Rise of the Billionaire (15 page)

“No,” she sighed angrily
. “It’s a long story and one that I don’t want to get into right now.”

“Are you sure it wouldn’t help if I told you
again that I love you?” He instantly regretted defaulting to humor in the midst of a confrontation. She glared at him and began cursing in Portuguese.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Fine. Joke about it. I should be grateful to you for making the decision easier.”

Jeremy ran a hand through his hair. “What decision? Jeisa, I didn’t mean . . .”

With her lips pressed in an angry line, she
announced, “I won’t be going to Thanksgiving with you. I don’t need to wait until then to know that we can’t work this out.”

Jeremy paced in front of her, hating how his inexperience with women was likely the reason the situation was going from bad to
finished. WWDD: What would Dominic do? Asking himself that question had successfully guided him through the rest of his transformation. Perhaps he’d been wrong not to apply it to his relationship with Jeisa.

Women don’t respect weak men.

Be bold.

“You will come to Thanksgiving with me.” He felt a rush of pride when his tone held just a hint of a warning.

Jeisa cocked her head in surprise. “Are you threatening me?”

“I don’t make threats,” he mimicked what he’d once heard Dominic say.

She tossed her hair over one shoulder and advanced on him. Still angry, but undeniably also excited by what he’d said. “After today, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Dominic really know
s what he’s doing. I can’t believe this shit works.

“We’ll see about that,” Jeremy said vaguely, trying his best to look intimidating.

Jeisa turned with a huff and moved to the other side of the cabin. She sat in a chair, clicked on the television and turned her back to him.

Jeremy almost laughed.

She was adorable over there, making a production of giving him the silent treatment.

He knew enough not to say that to her. He relaxed into the couch and propped his feet up on the table in front of him. This particular puzzle was going to require some strategizing.

How do you get a woman who already loves you to start talking to you again long enough to convince her that you’re meant to spend the rest of your lives together?

How do you get
her to believe that you love her?

You propose!

Now that he had the solution, he was less worried about her present mood. Jeremy folded his arms over his chest and smiled.

And I know just when
to do it!

The only thing worse than ignoring a man for a six-hour flight and half of a limo ride home was periodically checking to see if your silence was bothering him and being slapped with the harsh reality that it was not. Even now, Jeremy looked perfectly content to read his emails on his tablet and make phone calls as if he were alone.

Proving rather clearly that my instincts are correct and he doesn’t have feelings for me. He is probably counting the minutes until he boots me out of this limo and drives off
—probably never to see me again.

Which is fine.

At least then I have my answer and I can go back to focusing on the real reason I came to the United States in the first place. For me.

I don’t need a man to make me happy or successful. I may not be a good offi
ce clerk, but I’ll find my way.

Her dream job
at WIT was now interwoven with too many memories of Jeremy.
But it’s not the only university working on a humanitarian grant. I’m good with politicians and mingling with corporate giants. I could be a professional fund-raiser anywhere.

There are a lot of things I can do.

I haven’t given myself enough time to find where I belong.

She studied Jeremy’s profile as he read over another document on his tablet.

Just where I don’t.

The limo pulled up
at the front of her apartment building and the driver opened the door for her. She hesitated.
This may be the last thing I ever say to Jeremy. I don’t want it to end on this sour note.

He put down his table
t. “I’ll pick you up around ten on Thursday morning. The Andrades have requested everyone be there by two.”

Jeisa’s eyes flew to his, trying to read him but finding nothing there but cold determination. “I told you that I’m not going.”

“And I told you that you are.”

“It’s not like you can threaten to fire me
. I already quit. I’m not working under contract, so legally you can’t force me to go.”

“Be ready at
ten.”

“Or what?” Jeisa asked, confused with how she could be
both angry and excited by his refusal to accept her answer.

He leaned over, slid a hand beneath her hair
, and pulled her face to his. He tasted her hungrily, pulling her out of her seat, and Jeisa lost the battle against her own restraint. She was kneeling between his legs, drowning in the heat of his kiss, trying to remember all the reasons she didn’t belong there. He kissed her jaw and whispered into her ear, “Or I will close that door and make love to you right here until you say yes.”

Jeisa could barely hear him over her own ragged breathing.
He means it.

And I want it.

She shook herself mentally.

Saying yes would only prolong the pain of uncertainty.

Saying no would gain her an immediate pleasure that wouldn’t prove anything more than what she already knew—she was hopelessly, helplessly in love with him.

She sat back on her heels
and implored, “Just let me go, Jeremy.”

His jaw
tightened and his eyes darkened with emotion. “No. You promised me you would go with me and you will, even if I have to track you down and drag you there.” He ran a thumb over her lips. “Although we may both enjoy that option, too.”

Jeisa stood on shaky legs and stepped out of the limo, temporarily too stunned to reply.

“See you Thursday,” Jeremy said and joined her on the curb, taking her overnight bag away from the driver and handing it to her doorman himself.

Jeisa grabbed her bag from the doorman. “I no longer work for Mr. Kater, Tim. I’d appreciate it if you don’t let him in anymore.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tim said.

In a steel tone, Jeremy said,
“No one will stop me from taking you with me on Thursday.”

