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?”
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.
Pippa turned her body towards the kid and Jumal assumed his plan hadn’t worked until she turned back to James and Melina. “Take my place with Jake, you two. I’m off to show this old man how it’s done,” she quipped, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the dance floor, before turning and smiling at him. “If he can keep up.”
Bingo.
“I’ll do my best, kiddo.”
Do not look at her arse, do not look at her arse… Jumal repeated the mantra in his head to no avail. The devil on his left shoulder encouraged him to sneak a peek as was the right of any red-blooded male; the angel on the right slapped him about the head and reminded him that the said pert arse belonged to his best friend’s baby sister…and his employee…
She stumbled in her ridiculously high heels and Jumal reached forward to snag his spare hand around her waist and pull her close to him. Christ she felt good in his arms, which warranted a SLAP from the bloody angel as he held her a little longer than was strictly necessary.
“Thanks,” she said, sheepishly. Jumal couldn’t chance speaking. He wasn’t entirely sure what would come out of his mouth.
“Think I’d better get rid of these ankle breakers,” she conceded as she bent over straight in front of him. Jumal’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Sod it, he thought, I’m already going to hell. May as well enjoy the trip and the view on the way down… He figuratively flicked the angel from his shoulder.
“Ah, that’s better, I’m ready now. You?”
He nodded, still dumfounded. “Oh yeah…” Dumb dumb dumb, and now he sounded like a dirty old man.
So this was to be his punishment, he mused as he raked a hand through his hair. Fair enough.
***
Pip was astounded, in fact gobsmacked, as Mrs H the housekeeper at Melville and her would-be mother would say, by the way Jumal moved his body. The man could move and didn’t that just shock her to the core—her very wet core.
Her heightened senses and shortness of breath had nothing to do with the energy she was expending keeping up with ol’ snake hips but rather lingered from the earlier whispers into her ear when she was at the bar. She’d been laughing at some joke or other Jake had been telling her when she felt a presence move in close behind her. She’d wrongly assumed it was just another partygoer trying to get to the bar until she felt lips gently touching the shell of her ear and the deep, sexy timbre of Jumal’s voice which, for once, wasn’t yelling her name in anger or disappointment.
Who knew, Pippa, I really think it’s time I took you home, could sound so sexy…especially when he really meant to take her home and it wasn’t code for anything else…not that she’d admit to wanting that from him of course. Urgggh, he was her brother’s friend and yes, she’d had a crush on him since she’d met him all those years ago but Christ, he was practically related to her…and he’d seen her wearing braces.
Her body’s treacherous reaction to him had both scared and shocked her and she’d responded with her usual fail-safe defence of teasing aggression, but it hadn’t worked this time…
The bastard had come in for seconds… When he’d whispered, I changed my mind. I want to dance with you, she’d practically melted—like the chocolate she loved so much—into a puddle at his feet and her core had clenched expectantly, just like in her dream. The man could have suggested anything and she’d have gone along for the ride at that moment in time. And she was right on board with the whole throwing her over his shoulders and spanking her bum plan. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to seem too keen.
The music was blaring so loud Pip could feel the bass reverberate throughout her body, which only added to the thrill ride it was currently experiencing. Jumal’s moves had attracted the attention of most of her female friends and even some guys she knew were gay. Most of them were nudging each other and it was clear that they couldn’t believe that Jumal was a. dancing and b. could actually shake his delicious booty—not that she was staring…
When she’d first cottoned on to the attention he was attracting she felt delighted. Now she was willing to stab at their eyes if they didn’t quit it. He wasn’t some animal in a bloody zoo. Well okay, she was staring but that was allowed. It was her twenty-first birthday after all. It had to come with some perks!
Pip threw her arms up and simply let go, singing along to Miss Spears’ “Till the World Ends”, bouncing around to the beat like a kangaroo on speed, having the time of her life, smiling at her fellow bouncing kangaroos: friends she’d made over the last few months, work colleagues and James and Melina who seemed to be getting along famously judging by the grinding of their bodies.
The music changed to a deeper, slower, dirtier grind.
Her kangaroo crew cheered, arms aloft and pointing to her as they chanted along with Mr 50 Cent’s birthday song. Pip felt strong hands tighten around her hips from behind and pull her body close; she allowed her head to fall back against the rock-hard muscle of a defined chest and closed her eyes, not wanting to acknowledge it was Jumal. She made a last-ditch attempt to convince herself into believing that it could be anyone—Jake even—whose hands were making her feel so alive. Not Jumal, anyone but Jumal. Their bodies moved as one—no space between them. Her body ached for the hands to move from her hips and over her body but they remained tightly gripping her hips a
nd she couldn’t help but undulate her body along with the beat. She was forever grateful to Melina for dragging her along to those belly-dancing sessions when she’d first arrived in Dubain.
She’d always loved to dance, from the ballet her mother had taken her to as a child, to the street-dance lessons she had demanded as a teenager and more recently, the pole dancing routines her sister-in law, Ana, had tried to teach her and from which she was sure she still had bruises. She and Ana had enjoyed many great nights out dancing in Leeds before her little nephew had come along and Pip had left for Dubain. The pair of them would get ready together, giggling like teenagers at the wigs and disguises for Ana, and would then head straight out to the clubs and beeline for the dance floor—no need for alcohol as a motivator. Space always seemed to just appear for them, no matter how packed the floor was. Of course that was usually because people stood back to stand and stare—both men and women—and it wouldn’t be long before someone in the crowd eventually recognised the former supermodel at which point the camera phones usually came out, forcing them to leave the club, breathless but still giggling before jumping into a taxi.
She turned and looked up into Jumal’s eyes, which were almost completely black. Her breath caught in her lungs. Time stopped. Music and laughter faded; Jumal’s eyes bore into hers and became her entire world. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from him—a moth caught in a flame, knowing only disaster lay ahead but powerless to do anything other than burn. Oh Lord did he know how she felt about him? Was it clear on her face that she needed to keep up the annoying and perhaps sometimes childish behaviour as a shield against him? She knew that if she let her true feelings take over that she would surely drown in them. The floodgates would be open and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to close them again. Pip wasn’t prepared to face the sure-fire rejection from one of the few men she had ever admired in her life. The others being her father and her brother, Matt. All of them had possessed the same focus and brutal determination to succeed in life. Yet Jumal had something else within him, a darkness she had glimpsed briefly in the time she’d been here and it shocked her that she was even more attracted by the discovery. Only the very brave or foolish would ever mess with Jumal Aldabbagh in business or pleasure.
His Irresistible Darling Page 7
