His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,47
his eyes. Just ask her, he pushed himself. She is sitting right in front of you, alone. Just ask her if she has any feelings for you. Nice feelings, he added. He knew she wasn’t shy at conveying the negative feelings she had for him—frequently. Coward, he berated himself. He couldn’t expect her to admit any feelings she might have for him, if he didn’t have the nerve to volunteer his feelings to her first.
“Pippa, I—”
“So, I’ve—” they started simultaneously.
“Go ahead,” he offered.
“Oh okay. I was just going to say that I called Matt and asked him to try to get hold of your parents to let them know what happened. I also just went to call Melina to ask her to contact Faridah. I didn’t have my phone with me to call people.”
“Don’t bother contacting any of them,” he informed her coldly, shaking his head.
She tilted her head to the side and raised her brows. “Really?” she questioned. “Why on earth not?”
“Well, my parents are travelling in the Far East somewhere—” He tried to take a breath without causing pain before he continued. “And Faridah and I are no longer together,” he confessed quickly.
He watched her eyes widen in shock and her mouth drop open. “What?” she exclaimed. “Since when?” She edged forward in her seat.
“A few weeks ago. I don’t want to talk about her,” he dismissed. She was of no importance to him any more. He wanted to focus on the woman in front of him. Huh, woman. He thought that might be the first time he’d ever thought of her as a woman as opposed to a girl. One touch of her lips and she was all woman to him now. He’d laugh at the absurdity of their situation if it wouldn’t hurt him so much.
“Okay,” she said slowly sitting back in her chair. “Seeing as though it’s confession time—”
God, this was it. She was going to tell him what he so desperately wanted to hear. He tried to relax as the bloody heart rate monitor began bleeping loudly, betraying him to everyone including the hospital cleaner loudly bagging a mop or some other contraption in the hallway.
He watched Pippa nervously fidget and her eyes dart towards the monitor. “Are you all right? Do you need me to get the nurse?” Just as she started to rise a nurse popped her head around the corner.
“Welcome back, Mr Aldabbagh. Everything okay in here? Your fiancée’s not getting you overexcited is she?” she asked knowingly, her eyes wide. “Or are you struggling with the pain?” Now concerned.
“No. No it’s fine,” he rushed, anxious for her to leave so he could be alone with Pippa again.
He watched the nurse consider his responses before she nodded and replied, “All right, but you need your rest so try to stay calm and just buzz me if you need more pain medication. Don’t try to be a hero. Take the drugs,” she lectured before leaving.
The monitor slowed down finally. “My fiancée?” he pressed, a brow raised as he turned back towards Pippa.
“Oh, erm, right,” she glanced down. “Thought I was literally saved by the bell then.” He watched her take a deep breath and wished he could do the same. “So when you fell, the medics wanted to know about your next of kin and if you had any allergies and stuff,” she ran on, her hands frantic, before glancing up at him.
He nodded in encouragement for her to continue. “Mmm-hmm.”
“So, I knew your parents weren’t there and I hadn’t seen Faridah all day, so I told them that I was your fiancée,” she gushed, unwilling to land Kahlid in Jumal’s bad books. “And I told them about your allergy to penicillin.”
He tried to hide his surprise at her confession. It wasn’t what he had been expecting or indeed hoping for but this was now the second time that Pippa had been mistaken for his fiancée and the idea was strangely appealing.
“I’m sorry, Jumal.” She dropped her head into her hands, elbows resting on her knees. “I didn’t want to embarrass you but I didn’t want you to have to go on that helicopter alone and—”
“Hey,” he said warmly, reaching for her hand. “It’s fine. Thank you. It means a lot to me that you came with me.”
She looked up, allowing her hands to drop, and met his eyes. “Really?” she checked, her eyes wide.
He thinned his lips and nodded and he watched her relax.