DANIEL'S POV. As the morning sun peeked through the curtains, I slowly opened my eyes, feeling a strong wave of contentment wash over me. I turned my head to the side and saw Jessica lying next to me, her tousled hair framing her beautiful face. Last night with her had been the best night of my life, an eye-opener to the beauty of the world of sex with an emotional partner, and not just some shitty hookup. A smile immediately spread across my lips as I remembered vividly all the events of last night. She had been unpredictable and amazing, everything I'd ever wanted in my dreams. "Hey," I whispered, my voice still husky from sleep. "Good morning, beautiful."Jessica stirred and opened her eyes, greeting me with a sleepy smile. "Good morning, handsome," she replied, her voice filled with warmth. "Last night was... amazing. I didn't know you had all that in you, I totally get the Daniel Snider hype now," she joked, laughing at her own humour. I chuckled softly, reaching out to brush
JESSICA'S POV.The road stretched out before us, illuminated by the soft glow of the streetlights. Daniel's grip tightened on the steering wheel as we made our way home from his parents' house. The meeting had been pleasant, filled with laughter and delicious home-cooked food. And then the feeling of being known as the real Jessica and still receiving love from them felt good. Suddenly, the shrill sound of my phone shattered the silence inside the car. Startled, I fumbled to retrieve it from my purse. The caller ID displayed an unfamiliar number, and a surge of anxiety coursed through my veins. I had learnt to be weary of calls from unknown numbers these days. "Who could this be?" I whispered, uncertain. Daniel shot me a worried glance, his brows furrowing in concern. I think he was scared it was the stalker too. "I don't know, but you should answer it. It might be important."Taking a deep breath, I swiped the screen and brought the phone to my ear. "Hello?"A voice on the othe
DANIEL'S POV.ONE YEAR LATER.I walked through the front door of our new cozy home, my heart brimming with excitement and anticipation. After the whole Lori incident, I'd come clean to Jessica about every single girl I'd played in the past, and because Jessica was so big hearted and understanding, she'd forgiven me, and we decided to bury all that in the past. Our journey to letting go of the past had started from getting a new home. Dad had arranged for a purchase for a new house immediately I'd told him abouy it. And though I felt like he was once again helping me out and treating me like a child—he'd explained that buying that house for us was his way of saying sorry for how bad of a father he'd been. After that day I'd come clean to him about the contract, he'd made it his everyday goal to show his remorse, and I didn't mind. I'd forgiven him already just as I'd forgiven myself for being such an asshole in the past. A smile graced my lips when my nostrils filled with the sweet aro
JESSICA'S POV.After throwing the last piece of trash at the dumpster, I came to a conclusion. I was tired, tired of being a cleaner. It's been a long time coming anyways.I wiped my arms on my apron and took a deep breath before bursting through the double doors with one thought in my mind. I must deliver my resignation letter today.Thankfully all the customers had left and the bar was now empty. I scanned the place one last time before making my way to the boss's office with shaking hands.Once I reached the door, I hear the sound of a familiar male voice and from the other sounds coming from there, it was obvious Mrs Smith was cheating on her husband again. She'd promised yesterday was the last time.If it were any other day, I'd have gone away, leaving them to finish their funny business before dropping the key off and heading out, but today, I was beyond pissed. I couldn't stand anything about this bar anymore, it was like the environment could make me sick if I didn't go out a
DANIEL'S POV.That's it, I'm done with shagging faceless girls. I stared at the butt naked lady laying comfortably, sound asleep on my bed and cursed myself. How could I fall for it again? I'd promised myself no hooking up until my mum was out of the city, but look at me now standing naked above a lady I don't even remember picking up. I should stop taking too much alcohol.I tapped the girl on the leg and she slowly stirred awake. "Hey. You need to leave right now, I'm sorry."She blinked a few times before starring at my naked lower half with a now hungry look in her eyes. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"She and I know she was only here because of the money. I crossed my arms and gave her my most serious look, having to ignore the fact that she was gloriously naked. "We're done here, so you need to leave right now."She crawled off the bed and came to stand in front of me, her eyes hooded and seductive but I wasn't falling for it. "Say you want me to leave with your eyes on me."I
JESSICA'S POV.With a large well-practiced smile on my face, I rang the fancy doorbell to Mr Snider's house, giving my appearance another glance. Was this business-casual enough? I'd gone to the mall yesterday—where I'd encountered a jerk—to buy some clothes, but I'd only been able to afford what I'm wearing right now which was a black bell-sleeved tight dress that ended appropriately at my knees. I'd judged it by looking though, it was tighter than it looked in the store and I was always to intimidated to try on a dress at a store so I just paid for it and ran to my apartment to try it. Turns out I was wrong.The door swung open and a red haired lady stood at it with a smile on her face. "Housekeeper?" She asked.I nodded quickly. "Yes that's me. I'm ugh ... here for the interview." I take a peak inside the house and almost gasped. The house looked as amazing as I'd dreamt it to be. The lady followed my gaze and let out a chuckle. "I can see you like the house. Come on in and I'll s
DANIEL'S POV.THE NEXT DAY.I couldn't believe I'd hired that girl. She was so weird and different from anyone I'd seen before and that didn't sit well with me. My pitying self just had to look into her big eyes and give her what she wanted. Now I'm stuck with her as my maid."What's that lady's name again?" I asked Clara who was doing her best to keep up with my stride."Jessica Cooper," Clara said, out of breath.Jessica Cooper is the last name I was expecting a girl like her to bear. She should've been a Miranda or Laurel, Jessica doesn't suit her. Whatever, I don't care.We passed the junior employees who had their heads bowed in greeting and I ignored them. We made it to our floor and the atmosphere of the room didn't seem pleasing. Everyone had their heads bowed, and they looked frightened.I stopped at one employees desk—I think his name was Logan or something and he got up with so much force the chair almost fell back. That right there is was power can do. "What is going on?
DANIEL'S POV.That's it. Clara had officially gone mad."Are you hearing yourself right now, Clara," I said, giving her an astonished look which she returned with a shrug."People do stuff like that all the time Sir, it's nothing new."Nothing new? She wanted me to find a random girl to marry so my dad could give me back my properties. I'd only heard of contract marriages in the movies, I didn't think it was a real thing."And who would want to do that with me? Wait ... No, how does that help my situation? My dad would obviously see through the act, you don't know him like I do," I said.She smiled and crossed her arms. "There are plenty of ladies who would be down for that, I can tell you. What you need to be thinking about right now is a woman who would be willing to go into a contract marriage. I can help you with that if you want."What was Clara saying? It all sounded so wrong to me. I didn't believe in love, but I wasn't one to think a marriage should be manipulated. I didn't be