A Game With The Billionaire

Chapter 16:

Emma:

I had a stressful day at work today, from meetings to investors, to testing out new designs, to rewriting a bunch of code. All I want is to go home, settle myself in a warm bath and fall asleep while reading the romance novel that Emily brought for me last week.

But, apparently none of that works because the moment that I step into the villa, I am hit with the smell of steak that makes my stomach rumble. What in the heck is going on?

Jeremy appears from the kitchen, wearing an apron. It makes him look ridiculous, but also kind of....attractive. He grins when he sees me standing there with a look of confusion on my face. “There you are, I have been expecting you.”

It was a shocker when I stepped into my office this morning and saw my favourite flowers and my usual coffee order sitting on top of my table. When I figured out it was addressed to me by Jeremy, I just couldn’t help the rage....and perhaps a bit of gladness because hell, I needed that coffee at the right time.

“Me?” I ask, removing my coat and hanging it on the rack. “What’s going on? Why does everywhere smell like cookies?”

Jeremy shakes his head. “Come on, I’ll show you.” He walks up towards me, grabs my hand gently and leads me down the hallway and into the dining room.

I stop. In the center of the table sits a platter of creamy garlic pasta, sprinkled with fresh parsley. Beside it, roasted salmon glazed with honey and garlic, there’s a small basket of buttery dinner rolls, resting beside a bowl of salad. There’s a bottle of rose and a bottle of champagne on the tiny bucket, and last but not all, two glasses filled with water.

“What are all these?” I manage to ask, because all of this feels so much. Too much that my chest is tightening with how much effort he put into all of these. “Did you make these?”

He nods, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s dinner, Emma. And we are supposed to eat dinner.”

I can’t help it, a laugh bubbles out of me before I can stop it, my chest feels less tight now. “Thank you, Jeremy.”

He pulls out a chair for me, still wearing that stupid apron. “Sit, Emma. You’ve had a long day.” He pulls out the seat, gesturing with his fingers but I stand rooted there, tears threatening to spill. I don’t remember the last time since I made dinner this extravagant, since anyone even made dinner for me.

Yes, Nicole stops by my office with food, but she’s doing that because she is our friend. Here, Jeremy spent at least three hours cooking and setting up the whole table. I laugh again, because it sounds like what Jeremy would do.

I sit down, and he pours me a bottle of wine. I dig into the pasta and it’s perfect.

“Okay...” I mumble, a mouthful of pasta in my mouth. “This is ridiculously good. Thank you.” Jeremy watches me quietly as I not-so-subtly continue to shove pasta into my mouth. We descend into a quiet dinner, passing the dinner rolls, pouring wine and champagne for each other. When we finish dinner, I feel giddy and oddly satisfied.

‘Imagine if you came home to this every single day.’ A voice says at the back of my mind and it makes me sigh.

Jeremy says he’s going to do the dishes, but I insist because there’s no way in hell that he is going to make something this good while I sit back and still let him do the dishes. Mama didn’t raise me like that.

As I do the dishes, he clears the table and somehow, this feels completely normal. Jeremy and I used to do this when we were dating, co-habiting. It’s fun when you understand each other.

I go upstairs, letting the warm water wash away the aching part of the day and when I slip into a loose shirt, I feel much better.

Going downstairs, I flop on the couch with a thud, flicking through the remote. I find a documentary about bees, and since I am relatively giddy, I put it on, letting the minutes pass by.

“I thought you said you had a stressful day at work.” Jeremy comes downstairs; he seems to have just showered because his blonde curls are damp and he smells- goodness, like soap and something warm. He sits on the couch, close enough that our knees brush.

I am suddenly transported to that day in my room during the summertime where Jeremy leaned closer so that our shoulders brushed. Was it intentionally....or by accident?

“Bees are very organized.” I say, trying to seem like his knee next to mine isn’t such a big deal, but this is such a big deal because I don’t remember the last time our knees met. Jeremy hums under his breath.

