His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,34

head. Thankfully Malik had always been too distracted by Melina to notice that Jumal was himself guilty of every single one of those little actions—just for a different woman.

“You sure you don’t mind?” Pip asked over her shoulder.

James was laid out on one side of her bed, relaxing, arms behind his head, legs crossed at the ankles, looking like a man very much pleased with himself, yet Pippa was full of guilt at having to abandon him so quickly after his arrival. She crossed her room back from her wardrobe, arms full of random dresses, and placed them on the suitcase. She studied each one in turn, discarding most of them quickly for being to “liberal”.

“Nope. It’s fine, hon, honestly. Mel is going to take me sand surfing out in the desert and then up some mountain. Should be fun. She said she couldn’t get you to go up there with her in the cable car,” he said, cheerily wiggling his eyebrows.

“Mel?” she teased, smiling back, grateful for his understanding. “It still feels like a crappy thing for me to do after I’m the one who convinced you to come out to see me. So, you and Melina getting along nicely then?” she continued to tease, looking up at him from the pile of discarded clothes.

“Hey, I’m on holiday and she’s good to spend time with,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and offering her a wolfish grin. “Although I was getting some murderous glances from some guy in a suit all night.”

“Really, no idea who that could have been. She’s not seeing anyone,” she told him, inspecting another possible dress before dropping it to the floor. “You didn’t grope her, did you?”

“Gee, thanks for thinking so highly of me, Pip,” he chided lightly. “I wouldn’t do that to her in public. I waited like a gentleman until we got back to her place,” he joked, wiggling his brows. “So anyway, what exactly happened with you leaving early last night? Jumal came up and said he needed your keys and the next thing he’d carted you off. Mel said you’d had too much to drink but I didn’t see you drinking too much.”

Pip hadn’t mentioned the “drugging” to James or Melina. She knew without a doubt that James would tell Matt who would immediately fly out and put her on the next flight home without debate, and Melina would feel responsible simply for the fact that she had organised the party and been in charge of the guest list.

“Cheeky bastard even offered to pay for me to stay in a hotel. As if I needed his charity,” James laughed coldly.

“He did what?” she gasped, surprised that Jumal would even consider looking after her friend.

“Yeah I know. Jerk. So what’s wrong with all those dresses?” he asked, nodding to the growing pile. “You’re only going for one night, aren’t you?”

“I need something conservative. You know,” she said, blowing her fringe up, “with ample coverage. I still can’t believe he’s asked me to go. His fiancée was supposed to travel with him.” She discarded yet another dress on the floor.

“He’s already engaged?” James asked surprised, popping his head up and leaning back on his elbows. “You’re kidding?”

Pip looked up, briefly surprised at his tone, before quickly refocusing on her hopeless task. “Nope. To a real life Cruella de Vil. But why the surprise? Most women would give their right arm to even stand at his side.” Not that she was a masochist but she was intrigued as to why James seemed to be shocked by his engagement.

He shrugged. “Huh, I just assumed from the vibes and death stares he was giving out last night that he had a thing for you. My mistake,” he said, twisting to sit up at the side of her bed and running a hand through his hair so it stuck up.

“Right let’s see,” he mused, getting up and now rubbing his day-old stubble as he walked over to her wardrobe and began flicking along the rail she hadn’t got to yet. “Christ I see your shopping addiction hasn’t abated since arriving here. How the hell are you gonna get all this stuff home?”

James went strangely quiet and she looked over at him to see what he’d found and was shaken at the strained look etched on his face. “You are coming home in the summer?” he demanded, nodding at her. “Right?” he pressed.

“Of course,” she confirmed, nodding back, not entirely sure she was telling the truth. She’d grown