After the fundraising event, Jack escorted Mia out of the hotel to take her home.
Like when they arrived, a lot of reporters and paparazzi were waiting for them, and even with so many of them shouting questions at her, Mia only waved and smiled as she walked next to the serious Jack, who opened the sliding limousine door for her before joining her in the back seat.
As he was losing his tie a bit, Jack said, “I didn’t know you were going to make an auction of that necklace. You said it was yours, and a famous jeweller designed it.”
“My father gave me that necklace when I turned eighteen, but I only used it once. He told me the jeweller gave him that to thank him because of some business. It came with the proper papers to prove he made the necklace, but it was too ostentatious. It wasn’t my type of jewellery, which is why I thought it would raise a good amount of money at an event like this. And it did. Together with the donations, I got a lot of cash for my father’s foundation. Now, I just have to check where all that money will be sent, just to be sure it goes to people who really need it and not to someone who likes to scam people by calling to their kindness.”
“What? Some people pretend to be homeless just to get money from other people?”
Mia shrugged and explained, “It happened once, and my father got furious when he found out he was scammed like that. There was also a man who worked at that foundation, and he would take money for himself, a tiny bit each time, so it was difficult to track the money that was stolen. He was caught, but most of the money vanished. He is still in jail, but we may never see the money return to the foundation.”
Jack went silent, thinking that not only in Crosslot there were criminals. Different world, smarter criminals. But criminals, nonetheless.
Mia looked through the window, or better yet, pretended to be looking at the city lights, when, in fact, she was watching Jack’s reflection.
The voyage was not long, but even so, Mia was surprised by how the silence didn’t bother her. She felt relaxed near that always-serious man, and that was something she wasn’t used to.
Before the kidnapping attempt, she would always be the loudest person in a room or inside a car, always talking or shouting, so that all eyes were on her. But with Jack, she never felt the need to call for his attention. Probably because of the way he looked at her whenever she started to speak. He would look her in the eyes, putting all of his attention into her words. He was a good listener, and he could make her feel like she was the most important person in the entire world.
Mia felt her cheeks becoming hot and tried to calm her heartbeat while looking at Jack’s reflection in the window.
When the limousine stopped in front of her mansion, she only noticed they had arrived when Jack called for her, already outside the limousine, and offering his hand for her to grab.
He walked with her to the front door and said with a slight smile, “I need to get changed quickly because I want to wake up early tomorrow morning. You don’t have work on the weekend, right?”
“No, but…” She took a slow, deep breath and said, “I was hoping we could meet. Unless you already have plans.”
“I don’t have any plans. Well, besides relaxing with Sophia, probably. What was on your mind?”
Mia smiled and said, “What about if we went to the shopping mall to play a few games? We could even make some bets! The winner could order around the losers, or something like that!”
A maid opened the door for them, and Jack followed Mia inside while answering, “I think that is a good idea. Can we meet at the gym? I can take a quick shower there, and then we can go.”
“Or better yet, I will also go with you to burn all the calories I ate tonight. Eight thirty there?”
“That is strangely early for you. As far as I know, you are not a morning person.”
Mia blushed bright red and said as they were walking up the stairs, “It only happened two times… You saw my nightgown only two times…”
“And that was because you were half asleep. Are you sure you want to wake up so early to go to the gym?”
“Sure, I am sure! I mean, I got used to waking up early to go to work! And tomorrow is Saturday. I can sleep till very late on Sunday.”
Mia winked at the smiling Jack and went into her room. A maid was in the corridor, and as Jack was going to the guest room to change, she asked, “Everything went well, I hope?”
“Yes, no problems whatsoever. Besides Miss Mia’s uncle, who got way too curious about me and our relationship. There were a lot of people wondering who I was, but we managed to keep them in the dark.” Noticing the maid was frowning, Jack quickly explained, “It was Miss Mia’s idea. She thought it would be better if no one knew anything about me because that would lead to more questions she didn’t want to answer.”
“I suppose that was the better approach. As long as you didn’t cause a scandal, that will put Miss Mia on the cover of a magazine.”
Jack made an awkward smile and said as he was opening the door, “I may have pushed away a paparazzo who got too close and made Miss Mia slightly nervous. Besides that, I didn’t cause anything.”
The maid grinned and returned to her work. Jack closed the door behind him and went straight to the bed, where his clothes were already washed and folded.
