Pippa can’t believe her luck. Not only has she landed a job as a PA in a Dubain firm for her final year at uni, but she’ll also be working for Jumal—an old friend of her brother’s, who she’s had a childhood crush on since for ever. It should be perfect—twelve months of sun, sand and swooning over the boss!
The reality isn’t quite so glamorous. Not only is her employer demanding and uptight, he’s also considerably older than her and engaged to somebody else. It’s hopeless. He’s weighed down by expectation and responsibilities, while she is feisty, carefree and full of fun. They are simply not supposed to be together.
But when Pippa’s twenty-first birthday night out ends unexpectedly in a sinister twist, Jumal knows he has to protect his friend’s little sister at all costs. When he moves her into his apartment to keep her close, could filing for the boss turn into a fling with him after all?
His Irresistible Darling
Sarah Randall
CarinaUK
SARAH RANDALL
lives with her family in Lancashire and firmly believes that woman can survive on a diet of hot bubble baths, chocolate, red wine and a good romance book—preferably all at the same time.
To my husband, the finest runner of bubble baths, procurer of chocolate and pourer of the vino. I love you like orange Smarties.
For the written record, I accept full responsibility for the police incident in France. Je suis tres desole!
Can’t wait for our own senior “gap” year and I promise to keep the helpful driving suggestions to myself.
To my Mum and Gemma – the best Guinea Pigs ever!
Contents
Cover
Blurb
Title Page
Author Bio
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Endpages
Chapter One
“PIPPAAAA!!!”
In the chart of “Pippa Darling’s Top Ten Bad Decisions” this one was right up there. Not number one, oh no, but definitely right up there and definitely ahead of number five, featuring the time she’d borrowed her brother’s ten-day-old Porsche for a trip into Leeds for an evening lecture and introduced it to a beautiful ancient oak tree. The car was a write-off, she was fine, but the proud oak still bore the scars and she insisted on yelling an apology to him each time she drove by. In at number four was the time she ignored her mother’s warning and decided that DIY tanning was absolutely the way to go before her high school graduation prom. A non-mover at number three consisted of a teenage break-up with Jimmy Stears (as a direct result of the aforementioned DIY tanning incident) and a night where a bag of giant chocolate buttons, a tube of Smarties (okay, three tubes of Smarties), a jug of premixed mojito and a mobile telephone were never going to be a good combination. Drinking and dialling: lesson learned. A new entry at number two would be her decision to come and spend months away from her home and her family in the oppressive heat of the Middle East, truly bonkers for a country girl more used to the frigid winds of the North York Moors, but still not enough to take the coveted number one spot held by a non-mover for the last, oh, four-hundred-odd weeks. Arguably a crush wasn’t really a conscious decision though…right? It was just an annoyance, like that Bryan Adams song—
“PIPPAAAA!!!”
Pip rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh as she pushed back from her computer desk with both hands and briefly looked to the heavens. Over the last couple of months, she’d grown to hate her name when it was being yelled at the top of her boss’s voice. Even if said voice, when not bellowing at her, was the sexiest panty-wetting accent she had ever heard and could cause her body to have chills even in the aforementioned heat of the midday sun. Damn the man, aka “The Crush”.
“Huh,” she said, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and peering over her desk at her friend and co-worker sitting opposite. “Care to take a guess at what I’ve done or haven’t done this time?” Standing, she straightened her pencil skirt and grabbed her pad and pen. “Do you think if I ignored him he might go away?” she asked wishfully, tapping the pen against her chin.
Melina looked up from her screen and offered a supportive tight-lipped smile. “Good luck, honey. We’ve got an office sweep going on who’ll kill the other first and with what office implement, so don’t let me down. I