Jacob and Isabelle turned around at the sound of the voice. Their eyes fell on Naomi, standing near a black BMW that was parked outside the nearby building. Beside her was a man Isabelle had never seen before."Hi, Naomi," Isabelle greeted her tersely, ignoring her earlier words. She wasn't interested in having a fight with her sister in front of Jacob. Just a few minutes ago, she had told him that everything was fine with her family. If Naomi didn't back off, he might get the idea that she's hiding something.Instead of replying to her greeting, Naomi turned to the man beside her and hooked her arm through his. "Babe, this is my sister, Isabelle." Turning back to Isabelle, she said, "This is Arnold, my boyfriend."She didn't even bother introducing Jacob, but that was the last thing on Isabelle's mind. New boyfriend? What on earth happened to Raymond? Wasn't she supposedly pregnant with his child? As she looked from Arnold to Naomi, her sister gave her a pointed look, her lips stretc
"What is going on?" Isabelle asked when Jacob didn't offer any explanation about the sudden change in their means of transport. "Whose car is this?"Jacob shifted in his seat to look at her. "Since it's your first day at work, I wanted to do something special for you. So I hired this car to pick you up."Isabelle didn't know what to say at first. Of course, the only way he could pick her up with such an expensive car was if he rented one. But why would he go to such an extent? They weren't a real couple. Still, it warmed her heart that he wanted to do something special for her on her first day at work."Thanks," she told him. "It's a nice ride."It was better than nice. It was the kind of car only the very wealthy drove-and she knew that meant the renting fee had to be quite high. While it was nice that he thought to do this for her, she couldn't ignore the financial implication. She was out of cash and he was making money on a part-time job.They couldn't afford to splurge on unneces
On the evening of Isabelle's third day at the Larson Group, Seth appeared at her desk when it was time to go home. Isabelle hadn't seen much of him the past two days, besides when they had lunch together. Part of it was because she was avoiding him actively-even though Jacob had accepted her explanation about their relationship, she didn't want to risk another misunderstanding. The other reason was because they weren't in the same departments and were both busy at work.When he appeared, she was gathering her things, ready to leave. Most of her co-workers had already left."I came by to see if you want to get off work together," Seth said when he got to her desk.The request was innocent enough, she supposed, but she couldn't help thinking about the last time they had left the building together.When she hesitated, he added, "I haven't seen much of you these last couple of days, I was hoping to catch up. You can tell me about how you're getting along with work."She appreciated his co
"The landlord is on the line," the realtor said, holding his phone toward Isabelle. "You can talk to him." When Isabelle took the phone and turned away, the man gave Jacob a wink-a sign that everything was going smoothly."Hello, I'm looking at an apartment here and I understand that the rent is only three hundred bucks?" Isabelle said into the phone."That's right," the man on the phone replied. "I know it sounds shocking, but I'm about to move abroad and wanted to get tenants before I leave. I figured I would get a tenant quickly if I lowered the rent.""Oh," Isabelle muttered. That kind of made sense, she decided. If the landlord was moving abroad, it made sense that he would lower the rent to quickly attract a tenant. She still thought the rent was too low, but as long as the landlord had confirmed it, she was willing to let it be."Feel assured and take the house," the landlord continued. "I was very happy to get a call that someone wanted the house. Please don't worry about the
When he didn't seem to pay attention to her plea, Isabelle grasped his arm and pushed it away. She was clearly only going to get out of this by having to-"Just a sec," Jacob said, his voice gentle. She went still as he reached up and touched her forehead, then wiped his palm over her skin. "You've got a bit of sweat here.""Oh," she mumbled, her face going hot. Was that it? He just wanted to wipe her forehead? He should have said earlier. And here she was, getting wild ideas...Jacob could barely keep his lips from splitting into a wide grin. So maybe he enjoyed seeing her frazzled by his proximity a little too much. And he was also guilty of enjoying having her trapped in his arm a lot. But he couldn't help it-she was just too adorable.He half-expected her to keep pushing against him after he said he was wiping her sweat, but she didn't. Instead, she stilled and let him go ahead, her struggle gone. What had she thought he was going to do?"Are you done?" she asked after a few secon
Isabelle picked up the form and ran her fingers around the edges nervously. "Even if there are side effects, they said that they will compensate me."Jacob gave her a look that suggested he thought that was ridiculous. "And you believed them?""It's in the registration form."His brow furrowed. "Let's say they are not lying, what if the drug has serious side effects on your health? Are you okay with that just because they'll compensate you? What if you suffer permanent effects?""Many people have done this before," she said, trying to calm him down. She couldn't understand why he was so angry about it. "You're overthinking, I'll be fine.""Overthinking?" he scoffed. "Don't you care about your health at all?""I need the money, okay?" she told him finally, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I need money urgently and this was the best option I could find.""What?" he asked, his voice full of disbelief. "You're putting yourself in danger because of money?"Isabelle clenched her teeth toget
Isabelle blanched at his words. Get this out of the way? If somebody heard him, they would think he was talking about something like doing the dishes."I cannot have my wife do something as dangerous as participate in a drug trial," he said. "Out there, everybody knows you are my wife. So if I have to act like a gangster to stop you from doing something stupid, I will."A gangster? What did he mean?His hand shot out again towards the zip of her dress. She held her hands in front of herself to stop his advance. "Okay, fine! I won't take part in the trial."His eyes dug into hers. "Are you only saying that so I'll let you go?"Well, yes, she didn't like how he was acting, and she was going to say anything to get him to back off. "You're right, it was not the best idea," she told him. "I'll stop.""If you're lying, I'll find out," he warned her.Isabelle glared at him silently but said nothing. She exhaled in big relief when he stepped back and buttoned up his shirt again.What a day!*
Muffled sounds filtered through the door of the room on the first floor-a mixture of groans, moans, and grunts. Inside the room, a man drove his hips between the legs of his lover, chasing an orgasm. "Keep it quiet," Raymond groaned as his lover's moans took a new high as he drove deeper into her. "Someone can probably hear you in the hallway!" The woman looked up at him. "Who cares? Maybe I should scream so Isabelle can hear us. It looks like you need a little help breaking up with her." Raymond squeezed his eyes tight and focused on the pleasure building in his abdomen. His girlfriend was the last thing he wanted to talk about while fucking her sister. "Why are you still with her, anyway? You have me, why do you still keep that worthless woman around?" Raymond pulled his length out of Naomi, and when his tip was on the very edge, thrust back into her. A loud gasp left her mouth as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. Good, he thought as she threw her head back as he t