Oh, Lord. Why did nobody tell me sexual infatuation didn't just make fools of us? It made sluts of us, too!
He chuckled again, and when our eyes met I had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what my thoughts were.
"I want to savor you, sweetheart," he murmured even as he gently fixed the collar of my blouse.
I was fascinated with every movement of his hand and more so by the thoughts and feelings behind his actions. Constantijin Kastein was fixing my collar. Constantijin, who practically delegated everything he had to do to his countless minions.
Oh, the mind boggled!
" … Yanna?"
I blinked up at him. "Sorry?"
He frowned. "I asked you a question."
Giving him a sheepish smile, I said, "Sorry, I was … " I bit my lip, not wanting to let him know how near to obsessed I was with every little thing he did.
He raised a brow.
God, even that small action was sexy – enough to have my body tingling again. "I was just thinking," I heard myself saying – well, fine, lying – "what others would say if we get caught."
His eyes narrowed. "Get caught … by whom? The boy who keeps hitting on you?"
It honestly took me more than a few seconds to remember who he was referring as a ;boy'. Laughingly, I said, "You and I both know Drake is not a boy, Constantijin. And no – I wasn't referring to him. I'm referring to everyone working here."
"He is a boy and as for everyone else, what is there to worry about? You are my woman. That is all they have to know."
I shook my head stubbornly. "No. It's too soon. We have to give … give this thing between us some time – give us time to adjust before we let others know about it."
He took a long hard look at my face. "Yanna – I mean it when I said I will not make the same mistakes again. From here on, it will just be you and I. The two of us – no other women … " His eyes narrowed once more, his voice chilling as he finished, "And I will not tolerate any other man in your life. I do not even want to see you glance at any other man or even hear another man's name on your tongue."
The possessiveness in Constantijin's gaze and words made me shiver, but it wasn't fear I was feeling. A part of me still couldn't believe that he wanted me – that I mattered to him enough for him to dislike the idea of me having anything to do with any other man.
But I had to stand my ground on this. If things got bad between us again, I knew I would be the one suffering more between the two of us. "Just … just give me at least a week. Please?"
Just when I thought I had hit a brick wall Constantijin's expression relented, softening marginally as he said, "A week. And that's it." Curving an arm around my waist, he walked us out of his office, letting me go only to lock the door before pulling me close again.
When I turned around, I almost jumped in fright since the boy Constantijin so loved talking about was in front of us, a quizzical look on his face.
He wasn't alone either.
Behind him, I saw at least five familiar faces from Finance, the department Drake worked in as well.
Oh, shit.
This was what I so didn't want to happen. I believed Constantijin when he told me he was going to be faithful to me, but --- intentions were just that – intentions. The truth was, I didn't have yet the courage to have everyone know that Constantijin and I were dating. If he ended up breaking my heart again, people wouldn't think I was a girlfriend he dumped. Everyone would think I was the floozy who didn't know better, getting what I deserved.
"Hello, Yanna." Drake's drawl made me look back at him, and the smile in his face was as friendly and as flattering as before. He had his blazer draped on one arm while holding his brief case and several folders. His polo had its sleeves rolled to his elbows, its tails hanging loose over his pants, and unbuttoned low enough to reveal a sprinkling of chest hair.
Honestly, I'd be such a liar if I said that I wasn't momentarily dazzled at how sexy Drake looked right now.
"We just finished brainstorming," he continued.
The way his gaze lingered on my body, the way his eyes were so shamelessly appreciating every curve and inch of skin he saw – I couldn't help but blush.
Behind me, I felt Constantijin suddenly tense, as if he had sensed my blushes and didn't like it.
Oh, shit.
Realizing that Drake was waiting for me to answer, I stammered, "I … was working overtime for, uhh, Mr. Kastein. He wanted me t-to provide the latest work schedules of the cast for the potential TV adaptation of Hana Kimi for U.S."
In the periphery of my eye, I saw Constantijin finally turn around. When I saw him about to curve his arm around my waist, I panicked and moved away before he could reach me.
Drake blinked when I was suddenly several feet away from all of them and just a short distance away from the reception area. "Are you in a hurry to go home?"
Trying to ignore the daggers shooting from Constantijin's eyes, I said, "Umm, yes." I opened my mouth to say goodbye, but Drake beat me to speaking.
"Let me drive you home then. I know you just take the bus but at this time of the night – even independent girls like you need to take more care." By the time I managed to close my gaping mouth, my mind whirling at the unexpected turn of events, Drake had already reached my side and taking my bag from me.
"B-but … "
"I'll worry about you endlessly if I let you go home alone tonight," Drake murmured.
Oh, oh, shit.
Constantijin wasn't just glaring daggers at me now. He was literally trying to kill me with his glare, and I knew that it was just going to get worse.
Drake was talking to one of his colleague, leaving last-minute instructions for the minutes of their meeting. A chorus of goodnights followed and then Drake was saying, "You, too, sir. Good night, Mr. Kastein."
My phone vibrated inside my bag and I hastily fumbled for it, knowing who it was.
If you fucking dare leave with that boy …
Oh, oh, oh, shit!
Didn't he know I had no choice but to fucking leave with this boy – I mean, man? It was too soon for us to go public. It was just too soon, with the wounds he left in my heart too raw, and the memories of the times he had turned me down and pushed me away too fresh.
The elevator's arrival chime snatched me out of my reverie. By the time I recovered my senses, Drake was already inside the elevator, holding the open button. "Yanna?"
I stepped inside.
The last thing I saw was Constantijin's cold and impassive face before the elevator's doors closed on us. With the others already walking past Constantijin, their backs to us, I allowed myself to plead with him with my eyes. A week, I tried to communicate with him mentally.
But Constantijin only stared, not a flicker of expression on his face to tell me I had reached him. When the elevator's doors finally closed shut, I felt like it was permanently keeping us apart this time.
"Are you all right, Yanna?" Drake asked beside me.
No. I was not. I just had the best moments of my life a while ago and now I was having my worst.
Was it going to be like this between Constantijin and me time and time again? Did it always have to be a battle between the two of us?
Forcing myself to smile at Drake, I lied, "I'm okay. Just tired." Almost unconsciously, I found myself texting Constantijin.
A week, I typed. You promised me a week of just keeping things between the two of us, and that seven-day period started tonight.
But he didn't reply, even though I waited till the very next morning for even the smallest sign that there was still something worth waiting for.
Lesson #9
Billionaires don't lick their wounds when they are hurt. They get even.
"Are you seeing this?" I shrieked at Daria and Alyx, who I was videoconferencing on my iPad, as I pointed towards the TV.
Alyx laughed so loudly I was tempted to flick her face on the screen. "You're such a kid. You're actually jumping!"
"I can't help it!" I was so mad I wished the floor under my feet could turn into the hard, tone, sluttish body of a guy named Constantijin Kastein.
"He was courting me and now he's out with another girl! On TV!" Glaring at the screen, I hissed, "Man-whore."
Daria was grinning. Tall with short curly hair and sparkling gray eyes, she was the most outspoken in our little group. She was also dangerously impulsive, but Alyx and I hoped marriage could curb that somewhat.
"You should gatecrash the event, show him who's the boss," she suggested.
Or not.
"Get real. I can't gatecrash his dad's fundraiser."
"You know, I think she's right," Alyx intruded as she pushed a wide hair band up her boyishly cut hair. As she started slapping cream on her face – one of her hundreds of rituals before going to sleep – Alyx added, "He can't do this every time you two quarrel or have a misunderstanding."