His Irresistible Darling by Sarah Randall

there’s no attempt to hack our system.”
    “Good.”
    “So, erm, are you sure you shouldn’t call in the police?”
    “No. We don’t need the negative publicity it would attract—not when we’re so close to signing the deal. I’ve appointed alternative counsel who is tying it all up and I’m going to go out there next week to put it all to bed and get it signed.”
    “Okay, still, seems she got off lightly, Jumal.”
    “She’ll never work in law again,” he said, his face deadpan and breaking his gaze from Pippa temporarily. “Plus she knows that I won’t hesitate to have a little chat with her parents about what she’s been up to with her friends in Dubai, and that would cause too much family embarrassment for her. She’ll just crawl back under a rock somewhere.”
    “And are
you
okay?” Malik nudged his elbow with his bottle of beer, eyebrow raised.
    “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied dismissively, shrugging his shoulders.
    He saw Malik purse his lips and nod.
    Inwardly, Jumal was still struggling to maintain his composure and keep a lid on his rage following Faridah’s betrayal. After he challenged her, she’d eventually confessed the details of her betrayal to him and broken down in tears. Crocodile tears, he was sure. She’d begged him not to tell her parents of her indiscretion and he’d agreed on the basis that she’d write out a cheque there and then to his charity for the money she’d received from his Dubai competitor to include a default term in the contract which, if not spotted, could have cost his company millions. The naïve idiots had paid her for her treachery in advance. Arrogant fools.
    What surprised him most was the fact that the anger he felt towards her was entirely focused on the impact she could have had on his business and employees if she’d managed to pull off the deception—not the loss of his witch of a fiancée. He hadn’t even gotten around to telling his parents yet…
    He continued to track Pippa like she was his prey as she and the teenybopper kid she was with headed for the bar area and appeared to be making a start on shots. The intruder hadn’t taken his eyes off Pippa for the last ten minutes.
Neither have you,
he mocked inwardly.
    He stalked towards her across the club until he took up position directly behind her and leaned forward, whispering in her ear to make sure she heard him. “Pippa, I really think it’s time I took you home,” he tried again.
    She twirled around to face him, the agitation on her face clear for all to see. “Aghh, are you
still
here?” She rolled her eyes. “Just go home and put your slippers on and settle down with whatever warm milky drink floats your boat. Me and Jake here—” she cocked her thumb back over her shoulder by way of introduction and Jumal ignored his outstretched hand until the kid got the idea and dropped it “—are enjoying ourselves and I’m off the clock. You are NOT my employer tonight and I am having fun! Do you even know what that is, huh?” He scowled as she brought her index finger up to his right pec. “F” poke “U” poke “N” poke. “Now run off home—” she flung her arm out to point towards the door “—and call my brother and tell him you’ve done as he no doubt asked and checked up on me and I’m fine.”
    The girl had no idea she was pulling a tiger’s tail and the tiger was about to bite back.
    “Fun? You want fun? How about I throw you over my shoulder and spank your bottom? Would that be enough fun for you?”
    He revelled in witnessing her startled expression as she dropped her arm, blood rushing to her cheeks, before she quickly recovered and cleared her throat.
    “Well, that would be fun for
you
of course, but I’m not into that kinky shit, Jumal,” she teased before blowing him a kiss. “Now, either join me for a birthday drink or bugger off home.”
    Jumal became aware of the approach of a tall blond-haired man from the corner of his eye. The man