Chapter 7
M orning light filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a warm glow over the room. Jenna stirred, consciousness creeping in as she became aware of the gentle rise and fall of Mark’s chest beside her. His presence was a comforting weight, an anchor in the sea of her tumultuous thoughts.
She rolled onto her side to face him, studying the lines of his face. It felt natural, waking up here with him.
But as the minutes ticked by and Mark’s steady breathing filled the silence, Jenna’s mind couldn’t help but stray from the warmth of his sheets to the cold reality waiting outside these walls. The thought of her employment—or lack thereof—loomed like a dark cloud on her horizon.
There was no getting around it. She needed a job.
Yes, she’d signed up for a sugar daddy website. But that wasn’t supposed to be a career . She’d never expected it to lead to anything other than a rent payment or two. She didn’t want to be a kept woman.
But what did she want to be? If she found another job in the service industry that had decent tips, she could probably afford a couple of college classes each semester. She’d never been a fan of school, though. She’d gotten decent grades in high school, but she’d hated sitting in class.
Her dad had always wanted her to be a lawyer, and her mom would have been happy with anything she did as long as she was pursuing a passion.
She closed her eyes again, and visions of her parents’ marriage popped into her mind.
Her mother, always gracious yet tethered to her father’s side, had never known financial freedom.
Their eventual separation had been messy, and she’d seen a side of her parents that had left her feeling pretty jaded about life and love in general.
The aftermath had been Jenna’s inheritance: a fear of dependency and a vow to never follow that same path.
Jenna brushed a strand of brown hair from Mark’s forehead, allowing herself a moment longer before facing the day ahead. She knew what she wanted: to be with him yet not at the expense of losing herself. She just wasn’t entirely sure how to make that happen.
Her mind drifted back to the last time she had seen her parents, over a year ago now, right before they had told her they were separating.
It was at their small, rundown house in the suburbs—the one Jenna had grown up in.
She remembered the creaky floorboards, the faded floral wallpaper, the musty smell that permeated the rooms.
The visit had started pleasantly enough. Her mother had cooked Jenna’s favorite childhood meal, tuna mac and cheese. Over dinner, they caught up on life. Jenna told them about dropping out of college, much to their chagrin.
“We just want you to have a good career and be financially stable,” her father lectured. “You’re too smart not to get your degree.”
Jenna had bristled at that, not wanting to get into another debate over her life choices. Then the conversation had moved on to lighter topics, and Jenna temporarily forgot the lingering tension.
Later that evening, after her father had gone to bed, Jenna helped her mother tidy up the kitchen. Elbow-deep in soapy water, rinsing dishes, her mother had broached the topic again.
“Your father and I worry about you making ends meet with just bartending jobs,” she said gently. “Have you given any more thought to going back to school?”
Jenna tensed, hands pausing mid-motion. “I’m doing fine, Mom. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“But we do worry, honey. We just want what’s best for you.”
Jenna bit her tongue, holding back a sarcastic response. She knew her parents meant well, but she was weary of defending her choices.
They finished the dishes in silence. Before Jenna left to go back to her apartment, her mom hugged her tightly.
“Follow your dreams, whatever they are,” she whispered. “Don’t end up like me.”
Jenna had nodded, her throat tight with sadness. She hated that her mom seemed so unhappy, and that she was worrying her parents, but she was determined to make it on her own. And that had included “forgetting” to return her parents’ phone calls since that visit.
Mark, finally stirring, blinked open his eyes and smiled at her. “Morning, beautiful. Been awake long?”
“Just a few minutes.” Jenna sat up, stretching her arms above her head. “I should probably get up and head back home, though.”
Mark reached over to drape his arm across her waist, scooping her over to him until she was laying back down, then spooning her.
“See, this is the opposite of getting up. I thought you went to medical school,” Jenna teased, though it did feel really nice being cocooned by his much bigger form.
“I never said I was top of my class,” Mark said wryly before kissing the top of her head.
Jenna grinned, then squirmed her way out of his grasp and sat up, reaching for her jeans, and standing up to step into them.
“What’s the rush?” Mark groaned, propping himself up on one elbow to watch her.
“I have a lot to do today,” Jenna said, grabbing her shirt next.
“Like what?”
“Job search stuff. Update my resume, that kind of thing.”
