“You don’t sound like it,” Ilse accused.
“Because,” he snarled, “I feel too much, and it’s making it impossible to think.” When Ilse’s eyes widened, he knew he had shocked her, and he almost laughed, thinking,You and me, babe. You and me.He had never imagined that things could get this complicated, this deep, but it was, and even so—-
He slowly took a step forward, his chest squeezing as he gave her all the time of the world to run away from him.
But she didn’t.
“Ilse.” He spoke her name hoarsely, and ah God, just saying it already felt too much, felt like it was more than he deserved. But even knowing that, he just couldn’t let go.
“I fucked up,” he said unevenly. “You were saying things that I didn’t want to hear. You were forcing me to think of things I didn’t want to think, and I fucked up. It was like being struck by temporary insanity—-” He waited for her to say something, but she only gazed at him with brown eyes that seemed too painfully bright, and Jaak sucked in his breath.
Am I too late, Ilse?
Am I no longer someone you can trust?
Am I supposed to walk away?
And just when he thought it was the end, he heard her speak.
“Are you sure it’s temporary?” A smile wobbled on her lips as she delivered the joke in an unwieldy tone that cracked just a little at the end, but still she didn’t look away from him, her too-bright eyes answering all his unspoken questions.
No, you’re not too late.
I still trust you.
And I don’t want you to walk away.
Chapter Eleven
For a few minutes, there was only the sound of raindrops gently falling against the black umbrella the billionaire held over them, mingling with the occasional splash under their shoes. They walked close to each other, close enough to touch, but somehow they managed to keep apart, that one last inch of space between them defined by a myriad of emotions that both of them still had to unravel and resolve.
But even so, it was okay.
They both knew it was okay, and they had all the time in the world to make sense of what it meant to be together.
As they turned around the corner, the billionaire’s need to speak suddenly became irrepressible, and he thought,what the hell.
“I suppose you’re—-”
“How did you know—-”
Jaak and Ilse broke off the moment they realized they had been speaking at each other the same time. Their gazes collided, his blue eyes wry, her brown ones rueful, and the slightest of smiles slowly formed on their lips.
The billionaire inclined his head. “Ladies first.”
Ilse said simply, “I think you can guess what I want to ask.”
And it has begun,Jaak thought self-mockingly. He had seen his brothers grovel, and they had done so quite admirably. He could only hope that he could do half as good as them.
His gaze returning to hers unflinchingly, he said quietly, “I came looking for you at your office, and Gloria told me where I could find you...among other things.”
“I s-see.”He had come looking for her at the office? Why?But then the rest of his words penetrated her mind, and Ilse’s gaze shot up to his at its possible ramifications.
Easily interpreting the stunned, wary look in her eyes, he said quietly, “Yes. I know.”
“About everything?”
“I know about Issac, Natalia...”
