“No!” Angel blurted, her eyes going wide. “No, no, Daddy would never do that. I have to tell those people all the time that he doesn’t hurt me.” Angel huffed a huge sigh and threw herself back against the couch. “I get asked all the time if he hurts me.”
“I’m sorry,” Bridget muttered. “I wanted to make sure. I know it must get annoying, Angel, but people only want to make sure that the best is happening for you at all times. If someone is hurting you, then an adult needs to know as soon as possible.”
“I know that,” Angel said. She ran her fingers through her hair again and groaned. It was such an adult thing for her to do, and it made Bridget laugh, if only a little. “It’s because I don’t go to school,” Angel finally said. “But I don’t need to go to school. I’m smarter than anyone there anyways. I can take college classes and I do just fine in them,” she explained.
Bridget’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. She had never expected something like that to come from such a tiny, unassuming young girl. “Wow, you must be really smart,” she complimented.
Angel preened under the attention, but she continued her story. “I have never been to a doctor, but I haven’t ever gotten sick. It’s a lot of little things that build up. A lot of people are afraid that it’s not good for me. I think I’m just fine.” Angel paused, looked down at her sweater, and then looked up at Bridget. “Don’t you think that I’m just fine?” she asked.
“I would say that you’re more than fine,” Bridget agreed with a wide smile. “You’re such a smart girl, and I think that you can do anything in the world that you set your mind to, Angel. You’re going to go very far in life.”
Angel blushed a light pink across her cheeks. “That’s what Daddy says, too. I like when he says things like that to me. They make me feel special.”
“You are special,” Bridget agreed.
After that, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. It was agreed upon without communication that they liked to enjoy each other’s company, but they didn’t necessarily need to talk to enjoy that company. After a while, Angel reached for the remote and turned on the TV. She flicked through channels that Bridget didn’t even know existed. It had been three hours since Bridget had arrived, and she had yet to see Jack. She pitied a ma that had to work so hard, even while he was at home. She could only imagine that it made his relationship with Angel strain, even just the slightest bit.
At seven thirty, Bridget ordered dinner. True to what Angel said, there was a card left for them on the kitchen counter. Bridget wasn’t certain when it was left there, but when she handed it to the delivery boy, he didn’t even asks her about her name supposedly being Jack Gordon.
At eight thirty, Angel fell asleep on the couch. Despite her tough talk and her attitude, halfway through their movie, her eyelids began to droop. Bridget patted her lap, and Angel gladly stretched out and used her as her pillow for the night. Bridget continued to watch the movie, attention absolutely captured by the beautiful cinematography. It was one that she had never seen before, thanks to having little to no money to spare on things like movie tickets.
When the next movie in the marathon began to play, Bridget didn’t bat an eyelash. She happily would have stayed awake with Angel in her lap, watching movies until the sun rose. She was half certain at that point that it was more likely than not.
Chapter Eight
“Did she fall asleep?” Jack asked.
Bridget jumped, feeling rather like earlier that morning when Maggie had snuck up on her. It had gotten to the point where Bridget had turned off the sound of the movie and resorted to subtitles to keep from waking Angel. Half of the effect was lost, but it was enough to satisfy her and keep her attention just as well as before.
“I almost started to think that you forgot that I was over,” Bridget teased, turning just so to turn and look at Jack. He was far more casually dressed, in a bright t-shirt and jeans. His hair was messily swept back, and there were dark bags under his eyes.
“I couldn’t forget that there was a stranger in my house,” Jack scoffed. He stretched his arms over his head, and then moved in front of the couch.
Jack hesitated for just a moment too long in front of Bridget, and it made her heart race and leap inside of her chest. Jack sent her a quick glance, but then continued on his way. Carefully, and with the experience of someone who had been doing it for nine years, Jack tucked his arms under Angel and hefted her up. Angel hardly noticed, simply rolling over in her sleep to turn and nuzzle against Jack’s broad chest.
With a sleepy Angel in his arms, Jack walked around the couch and towards the left hallway that branched off from the main hallway. After what she had seen going on in that hallway, Bridget could safely assume that it was where both Jack and Angel’s bedrooms were. She wondered if Jack had a specific room to work in, or if he worked in his bedroom. Bridget scoffed at that. In a place as grand as this, there was no way that Jack wouldn’t have a space specifically for his work.
When Jack didn’t return right away, Bridget stood up and rubbed at her eyes. She hadn’t realized until Angel had been moved off of her, but she was absolutely exhausted. Her eyes felt heavy, and she could hardly see in front of her. Bridget grabbed the remote from where she had put it on the table, and flicked the TV off. It shut off in a shutter effect motion, like something on a cheesy presentation builder, but it was charming. Bridget set the remote back down, and made her way into the kitchen. She set the pizzas into the fridge to prevent them from going stale, and then headed into the main hallway.
Just as she had gotten her socks and shoes on, Bridget heard a cough behind her. A simple clearing of Jack’s throat that managed to be calm enough that Bridget didn’t jump out of her skin. She turned to look at Jack, who was staring at her with a single eyebrow raised far higher than its twin.
