The Billionaire's Bride

Chapter 7

"Do you want a drink?" Jack asked Cassie once they entered the room, and he headed directly to the minibar.

"No, thank you" Cassie replied, standing awkwardly by the door, not sure what to do.

"You can have the bed" Jack offered. "The car is arriving at 7am to take us to the airport. Please be ready to go by 6:30 so we have time to get everything downstairs and checked out by the time it gets here."

"Ok" Cassie replied quietly. Her things were already packed, and she had her items laid out of the next morning. Getting ready would be easy.

"Goodnight" Jack said, and he walked away, drink in hand, and settled down on the couch in the other room without waiting for Cassie to respond.

"Goodnight" she whispered quietly to nobody. She then made her way to the bedroom to change into sleepwear, and then she crawled into bed for a sleepless night.

Jack took his beverage with him, not his first of the evening as he drank through the majority of the dinner, and threw himself onto the couch to sulk. It wasn't long before he was completed oblivious to the world around him, and was still completely passed out when his alarm clock continued to chime in the morning.

Cassie had gotten up in plenty of time to get ready, and had even coordinated with having the luggage picked up by the porters, and was ready to go when Jack's alarm began ringing. She waited a few moments before she realized that he wasn't getting up, and she wondered what she should do. She didn't want to have to wake him up, but she also didn't want to be responsible for missing the car's arrival by not waking him up. Finally, she decided she had better wake him up. If she were a real wife, she reasoned to herself, she would make sure her husband woke up in time to catch their flight.

"Jack" she said softly once she had approached his side. "Jack" she said again, a little louder when he didn't respond. Finally, she gently shook his shoulder when she called him again, "Jack, it's almost time to leave" she said again.

To her relief, Jack finally responded, and reached wildly for his phone to turn off the alarm, groaning and blocking the light with his other hand.

"What time is it?" he asked as he finally shut of the alarm.

"It's 6:50" Cassie responded promptly.

"Damn it, we have to hurry" he grumbled as he stumbled to his feet. "You should have woken me up sooner" he snapped at her as he found his way into the bathroom.

Cassie had everything else ready, the luggage already downstairs and she had completed check-out over the phone when Jack finally came out of the bathroom. He had put on his clothes he'd set aside, and had has travel bag stuffed with what he'd been wearing the night before.

"Are you ready?" he asked gruffly, "We've got to get someone up here for the luggage and check out. I'll call the car company and let them know we're running late."

"It's already taken care of" Cassie said softly, "We just need to leave the key in the room, and the luggage is already downstairs. The car called while you were in the bathroom, and they're loading the luggage now. I let them know we'd be down right away."

Jack paused a moment and stared at Cassie for a second, before looking around the room, realizing there was nothing left for him to do but get downstairs, and he set his key on the table by the door.

"Thanks" he mumbled as they walked out together and headed toward the elevator.

"Of course" Cassie replied.

They walked in silence, rode the elevator in silence and then climbed into the waiting car in silence, only speaking to staff and the driver as necessary. Once in the car, they continued in silence until they reached the airport.

The flight home was much the same. They communicated only as was necessary to reach their destination, and barely spoke unless out of politeness for the entire flight until they landed in Jack's home town airport.

Jack was asleep when they landed, and Cassie had to wake him up again in order to get off the plane. They walked in silence until they reached the exit of the airport.

"Hello, Sir, welcome back Sir" Jack was greeted by his driver.

"Hello Brandon" Jack greeted, and shook the driver's hand. Cassie was a little surprised, because from everything she had witnessed of his behavior so far, she had assumed him to be a distant and uptight employer. To see him so friendly with his driver was a pleasant surprise, and it made her smile.

"Brandon, I'd like you to meet my new wife, Cassie. Cassie, this is Brandon, our driver and my good friend" Jack said with a sincere familiarity with Brandon, but in a manner far friendlier than he had behaved toward her since their meeting.

So this is how it's going to be, she mused to herself as she greeted Brandon warmly. All pleasantry and smiles in public, and cold indifference when we're alone. She shrugged it off and decided it didn't matter. She would play her part the best she could, and see this agreement through until she was free to decide what to do with herself.

"Please to meet you, Ma'am" Brandon said, tipping his hat to her.

"Please, call me Cassie" she requested. "It's very nice to meet you." And then she sat down in the car through the door that Brandon had opened for her.

It was only a few more minutes before the luggage was stowed in the back of the vehicle and Jack got into the back seat as well and they began the drive to his home. Cassie had no idea what to expect. She had obviously heard of Jack Carson before this adventure began, and she knew he was extremely wealthy, but she had no concept of how much he was actually worth. Cassie had seen his picture in magazines and on the cover of tabloids before, but if anyone had sked her, she wouldn't have even known what city he lived in, and now it was going to be her home.

They pulled up to a gorgeous home, with modern architecture but also classical windows and brick as well. It was situated at the end of a long street, and from what Cassie could tell, the yard sloped down to the beach on the other side of the house. It was a large piece of property, but still in a populated enough area that there were other homes scattered down the coastline, within a quick walking distance.

The car pulled up in front of the house, and Brandon stepped out quickly to open Cassie's door for her before she had the chance to do it for herself.

"I'll get everything inside for you right away, Sir" Brandon said to Jack as Jack exited the vehicle.

"Thank you, Brandon" Jack replied, as he walked toward the front door which opened before he got there.

"Welcome home, my Dear Boy" exclaimed the elderly woman who stepped out to greet him. She gave him a quick tight hug, and then quickly pushed him aside as she reached for Cassie.

"You must be Cassie" she said pleasantly, placing a hand on each of Cassie's shoulders and laying a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'm so pleased to meet you, welcome to your new home" she gushed.

"Hello, it's so nice to meet you" Cassie said, wishing she had some idea who this woman was. She was pretty sure she had heard somewhere that Jack's mother had passed away, but this woman was very friendly and casual and therefore unlikely to be a housekeeper, and so Cassie figured she must be a close family member.

Jack was suddenly very aware that he hadn't prepared Cassie at all for entry into his life. He had the foresight to at least pass along the name of the woman he was bringing home to his Aunt Grace, but hadn't told Cassie anything about Aunt Grace and that she would be there when they arrived and actually lived in the guest house on the property.