Chapter 83
Zachary curled his lips smugly. “Was that sincere, or was it calculated, Mrs. Jones?” he asked.
Jessica replied, “Since you’re such a remarkable man, that’s up to you to figure out, Mr. Jones.”
“Witty,” Zachary remarked.
Suddenly, Jessica asked, “Which answer were you hoping for?”
“That it was from the heart, Jessica,” he answered, catching her off guard.
He’d said that he hoped it came from the heart. Needless to say, he was quite a broad–minded person. Jessica remained in a daze for quite a while.
Zachary got to his feet with the grocery bags in one hand. At the same time, he freed up two fingers and picked up Jessica’s heels with them.
Then, he extended his other hand toward her. Jessica slipped her hand into his without any hesitation.
As they walked around in the mall, they painted the image of a beautiful couple, save for the pair of fluffy slippers on her feet.
See? Even if a person’s hands were full, they could still figure out a way to make space for her.
Derrick watched from upstairs, completely lost in his thoughts. His eyes turned completely red, and an inexplicable feeling filled his heart.
After stepping into the elevator, Jessica pulled her hand away. She glanced at the full–sized mirror inside, realizing that Zachary was gazing fixedly at her reflection in the mirror.
She looked up at him while he met her gaze with a sidelong glance. They exchanged a knowing smile before looking away.
In the basement parking lot, Jessica first got into the passenger seat while Zachary spoke on the phone a short distance away, facing away from her.
“What’s the situation like with the Quinton family? Look into it…”
“No need for that…”
“Resurgence? Hah! Give him the spark he needs so he’ll burn brighter…”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, Zachary concealed the frigid look in his eyes. Then, he returned to the driver’s seat.
“You don’t have to spend time with me if you have things to attend to,” said Jessica.
“It’s fine. I have the day off today.”
“Oh, okay.”
Jessica pressed her lips together slightly. As tempted as she was to ask if he was spending the night at home today, she was too embarrassed to ask.
He might think that she wanted him to spend the night, which would be far too carefree of her.
A notification pinged at this moment. It was a message from Robert that read, “Jess, let’s go for a game tomorrow afternoon. Riverside Athletic Club.”
Instead of replying, Jessica stole a glance at Zachary. She had no idea if he was spending the night tonight. If he were, she most certainly wouldn’t be able to make it tomorrow.
Plus, this wasn’t Robert’s first time asking her out. She had only been turning him down each
time.
He even bumped into her last night. He’d only invited her to a sports game, not to treat her to a meal as a gesture of apology. At the very least, this wouldn’t feel as awkward.
“I’m sorry about last night,” Jessica said, twiddling her thumbs slightly sheepishly.
“It’s fine. I was careless.”
“Work’s more important,” she replied.
“That’s not what you said last night,” Zachary said with a smile.
The night prior, she’d expressed her complaints with every word. She accused him of vanishing after they got married, of not backing her up when she was pushed around.
It seemed like she only expressed her true thoughts under the influence of alcohol. At the same time, Zachary was able to see through her immediately whenever she lied.
Jessica’s face and neck flushed red. He left her with nothing else to say.
When they returned to the apartment, he busied himself in the kitchen, forbidding her from
cooking.
Meanwhile, she was responsible for placing her snacks onto the snack rack.
“Black pepper or mushroom?” Zachary asked from the kitchen.
“Black pepper,” Jessica replied.
He preferred something slightly spicy, while she didn’t have any particular preferences.
As she sat on the couch, she secretly observed him. He had removed his suit jacket and was in a white shirt that matched his black waistcoat. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the bulging veins on his foreanns.
The black apron he had around his formal outfit also gave him a particular sense of sexiness.
Jessica looked away, carefully tapping on her cheeks that had flushed pink without her even realizing. She didn’t even get to see what he was like on the wild night they spent together.
In other words, she completely forgot that she had slept with her own boss. Now that she thought about it, she’d slept with someone who was the full package.
The only thing about this man was that he was a workaholic who was never at home. Though, that was a good thing too. At the very least, they didn’t interfere with one another’s lives.
If not for Ian last night, she might not even have realized how miserable she was on the inside.
“Come over here,” Zachary prompted.
“Okay.”
Jessica removed her jacket, picked up a regular–looking hairpin from the table, and held it
between her teeth as she headed to the kitchen.
