His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,22

bring it to my attention intentionally. She’s too good to miss it.” He spat out the last words.

“But Jumal, that’s industrial espionage or something. I mean she’s… she’s…”

“I know.”

“Just—” Jumal watched him shake his head again “—wow. So what are you going to do now? Are you going to call the board in?” Malik asked.

“No. I’ll deal with it myself. Privately,” he added to make sure Malik knew it was to go no further than his office.

Picking up his mobile phone, Jumal ran his fingers quickly over the numbers; waiting for it to connect, he sat back again in his chair, swinging back around to face the view.

“We need to talk… No it can’t. My office, now.”

“Jeez, Pip Squeak, you landed on your feet when you got this gig. My work experience was at a pig farm in Halifax. This is beautiful.” Pip smiled back over at James in total agreement and tucked her hair back around her ears, securing it under her baseball cap. Drop-tops were great unless you had long hair, but she loved the feeling of the cooling breeze rushing around her as she drove home along the coastal road from the airport. Of course, it had taken her a while to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road and she’d had occasional mishaps that no one needed to know about…

She smiled over at the friend she’d known for years since he’d become one of the partners at the village’s veterinary practice back home. He was slightly older than she was but they shared a wicked sense of humour and both excelled at teasing her brother mercilessly. It meant a lot to her that he’d taken some of his holiday time to come and visit with her. “I know, right. Wait till you see the pool and gym facilities at the club. You’ll be in heaven—not to mention our beaches,” she yelled, pointing over to her side where the surfers were already taking advantage of the crashing waves.

“Oh, by the way,” he said, leaning forward and rummaging in his rucksack, “here you go, as per your order.”

Pip squealed with delight at the package of sweeties he deposited in her lap.

“I love you, I love you,” she screamed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Dubain has lots to offer but no good sweets or chocolate. Oh speaking of food,” she said, searching in her door pocket with one hand before glancing down.

“Hey, watch the road, you nutter,” he shouted, grabbing for the steering wheel.

“Here you go.” She handed him a small parcel wrapped in a napkin. “I thought you’d be hungry after the horrid plane food. It’s a local delicacy called fatayer. It’s like a meat pie. You’ll love it.”

He chuckled unwrapping it. “I already love it. A meat pie called fatayer. Ingenious.”

“So I was thinking we could hit the pool and have some fun before you have a little snooze, then we’ll head out to the party. I thought you’d appreciate a sleep after your flight,” she said whilst simultaneously trying to pop the top off her tube of Smarties.

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed, munching on his food, popping his sunglasses on and resting his head back on the headrest. “So where’s your party?” he continued, turning his head towards her, wiping his mouth with the napkin.

“A nightclub at one of the big hotels on the beach. My friend Melina has made all the arrangements. Speaking of whom—” She paused and looked over at James briefly, hoping the guilt wasn’t obvious on her face.

“What? What did you do, Pip?” he yelled, making his voice heard over the wind and crashing ocean and raising his sunglasses to the top of his head, presumably so she could see his suspicious glare.

She shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing much,” she mumbled, her mouth now full of Smarties. “Just helping to speed up the natural course of events. You’re only here for a couple of days and I know you two will like each other so—” she waved her arm in a knowing gesture “—I told her to meet us at the pool. She lives in the same apartment complex. How convenient is that, hey? It’s like fate or something,” she joked.

Once she saw James’s coy smile and slow shake of the head, she knew he wasn’t mad at her. He dropped his shades back down and propped his arm on the car’s door frame. Job done, she thought, pleased with herself. James and Melina would only