Seduce me, Jack... Ch. 12

She kept swallowing the lump in her throat that wouldn't go away. It would've been so much easier to let him go if he'd never loved her... She would've been perfectly content with just having great sex with him for the weekend... but no, he had to go and fuck everything up for her by falling in love with her! She barked a painful laugh as she realized how ironic it was that she wanted to hate him for loving her...

Jack glanced at Amanda when he heard her short, bitter laugh and he wondered what she was thinking... he almost asked her but he stopped because he was pretty sure he didn't want to know. She was probably thinking and feeling the same things he was... pain, anger, bitterness, loss, fear...

The only little glimmer of hope he had was that she was pregnant... but now he was afraid because she hadn't exactly sounded excited at the prospect of that when she'd, once again, stated that it was completely up to him how involved he wanted to be. He knew it was because it was going to be painful for her to see him and be around him, knowing that he'd left her because he still had feelings for Anjelica and they had never really split up.

But Jack had decided that if Amanda was pregnant, he'd have to tell Anjelica and see how she reacted. He was pretty sure something like that just might be the straw to break the camel's back with her... And if she was ready to end it, Jack could go to Amanda with a clear conscience. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as he fervently hoped for the outcome he really wanted...

Just then, he was turning onto her street a few blocks off of Sunset Boulevard in a quiet Brentwood Heights neighborhood and then pulled into her driveway where she indicated. She had a nice house, a rambling stone rancher that looked well maintained and her front yard was very private, completely surrounded by a neatly trimmed natural hedge and trees. He was surprised when he saw a car parked in her driveway and he looked at her in question.

"That's not my car. One of the other girls I work with at the travel agency just broke up with her boyfriend. She was living with him and he kicked her out and she had nowhere else to go, so she's staying here with me until she can find her own place. I do have a car, but it's at a shop right now... it's older and starting to get unreliable, so a new car is one of my next purchases. I'm just waiting until I build up enough money in my account again from my trust fund payments to pay for it so I don't knock my account down so low."

Jack was truly curious about her money situation. "Amanda... I know this is really none of my business, but... just how secure are you financially?"

She sighed. It really wasn't his business but she didn't want him feeling guilty thinking she was going to strap herself money wise by having a child. "I own this house outright and I still have over a million and a quarter sitting in banks in high interest CD's and I get payments of over two thousand dollars each month from part of the interest earned in addition to my salary from the travel agency. I told you... I don't need your money."

Jack's eyes widened in surprise. He had expected her to say that her gross worth was in the several hundred thousand range, but she was, technically... a millionaire. Not as rich as him, but then she didn't need as much because she didn't live his extravagant lifestyle, either. She was obviously being very smart about her money so it would be there to support her throughout her life. And she definitely was not a greedy bitch... well, at least not when it came to money...

He chuckled slightly at that thought and before he knew it he was voicing it aloud. "Well... I guess the only part of you that really is greedy is your pussy..."

Amanda's initial snort of laughter suddenly turned into silent sobs. She buried her face in her hands as her shoulders shook.

Jack realized right away that she was not laughing and he turned to reach out and put his arms around her to hold her until she could stop crying. He breathed slowly and deeply to control the tightness in his chest as his emotions also threatened to spill out, but he was not going to do that to her. He somehow had the feeling it would be harder for her if she saw how hard this was for him, so he steeled the anguish in his heart and stayed strong... for her.

Just as Amanda was calming down, the lights at the front of the house turned on and a young, sandy blonde woman opened the front door and stepped outside, looking curiously at the strange vehicle in the drive. Amanda hurriedly wiped her face and told Jack it was her friend, and then she opened the passenger door and climbed out. "It's me, Heather! I'm back. I was just saying goodnight to a friend who... gave me a ride home from the rental agency..." She had no idea why she felt the need to lie to her friend, but she thought that Jack might not want her to know it was him, but evidently, he didn't care.

Jack opened his door and saw the shocked look on the girl's face and he grinned as he got out. "Good evening, Heather. I don't know why Amanda said that! I've been with her all weekend and I was just bringing her home after the Lakers' game," he stated as he moved to the trunk of his car and got her suitcase out.

He added sincerely, "We had a wonderful weekend together and I don't think I'll ever forget it..." he said staring straight into Amanda's eyes as she took her suitcase from him. Then he leaned forward and kissed her softly for a moment, capturing her cheek with his right hand so she couldn't turn away. "Good night, Amanda. I'll be waiting to hear from you," he whispered as he handed her one of the cards he kept in his wallet with his private number on it.

Then he climbed back into his sports coupe, started the engine, turned around in her driveway and pulled out onto the road, his tires squealing as he took off in his haste to get away from her as quickly as possible before his emotions made him do something stupid. Jack Nicholson drove like a maniac up Sunset Boulevard until he made the turn onto Coldwater Canyon Drive, figuring he was finally far enough away to help steel his impulse to keep from turning around and going back to Amanda Lewis...

He realized too late that no amount of distance between them would keep him from wanting to go back to her...