Playing All the Angles Read Online Free PDF Page B

like fast girls.”
    “Then I’m doomed. Anyway, I’m going to marry Marcus if I’m still single when I’m forty. He needs a beard, and I want a sugar daddy.”
    “It’s good to have a backup plan.”
    “Yeah. We sealed the deal last year. He promised he’d let me shag other men as long as I let him do the same.”
    “You slept with Marcus?”
    Eve laughed. “No, Issie. I’m really not his type. But, if I don’t find better, I sure as hell couldn’t do worse. A sexless marriage in which I get to take all kinds of lovers? Lovely!”
    “Well, maybe the new neighbor will be Mr. Right. I’m telling you, waiting can be a really satisfying experience. Anticipation is a great aphrodisiac.”
    “You know what else is a great aphrodisiac?”
    “What?”
    “Foreplay. Besides, I like to know right off if the sex is good. And since you aren’t playing along, I’ve already slept with him. It was fantastic. Well, the first go was all elbows and knees, but you know how that is. The second go was fantastic. Shall I tell you all about it?”
    “Evie?” Isabelle asked her sister suddenly, voice changing as she did. “Do you go through men like you do because of Mum? And Alora? Are you happy?”
    There was a stunned silence on Eve’s end, and she broke it several seconds later to say, “I’m glad you think you found someone to be with forever, Issie. I’ll talk to you later. Kisses.”
    Isabelle sighed and shut the phone. “I shouldn’t have asked that last,” she told Dominic.
    “It’s a valid question.”
    “I do want her to meet someone and be happy. Not in the same way Mum and Alora want her to get married—misery loving company and all that—but I really want her to be happy.”
    Dominic tugged at a lock of her hair. “You’re a sweetheart, love. I’m just not sure she appreciates you.”
    “Yes, she does. In her way,” Isabelle said. “I’m the only one she talks to or spends any time with. She avoids the rest of the family like the plague.”
    “I could tell, considering how late she turned up at the party yesterday.”
    “I’m surprised she came at all. I wouldn’t have blamed her for not showing up. You saw how Mum and Alora attacked her. They always do that.”
    “So, she was trying to get you in to a lawyer, hmm? Prenuptial agreement? I could hear.”
    Isabelle blushed. “Yes, she thinks we should have one. She was serious about that,” she said.
    “And what do you think?” he asked, easing up onto his elbow.
    “I don’t know. We both have our own money. It’s not like either of us really stands to lose or gain a bundle if the marriage doesn’t—” She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t want to think about that. It almost feels like tempting ruin to consider it.”
    “I think we should do it.”
    “What?”
    “It’s no harm. It hurts nothing. I don’t think it puts a shadow on anything any more than getting married puts a cap on love. It’s just a practicality.”
    Isabelle let herself flop back on the bed beside him. “I don’t want ‘divorce insurance.’”
    Dominic chuckled. “It’s just like any other insurance. You get it hoping you never need it, but have it just in case you do. Getting car insurance doesn’t make you crash your car, does it?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Well, a prenup doesn’t make your marriage fail,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.
    She sighed. “All right. We’ll do it.”
    “You can tell Eve it’s her birthday present.”
    That made Isabelle laugh, and Dominic winked before getting up to take a shower. “But let her pay for it. Good attorneys are ridiculous.”
    Isabelle snuggled back down into the sheets and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. Alora had Doyle. She had Dominic. Eve was alone…and especially alone considering she didn’t even have the family behind her. She’d have to work to draw Eve into the wedding plans—make her feel included. Make her feel wanted. And she’d tell Dominic to do the same.

Chapter