The Billionaire's Brother

How to get a date the Jaden way

Perspective: Jaden Forest

He did not expect to see Nila sitting at the gallery when he sauntered in a few days after meeting her. He had thought she might need some time before staring her new job. Damn Shih Cheng Howe for not telling him that she had started work. So when he saw her sitting there at the counter, concentrating on the laptop before her, he had stopped and stared at her as if he was having a vision. Or in the middle of a dream.

She certainly had filled some of his dreams. Delicious dreams of her kissing him and them doing far more things than just kissing. There were dreams of him taking her n*****s in his lips as she moaned his name and him thrusting deep into her wet moistness. Those dreams were so vivid, he had woken up hard and breathing hard. It took several cold showers to bring down his temperature and cool down his steely hardness. Now looking at her, her dark brown eyes deep in concentration and her low cut blouse offering a glimpse of her deep cleavage, he felt his body tightened with desire. He looked down and hoped he wasn’t showing anything embarrassing. Fortunately, there was no evidence of his red hot arousal and desire for this gorgeous and mysterious woman. 

Howe had told him that Nila’s real name was actually Neha Khoo. She is 28 years old and formerly an accountant before she came to Penang. She merely told Howe that she wanted to try becoming an artist which was why she left Kuala Lumpur. Jaden suspected that there was something more to that. No one leaves a perfectly good job to travel to a state far away from home, without a job and a place to stay, and goes around using a fake name. She had told Howe that it was her artist name. This made her more mysterious and it piqued his interest even more. 

As if realising he was staring at her, Nila lifted her eyes and looked at him. Their eyes caught. A frisson of something, much like an electric current, snaked down his nape and spine. They definitely have something between them. The strong attraction is undeniable. He grinned at her, waved and sauntered over to her. 

“Lookit here…you’re a sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure,” he drawled and winked. 

She smiled at him politely.

“I want to thank you for this…without your help, I would not be working here,” she said.

He lifted an eyebrow.

“Oh? Do you like this job?” 

“Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! It gives me a chance to meet artists, be surrounded by so much artistic talent and also time for me to work on my art,” she said excitedly, her eyes shining.

“So, you should repay me with dinner…I happen to be free tonight,” he suggested, wriggling his eyebrows.

She looked at him quizzically. He hoped he has not been too forward.

“What about a thank you card?” she suggested. 

He frowned at her suggestion. 

“A thank you card? Bah…that’s not even sincere,” he said in a half-serious tone. He made a show of looking down at his clothes and smelling himself.

“I, at least, look decently clean today and I don’t smell…so what do you have against me actually?” he asked, teasingly. 

He pointed at his clean white t-shirt with a flourish.

“Look…it’s a clean shirt…not even a drop of paint! You must give me credit for that…normally I go around in paint-splattered clothes,” he told her.

She smiled at his theatrics. At least she didn’t look annoyed or irritated. That’s a good sign, he thought. 

“It’s not you, it’s me,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow at that and narrowed his eyes at her, jokingly.

“Hmmm…are you dumping me even before we start dating? Is that how it works nowadays? This is so sad…I am getting dumped even before you get to know what a fun-loving, wonderful person I am!” he said, putting on an exaggerated pout. 

 This time she laughed. A beautiful tinkling sound that made his heart goes badabump-badabump. It made him want to snatch her up and kiss her till they are both breathless with need. Heck, he is already almost breathless with need for this woman. It was as if she had casted a spell on him. 

 “C’mon, please Nila…don’t tell me you need me to beg you even after I got you a job of your dreams?” he put on a puppy dog expression and pouted. 

She grinned at him.

“Okay, okay, I will treat you to dinner Jaden,” she relented finally. 

He jumped up with a loud “Yessss” while punching the air with his fist.

“The goddess of the Showe Art Gallery has agreed to take me to dinner!” he exclaimed loudly. 

She immediately stood up and shushed him.

“This is an art gallery, Jaden! Shhhhhh!” 

He looked around. There were only a few people milling about and all of them had turned to stare at him. He grinned at them and waved.

“That is a short skit for the day,” he bowed. “Thank you for watching, you may now continue admiring the masterpieces before you and don’t forget to add some to your collections at home,” he announced loudly.

Some of the visitors even clapped before turning back to the paintings they were looking at. One of them came over to ask Nila about one of the sculptures and he quickly stood aside to let them talk. The visitor led Nila to the sculpture and started asking questions. Nila handled him really well. Answering every one of his questions about the artist, the materials used, the theme and whether it could be delivered. Satisfied with her answers, the visitor immediately put in an interest to purchase the sculpture. Nila handled the sale process professionally and promised that it will be delivered to his home on the next day. Then, she accompanied the customer to the front door and waved him goodbye, smiling her sweet smile throughout. 

She came back to the counter. Jaden was lounging against it, waiting for her. 

“Wow. Well done! And that smile…I am certain it made me want to buy up everything in here,” he teased.

She blushed.

“You most certainly are welcome to buy up everything here,” she retorted. “How will you pay for everything sir? By card? Or cash?” then she smiled sweetly at him.

Ah. She has some fire in her too. He likes that. He wondered if she is also a spitfire in bed. It would certainly heat up the bedroom. 

“On second thoughts…I will settle for dinner with you,” he grinned sheepishly. 

She grinned back.

“Okay, I agreed to dinner, now can you let me get back to work? I need to catalogue some items and then check to see if anyone else need help,” she said, pointedly looking at the people walking around the gallery. 

“Hmmm…where is Kassim? I thought Howe has another assistant?” he wondered aloud. He remembered clearly that there was another gallery assistant. 

“Oh, Kassim called in sick today so I am all alone,” she told him. “So, are you close to Mr Shih? You seem to be quite close to him,”

It sounds like she is trying to gather intelligence on Howe. He studied her. She merely looked curious. He shrugged.

“I met him when I settled down here a few months ago and he found me a place to stay, now he is offering to exhibit my art, so you could say we are quite close,” he said, half lying. 

Then, another visitor came to ask questions and Nila got up to serve the customer, walking with her to the painting in question. 

Jaden stood there and watched. Howe was no where around. He must be coming in later. 

Howe had actually sold him the row of refurbished heritage houses that were converted into modern accommodations upstairs with co-working spaces downstairs where Nila is now staying. Then Howe sold him the art gallery along with the cafe next to it. Only Howe knew Jaden is a billionaire. The other artists in the close-knit art community assumed that he is one of them, a struggling artist making ends meet through the sporadic sale of his art and through commissioned work. 

Jaden didn’t want to live above the co-working space. He wanted something larger so he bought another house in the city and lived there instead. Howe just told him that Nila had taken one of the rooms and now, he planned to move into one of the rooms, hoping that it won’t make him seem like a stalker. He only wanted to be near her. Despite her outward confidence and apparent strength, there was a cloak of vulnerability around her that made him want to protect her.