His Irresistible Darling (13 page)

With the benefit of time and reflection, even he could see that he and Faridah were a mistake from the start, even ignoring her traitorous actions. Marriage would have made them both miserable, but he had once again allowed his father to ride roughshod over his personal life, because he’d decided that it might help him put Pippa out of his mind. Ha! What a joke. He’d once started to write a list of “reasons not to like Pippa.” He’d gotten as far as “Matt will kill you” before shredding it in self-disgust.

“Brandy, sir?” The waiter’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“No thank you,” he declined and pushed back his chair as he spotted Kahlid stand simultaneously and move to pull out Pippa’s chair for her. No way in hell was the slime going to be dancing with her too. Jumal stalked back around the dinner table.

“Oh Jumal,” she said, startled by his presence. “Wasn’t dinner lovely?” She smiled widely, placing her napkin on the table.

“Yes lovely,” he replied brusquely, holding out his hand. “I need to speak with you, Pippa. Will you excuse us, Kahlid?” But he wasn’t asking. He was secretly relieved when she actually did as he’d asked and put her hand in his.

“Certainly,” Kahlid conceded, bowing slightly. Jumal let out an impatient breath. “Thank you for your company, Miss Darling. I look forward to seeing you at the polo match. Perhaps you would save a dance for me then?” he suggested far too keenly. “Jumal.” He nodded stiffly in acknowledgement and sauntered away.

“Ow, Jumal, you’re hurting my hand,” Pip complained as he pulled her towards the dance floor. He released his grip quickly, taking her in his arms before she had chance to argue.

“Why is he talking about the polo match? He seemed to be under the impression he was invited?” he said, flexing the muscle in his jaw.

“Ah, well yes—” She dropped her head in avoidance of his intense gaze.

He pulled away from her and stopped moving. “Pippa,” he growled.

“I just mentioned it to him and he volunteered to offer a donation.” She shrugged. “I couldn’t very well accept it and not offer an invitation, could I?”

He pulled her body back into his and resumed their slow dance around the small dance floor, finally allowing himself to take a deep breath and indulge in the soft scent of her hair shampoo—something fresh and light and oh so tempting. Apple.

There was no style to the dance, just a simple movement of their bodies, but had he ever felt so close to another person? He didn’t think so and when he felt her body relax into his frame, the rest of the room simply fell away.

***

She was in his arms finally, held so close to his body that she could feel the heat radiating between them, feel his heartbeat and his soft breath against her hair. Pip finally allowed her body to relax against his and she enjoyed the moment. She’d allow herself the guilty pleasure of one dance only—a reward of sorts for laughing along with Kahlid whilst trying to politely avoid answering his questions about her personal life. One dance, then she would leave.

Her right hand was clasped in his and she allowed her left hand to slowly move around his waist to the middle of his strong back. She could feel the definition of his muscles either side of his spine as her head rested against his shoulder, and she could happily have stayed in his arms for the rest of the evening.

She’d played her role as supportive PA to Jumal all day and even laughed at Kahlid’s bad jokes all evening. Now was the time to enjoy.

Pip had given up trying to kid herself that she could ignore her feelings for Jumal. She wanted him with a desperation that frightened her. She had never had such feelings for any of her earlier boyfriends and was appalled that she couldn’t simply get over him. He was engaged and completely unavailable but she was frustrated by circumstances—anxious to speak to anyone about her feelings but having no one to share them with. She couldn’t turn to anyone in Dubain as they all knew Jumal and she wouldn’t run the risk of anything somehow getting back to him or, worse, to Faridah.

The same went for her friends at home. There she ran the risk that it would somehow get back to Matt. She’d almost brought it up with James but chickened out at the last minute. Ana, her sister-in-law, would be her usual confidante about such “man matters” but there was no way that she would put her in such a predicament with her husband. What she really needed was someone to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, highlight the man’s bad points to which she was so obviously blind.

The music ended.

“Thank you for the dance,” she said, reluctantly tearing her body from his. She needed to escape, get some distance. “I’m tired now. Am I off the clock?”

“Of course.” He nodded, stepping back. “I’ll see you back to the room.” He dropped one hand to her lower back and motioned away from the small dance floor with his arm.

