She was fifteen minutes earlier than the agreed time when she made it to the Greek billionaire’s manor, but the butler who opened the door didn’t seem surprised at all by her appearance. “H-hello,” Pollyanna stammered. “I’m here to see, umm, Master Kyr?” She didn’t think it was right to call the billionaire by his first name with other people.

The butler only nodded, his bland expression unchanging. “Follow me, miss.”

The manor was vast but surprisingly minimal in its design, almost stark in its simplicity. Ascending the grand staircase, she felt like she was touring a historic house or even a museum, and it didn’t help that the butler was still giving off I-don’t-like-you vibes. It was her first time to be hated, if she were to be honest, but Polly told herself it was probably because the butler and maybe even the rest of the staff thought of her as another gold digger out to fool their master.

Halting in front of the last door in the hallway, the butler opened the door, murmuring in Greek, and after a moment, she heard Kyr say, “Ne.”

The butler opened the double doors, stepped inside, and said stiffly, “Please come in, miss.” She followed him inside, and he bowed again, saying, “Please call for us if you need anything.”

And then he was gone.

Looking around her, Pollyanna found the billionaire’s suite even bigger than she expected it would be and just as remarkably simple as the rest of the manor. The bed was still unmade, and moving towards it, she caught a whiff of a familiar scent. His aftershave, she realized and sniffed again. Oh, how sexy it smelled.

Without thinking, she took one of the pillows and took a sniff. Ooooh. She hugged it to her, thinking, if she hugged the pillow, and the pillow was hugged by Kyr, that would mean---

“It’s an indirect hug?”

The pillow fell from her hands, and she whirled around with a gasp.

The billionaire was standing in the doorway of his bathroom, hair still wet, beautiful face made more arrogant by his smirk, and his rock-hard body in full display, with only a tiny towel wrapped around his hips to keep him from being completely naked.

“How d-did you know what I was thinking?” she stammered.

His smirk only became more prominent. “Just get used to the fact that you’ll never be able to keep things from me.”

Her eyes widened at the sheer arrogance of his answer, and when her mouth opened and closed, too, he smiled in approval. Seeing her blowfish look was definitely a great way to start the day.

Shaking her head at how the billionaire could so easily get away at saying things normal men couldn’t, she asked, “Should I, umm, step out first so you can change?” She was already turning to do exactly that when his words halted her in her track.

“No need,” was the lazy response.

“Umm…” She still couldn’t make herself turn to look at him again. After all, he was wearing the tiniest towel in the world. The tiniest, she thought in agony. He was a billionaire! Couldn’t he afford a bigger towel?

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be invisible today while I show what my day ordinarily looks like?”

Oh.

“So, no need for you to leave. You’re invisible, remember?”

And then she heard it.

That unmistakable rustle of clothes, which could only mean he was going to change, while she was still there.

She gasped at the thought, and then she gasped again when she realized that she was staring straight at tinted ceiling-to-glass windows that showed an amazingly clear reflection of the area behind her.

Where Kyr was, she thought, and as soon as it occurred, she couldn’t stop her eyes from moving, her heart beating hard---

Ooooooooooh.

He had his back to her, but he was indeed naked now, the towel lying discarded on the carpeted floor.

His back was smooth and hard, the muscled panes making her swallow. His butt was just as sexy and muscled, and so were his strong, powerful legs. Oh Lord, but somehow he seemed even taller and more commanding when looking at him from behind---

He turned.

“Ah!” She squeezed her eyes shut before she could see anything.

The billionaire laughed, the sound sexy, dark, and knowing.

Her face went up in flames.

He was right.

There was nothing she could keep from him.

Moments later, and she was still trying to stop herself from blushing while the billionaire beside her was still silently laughing his head off. Even when his gorgeous face had its professional mask in place, she could just feel his amusement, and she was torn between covering her face in embarrassment and giving the billionaire a good hard kick to his shin to stop him from tormenting her.

They went down for breakfast at exactly six, with a place prepared for her at his right. They didn’t talk, with Kyr keeping his word that he wouldn’t let her presence affect his schedule. He ate with speed, grace, and precision, and as the day went on, she had come to realize that mealtimes seemed precious to him, a time when he completely ignored his phone and his staff was trained never to bother him except for the most urgent reasons.

At the office, he was ruthless but fair, and Pollyanna found herself even more awed by him. It also made what they had – this thing that even she knew she shouldn’t put any terrifyingly permanent labels on – more surreal than ever.

He was Kyrillos Gazis, a man who had succeeded in turning his family business around in the short span of four years, eliminating hundreds of millions of debt and building his assets to a ten-dollar figure.

He could have any woman he wanted and yet, he had spent the last two weeks almost exclusively with her.

Why?

It didn’t make sense unless…he felt the same thing towards her?

Unknown to Pollyanna, Kyr was coming to similar conclusions, but unlike her, it made him feel far from pleased. Rather, he was disconcerted to realize how more relaxed the day was, and all because Pollyanna had been there to keep him company.

And it was goddamn ridiculous, he thought tensely. Except for the time they had been in his room, they hadn’t exchanged a word during the rest of the day. Even so, her presence had served to keep him in a good mood, something he knew his own staff at the office had noticed as well.

He had to put on the brakes on this somehow, Kyr decided broodingly. And so, as he escorted her out of his house, he heard himself say, “Is it all right if I won’t be able to walk you back home tonight? I’m afraid I have an emergency overseas call to make.”

“That’s totally okay,” she reassured him quickly, not wanting him to think she was the type to sulk.

“My security will be with you, though.” When she shook her head, he said flatly, “It’s non-negotiable.” Teleios might have a zero crime rate, but even so, he wasn’t taking chances.

Looking around to make sure she wasn’t going to be overheard, she whispered to him, “B-but you know how they feel about me.”

He blinked. “Who?”

“You know.” She gave him a sheepish smile.

He was even more puzzled. “I don’t.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your staff.”

Ah. He had noticed his staff’s reservation towards her, which was a marked contrast to how they had initially welcomed her with open arms.

“But it’s okay,” Pollyanna was reassuring him cheerfully. “I think it’s great they’re so protective about you, and it’s kinda flattering, too, that they think I have the power to seduce you and stuff.”

She looked tickled pink with her last statement that he asked silkily, “Should I give you a pat on the back as well? You seem to be doing quite nicely on your own already.”

She grinned. “Sorry. But really, I think it’s totally crazy – in a good way – that they think I can wrap you around my finger.”

“You’re right, it’s crazy. I’ll fire them all tomorrow---”

“I was just joking!”

He smiled. “I was, too.”

She gave him a doubtful look.

“Laugh or I’ll tell everyone how much of a perv you were in my bedroom.”

Pollyanna had never laughed so quickly and hard in her entire life.

When they reached his car, he hesitated then said finally, “We might not be able to meet tomorrow either.”

“Oh.” Her face was projecting the sad-face emoticon in real life, which was cute and crazy funny at the same time.

“Because of work?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Can’t be helped then.” She gave him a sunny smile. “I’ll just use tomorrow to figure out the best way to win your staff over.” At his raised eyebrow, she explained, “It’s clear just how much they love you, you know. I think that’s great, so even if they obviously don’t like me so much right now, it’s only because they think they’re protecting you.”

He wondered if he should tell her she probably had won them over already, with just those words. Right now, they were in a CCTV zone that his security had access to, and his head guards tended to be more gossipy than desperate housewives.

“I’ll see you the day after then?”

“I’ll call you as soon as I’m free,” he promised instead.

And so they didn’t meet the next day or the day after that, and they were the worst forty-eight hours of his life.