Chapter Fifteen #2
When he finally reached her, they stared at each other, smiling, their eyes doing the talking for them.
Hello, babe.
What took you so long?
He moved forward, closing the distance between them, and he bent his head, murmuring very tenderly, “Ilse.”
“Y-yes?” She had the craziest urge to laugh but managed to rein it in and keep her face expressionless.
“Never do this to me again, damn you.” The billionaire meant every word. She had driven him mad the past three days, wondering what the hell he had done to make her leave, wondering what he could do to get her back and make her stay.
The words were so at odds with the smile still playing on his lips, she could no longer help it, a rare laugh breaking past her lips. The lovely sound had the billionaire curling an arm around her waist, and as he pulled Ilse closer, he allowed himself a moment to savor her scent.
As she turned in his arms to face him, her shoulders still shaking with silent mirth, he whispered against her hair, “I’m not fucking joking.”
Twinkling eyes met his grim gaze, and she said solemnly, “I miss you, too.”
Someone cleared his throat loudly before he could answer, and Jaak smiled when he saw the bespectacled middle-aged man standing in front of him.
“Uncle Maurice.” Ilse tried to pull away as he spoke, but instead of letting her go, he tightened his hold.
“It’s nice to see you again, and may I have the honor of introducing my girlfriend Ilse Muir? ”
Ilse jerked, but he pretended not to notice as he slowly but firmly made her face his uncle.
“A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Muir,” Uncle Maurice said with gruff warmth.
“Hello, Uncle Maurice. I can see where Jaak’s got his good looks from.” Ilse’s training in entertaining the opposite sex automatically kicked in even as her head swam at the billionaire’s too-casual way of publicly referring to her as his girlfriend.
And it was just the start.
They began circulating the cocktail area, Jaak allowing himself to be waylaid by anyone who cared to say hi to him. And of course everyone did, seeing how the billionaire who used to shun such gatherings appeared to be in an amazingly good mood.
He introduced her to at least two hundred persons, and to each of those acquaintances, he wouldn’t stop referring to Ilse as his girlfriend.
Sometimes, the things he would speak of were unbearably sweet.
When a society matron showered Ilse with effusive compliments, the billionaire had taken the time to study his girlfriend leisurely, his gaze caressing her as he took note of the way her silver gown accentuated her curves while baring every inch of her flawless back, and after, he had said simply, She’s not just easy on the eye.
If you get to know her better, you’ll discover – as I did – that she’s even easier on the heart.
Other times, the things he would say just plain cracked her up.
When a former lover of Jaak came up to them, hinting snidely about Ilse possibly having her nose done because it was too perfect, the billionaire had only sighed, saying, I don’t blame you for thinking that.
Ilse’s just too beautiful, isn’t she? There are times when I look at her and I seriously contemplate about what I can do to make her ugly.
I’m sick of the way she makes it hard for me to breathe around her.
But then there were times he was just so unbearably irritating.
When asked by a catty-looking redhead if Ilse had ever made him jealous, the billionaire had answered unhesitatingly, Every second of the day.
If I find out she’s entertaining thoughts of using a vibrator, I’d still be jealous as hell.
She’s the only one I see, and in my eyes all other women look like horses next to her.
When the redhead had walked out on them, visibly enraged, the billionaire had only raised a brow, a look of sham innocence on his face as he asked if he had said something wrong.
He alternated between infuriating and endearing effortlessly, whichever the situation would call for, but it was when a particularly nosy reporter came to them, asking Jaak about how he felt regarding Ilse’s job as a sex tour guide, that Ilse couldn’t help tensing, couldn’t help wondering if maybe - just maybe – tonight was only meant to be a fantasy.
“I heard she dresses up and role-plays to satisfy her clients’ fantasies,” the reporter said with a snigger.
And he had obviously done his research on Ilse as he then proceeded to describe her job in the coarsest possible terms, his loud voice attracting the attention of the people around them, as it was meant to.
She listened to him with a carefully blank expression, not because she was ashamed – she was not – but because she could only wait.
Most men would have been livid at hearing such things about their girlfriends, and they would be forgiven for it.
But Ilse was hoping Jaak de Konigh would prove to be different from most men.
When the billionaire met her eyes, she gave him a little smile. This is how it’s going to be when all secrets are out in the open. And I do want everything out.
The billionaire smiled back. I guess that makes you a masochist. He reached for her hand. But you’re also a masochist I happen to love so...
He turned to face the reporter, saying easily, “Yes. That’s her job, and Ilse’s amazing at it.” He raised a brow at Ilse. “Perhaps you have a business card with you?”
“Of course.” She opened her purse and pulled out one.
“I’m always prepared.” She handed it to the reporter, who looked dumbfounded for suddenly losing his prey and not understanding how it happened.
“Our rates at Glory Hall are rather high, but I promise you—-” Her voice lowered, and she winked at the reporter, saying, “Every euro you spend will be worth it.”
