SEDUCING THE BILLIONAIRE

Chapter Eight

Twice in a row Duke had rejected me, claiming I just wanted to get pregnant and trap him. I mean, I guess he had the right to think like that because I had only married him because he offered millions but that didn't mean the rejection hurt any less. Was I just humiliating myself? Throwing my body at a man who thought it was ugly?

I decided to take a step back and have some pride and dignity, I was not going to let him continue making me feel bad about my body.

On Monday, Lindsey was taken to school, and I remained home alone and bored. I had wanted to visit my family but of course my mother claimed it was too early for me to be visiting, that this was the time for me to be knowing my husband intimately and what not, to enjoy our new life. Duke wasn't even bothered about my boredom, he seemed to have gone on with his life like I didn't exist, so I had to find ways of entertaining myself. I went out to the beautiful organic vegetable garden and found Philip the gardener harvesting some vegetables and cleaning up the beds.

"Madam, you don't have to get your hands dirty." he tried to stop me when I started harvesting the red pepper.

"It's fine Phil, and please just call me Audrey."

It felt so weird to have the house management team calling me madam.

"So, how long have you been working here?" I struck up a conversation with him and by the time we were done I found out that he had a diploma in general agriculture and had been working for Duke for five years now, when I asked why he hadn't found a job somewhere else seeing that he had a diploma he confessed that most job interviews he had attended were offering less money than he was getting from being Duke's gardener. Philip was getting k5,000 as the salary then he added k600 as transport allowance and k900 as accommodation allowance bringing the total take home salary to k6,500. Plus, what Duke did was: every month he would have fresh relish brought in, whatever relish had remained at the end of the month would be shared among the workers so every month end each would go home with maybe two chickens or meat or fish, some sausages and pork... Whatever relish would be in the fridge would be brought out then fresh ones put in. He also let them carry some things from the garden as long as they didn't get greedy and start packing too much. All the workers seemed really grateful and respectful of Duke, and he seemed to be very happy with them.

After spending about two hours with Philip in the garden, I brought the tomatoes, peppers, and leafy vegetables we had plucked inside where another maid received and started washing them, I washed with her and watched how she packed. I wanted to know how things were done in that house.

With the vegetables cleaned and packed away, I went upstairs to take a shower and as I passed through Duke's room, I found him standing by the big window looking outside, he didn't even bother to turn and look at me as I passed.

After washing away the morning gardening sweat, I changed into boyfriend jeans and a tank top then went back downstairs just in time to find the chef about to start preparing lunch.

"Do you have anything in particular which you would like me to prepare?" he asked me.

"No no, just do your thing," I insisted and poured a glass of wine for myself then settled down, resting my elbows on the marble island.

Womba was a very talented chef, the way he was chopping up everything was impressive, if I tried it my fingers would probably end up on the chopping board. They tried to eat as healthy as possible so most things in the kitchen were organic, the herbs and spices came fresh from the garden and the aroma was better than any processed spices I had ever smelled.

"So, who is the better cook?" I teased Womba as I poured my second glass of wine "you or your wife?"

"I am not married yet," he responded with an amused smile as he checked on what he was cooking.

"By choice or lack of opportunity?" I followed up and he laughed out loud, at least someone was enjoying my company.

"By choice, I wanted to first finish building then start searching for a wife," he explained.

"That's wise." I took a sip "so how far have you gone?"

"Right now, they're putting windows and the ceiling board."

"Wow, you're even done..."

Duke's workers were doing something sensible, even building from the money he was paying them, and I didn't even have a plot to my name, talk about poor financial discipline. Anyway, all that was going to change, that morning Duke had transferred the $10,000 allowance for the week to my dollar account and I hadn't really had any solid plans for it yet, but hearing Womba talk about the house he was building had me realize that I could even buy a house after being paid for just two months. Maybe it was time I started preparing for the future, investing and making sure by the time the five years was up I would be set for life.

.

Lunch was just Duke and I at the dining table.

"Womba is really amazing," I spoke, mostly to myself "this is five-star restaurant level of deliciousness."

"I only hire the best," I heard Duke say.

He hadn't said a word to me since we sat down so it caught me off-guard, and I did not respond to keep the conversation going. As soon as lunch was done, he disappeared again and this time around I went to take a nap.

Lindsey came home from school around 16:30hrs and I was actually excited because we could keep each other company, watch a movie together as she told me about her day.

.

That night, I just went straight to my room, changed, and crawled under the covers to sleep, I didn't need Duke reminding me that he could have had a freaking super model.

This went on for about two weeks, I spent my days interacting with the workers then with Lindsey after returning from school, I was giving Duke his space even though it could be frustrating sometimes. My family was still in the dark about the terms of my marriage but at least I had opened the door, my parents finally accepted my immediate younger sister's bride price and since she was already living with her man and they had kids, they just planned on having a marriage blessing and a small reception to make everything official. I was really glad that my sisters could now have the happy married lives they wanted even though I didn't have it myself.

It was a hot Saturday when Lindsey and I went out to the pool to swim, I was really looking forward to jumping into that cold water but as I was about to drop the towel and remain in my one-piece swimsuit, I noticed Duke come out and instantly froze. The last thing I needed was him commenting about my body or reminding me of how I could never seduce him because he wasn't attracted to me, so I quickly picked up a robe and put it on.

"Aunt Audrey, are you not jumping in?" Lindsey asked as she splashed around.

"I'll join you later sweetie," I told her and laid back on the chaise, making sure the robe was covering me up.

"I thought you came out here to swim because it's hot," Duke spoke as he took off his shirt and slippers.

"I've changed my mind," I responded.

"Is it because of me?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Nope." I got up, grabbed my phone, and walked back inside.

I had really been looking forward to swimming but ever since that day, being nude in front of Duke gave me anxiety.

I changed back in jeans and a t-shirt then went back out there because I knew Lindsey would be wondering why I had disappeared. When I sat back down, Duke came out of the pool and walked over to where I was seated.

"Seriously, what's with the attitude?" he asked, "when you first moved in you were all over me and now you can't even swim in my presence?"

"Well, I don't wanna traumatize you with my ugly body," I spat out without even thinking twice about the words I was spewing out, Duke looked like I had slapped him in the face.