Mark grinned charmingly, the side of his mouth quirking up.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, then stood and walked around to stand behind Jenna.
“I thought your job was sucking my cock now.” He wound his arms around her waist as he spoke into her ear.
“And let me tell you, you’re damn good at it. ”
Shoving his hands off of her, she spun around to face him. “That is not my job. I am not just your little concubine. If that’s what you’re looking for, you can just fuck right off.”
Then she strode out of his room, leaving him standing there stunned.
“And then he had the audacity to tell me that sucking his cock was my job ,” Jenna was rage-cleaning her kitchen counter with a sponge as she talked through her headphones. She heard Chloe snort with laughter. “Chloe!”
“What? It’s kind of funny!”
“It’s funny that he’s a chauvinistic prick?”
Chloe’s voice sobered as she obviously read Jenna’s distraught tone. “Okay, okay. Let’s think about this seriously for a moment.”
“Thank you,” Jenna said.
“You met up with this guy once, ghosted him for a week, then met up with him again. You had mind blowing sex and he wanted you to stay over, then he insinuated he wanted you to stay there a lot longer. Did I get that right?”
“Yes!” Jenna huffed. “Like I’m just going to give up my whole life and move in with him and service him whenever he wants.”
“And you really convinced him, a billionaire, to offer you that after two dates?” Chloe said.
“What’s your point, Chlo.”
There was a long pause before Chloe started singing. “ Did you ever know that you’re my hero… ”
“Oh my god,” Jenna rolled her eyes dramatically even though no one could see.
“ You’re everything I wish I could beeee… ” she continued with horrible pitch.
“Okay, stop!” Jenna spoke over her.
Chloe giggled. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But, honestly, this kind of sounds like every girl’s dream, Jenna.”
“Not this girl!” Jenna insisted.
“Right, okay.” Chloe’s deep sigh was audible. “So what are you going to do then? Ghost him again?”
“No, that’s what Old Jenna would do,” Jenna said in a scheming tone, chucking the abused sponge in the sink before straightening up thoughtfully. “New Better Jenna would tell him where to shove it before she goes and finds a kickass job.”
“Wow, your parents’ separation really fucked you up, didn’t it,” Chloe said. “I know you want to make them proud and prove you can be a big girl and do it all on your own, Jen, but you don’t have to do it without any help.”
“Old Jenna would hang up on you for assuming such things, but New Better Jenna is just going to say that she’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Chloe sighed. “Talk to you tomorrow, psycho.”
“Bye!” Jenna chirped cheerily before hanging up.
Taking a generous sip from her nearby glass of Riesling, she pulled out her phone and began furiously typing out a message to Mark.
She knew his cock-sucking comment had been tongue-in-cheek, but she was also certain that part of him must actually think of her in that way.
How could he not? The two times they’d actually spent time together had ended in something sexual, and the first time had also ended in him paying her, supposedly for said sexual acts.
The fact that he obviously saw her that way—as a whore to be used and then most likely discarded for a newer, younger model—enraged her.
Jenna wasn’t paying close attention to what she wrote, but it definitely included some harsh language and her strongly worded opinion of him at that moment.
She hit send before she could talk herself out of it.
Then she stared hard at the screen for a good minute or so, as if daring him to respond so she could jump on him with a snappy retort. When he didn’t, she threw her phone on the couch and went to get ready for bed.
The next morning, Jenna didn’t feel any better. She didn’t feel empowered or super motivated to begin her job search. She just felt a bit hungover. Dragging herself over to the couch, she picked up her phone. No messages, and the battery was almost dead. Great.
Opening her messaging app, she reread the message she’d sent to Mark. It was pretty mean, she had to admit. She probably should have waited until she’d slept off the Reisling before writing that out… Even worse, underneath the message was the tiny, damning word, “Read.”
He’d read it and hadn’t responded? That wasn’t good. Either it had made him so mad he needed time to calm down before responding, or he’d already decided she wasn’t worth the trouble.
Or maybe he’d decided she’d crossed the line and was currently using his mysterious billionaire connections to teach her a lesson. Maybe he’d put her name on some blacklist so she could never get another job, or never travel again through domestic airports. Did he know people in the TSA…?
No, this was stupid. He didn’t have that kind of free time.