Читать книгу His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall - Страница 11

Chapter Four

Jumal glimpsed occasional flashes of orange on the dance floor but despite being a couple of inches over six foot he couldn’t quite see over all the bobbing heads and writhing and gyrating bodies. Where the hell has she gone? he thought, as he was forced to stand on tiptoe—a fact that grated on him no end.

“Who the hell is that guy?” he growled at Malik, having finally spotted her.

“Which guy?” Malik asked, trying to see through the human medley.

“Which guy?” Jumal repeated incredulously. “That one,” he shouted, pointing, “with his hands all over Pippa.”

“Ah right, that guy. Yeah well he’s the reason I called. Well one of the reasons, the other being I know you promised her brother when she came out here that you’d look after her and I have a feeling the night is going to get riotous quickly.” Jumal scowled as Malik took another swig on his bottle as if needing it for confidence. “Well anyway, she came with him.”

“She came with him,” Jumal repeated in disbelief. “What do you mean?” he asked, unable to stop his voice from rising. Oh this just got better. Not. He raked his hand through his hair. The bloody girl was going to make him go bald if he kept having this reaction to her youthful escapades.

“Just that, well actually she came with two men; one is a tall handsome blond bastard who seemed far too comfortable with his arm around Melina. I can’t see them anywhere.”

Jumal would have analysed his friend’s comments in more detail if he wasn’t completely focused on getting his head around the fact that Pippa had come with a man, correction: two men.

“I think this one’s her date, but I could be wrong,” Malik told him, nodding towards the dance floor. “In fact the rumour mill at the office is that she’s already stayed the night with him.”

Jumal choked on his beer. “Jesus who told you that?” he probed, trying to maintain some dignity as he cleared his throat and continued to cough up his lungs.

“Well, Reeta on reception told Conrad in accounts who told my secretary that he came into the office to bring her lunch box, which she’d apparently left at his place that morning.”

Jumal watched Malik wiggle his eyebrows and smile knowingly but quickly stop and clear his throat as he no doubt took in Jumal’s stony gaze.

Jumal took another swift drink and turned his attention back to the dance floor and away from Malik, but the view of Pippa gyrating her hips with another man was not appealing.

“It’s probably just gossip, Jumal,” Malik suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “You know what the office is like.”

Office gossip or not, Jumal was confused by his reaction to the news about Pippa. He didn’t like it—being confused, the gossip or his reaction. Ah great, more of those alien feelings she brought forth in buckets.

“Well, she looks pretty damn comfortable in his arms and he looks far too smug. He looks about eighteen for God’s sake. What is she dancing with him for anyway?”

“Presumably, because he asked her and he looks about her age, mate.” Jumal was tempted to throttle his friend. “But that’s just my guess,” Malik continued, shrugging his shoulders.

Jumal crossed his arms in front of him to avoid the temptation. “Well, whatever—” he said, shaking his head, knowing he now sounded like a sixteen-year-old, but he was worked up like a coiled spring. Again, only Pippa could shake his apparent legendary control.

“So did the IT team come back to you and confirm that they’d changed all the security access codes and shored up the firewall?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the bouncing orange bikini and the man who was dangerously close to losing his hands if he didn’t remove them from around Pippa’s waist.

“Yep, all done and they’ll continue to monitor over the next few weeks just to make sure there’s no attempt to hack our system.”

“Good.”

“So, erm, are you sure you shouldn’t call in the police?”

“No. We don’t need the negative publicity it would attract—not when we’re so close to signing the deal. I’ve appointed alternative counsel who is tying it all up and I’m going to go out there next week to put it all to bed and get it signed.”

“Okay, still, seems she got off lightly, Jumal.”

“She’ll never work in law again,” he said, his face deadpan and breaking his gaze from Pippa temporarily. “Plus she knows that I won’t hesitate to have a little chat with her parents about what she’s been up to with her friends in Dubai, and that would cause too much family embarrassment for her. She’ll just crawl back under a rock somewhere.”

“And are you okay?” Malik nudged his elbow with his bottle of beer, eyebrow raised.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied dismissively, shrugging his shoulders.

He saw Malik purse his lips and nod.

Inwardly, Jumal was still struggling to maintain his composure and keep a lid on his rage following Faridah’s betrayal. After he challenged her, she’d eventually confessed the details of her betrayal to him and broken down in tears. Crocodile tears, he was sure. She’d begged him not to tell her parents of her indiscretion and he’d agreed on the basis that she’d write out a cheque there and then to his charity for the money she’d received from his Dubai competitor to include a default term in the contract which, if not spotted, could have cost his company millions. The naïve idiots had paid her for her treachery in advance. Arrogant fools.

What surprised him most was the fact that the anger he felt towards her was entirely focused on the impact she could have had on his business and employees if she’d managed to pull off the deception—not the loss of his witch of a fiancée. He hadn’t even gotten around to telling his parents yet…

He continued to track Pippa like she was his prey as she and the teenybopper kid she was with headed for the bar area and appeared to be making a start on shots. The intruder hadn’t taken his eyes off Pippa for the last ten minutes. Neither have you, he mocked inwardly.

He stalked towards her across the club until he took up position directly behind her and leaned forward, whispering in her ear to make sure she heard him. “Pippa, I really think it’s time I took you home,” he tried again.

