His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,29
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.
Christ, how long had she been staring at him? And why was he now swaying around? In and out of focus—blurry?
Pip felt her heart rate quicken further and her pulse spike, a sweat developing on her brow that had nothing to with her dancing. She blinked furiously, trying desperately to focus on Jumal, hell, anything, but it was impossible. It felt like she’d put two sets of contact lenses in and her panic escalated. What the hell was going on? Something wasn’t right and she was scared.
She leaned into Jumal and pulled him down towards her lips. “Jumal,” she whispered into his ear. “I don’t feel…right, something…”
He pulled away from her, concern now etched on his face. “What?” he demanded, his hands now clasped tightly around her upper arms. “What’s the matter?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just don’t feel right. My head’s all fuzzy and it’s not alcohol, honest.” She felt her head roll back on her neck before Jumal pulled her closer. “I’ve had diet coke all night up to those shots at the bar with Jake—oohhhh.” She felt her head wobble again before feeling it resting against Jumal’s firm chest as he guided her off the dance floor towards the bar.
Moments later she felt a cold bottle being pushed gently into her hand. “Here drink this,” he said handing her a bottle of water and seating her in a nearby chair. “I’m taking you home. Did you have a coat and bag?”
“Erm, no I didn’t think of a coat. James has my keys,” she mumbled, sipping the water gingerly and slumping involuntarily in the chair.
She was vaguely aware of Jumal saying. “Wait here.” Unnecessary order. She didn’t think she could move even if she wanted to.
“Hey honey, you okay? Are you off home?” Melina asked next, concerned as she knelt down in front of her and brushed Pip’s hair back over her shoulders.