The Billionaire's Pretend Wife (Isabella)
Chapter 31 Thirty One

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."

"Oh?" she demanded, the simple word communicating how incensed she was. "What did you do to me?"

"It's nothing serious, I'm sure they'll disappear soon," he said, fighting a smile that suddenly wanted to attack his lips. He hadn't been aware of leaving so many marks on her body. What a nice reminder- His thoughts got cut off when she pushed him with her hand, her face enraged. "How dare you take advantage of me?"

He stumbled back and blinked. "Excuse me?"

She huffed and looked down at her chest, and then returned her heated glare to him. "I never thought you were the kind to take advantage of a drunk woman, but I guess I was wrong."

His mind finally catching up to her drift, Jacob's brow rose. Maybe he should jog her mind a little. "You were the one who clung to me and started touching me first."

"As if," she scoffed.

"When we got into the car, you took off your coat and all but draped yourself all over me, teasing me—”

"That's a lie," she stated firmly, interrupting him. "Why would I do that? You're only saying that because I was drunk and cannot remember well."

Sighing heavily, Jacob turned and headed for the door. "Where are you going?" she called after him, but he didn't look back. Grumbling, she walked back to the mirror to assess the damage. He must have taken his time when he was making all of these marks. Only a pervert would take such liberty with a drunk person. She huffed. She would like to see him try while she was sober.

Jacob walked through the open doorway, a shirt crumpled in his hand. Shoving it in her face, he showed her the bright red lipstick marks that stained the white fabric. "Still want to claim that you had no hand in what happened?"

Isabelle stared at the shirt in confusion.

"Or perhaps I should take off my shirt and show you the marks you left on my body," he said, reaching for the hem of his t-shirt.

"No!" she said. "Don't!"

Faced with his piece of evidence, her foggy memory suddenly cleared up. Heat from both embarrassment and shame rose up her neck as she recalled that she was the one who had initiated contact first in the car. As everything flashed through her mind, mortification overwhelmed her and she covered her face in her hands.

Seeing her new expression, Jacob smirked and dropped his defensive stance. It looked like everything was clear in her mind now. He didn't even feel mad at her accusations. He was too busy enjoying how cute she appeared as she tried to hide her embarrassed face from him.

He would have loved to stay and tease her further, but the morning was wearing on and they both needed to get to work. "Tea is ready," he told her, starting towards the door. "Come and have breakfast." A few minutes later, she appeared at the dining table, and even as he handed her a cup of tea, she avoided meeting his eyes. He couldn't help but smile, wondering for how long she was going to be embarrassed. She quickly had her tea and some snacks and then disappeared into the bathroom.

When she appeared a while later, she was ready to leave for work. He noticed that she wore a dress with a high neck, effectively hiding the marks on her neck and chest. Even after she left the house, Jacob found that he couldn't help smiling. He was happy that he was no longer being accused of being a pervert, but he was happier that she could remember her own contribution to what had happened between them.