Kisses From Jack(21)

And the only thing he truly couldn't do was hurt her.





Kisses From Jack: Chapter 9


“When does your flight leave again?” Emma asked as she put the few things in her suitcase. She smiled, but her voice was bittersweet.

Jack sighed, shifting his weight on the bed. He didn't want to leave and every time he told her he wished he could move it back. For the millionth time, he wished he could just stay on the island drinking in Emma's saltwater kisses. “It technically leaves whenever I am ready, but, I have to be back in New York by the close of business, so I need to leave in about fifteen minutes.”

He was already packed and the jet fueled. All he had to do was say goodbye. And tell her who he really was.

“I wish you didn’t have to go until evening,” she said quietly, more to herself than to Jack.

“Me too, but planes can only fly so fast,” Jack answered. He shifted his weight again. He thought about leaving and not telling her who he was, but that would just be cruel. His face popped up on more magazines and tabloids than he really preferred and he didn't want her to find out that way.

But he still didn't want to tell her. He didn't want her to look at him the way everyone else did: like a meal ticket or their own personal ATM. He had been dreading this moment for days now. It was the one blight on an otherwise perfect vacation with her.

“Anxious to be off?” she asked, nodding at his tapping toes. He couldn’t seem to sit still. He looked down at his feet and saw his toes tapping against his sandals. He hadn't even realized he had been doing that.

“It’s a good thing I wear covered toe shoes at work,” he murmured glaring at the offending foot. The toes stopped tapping. “I need to tell you something.”

Emma played with the zipper on her suitcase, refusing to look at him. She chewed on her lip and the only thing he could think of doing was kissing her and possibly doing a little chewing of his own.

She looked up at him, straightening her spine and raising her chin. “The secretary you came with... she’s actually your wife, right?”

He laughed. “No, not by a long-shot.” His face darkened, and he stood up and took her hands in his. She had been watching him all morning, her green eyes taking in his every movement. She was able to read his emotions like a book, yet he knew this was going to be a surprise. “I haven’t been completely honest with you about what I do. I’m the new CEO of DS Oil and Gas.”

She snorted in disbelief. “I knew you had money, Jack, but a billionaire? Be serious.”

He held her in his eyes, wishing she could stay ignorant of his status forever. But he knew she couldn't. He had to do this. “I am serious. My father is the founder and owner of DS Oil and Gas. This is my last vacation before going back to take over the company. When my father steps down, I’ll be in charge of the company.”

She frowned, her brow going dark as she pulled her hands away from his. “DS Oil and Gas? What are you talking about Jack?”

He smiled sadly. “I love that you don’t know that. Here,” he said pulling out his phone and pulling up a video. He placed it in her hands and watched her face as it played.

It was one he had grown up with, played at every social function or company party he ever went to. He remembered smiling with his father for the end frame of the two of them by an oil well. It had been a good day, that day. His father had scheduled in the entire day for filming, but it ended up only taking about an hour. His father had declared it a day for the two of them. They had gone and sat in a local hamburger shop and talked for hours.

“The video is a little old, but it’s the one everyone knows. DS stands for Daniel Saunders, my father,” Jack said, taking the phone from her hands. Her mouth hung open in a pale face. Jack gently reached over and pushed her chin up. While she could read his thoughts like a book, she was a mystery to him. A delightful, heartwarming mystery.

“I don’t know what to say. I had no idea that was you.” She looked like she might be ill. Jack certainly felt like he might.

“I think that's why I like you so much. You never saw me as a meal ticket or anything other than another human being. You didn’t see a billionaire playboy, you saw a normal person.” His voice cracked slightly. He wanted to wrap her up in her arms and apologize, but he wasn't sure how she would take it. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

“That’s why you didn’t hesitate to buy this,” she reasoned, her hand going to the silver dolphin at her throat. “And why you didn’t want any pictures at the wedding. If you’re a billionaire, then you’re famous too, right?”