His Irresistible Darling - Sarah Randall Page 0,93

boathouse and lake were about a mile or so away at the back of the main house. He remembered fishing there with Matt and his dad when he’d been visiting from university one summer and he couldn’t wait to get there.

“What? That’s it?” Matt gasped, the smile falling from his lips. “You’re letting him off that easy?”

“Oh hush up, you,” she admonished him, with a wave of her hand.

She turned back to Jumal, smiling warmly, and offered him a side plate and the wire rack. “Scone?”

The sun broke through the canopy of trees after he cantered the mile or so along the track to Melville Lake on the horse Matt had recommended. He prayed he’d just faced the hardest part of his visit but feared the worst was yet to come…

Jumal jumped down from the handsome stallion and secured the reins next to Pippa’s mare, which was already munching on the grass under the shade of a large oak tree at the side of the lake. Was it an omen that the mare didn’t even bother to look up at him?

He wasn’t sure if Pippa was unaware of his presence or choosing to ignore him, but he was grateful that she still sat on the wooden pier in the distance, her back to him, stroking the family Labrador, George, whilst throwing something to the resident ducks and ducklings. It gave him a chance to gather his thoughts and compose himself. He was never more aware that the next few minutes were going to be his most defining. He prayed that he wouldn’t be walking back to the mount having been immediately dismissed. He just needed her to let him speak…to convince her.

“Pippa?” Nothing.

He raked a hand through his hair and cursed lowly. Apparently she couldn’t even bring herself to speak to him, not even to shout and curse at him as he expected, deserved.

He moved in behind her and bent to put hand on her shoulder. He had things he needed to say to her and sighed when he once again felt the softness of her hair as it tumbled wildly over her shoulders. “Please, Pippa, I have—”

“Jesus Christ!!!” she screamed at him, holding her hand to her chest before grabbing at her iPod, now dangling precariously over the lake. Oops… “You scared the bejeezus out of me, Jumal. Idiot!” she shouted at him, grabbing the earphones from her ears and placing them and the iPod to one side.

“Sorry,” he mumbled sheepishly as he sat down next to her on the pier. Okay, so one minute in and she’d already cursed at him and called him an idiot. Undeterred, he discarded his loafers and took the small parcel from his back pocket in his shorts. “Peace offering,” he said, placing the tube next to her hip.

He watched as she slowly turned her head and picked up the tube, opening it suspiciously.

“Smarties. All orange Smarties,” she announced slowly in surprise as she opened it up. When he spotted her lips curl into a slight smile, Jumal finally allowed himself to take the breath he’d been holding for far too long—ever since she’d left Dubain actually. Maybe, just maybe, he dared to think…

“How did you—?”

He gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Lots and lots of tubes. The shopkeeper thought I was mad,” he confessed, but his cautious optimism was shot when she went to tip the tube into her mouth.

“Shit. No wait,” he warned, grabbing for her hand holding the tube.

“What the hell, Jumal?” she yelled. “I could have choked. You’re not honestly expecting me to share are you?” she asked mockingly.

“What? Erm, no, no, of course not. I just need to, erm, talk to you first.”

“Talk fast. You know how I feel about my chocolate. What the hell are you doing here?”

Bollocks he was making a real mess of this. It had all gone so differently in his mind.

“So who’s this?” he asked, nodding towards the poodle sitting next to George. “A new member of the Darling family?”

“Yep. That’s Mimi. Matt bought her as company for George. Something about him owing George a favour.”

“Hmm. So I spoke to Daniel Vincini.” He let his statement hang in the air.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, he told me about your new position with his company. It’s an amazing opportunity for you. When do you start?”

After much inner debate, he’d decided to hold back from telling her about his new business with Vincini. Once today was over he’d know one way or the other whether there was even a