His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,10
house with her broomstick. It was hilarious and I’m sure she only did it to make me giggle. The woman was a lot faster on her feet back then, nearly caught him a couple of times.” She chuckled again to herself, no doubt at the memory. “He made it up to me though—took me out for ice cream and let me buy a toy I wanted.”
He let his head fall back against the wall. “No change there then,” he joked.
“Hey,” she said nudging him back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh nothing,” he said turning his head again to meet hers. “Just that he still adores you and you have him wrapped around your little finger. You and Ana now. Poor misguided fool.”
She shrugged her shoulders innocently. “What can I say?” A cheeky smile adorned her face. “I’m adorable and he clearly loves being wrapped around Ana,” she said, wiggling her brows comically.
Jumal tipped his head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. You certainly are, he thought.
“I’ve heard a lot about Mrs Henderson from Matt over the years, met her a couple of times but just briefly. She sounds quite a formidable woman and not someone to have as an enemy.”
Pippa let out a short laugh. “You got that right. I’m sure the best way to sort out any warring factions around the world would be to send her in with a plate of her home-made scones. She’d either bang their heads together until they saw sense or feed them so much they wouldn’t remember what they were arguing about.” She shifted around, presumably trying to get comfortable. “So do you like being an only child?” she asked changing the subject.
“Sure, there was no one to argue with and I was spoilt by my mother but, on the other hand, being the only son of a sheik comes with certain expectations and responsibilities. It might have been nice to share the burden of expectation with a brother but my mother didn’t get pregnant again. So it was always just me.”
And his father had never let him forget the burden of carrying on his family tradition.
“Are you talking about carrying on the family name?” she pressed.
“Not just that, although that’s certainly a major factor,” he admitted tilting his head slightly. “It’s just that it would have been good to have had the option of doing something else with my life—you know, it was always expected that I would be a business entrepreneur, have social standing in our community and take on the title of sheik. I had to fight tooth and nail to keep my interest in horse breeding and racing alive when I was younger. Plus, I kind of felt the pressure to make them proud, seeing as though I was their only child. I carried around a lot of pressure from expectation growing up. I didn’t really have much of what you would call a normal childhood.”
Important decisions about his future such as his education had been made for him by his father, without recourse to him. It was the way it had always been. Jumal’s pleas to stay in the Middle East and attend the same further education establishments as Malik fell on deaf ears. It was simply good fortune that his father’s unilateral decision to send his only son off to England at the age of eighteen for his university education had worked out so well. Jumal had made lifelong friends and finally asserted some degree of independence before the demand for his return to Dubain was issued. Of course that friendship with Matt had led to him meeting Pippa, which had led to his life being turned upside down…
Pip had never heard him speak so openly or frankly, and she was intrigued to hear so much about his personal life and decided to press the advantage. A full account of his prolific business achievements could be easily accessed on the Internet but his private life—nada. The little she did know about him had come via her brother who seemed keen to respect and guard his friend’s privacy.
“Still, I bet your parents are proud of you,” she pushed on. “When I spoke to your mother a few weeks ago she was gushing about your future bride and you giving her grandchildren.” A particular conversation that had made her nauseous and want to smash the phone handset on the desk at the same time.
Jumal reached out and grabbed hold of her forearm. “She said that?”