As he was unbuttoning his shirt, the door that communicated with Mia’s room opened. The noise made Jack raise his eyes, and he gulped at the sight in front of him.
Mia was standing there, in her minuscule underwear, and with such a mischievous smile on her lips that he gasped. Without moving, she asked, “Sophia is not at home, right? That means you will go to an empty house. Why don’t you sleep here?”
“I… I could… but…”
“But you are afraid a weak woman such as me will force you to do anything you don’t want to? Or that I will tempt you to do something sinful? Mister Jack, who do you think I am? I am a well-raised lady. I don’t sleep with the first guy I set my eyes on.”
She then turned around, and while grabbing the doorknob, she looked back to check if he was looking at her butt and said, “I just offered you a place to sleep if by any chance you have trouble sleeping because you are still stressed about all that ordeal at the fundraising.” Because he remained silent, Mia grinned and continued, “Since I talked about sleeping, why don’t you come in? I can see how much I am making you wonder if I am joking or not, but I am being completely serious here. My bed is enormous, so we can both fit there. I am also slightly drunk and overly excited, and I would like to sleep with your arms around me to make me relax. I was extremely nervous at that event, and I could only calm down because you were there.”
“I… don’t think that is a good idea. Embracing you will for sure make me more stressed, and I won’t be able to sleep. And… I might try something…”
“No, you won’t. You are too serious and polite to force me to do anything. Not that you would need to force me, I mean. But tonight, we will only sleep. Consider this as a test drive.”
Jack raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “Test drive? I don’t understand.”
“I mean, we can sleep as a preparation for our future. If we start going out, there will be nights when we will only sleep without any other previous activities. Tonight, we could do some cuddling and kissing, perhaps, but nothing more. I trust you to stop me if I lose control and try to attack you. Can you do that? I mean, can you make sure we don’t do anything else besides sleep? I know I was the one inviting you, but now that I am thinking about it, I am not sure if I can trust myself near you.”
With a slight smile, Jack took off his shirt, trousers, shoes, and socks, keeping only his shorts. While approaching Mia, he said, “I used to know a woman who wouldn’t lose an opportunity to tempt me. She always failed miserably. I know myself well enough to be certain I can resist you. But just to be sure, we can sleep together, but only hug each other. No cuddling, no kisses, no hands going to forbidden places. Like you said, let’s do a test drive to see if we can relax near each other and just sleep.” He then made a slight frown and said while looking down at her tiny panties, “But you need to put on a nightgown. You are almost naked, and that will be too much for my poor heart.”
Mia smiled, signalled with her hand for Jack to follow her, and went into her room, straight to the closet. She moved a few hangers and took out a short nightgown. She placed it in front of her and asked the moment Jack closed the door, “What about this one? It’s not see-through. It is sexy, but not tempting enough to make you lose control, right?”
“I think that should work. But won’t the maids or your father find it weird that I slept in this house?”
“My father travelled for business, and the maids don’t even enter my room unless I call them. Tomorrow morning, they will realise you stayed for the night, but none of them will suspect we slept in the same bed considering you were using the guest room. What about Sophia? Won’t she return home tomorrow morning?”
Jack answered as he opened the sheet of the bed, “We are going to meet at the gym in the morning. She said she wanted to practise for a Schools Sports Competition that she was going to participate in. Boxing, I think. She told me there is an Athletics event, a Dodgeball event, and a Boxing event for students of several schools. She also told me she was going to try the other two events, but she thinks she is going to have more fun with Boxing because she can hit other kids.”
Mia joined him in bed, already with her sexy nightgown, and said, as she was making herself comfortable by using his forearm as a pillow, “I know about that. It is a major competition with all the schools in this City. Your crazy daughter is going to box? I pity the kids who have to face her!”
“Actually, I pity you. She told me she wanted to challenge you to practice. She said she needed to get used to the rules, but she said that with a wicked grin on her lips, so I am almost sure she is going to use that excuse to beat you up.”
“Darn brat…” Mia closed her eyes and said in a low voice, “Can you turn off the lights? It is that button on the bedside table. I am too sleepy to reach for it…”
Jack gave her a slight kiss on the forehead and hit the button, drowning the room in complete darkness. Mia’s rhythmic breathing was the only noise in the room, until she whispered, “Thanks… Good night…”
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