“Didn’t Angel tell you that I wanted to talk to you?” Jack asked, looking Bridget up and down. It seemed as though the entire Gordon family was deadest on making Bridget feel like a piece of meat in a butcher shop. She was hung up in the glass for their scrutiny, and if she didn’t pass, then she was doomed.
“This late?” Bridget asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Jack. “I’m sorry, Jack, but I’m tired. I’m sure that you’re tired too. Bridget told me that you were working very hard back there.”
Jack wasn’t amused by the answer. He frowned at Bridget, and continued to glare her over from the top of her head to the tips of her shoes. “Don’t you remember what I told you the first night that I met you?” Jack asked, a darker edge coming into his voice. It was like the night before, only far more intimate—in some strange, twisted way.
“I remember,” Bridget agreed. She just had to do what Jack said, and her job would be easy. It was plain and simple.
“Good girl,” Jack sneered. “So take off your crappy, muddy shoes and your socks and follow me,” he instructed.
Jack didn’t wait for Bridget to take off her shoes and socks before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway. By the time that Bridget had managed to take both articles of clothing off again, Jack had turned the corner and was out of her sight. Nervously, Bridget stayed in the entrance to the hallway. If she went in without permission, it might end badly for her. Then again, hadn’t Jack just given her permission?
As if reading her mind, Jack poked his head out of one of the many doorways down the hallway. He was smiling again, and back to the side of him that Bridget was far more comfortable around.
“Well come on, kitten. Unless you’ve been magically glued to the floor in just a few seconds that I’ve left you alone,” he teased.
Bridget laughed at the joke, but her mind was stuck on a single word that Jack had said.
“Kitten.”
Chapter Nine
Bridget, although she had been stumped by the sudden use of a pet name, made herself move forward and closer to the room that Jack was in. He had ducked back inside of it, and had begun to shuffle around. Bridget could hear the di
stinct sounds of things being tossed away to make room for someone about to enter a messy room. She felt flattered that Jack was taking her into so much consideration, but it also made her feel like a specimen under a microscope.
As she walked down the seemingly impossibly long hallway, the word repeated in Bridget’s mind over and over and over again. Kitten. Kitten. Kitten. Kitten. Kitten. Had Jack Gordon really called her kitten? Bridget turned her eyes to the ceiling of the hallway. What had she ever done to deserve such torment in her life? She was going to go mad at this rate. First, she was given a job by the richest man in America—whose house showed that he had absolutely no fear in flaunting that wealth to absolutely anybody and everybody who would stop and take notice of it—and now he was calling her pet names. Bridget felt like she was going to pass out.
If it wasn’t all already too much for her, stepping into the room sealed her fate. Bridget had been expecting to be guided into Jack’s office, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. Unless Jack’s office looked strangely like his bedroom.
Jack was sitting on the grand bed in the center of the room, staring up at Bridget with a raised eyebrow. She looked absolutely puzzled, and even though it was cute on her, he couldn’t help but laugh. Bridget blushed again when Jack laughed at her. When Jack was around, there was not an end in sight to her profuse blushing. At this rate, she was certain that her cheeks were going to be red for the rest of time.
“Why don’t you take a seat?” Jack offered, patting the spot on the bed next to him. He was leaning back on his hands, and his legs were open in a show of dominance. It was a way to show off to a new girl who he had only just been introduced to.
Bridget couldn’t believe what was happening to her. This man—this gorgeous, stunning, disgustingly rich man—was inviting her to sit on his bed. Despite how hard she tried, Bridget couldn’t make herself budge. There was no way that she was ever going to move from her spot just a few feet into the bedroom.
Jack easily picked up on that, and shrugged. He could understand being nervous around him. Hell, if someone weren’t nervous around him, he would have found it a far stranger occurrence.
“So, I want to talk to you about Angel,” Jack said. He approached the topic as casually as he could. He couldn’t help but be overprotective of Angel. She was, well, his little angel. “How was she tonight?” he asked.
“She was just fine,” Bridget replied. She crossed her arms behind her back, and tried not to think about the way that she could very clearly see the outline of Jack’s cock in his pants.
Was he going commando? And was he showing off for her? Bridget could have swooned on the spot at the thought of it all. She had to have been dreaming.
“Did she get her homework done?” Jack asked.
“I didn’t ask if she had any, I’m sorry,” Bridget said. There was no point in lying to Jack. He would find out the truth sooner or later. She would have preferred to take his anger about a slip in carefulness over his rage at being lied to. “She just wanted to eat dinner and watch movies, so that’s what she did. She fell asleep just before her bed time, though,” Bridget offered, hoping that that was good enough for Jack.
Jack nodded, mulling over the things that Bridget told him. It made Bridget squirm on the spot. Jack was making her feel so vulnerable. She could only assume that it was a skill that he had over everyone that was around him. The only two people that Bridget doubted his skill worked on were Angel and Maggie.
“She can get it done tomorrow,” Jack agreed. “I’m afraid that I go a bit too easy on her,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I’m wound around her little finger, and she eats up every single second of it. With a girl that cute, how am I supposed to say no to her? She stays up until midnight eating whatever she wants, but in the end she gets everything done that needs to be done. That’s more than I can say for myself.”
