The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella) novel Chapter 31

Jacob’s brain caught up with his body a second too late, and he froze, his hands going still around her and his lips freezing against her neck. No matter how much he wanted her, he couldn’t do this. Not when she was drunk and asleep…

Cursing softly, he withdrew his hands from her body and rolled away, creating distance between them. Lying on his back, he covered his eyes with his arm and took deep calming breaths. No matter what she did in her current state, there was no excuse to act on his desire. He would be taking advantage of her, and that’s not how we wanted things to happen between them.

Sighing, he turned to his side to watch her. His eyes were drawn to her face, and her beauty stole his breath. Everything about her seemed to be stealing his breath of late, and he wondered how he had thought, even for a moment, that he could ignore her while they lived under the same roof.

If he had taken time to pay attention to her from the moment he first saw her, he would have realised sooner that he would end up losing in his own game. She kept drawing him in, making him tear down the boundaries he had built to keep her out as he strived to please her, solve her problems, touch her…

Maybe he should have drawn those boundaries to keep himself in rather than keep her out.

He groaned in frustration and sat up, dropping his feet to the floor. Lying there watching her wasn’t going to help clear his head. Reaching for the blanket again, he pulled it over her body, and with one last longing look, he left her room.

Heading into the bathroom, he found that the bath water he had drawn for her had cooled down. It was exactly what he needed. He started undressing and a minute later got into the bathtub, soaking himself in the cold water.

He would deal with the aftermath of the night the next day.

***

When Isabelle woke up in the morning, the light spilling through a crack in her curtains announced that it was morning. She stretched, wincing when her sore muscles protested. Not only that, but she also became aware of her incredibly dry mouth and a dull headache.

“I’ll never drink again,” she moaned, pushing the blanket away and dragging her feet to the floor. Memories of the previous night flashed through her mind, reminding her of how she had drunk most of the bottle of wine she had bought. What had she been thinking? Or had it been too long since she was hungover, that she forgot the suffering of the next morning?

Getting to her feet, she stood in front of the mirror, meaning to check her appearance. She had to go to work and couldn’t afford to look like she had spent the night drinking. She studied her face–her skin was dry, but nothing a few products wouldn’t fix. Her eyes were the main issue–they were puffy, and given the bright light coming through her curtain, she figured she didn’t have enough time to do anything about them before leaving for work. She sighed, pressing a hand to her throat…

Her eyes widened as they zeroed in on her throat. Moving her hand, she leaned in close to the mirror, giving a closer look to her reflection. But the close scrutiny wasn’t necessary–the red marks on her neck were prominent enough. And they were not just on her neck. They continued on to her collarbone, her chest…

“Jacoooob!”

She didn’t think twice before screaming his name, but there was no need to. There was only one possible culprit here, and it was him. Now, seeing the marks, her memories moved from her wild drinking to afterwards. She couldn’t remember everything, but she recalled that he carried her to the car. Is that when he had taken the opportunity to leave a map of hickeys all over her neck and chest? Or was it when they had gotten back to the house?

Her door fell open and Jacob rushed in, worry written all over his face. “Isabelle? What’s wrong?”

She turned to him and glared at him, her finger pointing to her neck. “What is this?”

“What?” he asked, walking further into the room. When he got closer and got a clearer look of the marks on her body, the worried look on his face dropped. “Oh.”