“No,” she said quickly, putting her hand to his chest and gasping as she felt the reaction of his body to her touch, his muscles flexing. The last thing she needed was to be in his presence in their suite. “Erm, sorry, I mean, no it’s fine. You stay,” she urged, stepping back. “I’ll, er, see you in the morning, okay?”

Jumal nodded in agreement. “Goodnight, Pippa. Thank you for your help today. You did well.”

She was startled by his rare praise
.
“Y-you’re welcome. Night,” she added softly before taking a step towards the exit.

“Pippa,” Jumal called after her and she spun around to face him.

Her eyes were drawn towards his chest as it expanded with a deep breath. “Anta jameel. You look beautiful in that dress, by the way.”

She felt her cheeks flush brightly before she turned and made her escape from the room, forbidding herself a look backwards. She knew she was running away but it was surely better than embarrassing both of them by doing or saying something she’d later regret. Something had changed on this trip. Something she couldn’t put her finger on. Whatever it was, it had scared her and she was now running like a frightened rabbit.
That’s it,
she dictated to her own wayward thoughts as she climbed the broad staircase to their suite.
Concentrate on your job for the next few months and then head home,
she lectured herself.
Simple,
her head thought. If only her heart would get on board with the plan…

***

“Ah, bliss,” she moaned, lowering her body into a hot bubble bath. A treat after a whirlwind week that started with the visit to Dubai with Jumal, spending some time with James celebrating her actual birthday with a lovely meal before his onward flight to continue his holiday, comforting a heartbroken Melina, finalising the details for the polo match and charity auction that weekend and climbing mountains with Jake.

She could finally relax now, happy with all the arrangements for tomorrow. She had thrown herself into her work that week, perfectly executing stage one of her “Get over Jumal plan”. The co-star of her plan had been suspiciously absent from the office which, rather than helping, only made her think about him even more than usual. Where the hell was he? He’d simply emailed her from his phone to cancel his scheduled appointments for the week and marked his diary out as “unavailable/no appointments”.
Probably busy enjoying himself with the long-legged freak.

She took a sip of her red wine and allowed the glass to bob alongside her body in the warm water as she reached for a chocolate. Hmm, red wine and chocolate from home courtesy of James—definitely bliss. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift for a moment…
Where is he right now?
Agghhh, she jerked her eyes open moments later, grabbing desperately for her glass before it spilt in the water. “That bloody man.” She cursed at her treacherous and wayward thoughts. “Can’t even let me relax in the bath in peace,” she grumbled to herself.

***

So Saturday had arrived without Pip having spoken to or seen Jumal all week. He hadn’t even checked in with her to see if she needed any help with the polo match. Jerk.

The morning of the polo match hadn’t started well and she hoped it wasn’t an omen. She’d stepped out to her car that morning, already running a bit late, to find the tyres on her car flat. Not just one, which would be perfectly understandable, but all four. Slashed. She didn’t have time to sort it but thankfully a red-eyed Melina was on hand to give her a lift and was now helping her put the finishing touches to the arrangements. She’d already checked the reception marquee and the place setting and organised the prizes and donations for the charity auction, which was planned for later that evening after the match and dinner dance. Thankfully her bad luck from this morning did not appear to have lingered…

“Hello Pip.”

Pip jumped at the American accent behind her and quickly spun around. “Oh, Jake. Hi, how you doin’?”

His cheeks reddened and he kicked at the grass nervously. “Good thanks.” He grinned back at her. “You look lovely in that dress. Can I do anything to help? You look like you have your hands full.”

“Ah, no thanks. Melina and I have got it all sorted. You just go on and enjoy yourself. I’ll come and find you.”

“Oh,” he said, the smile falling from his boyishly handsome face. “Okay, if you’re sure.” He shrugged, dropped his head forward and continued to kick at the grass.

“Actually—”

“Yes?” he jumped in eagerly.

“You could help me carry these boxes across to the reception marquee.”

“Great. Yeah. Sure, I don’t really want to hang around with the big bosses. Feels like they’re always watching me,” he answered eagerly, like a puppy anxious to please. “So how are your aching muscles?” he asked, picking up the boxes full of table gifts.

