Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
I know I haven't seen him yet, but I'm just sure of this!
Once we're married, he'll make my heart race!
And it will always be so for the rest of our lives!
I know it's silly, but I also think D is bound to find him perfect.
Do you remember the gifts he gave D, Mr. Tsaldaris?
They're all perfect!
And that's because he obviously took the time picking them.
Lukas knew he should just stop her from talking and tell her the truth. His pride, however, rejected the idea. Had she stopped seeing him as a man? Or did she not see him as husband material?
Betsy firmly declined his offer to help her with the dishes. "I'd really like to earn my keep, Mr. Tsaldaris. You've already helped D and me so much."
Lukas watched her as she worked. Charlotte had given him two months. Not weeks, and certainly not two days. He had two months to make up his mind. He had every reason to take things so slowly, but because he had always been a man of action as well as one whose impatience was legendary among the people who worked for and with him—-
I'll take my chances.
And with that, Lukas rose to his feet and placed his hands around her waist before whirling her around.
A gasp slipped past Betsy's lips when she suddenly found herself in her boss's arms. Silvery eyes blazed down at her, and the heat in his gaze burned through her flesh.
She was terrified all at once but also confused and shamefully turned on. "S-Sir?"
"Call me by my name."
The thickness of his tone made her gulp even as her heart pounded hard at his unexpected command. "I c-can't—-"
"You can," the billionaire urged.
"I m-mustn't—-"
"You have to."
Those words.
And that tone.
And the way his hands squeezed her waist so, so hard as he said them.
It was all too much, and Betsy wondered dazedly if she was dreaming again.
"You have no choice to do so. You need to get used to it—-"
Why did she not have a choice about calling him by his name?!
"—-once we're married."
Chapter Eleven
BETSY DIDN'T EVEN THINK.
She simply planted her hands against his chest and tried with all her might to shove him away.
But her boss didn't move even a single inch, and her eyes burned hotter with unshed tears. "Please let me go."
"Not until you say you'll marry me."
Betsy's gaze flew up to his, her heart in agony that he could be so cruel. "What do you get from this?" How could this be the same man she had once thought was kind?
Something inside Lukas tightened at Betsy's pain-filled tone. "I'm serious, Betsy. I want to marry you," he said fiercely. "But there's also something you must know before giving me your answer."
Betsy could only shake her head. No more, she wished she had the strength to say.
"I was about to marry another woman when I found out I was infertile."
Lukas braced himself for Betsy's reaction, but all he saw in her gaze was shock, and so he forced himself to continue.
"She was still keen to marry me, but her family had one condition for the wedding to push through."
"And what was that?" Betsy couldn't stop herself from asking in a shaken tone.
"They found the idea of adoption distasteful," the billionaire divulged harshly, "and they wanted me to put it in writing that I'd never consider it. I disagreed, and suffice it to say, we are no longer on speaking terms."
A whirlwind of emotions had Betsy struggling to process Lukas' bombshell of a confession. Who was the other woman? Did he still love her? Did the other woman still love him? And why was the idea of adoption distasteful?
Lukas could no longer bear the silence between them. "I want you to understand that I am not marrying you because you already have a son. It's you that I want to marry, you that I want to spend the rest of my life with. And I know I'm far from the ideal man—-"
Lukas' words died abruptly in his throat as Betsy suddenly threw herself into his arms.
"You're wrong," he heard her choke out, and defeat weighed down on his shoulders as he felt her tears wet the side of his neck.
He was wrong, she had said.
And that could only mean one thing.
"Because the f-first time I saw you, I thought you were perfect."
A choked sob escaped Betsy as she slowly leaned back to have him see the truth in her eyes. "And even after what you told me, I still think you're perfect—-"
Lukas drew his breath sharply when he realized where her words were leading.
"Are you saying you'll marry me, Betsy?" he demanded rawly.
She wanted to give him the words he deserved so badly, but emotions had clogged her throat. All she could do was nod—-
Aaaah!
Tearful laughter slipped past Betsy's lips as Lukas suddenly swept her in his arms and whirled her around.