I woke up early the next morning. For a moment, I thought I was still at home, forgetting all that’d happened recently. Reality hit me in the form of a kiss on the forehead a second later.

“Morning, sexy.”

I looked up to see Jacob leaning on one elbow, staring at me. “Morning,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “How’d you sleep?”

He sighed theatrically. “Terribly. I don’t think this is going to work out. Turns out you snore. So does Oscar,” he said with a roguish wink.

Oscar was sleeping on the floor just beyond the bed, and his ears pricked up at the mention of his name.

I laughed. “I do not snore. That was you! You woke yourself up at one point.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Let’s just agree to blame the dog,” Jacob said.

I shook my head. “Oh no. No way. We all know you’re the culprit. Anyway, I’m going to go let him out. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I smiled at him as I hopped out of bed. I was living in a fairytale. Everything was just so perfect. I’d gone from totally single and miserable to sleeping in the bed of a world-famous star, and he seemed to genuinely care about me. Not only that, he talked to me like we were friends as well as lovers, which was the best I could hope for in any sort of relationship.

Surely it all had to come crashing down at some point, as my luck was bound to run out eventually. I hoped it wouldn’t, though.

Unfortunately, it happened even sooner than I expected.

I headed downstairs with the dog to let him out for a run. As I stood near the large French doors and watched him gambol across the grounds, I saw a tall, slim brunette with milky-white skin walking up the tiled footpath from the guesthouse. She paused when she saw me, a confused expression crossing her face for a second. Then she kept walking.

“Hello,” she said as she stepped inside, her voice heavily accented. “You must be Nora. I’ve heard so much about you.”

I realized this was the same woman who answered the phone the first time I ever called Jacob on his home number. I frowned with confusion. Jacob told me she was the housekeeper back then, but there was no way this woman was a housekeeper. For one, she was wearing a Versace dress and carrying a black Chanel handbag which matched her super-high black stilettos. There was no reason a housekeeper would be wandering the grounds dressed like that, especially in those shoes. At least not one I could think of. Secondly, she was absolutely stunning. A woman like her could easily be an actress or a model, so it was very hard for me to believe she simply worked for Jacob at his house.

“Hello,” I replied, not wanting to be rude. “Yes, I’m Nora. And you—”

I was cut off by Jacob appearing behind me. “Ina? What are you doing back so soon? I thought you said you’d be up north on your business thing for another two weeks at least.”

She shrugged. “I forgot a few things. You know what my memory is like. So I came back late last night to get them, and I booked a ticket back up there for this morning.” She looked down at the rose gold watch on her left wrist. “Oh, damn, I’m going to miss my flight if I don’t get out of here right this second. Sorry to be rude and dash off, but I really have to! Nice to meet you, Nora.”

With that, she swept away. I was left staring at Jacob, confusion etched on my face as I frowned. He looked nervous, and I was immediately filled with a distinct sense of foreboding.

“Who was that?” I asked. “I saw her come out of the guesthouse. Are you renting it to her or something?”

He rubbed his chin. “In a manner of speaking.”

I gritted my teeth. That didn’t exactly sound good. “What’s going on?” I said. “Who was that woman, and why was she here?”

Jacob sighed. “This is a conversation I was really hoping to save for later. I wanted to spend more time with you first, let you get to know me better before you rush to judgment.”

“Too late for that now. The cat’s out of the bag, and the woman is out of the guesthouse. So who is she?”

He sighed again and looked at the floor for a moment, clearly not wanting to answer my question anytime soon.

“Jacob,” I said in a warning tone.

He looked back up at me again. “That was Ina,” he finally replied.

I rolled my eyes. God, he was being so damn evasive. “So I heard. Who is she?”

Jacob steeled his jaw. “My wife,” he said. “Ina is my wife.”