Page 92 of Hired Husband

The question hit me so hard that I almost doubled over. It pinged through my brain like a bouncy ball with nowhere sensible to land. Love. Do I love him?

I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t answer the question. And it wasn’t because I didn’t love him. It was because one selfish decision from me could ruin the best opportunity he’d had in years. If I admitted it, chose him, and dug in my heels about not marrying David, Isaac would lose the chance of building something that would make him sought after worldwide.

As little as I knew about engineering, I’d done at least a little bit of research and a project like this could launch Isaac’s career into the stratosphere. Dad watched me carefully as all those thoughts went flying through my head. Then finally, he sighed.

“It’s alright, sweetheart. You don’t have to answer.” He stood up, walked around the desk, and lowered himself into the chair next to mine. “I meant what I said before. I preferred Isaac’s concept and I still do. There are other projects that I intend on pitching to him.”

“Not like this.” I lifted my gaze back to his. “This could be the big one. You and I both know it.”

He inclined his chin. “Perhaps. For now, but there will always be others.”

“Can you promise he’ll get another opportunity to build something like this?” I asked. “I know there are other projects and I realize that he will be able to keep working as an engineer either here or in America without this development, obviously, but there’s only so many projects that have the potential to shape a region.”

“That’s true.”

“This is one of those projects,” I said quietly. “If Isaac builds the development the way he wants to, your complex will one day become a tourist attraction, just like the dam. People will come from all over to see it.”

“It’s possible.”

I exhaled a long, slow breath and gave my father a sad smile. “You are the founder, the owner, and the CEO of GlobalStar. At the end of the day, Dad, it should be your choice above anyone else’s.”

CHAPTER 37

ISAAC

After a stunning weekend with Jasmine, I’d realized there was no point in pretending anymore. For the first time in my life, I was on cloud nine because of a woman and I didn’t even mind it. In fact, it wasn’t even only that I didn’t mind it. I fucking loved where I was right now.

Sprawled out on my couch, I scrolled through pictures of the cruise on my phone, smiling like a complete idiot every time I came across a shot of her. It was ridiculous how gorgeous she was, with the golden flecks in those dark eyes lighting up every time she’d smiled at my camera and laughing so hard on some pictures that her nose was all crinkled.

I lingered on a selfie we’d taken in bed one morning over the weekend, just the two of us with our hair all mussed and our shoulders bare in the frame. Her head rested on my chest. Her smile was lazy and her beautiful face was completely stunning without so much as a speck of makeup in sight.

I grinned at my phone, then shook my head at myself, groaned, and dropped my head back against the couch. Who even am I right now?

Before I had time to begin to consider the question, there was a knock on my door and my heart jerked as Jasmine’s voice came through the wood. “Isaac? Are you here?”

“Yeah. I’m coming!” I called, on my feet before my brain had even commanded my body to move. I pulled the door open with the grin still on my face, but it disappeared as soon as I saw her.

Unlike me, Jasmine was not happy. Her eyes were a little wider than usual, the look in them oddly stricken. She brushed past me into the apartment, rolling her lips into her mouth. She kept walking until she reached the windows on the other side of my living room, keeping her back to me.

“Hey,” I said, shutting the door and then leaning back against it with my heart pounding. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve spoken to my father,” she replied after pausing for a beat, her shoulders rising on a deep inhale. “You got the bid, Isaac.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“You and Joseph will be developing the industrial complex in Sharm. It’s done.”

What I should’ve felt in that moment was overwhelming joy and relief. That complex was everything I’d ever dreamed of designing. But I didn’t like this. Something was wrong. “Why?”

She finally turned to look at me, sliding her fingers to the knuckles into the pockets of her shorts, her narrow shoulders riding just a little higher than they should’ve. “Why what?”

“Why did we get the bid?” I asked, pushing away from the door and walking toward her. “What happened? Your father told me David had won, so what’s the catch?”

Even as I asked the question, I was sure I already knew the answer. My extremities turned to ice while red hot rage flooded my veins like lava. “What did you do, Jasmine?”

Her head lifted a little more, her chin high as she looked into my eyes. “David wants to marry me and I’m going to accept his proposal.”

The room tilted, my universe somehow turning inside out and upside down. “No.”