As the documentary drones on about honeycomb and pollination. I am thinking about how Jeremy’s lips will feel on me. Goodness, it’s been so long, I miss his touch.

No, I am craving his touch.

I glance at him and he’s watching me with those lazy, golden brown eyes. My fingers curl around the edge of the couch, wanting desperately to reach out.

“Emma,” he says my name so softly, that in this moment, I think ‘f**k it,’ Nicole’s right, I need to get laid. I am starting to lean in and the air is thick and filled with tension. It’s like Nicole’s in my mind, singing: ‘Get laid, get laid!’

The moment we’re so close, my phone pings with a text, Jeremy leans apart, inhaling a rush of breath. f**k, f**k, f**k it. I reach for my phone on the edge of the couch, glaring at it. I am debating whether to throw it halfway across the room. I check the phone and it’s from Aunt Vivi.

Aunt Vivi: Hello darling! So I was thinking that you and I could have tea tomorrow at the Harts mansion? I hope you can make it.

Then a bunch of heart emojis follow, I groan, the tension in the air has decreased. We both stare at the TV screen, the credits are already rolling. Well that is a wrap.

“Uh, I think-I-going-to-bed now.” Jeremy says sheepishly, his ears red. Is Jeremy Harts seriously acting shy right now? He’s always so carefree, saying things that immediately come to his mind, but seeing him now, acting so sheepish because we were almost on the verge of making out, makes me almost want to smile.

Almost.

“Goodnight, Emma.” He stands and before I can say goodnight back, he has already bolted halfway up the stairs.

--

“Oh, darling. I’m so glad you made it for tea.” Aunt Vivi tells me as she welcomes me into her wing of the Harts mansion; I will never get over how enormous this place is, for each family to have their designated wing.

“Of course,” I say warmly, and we head to the living room where there’s already a kettle of warm tea and a platter of English muffins and scones.

“Sit, darling.” She says, motioning to the sofa as she pours tea into the teacup.

“Thank you.” I murmur, crossing my legs and accepting the teacup. I glance around, there are framed photographs everywhere.

“You’ve got quite the gallery here.” I smile faintly.

Aunt Vivi glances up. “I like to keep memories.” She points at a photograph on the wall. “That’s me in Cuba. There’s another when I was in France. Ah, those days.”

I have bonded with a lot of the Harts members, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try to bond with Aunt Vivi, besides she seems bubbly, with her bright smile and warm words.

“Why are you back? You mentioned you liked travelling, why did you decide to settle down?” I stand up and head for where the framed photographs are. There’s a picture of Old Master Hart, he looks much younger there, his hands draped around a very much younger looking Aunt Vivi, their age difference seems to be wild.

“I was an unexpected daughter, my siblings were all grown up and boom, I popped into the picture.” Aunt Vivi chuckles behind me and I smile. “Even with our age difference, my brother and I bonded more than how I bonded with my other siblings, he was much older yet it felt like we’re the same age, do you ever feel that?”

I think about my older brother, Andrew. Our age difference might not be that wide, but whenever we talk, it feels as though we are around the same age.

I glance at another photograph, there’s another framed picture of Aunt Vivi and a man that I am guessing is her husband. Whatever happened to her husband? I don’t want to broach the subject because it might be a bitter topic. Beside is a boy whom I am guessing is her son, and there’s another older looking boy but his face is dribbled out.

“Who’s.....?” I ask and Aunt Vivi suddenly appears behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder, it feels strangely unsettling.

“We’ll have secrets, Emma.” She sighs. “Sometimes, it’s better to not ask questions.”

“But having secrets can sometimes be the end of us.” I say.

“You would be surprised at the secrets that Jeremy can be keeping.” She grins and it feels so strange. I clamp my mouth shut and we continue having tea, we chat a little and when I leave the Harts mansion, I still feel so unsettled.