His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,71
the unrelenting fast pace of life in England. He’d told her how he was used to being able to simply mount his horse and head off for the day, unlikely to come across another person. That was almost impossible in most areas of England.
He’d admitted to her that he was actually quite shy and had begged his father not to send him away from home, up until leaving for university. Then he and Matt had become friends and Matt had encouraged Jumal into fancy dress to get out for the odd nights in Oxford and Cambridge and further afield, and they’d both made the rowing team, which gave him some limited degree of freedom. His father had confirmed his agreement to him taking up the sport.
The wheel suddenly jerked under her hands, shuddering and pulling to the side. Jumal sat up straighter and let go of her hand as she managed to guide it to a controlled stop. Jumal looked over at her worried expression and offered her a reassuring smile. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”
After a few moments on her own, strumming her nails on the wheel, she grew restless and curious and got out to investigate.
She found Jumal at the back of the car, resting on his haunches, his good arm pressed against the side of the car as he looked at the nearside back tyre.
“What’s the problem?”
He looked up at her from his lower position, concern etched on his brow.
“We’ve got a puncture,” he told her, raking a hand through his hair. “And it’s not a run-flat tyre.”
“Oh right, phew, I thought we’d hit something. So I guess we don’t just call a garage out here then, hey?” she joked, looking around the deserted desert.
“No. No phone signal out here in the desert anyway,” Jumal told her and she caught the worried expression on his face before he hid it.
“Right, well, I assume you’ve got a spare. Can’t we just change it?” she asked innocently.
“Er,” Jumal mumbled as he straightened and brushed the dust from his trousers with his good arm.
She cocked her head to the side. “Tell me you have a spare.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve got a spare—” he nodded “—but I can’t change it,” he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.
“Oh I know, your arm ‘n’ all,” she said pointing at his lighter strapping. “But I can change it if you tell me where the spare is in these cars, and the locking wheel nut.”
“The what?” Jumal asked, squinting and shaking his head in confusion.
Pip stood back and crossed her hands over her chest and let out a sigh. “You have no idea how to change a tyre, do you?”
He shrugged and blushed at her challenge before finally shaking his head. “I was never shown. Hell until a year or so ago I had a permanent chauffeur.”
She stalked back to the passenger seat and rummaged around in the glove compartment before declaring her success and returning to him. “Okay, well this time, you get to assist me, Aldabbagh.” She handed him the wheel nut clinically, just like he’d handed her that spoon back in his kitchen.
Jumal took complete advantage of the circumstances as he stood back, watching Pip at work and admiring her backside as she bent down to inspect the huge tyre. She’d instructed him to stand behind her and point the flashlight she’d found in the boot along with the light from his phone. Did he feel less of a man letting his woman change the tyre? Nope. He was all in favour of it. He’d take charge of the cooking; she would take care of all things automotive. Seemed a fair division of labour to him!
“So how come you know how to change a tyre?” he called out, moving his head to look around at what she was doing.
She looked back over her shoulder as she crouched on the ground, positioning some kind of contraption under the car and bending to check it again.
“Don’t bother me while I’m positioning this jack, Aldabbagh, or I’m likely to break your car—” he shut up promptly “—and stop moving the light,” she complained.
After a few minutes she sat back on her haunches, blew her fringe from her eyes and rubbed the dust off her hands. “Right. Here goes nothing,” she said as she applied her foot to the contraption and began to pump it, miraculously raising the back right-hand side of the car from the ground.
“You need me to do that?” he felt obliged to offer