She twirled around to face him, the agitation on her face clear for all to see. “Aghh, are you still here?” She rolled her eyes. “Just go home and put your slippers on and settle down with whatever warm milky drink floats your boat. Me and Jake here—” she cocked her thumb back over her shoulder by way of introduction and Jumal ignored his outstretched hand until the kid got the idea and dropped it “—are enjoying ourselves and I’m off the clock. You are NOT my employer tonight and I am having fun! Do you even know what that is, huh?” He scowled as she brought her index finger up to his right pec. “F” poke “U” poke “N” poke. “Now run off home—” she flung her arm out to point towards the door “—and call my brother and tell him you’ve done as he no doubt asked and checked up on me and I’m fine.”

The girl had no idea she was pulling a tiger’s tail and the tiger was about to bite back.

“Fun? You want fun? How about I throw you over my shoulder and spank your bottom? Would that be enough fun for you?”

He revelled in witnessing her startled expression as she dropped her arm, blood rushing to her cheeks, before she quickly recovered and cleared her throat.

“Well, that would be fun for you of course, but I’m not into that kinky shit, Jumal,” she teased before blowing him a kiss. “Now, either join me for a birthday drink or bugger off home.”

Jumal became aware of the approach of a tall blond-haired man from the corner of his eye. The man casually slung an arm around Pippa’s shoulders. She didn’t flinch at his touch. “This man bothering you, Pip Squeak?” the new stranger checked, before bending down to kiss her cheek. Christ, her head barely came up to his chest. Presumably this was the tall bastard Malik had told him about—the challenger for Melina’s affections—but he was slightly older than Pippa and full of self-confidence.

Had that growl come from him?!!!

“No more than usual and nothing I can’t handle,” she replied, smiling and winking at Jumal before continuing and waving her arm between the two men. “Jumal, this is James. James, Jumal. James is Matt’s vet at the stud. I thought you two might have met when you were over last year.”

“No,” Jumal replied gruffly, knowing he sounded curt as he held his hand out to shake hands. So this was James; James who had flown thousands of miles to see her. Tall bastard.

“Good to meet you finally, mate. Heard a lot about you from Matt,” the tall bastard said, smiling and offering his hand.

Jumal acknowledged the strong handshake from James for what it was—a silent but clear declaration of his territory. His shake said, “Back off, asshole; hands off.”

Yeah well, right back at you—mate. “You too. Welcome to Dubain. I hope you enjoy your stay,” he replied, insincerely.

The tall bastard carried on unperturbed, “So Matt tells me you two went to university together and have been friends ever since. That’s cool.”

“Yes,” he acknowledged, letting out an impatient sigh, his gaze once again turning to Pippa, but it seemed James wasn’t done with the conversation yet. Jumal sighed inwardly.

“I delivered Pandora’s foal, which I believe is here with you now. I’d love to see how he’s getting on before I leave. Are your stables close by?”

“Yes, that’s fine,” he said, reaching into his jeans pocket for his wallet. “Here’s the card for the stables. Call ahead and they’ll give you the tour and introduce you to Apollo. He’s doing very well, has his mother’s wonderful temperament and his father’s strength and focus.”

Pippa had once again turned her back to him, focused her attention back on the shots Jake had lined up on the bar and was giggling at something the spotty teenage kid was saying. Okay, so he wasn’t exactly spotty. In fact he would probably be classed as good looking and he wasn’t a teenager either, most likely in his early to mid-twenties. Malik had been right about that. So all in all, probably perfect for Pippa. Handsome bastard wouldn’t even have lines around his eyes yet. In truth it was just another needless, stark reminder of Pippa’s youth.

But what the hell was it with all these men swarming around Pippa? If any of them thought they were going to get lucky tonight with his—with Pippa, they could damn well think again. He had promised her brother, hadn’t he…

He felt James’s heavy gaze—probably trying to work out what his intentions were towards Pippa.

He leaned forward again to speak into Pippa’s ear. “I changed my mind. I want to dance with you.”

She flicked her hair back over one shoulder before casting a glance back towards him. “Sod off. I asked you earlier and you rejected me. FYI, I don’t take rejection well. Go dance with your fiancée,” she said, tossing back another shot before licking something off her hand, squeezing her eyes closed and shaking her head. “Wowzer, that’s got a kick.” She was giggling again. Just how many of those had she had?

There was only one way he was going to get her on the dance floor.

“What’s the matter? Too drunk to handle me now?” he challenged intentionally, tilting his head to the side and crossing his arms over his chest. The challenge had been laid.

She turned and slammed the shot glass on the bar, giving him a cool look that he supposed was meant to be a scowl but in actual fact was just cute. “What happened to ‘I can’t dance.’?” He fought to keep his lips from curving into a smile at her imitation of him.

He leaned back over to her ear, pleased that the noisy environment gave him a perfect excuse to place his lips so close. “I said I don’t dance, not that I can’t dance.”

She leaned back and propped her elbows on the bar, her eyes narrowing on his as if she was sizing him up for a new suit; he liked her attention on him. He caught the pissed-off look from the kid who looked like some bigger kid had just stolen his lunch money; James, however, was continuing to weigh him up as if for a fight until Melina sauntered up to him and handed him a bottle of beer.