by Marian Tee
The billionaire simply nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips.
How difficult to read this billionaire was, Gloria thought in approval. A deep and complex man, in other words, which should make him quite attractive to Ilse. Whether Ilse admitted to it or not, she liked her life complicated, and could there be anything more complicated than warding off the attentions of a sexy, secretive billionaire?
“You seem like a nice young man,” Gloria murmured sweetly. “May I ask what your intentions are towards Ilse?”
Jaak’s smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “Intentions? That’s a bit archaic, don’t you think?”
Archaic? Gloria blinked. How wonderful! This man was proving to be tailor-made for Ilse, with his vocabulary as impressive as his bank account.
“If you keep talking like that,” Gloria told him truthfully, “your intentions probably wouldn’t matter.” This time, though, the older woman also chose to switch from Dutch to English, wanting to see if the billionaire would also meet Ilse’s other preferences.
“I beg your pardon?”
And he did!
Having heard the man’s perfect command of English, Gloria leaned forward, saying, “This is your lucky day, mijnheer.”
Twenty minutes later, and the billionaire walked out Ilse’s boss’ office an enlightened man. When he paused in front of Ilse’s table, she didn’t look up, her attention completely focused on her computer.
It didn’t matter.
He already knew her secrets, thanks to Gloria.
Bending down, he reached for the armrests of her chair and spun it towards him, making Ilse gasp as she faced him. A second later, and her gaze darted away from his, looking around her like she was waiting for someone to help her.
But her co-workers were only staring at her and the billionaire like they had come across an interesting live show for free.
Shit. Ilse reluctantly turned to face the billionaire, telling herself that she would just have to order him to release her. But then she met his gleaming blue eyes, and her resolve started to weaken.
It was not fair – so not fair – that this man was so perfect, even the look in his eyes alone could seduce her!
“Ilse…”
Her name on his lips was impossibly seductive, too, and Ilse barely managed to keep her body from trembling.
“I know you’re hoping to keep giving me the cold shoulder until I lose interest in you, but I’m telling you now it won’t work.”
Ha. Ilse was privately taken aback by the words, but she only let her lips purse in reaction, determined to treat him with indifference.
“Secondly, I’d like to be fair and honest with you, so I’m letting you know that Gloria’s given me a rather nice advantage.”
Ilse swung her seat around, head whipping to where her boss’ office was, and through the glass wall, she saw Gloria seated on her executive chair. The older woman beamed at her, which Ilse replied to with a scowl. Gloria, you traitor!
The billionaire walked around her table, and his powerful form suddenly blocked her line of sight, leaving her nothing to see but him.
“I’m not finished.” He suddenly bent forward, his hands settling on the armrests of her chair once more, but this time the position also had his hard body inches away from hers---
Aaaah. In a panic to get as far away from him as possible, Ilse tried to push her chair back, but the billionaire only retaliated by pulling her seat closer, his strength easily overpowering hers.
The scent of his cologne struck her nostrils, and Ilse bit her lip hard.
Dear Lord, how can You let this happen?
Why did the billionaire have to smell as good as he looked, too?
His head moved even closer, and she stiffened as she felt his breath tickling her ear when he whispered silkily, “Do you want to know what my advantage is?”
No. Yes. No. Ilse no longer knew what to say.
“Say yes, babe.”
Her eyes widened.
B-babe?
How did he---
The billionaire chuckled when he felt Ilse stiffen, saying wickedly, “Yes, babe. I know a favorite erotic romance of yours had you wanting to have a boyfriend who can call you babe, and it will be my pleasure to do so.”
GLORIA, YOU TRAITOR!
“And that’s not all I know, I’m afraid,” the billionaire murmured silkily. “I’m guessing you haven’t researched anything about me---”
Ilse’s teeth gnashed. He was right, and it was all Gloria’s fault!
“But that’s okay. I’m more than happy to fill you in about myself.” He tipped her chin up. “The first thing you should know is that I graduated from Oxford…”
He…did?
“With honors,” he continued without even an ounce of modesty.
He…had?
“That’s not all.”
It…wasn’t?
“What I’m additionally about to tell you,” he murmured under his breath, “will probably turn you on---”
This time, she could no longer keep herself from reacting, and she demanded in an outraged tone, “Excuse me?”
But the billionaire only gazed at her with hooded lids. “I only said that to give you fair warning in advance.”
“Y-you---”
“One of my secret hobbies, babe, is reading books. All kinds of books.”
In the act of yelling at him for once again acting like an arrogant asshole, Ilse snapped her mouth shut instead. The billionaire didn’t seem the type to lie about himself, which meant---
He truly liked to…read?
Ilse wetted her suddenly dry lips.
A gorgeous man such as Jaak de Konigh…actually liked to read?
“And lastly…”
Goodness gracious, there was more?
The billionaire moved in for the kill.
“I’m fluent in five other languages.”
Ilse’s legs snapped together.
Shit, oh, oh, shit.
Because the billionaire was right, damn him.
