It was ridiculous that she was here, much less all dolled up for some arrogant, conceited jerk.

She'd made it quite clear to her parents that she wanted nothing to do with this weekend, but here she was.

Unfortunately, it wasn't like she could simply ignore the summons. He was the crown prince of Jaipur.

But why was she here? As Gauri looked around, there were so many eager, excited women, most of whom were much more beautiful and poised than she was. Of course, some of those differences she had fostered intentionally. She'd purposely played down her looks with almost no makeup and possibly the most unflattering dress she could find.

She didn't understand why so many women had been invited to a huge ball at the palace. If the rumors were true, then the prince was trying to find a wife. But the man was thirty years old and had remained unmarried until this point. Why would he bow to tradition and marry now? It didn't make any sense. Of course, it didn't make much sense for her and her parents to be here either. Her father was well off and well liked in the government, but he wasn't a high ranking officer or agency leader.

But that had nothing to do with Gauri.Rumors must be true about the prince needing to find a wife. Since that wasn't a position to which Gauri aspired, she wanted to turn around and head back home, curl up on her overstuffed chair and read a good book.

As she waited in line to be announced, she looked around, trying to figure out how to get out of this ridiculous charade. She didn't want to be noticed, she wanted to blend in. To be in the background.

"Dad, I need to run to freshen up," she said and slipped her hand from his arm before he could argue with her.

Ten minutes later she came out of the ladies room,she surveyed the hallway.There was still a line of people moving towards the ballroom, but at least her parents were already inside. That means she didn't have to go through the formal introduction with the prince....

She grinned as she picked up her skirts and slipped down the hallway where all the waiters were moving back and forth. It would be so much easier to be invisible if she could go in through the servants' entrance instead of the main doorway.

With a smile of delight, she peered down the hallway, excited to have snubbed the prince in such a way. It was small and possibly petty, but with such a powerful man, it wasn't a good idea to snub him blatantly. So these small rebellions were all she could safely contrive.

Omkara Singh Oberoi, The Crown Prince of Jaipur, spotted the flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Raising his hand, there was immediate silence from his aide who was walking beside him.

If there hadn't been numerous attempts on his life recently, he never would have agreed to this weekend. But even Omkara accepted that the best way to stop the assassination attempts was to marry quickly and produce a heir.

The flash of silver disappeared down the servants' hallway and Omkara walked quickly in that direction, determined to capture whoever was sneaking into the ballroom.

But what he saw as he turned the corner was more fascinating than any criminal intent. The curved, lush bottom pointing in his direction caused his body to react with unexpected interest. Why would someone send a female to kill him?

The lovely, enticing profile view of a woman captured his attention. He could only see the side, but there was enough of a glimpse to capture his interest.

So the evening wasn't going to be a total bore after all, he thought with relish.

Omkara slipped down the hallway, signaling to his guards to get ahead of the woman by the parallel hallway but not to catch her. They were to stand down while he figured out what she was up to.