He had friends flying in from all over the world to come stay at Owen's lush beach house to celebrate one last time. Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough. He couldn't wait to see the few people in the world that he didn't feel awkward and rich around. For at least a couple of hours, he would get to be “Jack” and not have to be the billionaire.
Jack went to the kitchen to find the Gatorade for Owen. Jack smiled when he opened the pantry to find his two favorite flavors neatly lining one of the shelves of the pantry and several cooling in the fridge. He would have to thank Janet, one of the housekeepers, for doing such a wonderful job. She always knew when Jack was coming to visit and stocked his favorites accordingly.
Owen was already snoring when Jack dropped the bottle off in his room. For a moment, Jack considered finding a sharpie or even some some shaving cream to prank his friend, but decided against it. It wasn't the threat of retaliation, but rather the bone-weary tiredness that decided him. The company's transition next week was already exhausting him.
Jack climbed the stairs to his room, stripping his shirt off as he entered. He didn't bother taking off his pants or even turning on the light before flopping into bed. All he wanted to do was sleep and not think about what he was doing. Nothing in his life felt right at the moment.
“Ooof!” A voice said in the darkness. “What are you doing? You reek.”
Brandy. Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had completely forgotten about Brandy.
“Sorry, baby,” he whispered, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “We just got back.”
“Well, you can go take a shower,” she said shortly. “You smell like a bar.”
Jack frowned. Of course he smelled like a bar, that's where he had been all night. “I'll take one in the morning, I'm just really tired and—”
“Then don't sleep in here with me,” she snapped. “Either stop smelling like crappy whiskey or find another place to sleep.”
Jack stared at the dark in disbelief for a moment before getting up and going to another room. He was exhausted. It shouldn't matter that he smelled like a distillery. That was his room too. This whole place was his.
He flopped down in the guest bedroom down the hall, annoyed. The pillow here wasn't the kind he liked and the bedspread in this room was too heavy. He wanted his room. He scrunched the pillow up under his head in an angry attempt to make it more comfortable.
Bringing Brandy was a mistake. Owen and Rachel both had tried to warn him but he hadn't listened. He had wanted to be in love. For the last week before his father's business took over everything, Jack had wanted to find some happiness.
On the surface, everything had been perfect. Brandy was beautiful with a body that made men's heads spin. She laughed at his jokes and she fawned over his gifts. She had made him feel powerful and wanted.
He shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. She had fluttered her eyelashes and taken him in. Every time he closed the blinds to his office with her inside, he had gotten a rush. But, now that they were on vacation, all the spark from their clandestine meetings in the office was gone.
Jack sighed, holding the breath out for as long as he could, relishing the physical ache. After this trip, everything would be different and yet exactly the same. He knew was after his money, but at least she had made the effort to give him the illusion of having feelings for him.
She must still just have a headache, Jack thought to himself. Everything will be back to normal in the morning.
Kisses From Jack: Chapter 2
Everything was not back to normal in the morning. The first few times his phone buzzed, Jack didn't even bother getting up to answer it. He just prayed that it would stop before his hangover got worse.
When it started to vibrate non-stop, he finally reached out from under the blanket to look at who was calling. He had specifically requested that he only be bothered for emergencies, but one look at the Caller ID told him that he better pick it up.
“What's up, Dean?” he asked, his voice cracking halfway through the sentence.
“What's up? I've been trying to call you for a half hour now,” the angry man on the other end of the line said.
“I know, I just woke up.” I am on vacation, after all, Jack thought. But he knew his bodyguard was just looking after him.
“Just woke- oh. Oh.” Dean sounded like he understood. Jack could hear someone talking in the background, then he heard Dean say, “He said he just woke up.”
Jack looked at the clock. 9:30 AM. It wasn't even that late, but for the CEO of a company, that might as well be sleeping in until sunset. He knew he'd be pulling some hours before dawn as soon as he started.
“Listen, guys, is everything okay? Did you land? Are you here?”