What he did have to say turned her on.
“And now that I know how to seduce you…”
The billionaire’s mouth touched her ear, and Ilse’s eyes squeezed shut as her entire body burned.
“Be ready, babe.”
Chapter 4
Ilse’s cellphone started to ring at exactly five o’clock, and without opening her eyes, she blindly groped for her phone on the bedside table, swiping and punching the screen randomly until she was able to answer the call and put it on loudspeaker.
“Rise and shine, babe.”
Ilse’s heart skipped a beat even as her mind fought against the cobwebs of sleep. Who was calling her---
The realization came to her.
Jaak de Konigh.
“What time is it?” she asked groggily.
“Five?”
Eyes still closed, she demanded in a mumble, “And you’re calling me now why?”
“Gloria told me you often worry about not being able to get up on time in the morning, so I thought I’d make myself useful.”
Right.
Her boss really had a big mouth…
And Ilse started to slip back into unconsciousness.
The billionaire gazed at his cellphone in amusement. “Ilse?”
An incoherent mumble.
“Shouldn’t you start moving?”
“Vijf minuten.”
The billionaire smiled. Five minutes. He ended the call, thinking that morning might just become his favorite part of the day if it was the only time he could hear Ilse acting spoiled and childlike.
Heading back to his hotel suite’s walk-in closet, the billionaire finished changing, his movement swift and efficient as he looped a crimson tie around his neck and secured it with a perfect knot.
By the time he called Ilse again, exactly five minutes had passed, and he was on his way down in the elevator. She answered his call on the third ring, her semi-incoherent grumble leaving the billionai
re torn between amusement and arousal. That she wasn’t a morning person was cute, but it also made him wish he could see her now. He pictured her lying on his bed, with her dark brown hair fanned across his pillows, and the thought was enough to have his cock stiffen behind his pants.
This was going to be another day of torture, the billionaire thought with a mental sigh. Ever since meeting Ilse, he hadn’t fucked another woman, and not counting the years before he had lost his virginity, this was the longest time he had gone without sex.
With an effort, the billionaire managed to keep his voice steady, saying, “Ilse, get up.”
“Mm.”
He heard more sounds, Ilse flipping to her stomach and covering her head with a pillow. It was the simplest thought, but it still have the most amazing impact on his cock, and for one tempting second the billionaire seriously considered going back to his room so he could jerk himself off.
The thought had the billionaire inhaling hard.
Control. He needed to be in control.
“Come on, babe. You don’t want to be late, do you?”
Half a minute passed before he heard a sigh coming from the other end of the line. “I’m up.”
Her tone was half-sleepy, half-grudging, to which the billionaire replied in a mockingly polite voice, “Your gratitude for my wake-up call is duly noted.”
Ilse growled.
“Around what time will you get to work, do you think?”
“Quarter to nine usually,” Ilse answered, still mumbling in a sleep-scratchy voice. “Why?”
“I’ll call you then.” And just like that, the billionaire hung up.
Huh?
While taking her shower, Ilse tried to make sense of what just happened, but the billionaire’s attitude continued to puzzle her even after she made it to the kitchen and started preparing Jan’s lunchbox. Although Jan was already twenty-six, he still had to attend special classes every day, the lessons meant to gradually teach him new life skills to prepare him for an independent future, in the event that the worst happened.
It was already eight by the time Ilse walked her brother to school while pulling her bike with her. “Don’t forget what I told you about strangers,” she reminded him.
“Okay,” Jan answered.
“Repeat it so I know you remember,” Ilse requested. She knew she was being too paranoid and bossy, but she couldn’t help it. Jan was everything to her.
“No matter what they say or do, I won’t go with them.” Her brother spoke in a big, booming voice, his condition making him oblivious to how he was drawing attention from the passers-by. “And if they insist, I should start shouting for help.”
Ilse smiled. “That’s right.” She ruffled his head. “See you at home later.”
And that’s what really matters, Ilse thought determinedly as she watched Jan disappear inside his school. Just her and Jan were fine. There was no need for anyone else, and Ilse tried to convince herself of this as she cycled to work.
With a scenic route making up her daily ride, Ilse was able to bike past rows of red and orange buildings with majestic pediments and steeples that soared against a backdrop of pristine skies. From there, Ilse biked along the canals, which treated her with an enchanting sight of wooden houseboats swaying laconically on the waters, followed by an equally picturesque mix of quaint cafes and cosmopolitan fashion boutiques.
Ilse usually took her time admiring the views, but today everything might as well have been buried under a mountain of lashes. Her thoughts were completely consumed by the billionaire, causing Ilse to cycle faster in a futile attempt to run away from them.
By the time she made it to her workplace, Ilse was in a bad mood, and she had the craziest urge to pretend the lamppost in the corner was the billionaire so she could give it a nice, hard kick.
I hate you, Jaak de Konigh.
But deep in her heart, she knew she was lying to herself.
Crouching down to lock her bike into place, Ilse began roughly yanking a chain around it, wishing it were the billionaire she was strangling with the chain.
