Oh God.
The way he was looking at her now—-
His fingers released her first button loose, and the popping sound made her start.
“Jaak!”But she was half-laughing, and she didn’t even think of protesting as he scooped her off her seat, and her heart only hammered against her chest when he propped her on the desk, her legs dangling off its edge.
He stepped between them, murmuring, “I missed you.”
“Me, too.” Her voice was gruff, but the way she wrapped her arms around him belied it.
“Dare I ask how many porn films you’ve watched for, err, review?”
She scowled.
“I mean it, you know.Any time you need lessons, demonstrations, hands-on practice—-”
“Shut up.” But she was smiling, and she was hugging him ever so tightly.
“I simply don’t do false modesty,” he demurred. “I’ve tried everything—-” He stopped when he saw something flicker in her eyes. “Ilse?”
“Yup?”
“I have a feeling you want to say something,” he murmured.
“Nope.”
He eyed her knowingly. “You’re lying.”
“And you’re imagining things.”
“Something I said obviously triggered it so...” The billionaire asked slowly, “Are you thinking of my past?”
She still didn’t speak, but the way her eyes skittered away was answer enough.
Ah.“Is it the Victoria’s Secret thing?”
Ilse stiffened, and her voice was equally stiff as she retorted, “You mean that party where you were rumored to have fucked six women at the same time?”
“Five,” he corrected her mildly.
Five!Ilse didn’t know what she felt more of: horror or amazement, disgust or hurt.Five?
“But it’s all behind me now, obviously.” When she only grunted, his gaze narrowed, and when he tried reaching for a lock of her hair to play with, she slapped his hand away with more force than usual.
“Iamsorry for the past, but it is in the past.”
“I know.”
“And while that incident obviously bothers you, I also have a feeling it’s not what’s worrying you the most.”
“I told you, I’m not thinking about anything—”
“The Monaco scandal perhaps?” She stopped speaking, and the billionaire knew he had hit the nail on the head. “Ilse—-”
“No.” She glared at him. “We will not talk aboutyour Monaco scandal.” Her lips tightened at the words. How deliciously lurid it sounded, and technically speaking, it was. The viral two-minute video had shown the billionaire at one of the glamorous city’s casinos, and he was being entertained by a rather famous reality TV celebrity with a striptease. Security had gotten to her before the billionaire could do anything, but by then she had been naked except for a pair of silk panties.
The flash of anxiety in her eyes disturbed him, and taking hold of one of her hands, the billionaire tried to soothe her with slow, gentle strokes of the inner side of her wrist. “You need to tell me what’s wrong,” he said softly, “so I can fix it.”
