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My arms tightened around her waist involuntarily and Diya yelped.
“I’m sorry,” I said, loosening my grip. “But yes, I’d like that. A lot.”
I knew I sounded like a Neanderthal learning to form words, but my throat had closed up with emotion. I knew what this meant, and that it was a huge deal. Diya had asked me to spend time with her. Which meant that she was willing to give us a chance. And I was determined not to blow it.
“Only if we take my private jet, though. I refuse to fly commercial,” I said firmly.
“Snob,” she teased.
“Not just a snob. I’m a royal snob, and don’t you forget it.”
I spurred Pasha into a gallop and we went flying over the dunes in the moonlight. Diya laughed loudly when Pasha jumped over a small dune that was in his way, and her laugh echoed through the silent desert. The warm sound wrapped itself around my heart and burrowed into my soul, filling it with joy and peace. I was out on the dunes in the moonlight with Diya in my arms. What more did I need in life?
We rode for more than an hour as I showed her the borders of our lands and the thriving orchards we had built in the desert over the years with the help of irrigation canals.
“What do you do, exactly?” she asked. “Like what’s your day job?
“I do what most royals from Rajasthan do. I run luxury hotels,” I replied with a laugh.
“Really?”
“Yes. After my father died, I took over the family estates and turned all the spare palaces into luxury hotels.”
“But what about politics? How come you didn’t take over your father’s seat in the assembly?”
I grimaced slightly.
“Can you see me as a politician?”
“I can see you as a diplomat. You were training to be one, right? Why did you give that up?”
“My family needed me here after Baba died, and it didn’t seem right to move to London for my foreign posting when Ma was on the brink of a breakdown.”
Diya stirred in the saddle and turned to look at me.
“Dheer… from what I’ve seen… the Goels seem almost afraid of you. Why is that? And why do you carry a rocket launcher in your car the way I carry a face mist?”
I tensed at her question and took my time answering because I was afraid of saying the wrong thing. I was worried I’d say something that would destroy the fragile truce that existed between us.
“These are lawless lands, Diya. You’ve seen that for yourself. I do whatever I need to do to protect my family. Does that bother you?”
“It doesn’t… as long as you’re not like Ayush Goel.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“No one can be like Ayush Goel, sweetie. He is a special case,” I said bleakly.
She didn’t notice that I had evaded her question and laughed like I wanted her to.
Pasha was sweating by the time we rode back to the stables and Diya helped me rub him down, and the spoiled bastard lapped up her attention like he was her lamb.
“I smell of horse,” she grumbled as we made our way to our room.
“It could be worse. You could smell of horse dung,” I pointed out.
“Hmph. It doesn’t change the fact that I have to take a shower when all I want to do is go to sleep.”
“Come on, sleeping beauty. If you promise to be nice to me afterwards, I’ll rinse you down like I did with Pasha.”
