What Jack Wants

Chapter Thirteen

Jack got home early that evening. His proposed wife was around but for some reason, her presence only fueled his irritability that evening. He wanted to ask her to leave, at least for the evening but he didn't trust himself to be polite when he opened his mouth so he just kept quiet and hoped that she would get the memo.

Ever since they started this whole trying to be a couple thing, Jess had been great if he was being honest with himself. He had even started enjoying conversation with her and her company no longer irritated him. He was finally starting to see her as someone he could build a life with. After hearing or confirming that Lisa and Femi were having a thing, everything irritated Jack and that included Jess. All he wanted more than anything at the moment was for her to go somewhere, anywhere but his house. He just needed to find a polite way to tell her this without offending her. For as much as she stood to gain from their contract marriage, she was still doing him a huge favour. One would think they were many women who would jump at such an arrangement yet the first one he asked turned him down without remorse.

Speak of the devil, just emerged from the bedroom, with her hair in a towel on a robe wrapped around her. She seemed to have taken a shower. Seeing her did nothing for his nerves and he couldn't help but wonder the kind of man he was becoming. When did they have dressed woman become repulsive? Why was he always in such a bad mood whenever he saw Lisa or thought about her for too long? The woman clearly wanted nothing more to do with him, so why couldn't he get her out of his system? What more did he need to do to forget this girl? He had a gorgeous woman by his side, ready to cater to his every whim. Granted, he wasn't in love with her but when did he even know what that was? Wasn't it until recently that you could even say he knew what it felt like? So why couldn't he just enjoy your company like he did many times in the past with many other women? He never needed to love a woman to enjoy being with her, yet as great as Tess was, he couldn't bring himself to really enjoy everything that she brought to the table. She was a very beautiful woman, she had a gorgeous body and she was actually brilliant and not a bimbo like he had thought initially yet even this wasn't enough.

Jack poured himself another shot of whiskey, you had been indulging a lot in his bid to ebb some of his misery. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice when Jess had come to sit beside him until her freshly showered scent pulled him out of his deep thoughts.
"Hey."
"Hey," Jack responded grimly.
"Are you okay?"
"Perfect."
"It really doesn't look that way from where I'm sitting."
"Jessica, drop it okay?" Jack's words came out a little harsher than he intended and he was once again reminded why he didn't want to say anything to her. If he didn't know by the tone of his voice, the hurt look on her face said it all. She was human after all and sometimes he did nothing to make her feel appreciated. His bad moods meant that he was constantly upsetting her and sometimes he wondered if any of it was worth it.
"I'm just having a really bad day, I didn't mean to snap at you. Could you please give me a moment? Go shopping or something, I promise, everything will be fine later."
"Okay." Was all Jess said as she headed back to her bedroom to change into decent clothes.
"Jess, wait," Jack called, standing from his position on the couch. He walked over to where she stood with her back to him. He held her arm and gently turned her around. "I'm sorry I'm such a pain to live with. I'm just dealing with some things but I'm sorry you're always in the middle of it but if you give me a little time I'm sure we can make this work. Forgive me?" Jack waited patiently for her response, still holding on to her arm.
"It's ok, you don't have to worry about it."
"Thank you." Jack leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"I'll still give you a moment though, I need to see my sister. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."
Apologizing was usually not Jack's speed but he was quickly learning that if you wanted to live with a woman you had to know how to apologize and he was quickly mastering the art, even though he didn't mean it sometimes.