Jaime was right, Isabela didn't judge him. Did she think it was weird and perhaps not kosher that he had an illicit relationship with his sister? Probably, but she would never say anything. It wasn't her place to judge. It was easy for people to be judgmental of a person and base the entirety of their opinion on one aspect of a person. Even Isabela knew there was more to a person than just one thing, even if she herself attempted to convince the world around her that she only cared about a very select few things. "What do I see in you? I see a man who did what was right even if no one else saw that. I see a man who believes in honor and tries to hold himself to it. I see a man that has more to give than most people see. All they seem to see is the Kingslayer and therefore have forsaken you. I see a man who should be respected for what he instead. Had you not acted, there would have been a massacre of innocent people, and then what would have happened? Civil war? Pandemonium?" While Isabela well understood the world Jaime came from upheld honor and vows moreso than anything else, she still didn't understand why people seemingly ignored the fact the king had been insane and was killing innocent people.
"No really, it's true. If I didn't feel the way I do about you, I'd disappear every single time chaos broke out here. I don't stick my neck out for others. I don't try to protect people. I only fight if someone directly confronts me with it and makes it about me. I am a selfish person who suffers bouts of morality, such as when I freed those would-be slaves. Yet aside from running away after suffering your cruelty, I've stayed around to try and help if I could. And the only reason I even came back, aside from Anders pestering me, was for you." Which was the truth. Isabela hadn't wanted to come back. If she'd had her way and her mind had overruled her heart, she would still be at sea, and she would not come back to Lawrence. But her heart had other things on it and forced her to come back, that there might be a chance she could fix things with Jaime, that she wouldn't lose him. And that is what this was seeming like, a chance to keep him in some respect. Because if she lost him now, she knew she would run and not look back.
And...wait. Had she heard him right? He was falling for her? Jaime Lannister wanted her, was falling for her, a pirate who always ran away from love because she felt she didn't deserve it and she didn't want to be tied down to anyone and become someone else's possession. And Jaime was asking her to be the other woman, the secret woman. Of course she understood why, and she'd really rather Cersei didn't know because she was just someone Isabela did not want to deal with. And Joffrey...would probably not be much better. So perhaps it would be for the best this remained secret from those two.
"Of course I'll be with you," she said before her mind could stop her heart. "I don't care if I'm the other woman, as long as I can still have some part of you." She was not going to think she could completely win him over, to one day be the only woman in his heart, but if she could have just a piece of it, something that would be hers, that would be enough. It would be more than anyone else had ever really given her. Keeping her hand in his, she lifted her other hand and pressed it against his cheek as she gazed into his eyes. She was going to say something else, but before she could, she just leaned forward and kissed him, needing to make sure this was real, that she wasn't dreaming.