“What were you working on tonight?” Bridget asked, looking Jack up and down. “You were back here for a very long time. I was almost worried about you.”
“Almost worried,” Jack teased. “Geez, if you were almost worried, then maybe you could have brought me a slice of pizza.” He waved his hand at that, and curled his nose. “I’m sick of pizza. Angel can’t get enough of the stuff. I miss the days before I had kids where I was eating caviar each night and drinking champagne until I puked.”
“I’ve never lived like that,” Bridget mused. She hadn’t even meant for the words to truly leave her mouth. It was a nasty habit of hers.
Jack’s eyes lit up at the sentiment, and he stared up at Bridget. This was a change of pace that he could easily get on board with. As nonchalant as he could—and as a businessman it was something that he was incredibly good at—Jack tilted his head at Bridget.
“I can offer you that kind of lifestyle,” he said.
Chapter Ten
Jack was in front of Bridget in a matter of seconds. She wasn’t certain when he had gotten up, but there he was.
“If you say yes, you’ll never want for anything, Bridget,” Jack whispered, staring intently into Bridget’s eyes.
Bridget could feel her heart racing as she stared at Jack. She almost didn’t know what to say. Once more, it all seemed like it was coming straight from a fairy tale. Before she had proper time to truly think about it, Jack was crashing his lips against Bridget’s and kissing her as hard as he could. He had never been a gentle kisser, but Bridget didn’t mind. Jack was all teeth and tongue, and it was such an incredibly refreshing change of pace from the guys that Bridget usually hooked up with.
“Get on the bed,” Jack growled as their kiss separated. It was hardly a question, and Bridget found herself following the order without a single question.
This was something that she had been dreaming about for the past night. She wouldn’t lie, the image had been in her head before, but now it was in front of her and it was real. Bridget couldn’t sidle herself up to the headboard quickly enough before Jack had shut the door and gone over to the bed as well.
“Just one simple word, and I can get you out of that crappy apartment,” Jack crooned. He was palming himself through his pants.
Bridget honestly didn’t see any other answer. She nodded, and Jack crashed forward once more. This time, his hands joined the fray. Without breaking the kiss, Jack managed to strip the two of them down to their very last layers. As their kiss broke, a thin, shimmering trail of spit connecting their mouths, Jack tore off his shirt.
Bridget only had a moment to appreciate the sight before her before there was suddenly a far more distracting presence pressing against her innermost depths of her body. Jack’s thick fingers seemed to know exactly how to work, caressing and pressing in all of the right places over her clit and passing over her hole.
“The best food money can buy, I’ll pay your student debts, I’ll do anything for you,” Jack promised. He used his other hand to casually stroke his cock to full hardness, and it made Bridget flush even more as an obscene moan slipped past her lips. “You can live here with me, and you’ll know the meaning of being royalty. You can be with Angel all day long.”
“You promise?” Bridget breathed, looking up at Jack with wide eyes. He didn’t seem like the kind to lie to a woman, but Bridget was still having trouble believing that all of this was real.
Jack, clearly, was upset by her answer. He continued to massage the pads of his burning hot fingers all through and over her hole and over sensitive clit. “I’m not lying,” Jack promised. “There would be no reason for me to lie to you, not when I’ve been going mad about you.”
“About me?” Bridget parroted, and a sudden press of Jack’s first finger into her hole had her throwing her head back and letting out an obscenely loud moan. Bridget wasn’t certain how Angel wasn’t going to hear them and wake up, but she trusted Jack’s better judgment.
“When I first saw you, I knew that I had to have you,” Jack breathed. His hand around his cock was growing sloppier, his movements jerkier as he spoke. “You w
ere gorgeous and amazing, and Angel loved you. Angel rarely loves anybody.” Jack paused for a moment, watching Bridget’s face as carefully as he could. Her expressions were beautiful. “I rarely love anybody,” he concluded.
The questions and objections were forming on Bridget’s tongue faster than she could bother to get them out. It didn’t help that Jack’s fingers were working magic on her. She barely even noticed when the first finger was withdrawn, and instead replaced with the head of Jack’s thick, leaking cock.
“Love?” she asked, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Jack, rather than giving Bridget a true answer, pushed into her. He groaned at the tightness all around him, and Bridget gave him a string of nonsense and curses in return. Jack grinned, loving the way that Bridget sounded. She was utterly wrecked beneath him, a moaning and groaning mess that he wanted to watch and wreck for as long as he possibly could.
As soon as he was all the way in, Jack pulled out and then pushed in again. Immediately, his pace was hard and fast. Bridget, although a normally sweet and gentle kind of girl, had no objections. Jack’s whispers were in her ear, encouraging her and telling her what a good girl she was. He told her how beautiful she was, and just how lucky he was to have her.
The pleasure spreading throughout her system began to boil and bubble in Bridget’s gut, and she knew that she wouldn’t last long. Jack was in the same boat, and as Bridget’s body tensed around him, Jack came as well. Bridget could feel him emptying his load inside of her, taking his time to milk out the very last drops of it into her body.
“Love,” he breathed, exhausted and worn.
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