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“It’s my hotel, I would know.” Matt answered.
Jessica kept staring at Matt.
“I have my ways.” Matt said, embarrassed to admit that he hired help to track Jessica.
“And why did we end up getting married?” Jessica was still confused.
“I’m a sucker for hot mess, or should I say, the damsel in distress.” Matt quickly responded.
Jessica didn’t know what to feel at this revelation. She felt many conflicting emotions all at once. Of course, it hurt that the man she had thought was her best friend and thought she’d spend the rest of her life with turned out to be a fraud. She thought knowing Spencer for so many years meant she knew everything about him—knew what kind of person he was or what things he liked —but now, she realized she was utterly, mortifyingly wrong. Was their relationship even real? What about their friendship? Was that all just pretending on his part? She didn’t know him at all. He was living a double life, and he had been, even when they were just friends. He had been deceiving her this whole time.
As much as that was a painful realization, it was also a relief to know she was saved from marrying a stranger. If they had been married, it would have been a big lie. When eventually, she found out much later after being married, it could have been too late, and she would be way too hurt to comprehend. Jessica thought that maybe, even though this whole wedding fiasco with Spencer felt like a curse, it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it was some offhanded way of the universe to save her from ultimate demise by hurting her now. Jessica was reminded of her current situation.
You don’t know Matt either, and he’s already your husband. You are still married to a stranger though.
This did not scare Jessica like the thought of being accidentally married to a fake manipulative Spencer did. It was true that she didn’t know Matt either… yet. At least Matt didn’t seem like he was faking a whole other identity as Spencer had done.
Matt was all but unknown to her, yes, but there was the possibility of getting to know one another. He was a new person in her life, waiting to be explored, to be seen, to be heard —to be known. Even though she didn’t like him initially, she was starting to get used to him now.
Slowly, they might even become friends. After all, he had saved her from imprisonment. Even though she had had to marry him so he could pay off her boatload of debts in his hotel casino, it wasn’t altogether too bad of a situation.Lots of people married for convenience, right?She thought. That thought made Jessica breathe a little easier and not be afraid of the life that would lay ahead of her —a life with Matt.
* * *
Matt was slightly taken abackby Jessica’s sudden question about how he knew Spencer. He supposed he would have to come clean at some point, now that they are married, and anyway, Matt would have told her everything because she had the right to know. He just hadn’t expected it to be right now, on their way out on his private jet. He had imagined this trip to be a cute and lovely interaction, but he guessed this would have to be gotten through. It was how it was.
However, he debated whether to tell her some more details about Spencer. About the real reason why he was never okay with the fact that Spencer was dating a seemingly nice girl named Jessica. Spencer was never loyal to her in the first place. He cheated on Jessica all the time, ever since Matt had gotten to know him a little. It was one of the first things about him that made Matt lose respect for the guy. He had witnessed all of Spencer’s side pursuits when he was at his hotel. Spencer would show up with a new girl every week and book themselves in one of the hotel rooms overnight. He had the audacity to talk about Jessica while holding another girl in his arms. Matt was never okay with that, but he felt like it wasn’t his place to try to amend Spencer’s personality. If Matt had been acquainted with Jessica, maybe he would have, but since he wasn’t, he didn’t know if he had the liberty to intervene.
After giving it some thought, he decided not to tell Jessica. She didn’t need to add more burns to her already bad heartbreak. She had been left by Spencer, which to Matt, seemed like the best outcome for her, and he believed dwelling on past details was not needed anymore. Telling her about Spencer’s cheating wouldn’t help her in any way. It would only help to aggravate her and hurt her further. What was more important now was to make her see that she deserved much more than that fake pretender, that she was in a much better place right now, and that the cancellation of the wedding was a brutal but required change in her life.
Jessica was chewing her lower lip again, lost in thought. Matt felt something stirring deep inside. Earlier when Jessica had chewed her lip unknowingly at something he had said, Matt had felt the same pull towards her. He had been gripped with the sudden urge to gently lift her chin and kiss her on the mouth. He felt the same way again. This woman really pulled some strong reactions from him indeed.
Jessica had rose blush-colored lipstick on. It went so well with her skin and made her already full lips look lush and soft. Matt imagined rubbing his thumb on those lips and smudging the color on the sides of her lips, on her face. He imagined bringing his face down onto hers and licking the lipstick stain from her chin. How sweet she would taste, for sure. He further imagined trailing kisses along those high cheekbones and not stopping until he got to her earlobe and gave small bites there, just to see how she’d react to his teeth.
Stop.
Matt was feeling hot now. He couldn’t believe how much he was attracted to Jessica. He thought of her a lot, and seeing her made him imagine things that made him feel excited. Matt didn’t want to let Jessica know just yet. She had just gotten out of a huge relationship and been coerced into another in a matter of days. Matt was concerned for her mental being and happiness. He wanted to give her time and free will. No matter how much he wanted to take things to the next level, he had to remind himself to be patient with her. He didn’t want to force her into anything. He wanted her to come to him when she was ready, and Matt was determined to give Jessica that space. He was in love with her already, but he still needed to know her. Gradually and steadily, he decided to get to know what she likes and doesn’t like—things that made her smile and happy. He wanted her to fall in love with him as well. He wanted a good life with her, and he wasn’t going to mess it up, no matter what.
24
It had been thirty minutes after they started their flight. Natalie appeared from the back of the jet again. This time, with a tray of English breakfast tea in dainty little cups and some butter croissants.
Matt watched Jessica throughout the whole process. He was interested to see her reaction to it all—being waited upon, served, and pampered. Natalie offered a cup to Matt and another to Jessica. She took the cup gingerly from Natalie, smiled up at her, and said, “Thank you, Natalie. This looks amazing.”
Matt saw that she was exceptionally well-behaved with his employees and with anyone attending to her in general. She had that kind of innate nice attitude towards everyone that only a few people have. Even when she needed to be neutral to someone, she would add a smile here or a nod there. She treated everyone so nicely. Her uncalled-for but very much welcomed signs of kindness were what made Matt like her even more. He looked at her and noticed that she gave a slight shiver. It was getting kind of cold in the seat.
“Are you cold? Should I tell Jacob to adjust the air conditioner?” he asked.
“No, no. I’m fine. You could hand me a blanket though,” she said, balling her fists over the cup of hot tea.
Matt reached down to the compartment and took out the folded-up blanket from there. He unfolded it and motioned for her to lift the cup from her lap. When she did, he laid it out over her lap and tucked it under her folded legs. She watched him while he was doing so, and when he was done, her face broke into the most delicate of smiles. “Thank you, Matt.”
Matt felt his heart melt a little at that. He was usually quick with witty responses, but at that moment, he was out of words. He only nodded and went back to his tea. They both sat quietly and sipped on their tea as they watched the world go by.
So she’s the kind of person who loves getting cozy inside a blanket rather than turning the cooler off.
This made him smile to himself. One piece of information he was able to collect. Soon, he’d be able to collect more and more of such small but important information, he thought to himself.
* * *