I hate you, Jaak de Konigh.
Her cellphone suddenly started to ring, the ringtone telling her it was the billionaire calling. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, a glance at the screen told her it was exactly eight forty-five, and Ilse scowled at how surprisingly prompt he was.
Why did fate seem to hate her so that it just had to make Jaak de Konigh in possession of practically every trait she desired in a man?
Answering the call, she said right away, “You may think you are being sweet with your wake-up call, but common sense tells me you have an ulterior motive.”
“That’s not common sense, babe,” the billionaire said gently, “but bias.”
Oh. She glared at her phone. How awful it felt whenever the billionaire managed to have the last word!
“I’m just calling to make sure you got to your workplace in one piece.”
Ilse blinked. “Why wouldn’t I have?”
“No particular reason,” the billionaire answered easily, “but I just prefer to check up on you all the same.”
“You’re being very controlling.”
“I believe the word you mean to use is ‘concerned.’”
No, it wasn’t, Ilse thought darkly, even though she knew his choice of term was probably more accurate.
“Let’s have lunch together later.”
“No.”
“And after your last tour, whatever time it ends, let’s have a nightcap at Café Alles, ja?”
“No.”
Switching from Dutch to English, the billionaire murmured dulcetly, “I love how you pretend you don’t want to be with me, babe. It just makes me want you more.”
And that had been the start of Ilse’s unconventional relationship with the billionaire.
Then again, she wasn’t sure if ‘relationship’ was even the right word. It had been three weeks since then, and the billionaire had changed her life so much she barely recognized it herself.
In the past three weeks, Ilse had found herself spending almost as much time with the billionaire as she had with Jan. He dropped by the office almost every day to have lunch with her, and in the evenings he would wait for her last tour to end before taking her to Café Alles, which had become their favorite haunt.
And then there were the calls, Ilse thought uneasily. The billionaire called her several times a day, and not once had he sounded bored with their conversations. Those calls were the sweetest, the loveliest, the most exciting, and more often than not the billionaire would seduce her with his knowledge of literature, quoting everything from Shakespeare to Fitzgerald, Freud to Sun Tzu, and when she was struggling with a rare bout of migraine, the billionaire would effectively lull her to sleep by reading the local news to her…in English, French, Spanish, German, or Japanese.
It depended on his mood, really.
He was doing so much to make her feel good, and wasn’t that what people in a relationship were supposed to do?
Chapter 5
Jaak closed his eyes as he listened to the familiar sounds of Ilse getting ready to take a shower. Four weeks, the billionaire thought to himself broodingly. They had been seeing each other for four weeks now, and it was the craziest four weeks of his adult life.
Four minutes were usually all it took for him to have a woman naked and willing under him, but in the past four weeks, Jaak hadn’t even managed to have a taste of Ilse’s succulent lips. The crazy woman had demanded he did not make a single attempt to kiss or physically seduce her in any way until she told him it was “okay” to do so. And he had agreed because it was also the only way he could likewise secure her promise to never refuse his calls, messages, or invitations to go out.
Through the phone, which Ilse had set to loudspeaker, Jaak heard the telltale whoosh of the shower curtains being swept open, and he stiffened.
A second later, and he heard the sound of water blasting out of the shower. His cock stiffened under his
pants.
This is going to kill me one day, Jaak thought grimly as his cock turned harder by the second.
Another crazy promise Ilse had managed to wring out of him was to never look her up on Facebook or do anything that involved digging up facts about her. If he wanted to know something about her, he had to ask and he had to wait until she was ready to tell him so.
It was a condition the billionaire had trouble accepting at the start…until Ilse had desperately told him she was willing to do almost anything in exchange.
‘Almost anything’ proved to be irresistible magic words to his ears, and the unlimited possibilities it represented had the billionaire swiftly making up his mind and saying yes.
Only now his request seemed to be backfiring, the billionaire thought with a grimace. Among other things, he had asked Ilse to let him listen to her shower, and the experience was as much a sensual pleasure as it was an excruciating torture.
What the fuck had he gotten himself into?
It was a few minutes past five when Ilse sleepily pressed the button to switch the call to loudspeaker and left her phone on the sink before stepping into the shower. As water cascaded down Ilse’s naked body, the knowledge that Jaak de Konigh was listening to her have her shower gradually aroused her into consciousness.
Running the soap over her body, she tried but failed not to imagine it was the billionaire washing her, caressing her. Her fingers accidentally grazed her nipples, and finding them sensitive and erect had her gasping, her eyes flying open.
How could she be so turned on with just the thought of the billionaire’s touch?
Furious and mortified, she quickly finished her shower and as she rubbed herself dry with a towel, her glance absently strayed to her phone.
Could he still be there? He had actually never hung up on her before, but who knew if he changed his mind?
“J-Jaak?”
Ilse’s breathless voice as she returned to the line made the billionaire thankful that he was already inside his limousine, effectively hiding his bulging erection from view.