***

The jerk hadn’t even bothered to say hello to her before mounting his bloody horse for the first chukker. But damn the man looked good sporting his team’s pale blue jersey, white jodhpurs, brown leather boots and white helmet. Trust him to make that ensemble look good, especially when teamed with his jet-black horse. The animal looked like it belonged to one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. It was panting and snorting tensely. She’d tried not to stare as he’d mounted his horse confidently and cantered around the pitch, conversing with the other three teammates. She hadn’t missed the intense stand-off between Jumal and Yves
.
Not that she’d been staring of course…but it seemed that the grudge match was very much on. The only saving grace was the apparent absence of Faridah. Again. Hmm, maybe the mother ship had finally called her home…

By the end of the seventh chukker the match was still even at two each and it was now sudden death. The excitement of the crowd was thrilling as the next scorer would take all. Pip had been remarkably reserved so far, only drawing a warning glare from Jumal on a couple of occasions.

She and Jake had taken up a position at the fence in the middle of the pitch, which afforded the best vantage. “So guess what?” Jake asked, leaning over to speak into her ear over the cheering. Pip smiled back, her eyes wide. “I’ve been contacted by the head honcho at Goldbergs in New York.”

“Yeah?” she encouraged. “How come?”

“They’ve apparently decided that it was short-sighted of them not to offer me the apprenticeship and—”

“No way!” Pip interrupted while grabbing his forearm, animated.

“Way,” he carried on, returning her grin. “And they just can’t do without me,” he joked. “They want me to transfer back over there immediately. Can you believe that?” he asked, appearing genuinely shocked by his good luck.

“Oh Jake,” she beamed, hugging him. “Well done. I’m really pleased for you.” She pulled back. “But I’m gonna miss you. Apart from Melina you’re the only person who gets me. We need to make that trip over to Dubai before you leave. Gotta see if you’re as good a snowboarder as you say.”

“You’re on, girl; it would be a pleasure to show you my backside rodeo,” he teased before reaching into his jacket pocket. “Oh by the way I—”

“Pippa?” She turned her head back towards the deep male voice.

“Kahlid,” she greeted, kissing his cheek. “Good to see you again. Let me introduce you to my friend Jake. Jake, this is Kahlid.” The men shook hands. Pip continued, “Jake has just landed a super-duper job in the world of commerce in New York,” she said to Kahlid, “and Kahlid works for the Dubai government in the department of defence,” she explained by way of introduction. “And he knows loads of great jokes,” she added mischievously.

***

What the hell?
Jumal gritted his teeth in fury.

He’d purposefully stayed away from the office all week in a desperate but futile attempt to rid his thoughts of Pippa—for all the good that had done. He’d simply missed her more, getting increasingly frustrated. She was like an addiction. He’d spied her as soon as he’d arrived at the venue. She looked perfect. She was wearing a perfectly feminine fifties-style polka dot dress—reminiscent of Julia Roberts in
Pretty Woman
, but much shorter…with brunette hair. Scratch that, he’d thought, Julia Roberts had nothing on Pippa Darling.

Now, she was chatting happily with that bloody kid from the bar. The one he was sure was responsible for drugging her, although he still had no such evidence. The CCTV from the hotel had proved to be next to useless. Still,
Jake
was supposed to be in New York after Jumal had called in a long-overdue favour.

He cursed as he missed a shot, distracted by the image of Pippa smiling and grabbing at the kid’s arm. He held up his arm, shouted an apology to his teammates and tried to get his head back in the game, not wanting to give Yves any more of an advantage. The next goal would win. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm and shouted more directions and encouragement as his role as captain demanded. Jumal urged his horse into position as he raced to block Yves from reaching the ball, which had spun towards the centre of the pitch. Jumal caught sight of Pippa again, her long hair lifted in the breeze as she turned around to greet another man—Kahlid. Jesus how many more men could the damn woman attract?

He scowled as he saw her rise up on her toes to kiss the slimeball on his cheek in greeting. Blood rushed to his head and the game vanished from his thoughts as he fought the need to gallop over and grab her, lift her up onto his mount and finally disappear with her.
Purely for her own protection
. Shouting pierced his thoughts as he looked up to see Yves and his mount charging down on him.
Bloody hell
, he thought, bracing himself for the impact. This was going to hurt. He was vaguely aware of a woman’s scream before all went black.