His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,51
He raised an interested brow as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll stop teasing you at work.”
Hmm, not what he was hoping she was about to offer but still…
“And how will we prove that I find it relaxing?”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I’m willing to take it on trust. That’s how confident I am.”
After a few moments he nodded. “Okay, you have a deal.”
She stepped forward towards his body and reached up to run her fingers over his jawline, and Jumal was momentarily surprised by the contact.
“Good,” she said, dropping her hand and reaching for his left hand before pulling him off towards the bathroom. “Come on,” she encouraged, dragging him behind her. “I’ll need to give you a shave first.”
He pulled her to a stop and said, “I can shave myself, Pippa.”
She spun around to face him. “Oh no, mister,” she dismissed, waving her index finger at him. “Last time you attempted to shave your face with your left hand we ended up spending half an hour covering each nick with tissue and it will hurt when I put the oil on your face, so suck it up and just let me do it.” She widened her eyes in a challenge. “Okay?”
“This is ridiculous,” he mumbled as she marched to the bathroom, although a very small part of him wondered whether he protested just to get her riled up; he was actually quite looking forward to a little Pippa pampering.
Having made him change into his own bathrobe, she deposited him on a chair she’d brought along into the bathroom and positioned next to the marble counter as she began her preparations: first placing a hot face towel over his face. He’d started to ask questions but she had quickly cut him off, telling him that if he was going to question her every move then it was going to take all night…which meant less time for him to work. He shut up.
After a few minutes she discarded the towel saying, “Hmm, this smells nice, menthol or something.” She held a blob of the foam to her nose and inhaled deeply, pushing out her chest.
He dropped his eyes. “Spearmint,” he corrected, clearing his throat and reaching up to wipe off the blob she’d gotten on her nose as she began to slowly cover his face and throat.
“Thanks,” she offered.
He swallowed hard. “No problem.” He closed his eyes briefly as she turned her back to him to refill the sink. Being in such close proximity to Pippa was like locking a diabetic in a chocolate shop. He forced his good arm to drop and take a firm grip on the chair. Just to make sure his hand didn’t get him in trouble. At least the other was securely bound!
This predicament was far too tempting and he needed a distraction.
“So er, why do you insist on joking around and acting like a kid so much?”
She spun around, her brows jumping high to disappear beneath her fringe.
“I wouldn’t have thought this was the best time to upset me, Jumal,” she said, holding the razor menacingly.
He swallowed again and he saw her eyes dart to his bobbing Adam’s apple. “Perhaps not, but I still want to know.”
She stalked over to him and narrowed her eyes before taking a grip of his hair with one hand and tilting his head to the side and bringing the razor into contact with his skin.
He watched her face, which was etched with concentration, as the tip of her tongue darted out to the side of her mouth before she turned to the sink to rinse off the blade.
“Pippa,” he encouraged, as she finally took a deep breath and turned back to him.
“I was bullied at school and even though I’ve never been to see a shrink or anything, I’m pretty sure it’s some kind of defensive reaction to that. A need to cover up my feelings to make sure the people I cared about didn’t see what was really going on. Okay,” she confessed, exasperated.
Jumal was stunned and he took hold of her wrist to still her as she moved the razor back to his cheek.
“You were bulled at school?” he repeated in surprise. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, nonchalantly, but he wasn’t fooled and he needed to know more. Not to push to make her tell him about what was no doubt something she wanted to forget, but because he needed to know everything about her.