As they walked away, her hand still grasped securely in his, the billionaire murmured her name. She looked at him inquisitively, and he gave her a crooked grin, saying, “Admit it, babe. I handled that better than you hoped.”
“You did,” she said grudgingly.
“Did it make your heart beat fast?”
“Nope.” But it had, and the way the billionaire only smirked at her in response told Ilse he knew she was lying.
The ball officially commenced a few minutes later, with Ilse and Jaak joining his siblings in the VIP table. The billionaire knew by now that Ilse had spent the entire three days with his family, but even so it was a pleasant surprise to see her getting along extremely well with everyone.
When there was a rare pause in the conversation, he couldn’t help intruding with a curious question he had wanted to ask from the start. “What have you guys been up to in the past three days?”
His sister Anneke appeared surprised. “What else?”
He only raised a brow, wondering if all women had the mistaken belief that men were mind readers.
Fleur, his other sister, rolled her eyes at him, saying, “She wants to dig out every possible skeleton in your closet, naturally.”
“I see.” He looked at his sisters one at a time. “And you helped, of course?”
His sisters pointed to Serenity. “She helped, too.”
Serenity cocked her head to the man beside her, murmuring politely, “Mr. de Konigh asked me to.”
“Yes, I did,” Willem confirmed bluntly to his brother just before turning to his secretary-slash-fiancée, saying pleasantly, “Serenity?”
“Yes, sir?”
“It’s Willem.”
“I know, Mr. de Konigh. I’ve known since I was fourteen.”
“Serenity?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t push it.”
“Yes, Willem.”
As the couple stared at each other, Ilse stared at them with unconcealed fascination.
These two were just so alike, it was uncanny!
Serenity was like a living Barbie doll, Willem was like Ken with a Dutch accent and a billion-dollar account, and the two were so impossibly gorgeous they had every right to be shallow, dumb, and selfish and everyone would love them.
But instead they were the opposite, with Willem considered legendary because of his smooth-talking skills and Serenity being fondly referred to as ‘Willem, Jr.’ because of the way she so obviously followed Willem’s footsteps.
Fascinating, Ilse thought again. She had seen a lot of crazy sexual things in her line of work, but these two were the only ones to make her realize that it was possible for polite talk to be so sexually charged.
A second later, and everyone at the table laughed, and Ilse realized she had unknowingly spoken her thoughts aloud.
Oops.
When the ball finally ended, Jaak and Ilse walked out hand in hand, their pace slow and relaxed, and as they waited for the billionaire’s limousine to roll up the hotel’s driveway,
Jaak asked her if she had indeed meant what she told his sisters.
“About me leaving my job, you mean, and maybe going back to school?” At the billionaire’s nod, Ilse said simply, “I’ve been considering it since we started going out.”
The billionaire was startled. “This is my first time to hear about it.”
Ilse rolled her eyes, saying, “Contrary to what you may seem to believe, my world does not revolve around you.”
It was an effective set down, or at least it should have been, but since this was Jaak de Konigh—-
“It does, babe.” The billionaire’s tone was lazy. “You just don’t want to admit it.” He laughed as she started giving him a piece of her mind about his cocky attitude, but the moment she stopped for breath, he only bent his head and stole a kiss.
Ilse’s toes curled, and her arms went around his neck.
It had been so, so long, and she had missed this too, too much.
When the billionaire lifted his head, they were both panting, and everyone at the lobby was staring. Neither of them gave a damn.
“Where’s Jan?” he asked under his breath.
“We’re both staying at your brother’s place.”
“Do you think he’ll mind if I don’t take you home first?”
Her lips twitched. “He barely notices me these days, to be honest. He’s having a blast at Willem’s home because all the bodyguards there don’t mind playing with him.”
“Good.” He smiled down at her, but she couldn’t smile back because it was one of those smiles again, and Ilse hurt at just seeing it.
“Jaak?”
He was still smiling, his tone light as he asked, “How much do you know?”
Oh.
“Everything, I suppose?” The billionaire’s gaze narrowed on her face as she slowly nodded, but nothing changed. Her eyes still looked at him like he was...
Ah, God.
She was still looking at him like he was someone strong and brave.
An urge – a blind powerful ache – to kiss her seized him, and if he had been the old Jaak, he would have. If she had been any other girl, he probably would still have. After all, fucking in public was nothing to him, so what was a mere kiss compared to that?
But he was not the old Jaak, and Ilse was not any other girl.
The billionaire yanked her to him, and as she stumbled against his chest, he said thickly, “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize for.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.
His arms tightened around her as feelings he had never thought he would allow himself to feel drowned his world. “Give me a moment...” A moment to get past this feeling that was making his heart clench like it had too much to beat for. “Just give me a moment to hold you close.”
Just give me a moment to exist solely to love you.
A moment, he needed this one moment, before he gave her his last secrets.