“There is nothing attractive about a domineering man
,” Jeisa snapped.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear
, “Then why do you look like you’d love to invite me upstairs?”

Her head
jerked back in denial. “I do not.”

He traced her jaw with his thumb, moving on to part her eager lips. Her breath came in short, excited breaths against his hand. “Yes, you do.”

She slapped his hand away. “A man with more experience would understand the difference between anger and desire.”

The corners of his eyes wrinkled with humor
. “Then it sounds like I need more experience.”

With a stream of choice Portuguese phrases, Jeisa turned away from him and headed into her apartment building.

Tim beat her to the door and opened it for her, then returned to Jeremy’s side and asked, “Tough trip?”

“Best of my life,” Jeremy answered
with a smile, then whistled as he reentered the limo.

The next day, Jeremy did answer Alethea’s phone call. “Jeremy, thank God. I started to worry when you weren’t picking up.”

Jeremy sat back in his office chair at the Corisi building and propped his feet on his desk. “I was busy.”

“Well, get
un
busy and back to Tenin because we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“You know how I get feelings about stuff, right? Well, my instincts tell me that something is seriously wrong here.”

Was it possible
that she’d heard about Jeisa and was jealous?

The answer mattered as little to Jeremy as the project out there did.

“I’m not going anywhere. Not this week, anyway.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard you. Did you hear me?”

Alethea sighed angrily. “What the hell is wrong with you, Jeremy? This is your project. Don’t you care if it falls apart?”

Not when he was fighting for something much more important. “Call me if you find something concrete. Otherwise, I’ll fly over next week and check everything out myself. Deal?”

“No, that’s not acceptable. What if
—”

“Bye, Alethea. We’ll talk next week.”

“Do not hang up on me, Jeremy.”

He did.
Alethea thrived on drama. In the past he would have let her drag him into whatever crazy scheme she was hatching—one to combat a crisis that, chances were, didn’t actually exist.
Not this time.

He finally had something to lose.

And he was damned if he was going to.

He picked up the office phone and called
the downstairs desk at Jeisa’s apartment building. “Tim, do you have a minute to talk?”

“Mr. Kater?”

“Yes, it’s me, Tim. I need some help and you’re the only person I can think of to ask. Can I send a car to pick you up?”

“I’m working, Mr. Kater.”

“When does your shift end?”

After a short pause, Tim answered, “Two hours.”

“Great. I’ll send my driver then.”

“Mr. Kater
, I have a wife and kids. I can’t do anything illegal.”

That stopped Jeremy short. “Tim, I want to go pick out a ring for Jeisa and
I need a second opinion. What did you think I was asking you to do?”

Tim laughed with apparent relief. “I don’t know.”

Jeremy continued, “I just figured that you’re married so you chose correctly once. I can pay you for the time if you want.”

Tim answered in a slightly offended tone. “You don’t have to pay me.”

Jeremy dropped the arrogant tone he caught himself using more now. “Tim, I’m sorry. Let me start over. I really want to pick the right ring for Jeisa and I value your opinion. Do you mind meeting me when you get off work? I want to buy the ring today. And don’t call me, Mr. Kater. I’m Jeremy.”

“Ok
ay, Jeremy. I’ll go, but I don’t know about rings. My wife picked her own.”

Hmm.
“Do you think she’d come with us?”

Tim laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Never more so.”

Tim said slowly,
“We’d have to get a babysitter.”

Money might not solve all problems, but it certainly made many easier to deal with.
“I can pay for that. It’s the least I could do. Hey, and after we pick a ring I’ll lend you the limo and driver for the night. You could take your wife out for a nice dinner or something.”

“She’d love that
,” Tim said, and then added with more enthusiasm, “She’d probably love everything about this.” He laughed. “I’ll call her and have her meet me here. She can have her sister watch the kids.”

Inspiration hit Jeremy
. “Better than that, I’ll have a limo pick her up and bring her to get you. You can both meet me at the jeweler’s.” He smiled into the phone and added, “I’ll have my secretary book a room for you at the Ritz-Carlton
in case she really loves it. Don’t worry about paying. This is on me.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, unless you don’t want me to.”

Without hesitation Tim said, “No, I’m in. I can’t remember the last date I had with my wife. If I’m lucky I’ll have to call in sick tomorrow.”

Jeremy shook his head. Tim was honest and funny, and beginning to feel like something his years of isolation had cheated him of—a friend.

“Here’s hoping you do, Tim. See you in two hours.”

“Thanks, Jeremy. And, uh, sorry I thought you were asking me to assist in a kidnapping.”

Jeremy chuckled.
I bet Dominic gets those comments all the time. This is so awesome
.

He forced himself to sound serious. “No problem. See you at the
jeweler’s.”

“Yes,” Tim said, “see you then.”

Jeremy was still chuckling ten minutes later when he walked into Dominic’s office to drop off a report. Dominic looked up from his desk and scowled at Jeremy. “What the hell is so funny?”

Jeremy shook his head and bit back a laugh. “You wouldn’t get it.”

Which only deepened the scowl. Jeremy burst out laughing. He knew he should stop, but he couldn’t help himself. He retreated from the room before Dominic lost his temper and jumped his desk to get him.