JACOB stared at his mother as though she had suddenly grown a horn in the middle of her forehead. He wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly. “Wait. What? What did you just say, Mom?” he asked, unable to hide his disbelief. He wasn't sure if he had actually heard her right. Maybe he had imagined it. Just moments ago, he still couldn't make sense of what he had felt while lying on top of the young woman. It was as if he had been hypnotized. Thank goodness someone had shown up and snapped him out of whatever strange spell had come over him. Just thinking about it made him shudder.
His mother smirked. “You heard it right, hijo. Sapphire is my new dietitian.”
At his mother's words, his brows knitted together. “Why would you hire her? Don't you already have a dietitian, Mom?”
“Sandra quit yesterday,” she answered. “She got an opportunity abroad. And who am I to stop Sandra when she's simply doing what's best for her family?”
He let out an exasperated breath. He couldn't believe what was happening. He had rejected the woman from his company, yet now she was about to become his mother's personal dietitian. Fate really had a twisted sense of humor.
“Umm…” Sapphire finally spoke after finding an opening. “Can I think about it first—”
He cut her off. “You don't need to think about it because you—”
“Because you're already hired.” His mother interrupted him in return. He shot her a sharp look, but she merely grinned back. It was obvious she had already made up her mind about hiring Sapphire as her private dietitian. And he knew his mother well—once she wanted something, she would do everything she could to get it. Too bad for her, because so would he.
Sapphire looked at him again, like prey trapped between two predators. He could see the fear in her eyes, and somehow it made him smirk. She was probably terrified of getting close to him. Being his mother's dietitian meant she would inevitably be around him and his family. She probably already had an idea of how that would turn out.
“Hija,” his mother spoke again, “I'll pay you handsomely.”
“Why bother?” he interjected. He looked Sapphire straight in the eyes. “Haven't you earned enough already as a scammer?”
His mother shot him a glare sharp enough to tell him to keep his mouth shut. He returned it with a deadpan expression. She was practically saying, Don't mess with her or you're dead. But he wasn't intimidated. He turned his attention back to Sapphire and gave his head a slight shake. She shifted uncomfortably, clearly uneasy with the situation.
She swallowed before speaking. “Like I said…” she began. “…I'd like to think about it first. I hope you understand, Ma'am.”
His mother smiled and nodded. “Very well,” she replied. “But I expect you'll say yes, hija.” That made him frown at her.
Sapphire didn't answer. She simply nodded. “I'll be going now. Thank you very much.” Instead, she excused herself. She didn't even spare him another glance. She looked eager to leave. Jacob crossed his arms as he watched her walk away. She almost tripped in her haste.
“Hmm... I think I forgot something,” he muttered.
His mother heard him. “Yeah, you forgot to apologize to her.” She deadpanned.
“Hell will freeze first, Mom,” he shot back. She rolled her eyes but didn't comment further. Perfect timing, because he suddenly remembered what he had forgotten. With hurried strides, he chased after Sapphire before she could get too far. He caught up to her just as she was about to get into a taxi. “Wait, I forgot to tell you something,” he said, holding the taxi door open. He noticed her swallow before turning to face him. Jacob almost smiled at the sight of the beads of sweat on her forehead. He would bet all his money it wasn't because of the hot weather—it was because of him.
“Whatever you're about to say, forget it, okay? I have no intention of becoming your mother's dietitian, so you don't have to threaten me or anything.”
He finally smiled. “Great! Now that we've established that, I've got something I want you to do.”
One of her eyebrows arched. “You're not the boss of me.”
He let it slide. For now. “You see, my friends decided to throw a party to celebrate my engagement.”
“So? What does that have to do with me?” she asked, her eyebrow still raised. She was clearly confused, and he almost laughed out loud.
“The problem is, there was no engagement after all, thanks to you,” he added sarcastically.
“You know what? I actually did you a favor. At least your ex-girlfriend won't be able to bleed you dry anymore,” she blurted out, and Jacob could practically feel smoke coming out of his ears.
“So, you're nosy too. You like sticking your nose into other people's lives.” He stepped closer, his voice dropping. “How much do you know? Are you satisfied with what you've learned? Or do you want to hear the whole story directly from me?” He took another step toward her, and she instinctively backed away. Too bad for her—there was nowhere left to go.
He saw the young woman swallow hard. “Y-Your mom explained everything to me. I didn't ask her,” she stammered.
One corner of his lips curled upward. “I hope you enjoyed finding out what a complete failure my relationship was.”
She shook her head. “No, I didn't.”
“Ha!” He scoffed. “Didn't you?” He gave his head another shake as he studied her closely.
“Knowing what happened between you and your ex-girlfriend doesn't benefit me in any way. I may have scammed you once, as you so eloquently put it, but I'm not a gossip.” He looked at her skeptically without saying a word. Growing uncomfortable under his gaze, she continued, “And about the party... why do I even have to go? I don't think my presence is needed there.”
He looked at her with obvious boredom. “You'll help me save face,” he said. “All of our mutual friends are going to be there.”
“Can't you just cancel it?”
He crossed his arms. “That's actually a good idea. But I'm not going to do that.”
“I won't be your stand-in fiancée—”
She didn't get to finish because he burst into laughter. “You're not going to be a stand-in fiancée. They already know the truth—that there was never going to be an engagement.”
“Then just cancel it,” she insisted.
Jacob let out a breath, his patience wearing thin. “Listen here, woman. Maybe you've forgotten that you owe me. You're a scammer, and God knows how many people you've fooled. It doesn't matter if the amount they paid you wasn't that much. It doesn't change the fact that you pretended to be a fortune teller. You're a con artist!”
“Okay, fine!” she snapped after a moment. “I'll pay you—”
“Yeah, that, and I'll file for moral damages too. Deal?”
“You jerk,” Sapphire muttered under her breath, and that only made him smile.
“So, what's it going to be?” He could see her grinding her teeth. She wasn't the only irritated one anymore—even the taxi driver was telling them to close the door if Sapphire wasn't getting in. “Well, you've got two days to think about it. I'll text you the location and the party theme. Either you'll be there, or I'll see you in court.” With that, he turned to leave.
“Wait, you'll text me?” she asked, confused. “I don't remember giving you my phone number.”
He turned back to face her. “You practically walked straight into the devil's lair when you submitted your résumé to my company,” he said, watching the different emotions flash across her face. With a smirk, he added, “I'll see you around, Miss Velasco.”