Page 93 of Hired Husband

“Yes.” Her eyes filled with a plea for me to understand, but instead, something inside cracked so hard, I practically heard it happen.

“No.” I shook my head again, scoffing. “I’m not taking that project. There’s no way.”

“It’s already yours.”

“I’ll give it back,” I said firmly. “Joseph and I will withdraw.”

She sighed. “No, you won’t. You worked too hard on that design to walk away from it, especially now that GlobalStar is fully onboard.”

“I don’t want it like this.”

“It’s not your decision, Isaac.” She took a few steps closer to me. “You have earned this. You’re going to get everything you’ve always dreamed of.”

I scoffed. “I’m not letting you marry someone because of me.”

“It’s not because of you,” she said, taking another step closer. “David approached my father and I’ve decided to accept the proposition he made.”

“Don’t insult either of us by pretending that’s true.” My head cocked as I stared at her, standing there in her little denim shorts and cut-off shirt, acting like this wasn’t breaking her in half. “I know you, Jasmine. I know what you want, and it’s not David.”

“It might be.” She shrugged. “Who knows?”

“I do.” I lifted my arms out to my sides. “I know, Jasmine. I might allow you to boss me around, and for the most part, I love it, but I have to draw the line somewhere and I won’t let this happen.”

“It’s not up to you. It never was.”

“The hell it’s not.” I took the last few steps separating us and wrapped my fingers around her hands. “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself so I can build a factory and some warehouses. That’s ridiculous.”

Her jaw tightened. “Well, I’m sorry, but you don’t get to decide what I can and cannot do.”

“Maybe not, but you don’t get to decide whether I’m willing to accept it and I’m not.”

She looked up into my eyes like she was waiting for me to calm down and see reason, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Isaac, just think about this for a second. David will withdraw his bid and the board will vote in your favor.”

My heart slammed against my ribs as I looked into those eyes, realizing that this was the moment I’d been waiting for. Everything I’d said to Joseph about why Jasmine and I couldn’t have a future together was still true, but I’d already crossed a line I couldn’t uncross.

I’d decided to take the risk, and if I didn’t take it right now, I probably wouldn’t get another chance. “I love you, Jasmine Saad.”

For a guy who’d never said those words to a woman who wasn’t family before, I managed to sound completely calm. Confident. I didn’t feel it, but I squeezed her hands and waited for her to look up at me. “I love you and I wasn’t going to tell you yet because I honestly don’t have much to offer.”

She was completely frozen, her jaw slack and her eyes wide, clearly stunned, but I didn’t let that stop me. “In fact, I don’t have anything else to offer. All I have is the way I feel about you. I get that love isn’t enough but I still can’t let you go like this.”

Her lips parted, but instead of saying words, she let out a heavy sigh and glanced down at our joined fingers. She stroked the sides of my thumbs, but when she looked up me again, her eyes were shining with tears instead of joy.

“That’s exactly why I have to say yes.”

My eyebrows snapped together. “What?”

“You don’t understand,” she murmured. “You family has been dragged through hell and back, but this project together with Colin’s entrance to our family will set you all on a better path. You’ll finally be able to put the past behind you and move on.”

“No, not like this, Jasmine. Never like this.”

Her eyes widened in exasperation this time. “You know what this project will do for you, Isaac. Once that complex is complete, you’ll be world-renowned and you know it.”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, I do,” she said simply. “You deserve this. I’m not going to let you throw away the opportunity of a lifetime just because you don’t like the decision I’ve made.”

I flinched. “You are not and never will be a necessary sacrifice. A project isn’t worth losing you.”