CHAPTER 16—Olivia

When there is a loud knock on the door, I can already tell it is Sharlene and she is an entire ten minutes early.

I only just made it out of the shower and into black cargo pants to match with a black tank top.

I mean it was only Sharlene, there was no need to dress up in the corporate attires that Jake had his stylist make for me.

I was trying to impress his parents and not her.

Lacing my boots, I step out of my room at the same time Jake steps out of his. He heads straight for the door with a scowl on his face and I don’t blame him.

“Relax tiger, I’m not here to see you” Sharlene says, and I can tell she’s smiling even though I’m yet to see her face.

There is always this excitement in her voice whenever she was dealing with Jake, like she had fun from pissing him off.

It was Jake’s turn to piss her off as he pulled me into him the moment I made it to the door and made a show of kissing me passionately.

I enjoyed it, my eyes closing as I hold onto his shirt to keep myself from losing balance. I don’t even have to because his arms leave no room between us.

Sharlene clears her throat and I pull away reminding himself he was only kissing me this way to piss Sharlene off.

“I’m going to miss you” he mumbles as I move to the door.

“I’ll only be gone a couple hours” That’s all I say as I follow Sharlene into the elevator and then to the parking lot.

I expect Sharlene to say something, but she doesn’t. She just leaves a sweet smile on her face and gets into her own side of the car.

Finally someone that treats me like I have hands to open my own door. I like that I don’t have to pretend around her, she’s like my breath of fresh air.

“Why do you have me out here anyway?” I ask her as she pulls out of the driveway. With someone like her this surely wasn’t a friendly date.

My body goes at alert when Sharlene’s hand finds its way to my thigh. She smiles at me briefly before putting her attention back on the road, her hand meanwhile remains.

“You have nothing to worry about, I’m not the enemy here” she says.

I scowl, “Of course there’s nothing to worry about” the sarcasm is not hidden in my voice.

She laughs “This is exactly why I like you; you say everything as it. There’s no pretending with you.”

I turn my body slightly towards her “Look, I don’t know what is going on between you and Jake, but I want no part in it.”

She smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes “Whether you like it or not darling, you’re already a part of it.”

With every word she says her hand move slightly up my thigh.

It’s only then that I realize just how soft her touch is and it makes my heart beat faster.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask her, my voice coming out breathless.

She smirks “I’m not sure myself but it looks like it’s getting one kick of a reaction from you” there’s pride in her voice like she just achieved something she didn’t think was possible.

“Sharlene…” her name is sounds more like a moan than a warning to both our ears.

Her smirk turns into a devilish one as her hand goes higher, it sends a tremor through my body, and I realize I must whatever this is.

With much reluctance I push her hand away from me, “This is an inappropriate way of touching your brother’s wife. Whatever you’re trying at, I’m not interested in it.”

I add that last part more for myself.

It was without a doubt that if I wasn’t in this pickle and I had met Sharlene some other way then I would give in to her advancements without a single thought.

“It’s not a matter of being interested” she says.

There’s no move on her part to touch me again and I’m thankful for it. I’m not sure I would be able to resist again if she came onto me.

It wasn’t helping that it has been a long time since I shared a bed properly with someone, it was indeed driving me nuts.

“Just like there won’t be any marriage between you two” Sharlene adds, and I frown.

“We are getting married” I say with so much conviction it bothered me.

At first it had just been an easy way to make money for me but with the growing attraction between I and Jake, it was beginning to feel real.

What we shared when he touched me was as real as it could get so maybe this marriage arrangement could be the best thing that happened to me.

I didn’t need a soothsayer to know that Jake felt the same way about me, all I had to do was get married to him then maybe the divorce papers after the agreed three months wouldn’t come.

Sharlene must have mistaken my silence for something else cause she touches my jaw lightly, “There’s nothing to worry your pretty head about.”

I simply nod not bothering to correct her. I just have to find out what her deal is and never speak to her again if I wanted to make what I have with Jake real.

When she finally pulls into a parking lot, I realize the restaurant wasn’t at all what I expected.

Instead of an expensive place, we’re walking into a beat down restaurant that looks like it has seen better days with a dire need of new paint.

Sharlene takes me to the back where she hollers at someone I can’t see and sits down. I take the seat across from her.

I’ve never seen someone look at home like she did. Her attire of obviously very expensive suit doesn’t stand out of place.

Instead it looks like she was the color the place needed as her smile lighted up the entire space.

“Don’t look so surprised that I’m here, they have one of the meanest mac and cheese in town” She says, holding her hands up in mock surrender,

I nod, “It’s a good thing then because I’m starving.”

Her smile is hot especially with the way she cocks her head to the side, “Perfect then, because I’ll be ordering a lot.”

A lot was an understatement to what Sharlene ordered but my stomach isn’t complaining. And she didn’t lie, this was easily the best mac and cheese I’ve had in my entire life.

“Sexy” she says suddenly when I’m halfway through my food.

I pause with my fork right in front of my mouth, “What?”

With a shrug to her shoulders she replies, “I like me a woman that can eat, that shit turns me on.” Her words are easy but my reaction to it isn’t.

I shift in my chair to try and satiate the growing need in me, “You can’t just say things like that” I chide her.

She laughs “I can say whatever the hell I want, besides, you seem to like it when I speak without thinking” her voice drops to a whisper as she places her elbows on the table and draws closer to me.

I don’t say anything, but the blush is all the confirmation she needs. When we finish our food Sharlene orders wine while we sit there.

“I’m guessing this is the point where you state what you really want” I say, taking a large gulp from my glass.

“I don’t have to be the bad person you know” her tone is serious, so I sit up straighter.

There’s no smile, no suggestive words as her index finger traces the rim of her own glass.

“All you need to do is break off your engagement with Jake and boom! Everyone will be happy” she doesn’t look at me once as she speaks.

Something bitter lodges itself at the back of my throat, “Does your family hate me that much that they sent you over here to convince me to leave Jake?”

There’s pity in her eyes and I hate that it’s directed at me, “Everything is not about you Liv, every family has their secrets.”

I don’t believe one word she says.

There’s no logical explanation why it should hurt that his family doesn’t want me to be a part of them.

I mean we were just a business arrangement that I hoped would bloom into something more. The chances of that were becoming very slim by the minute.

“Don’t get all sad. If anything, I’m saving you from Jake. He’s not the good guy you think he is.”

My hands curl into fists under the table “Say whatever you want but don’t try to make him the bad guy in front of me.”

She laughs like what I said was the craziest thing ever, “I grew up with Jake, if anything I know him more than you do. And you need to take my word for it.”

“And your point is?” I ask.

“He’s using you to get back at my father” She’s growing impatient with me, that I can tell with the way she keeps bopping her right leg.

“Let’s say he is, what does that have to do with you?” I ask, squinting my eyes at her.

“I have to protect what’s mine.”

“And that is?”

“My father’s company” She answers like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

I nod slowly, “It all makes sense now. You don’t want me to marry Jake because the company would be handed to him then instead of you.”

“Doesn’t make sense to me because if Jake doesn’t marry me he’ll just find someone else. You can’t scare away every girl he brings home, that’ll become exhausting at some point. If you want the company so badly then you have to find another way,” I gesture between us “Because this won’t even work on me.”

Sharlene scratches her temple a little, “It’s not the company he’s really after, he just wants to take revenge on his mother.”

“Why would he want that?”

“Because she took him away from his biological father. That’s his plan you see, take over the company and ruin it completely. That way he will destroy the very thing that tore his biological family apart.”