Her eyes flickered to a figure rushing past her office. A few moments later, he backtracked his steps. Jake just looked at her, confused, a smile playing on her lips as he slowly opened the office door, and stood there, a bemused look on his handsome face.
“You are insane, woman,” he breathed, nodding his head in disbelief, “I should have known you wouldn’t have been able to stay away.”
She could feel her heartbeat madly. That feeling was there. The one she was yearning for. It was the reason she came to work. It felt like her heart had travelled up into her mouth; it wouldn’t let her speak. That man did weird things to her. But she wanted his touch. The touch that was silently killing her, but spoke volumes about how it would protect her.
“Why are you at work, Jess? You took the day off.”
“I had things to do,” she explained.
“Everything good? How did the doctors go?”
“I’m fine,” she demanded. “Change the subject, Jake.”
He sighed in defeat. “Guess what we are doing for the weekend?” he chirped.
“Each other?” She raised her eyebrows in question.
“We are doing that too. But it’s not what I meant.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small gold card. “Collins and Jones’ Agency is holding their famous gala. And you”-he poked her nose- “are my date.”
Jessica couldn’t stop the infectious smile from spreading across her face as she leaned back in her chair, folding her arms.
“Am I now?” She took the invitation from his hand, studying the all too fancy black decorated writing. Should she not be throwing a hissy fit now, screaming at him for making decisions?
“Yes, you are.” He smiled, gently caressing her bare shoulder where her knitted jumper had fallen.
She shivered under his touch and looked up at him through feathered lashes. Right now, she was too damn stupid to scream at him, too taken away with his body close to hers.
“So, you are going to get a pretty dress, and be your beautiful self, and I will be a very proud man to have you by my side.”
“That’s more like it.”
Jake pecked her nose, pressing lightly.
“I’m not finished. Then, I will bring you back to my place where that beautiful dress will look even prettier on the floor.”
Jessica rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. “I should have been expecting that,” she told herself, lowering her head to hide the blush burning under her skin.
“I was thinking,” Jake began, laughing at her comment. “We will go to the party Saturday night. We will have sex afterwards, but we could have sex now too.” His mischievous eyes shining with trouble.
“My table is awfully small.”
“My bed isn’t.”
“Later, sweetie. Later.” She nodded, patting his chest. He sighed heavily and leaned closer to her.
“Okay, beautiful, but for now, I’m just going to kiss you.”
And before she knew it, his lips were locked with hers.
Chapter Fourteen
“Do you honestly believe he loves you?”
Jessica could feel the sun beating down on her skin, making her head thump.
“What?”
She was on a busy street, but she had no idea where or where that voice was coming from.
“Get real, Jessica. Jake has had many women. What makes you think you are any different?” The voice continued in her ear, making her heart pound with pain. “Look.” The smooth voice directed her towards the other side of the street, where Jake was walking hand in hand with someone.
Another someone.
It wasn’t her.
“He doesn’t look like he is thinking about you now.”
Jessica couldn’t help the feeling that her heart had sunk into the pit of her stomach, sending bile to her throat.
She recognized the fair-haired beauty that had her hand clasped in his. It was Katie. His ex. The one that broke his heart.
They had been dating since they were both seventeen. At twenty-five, after eight years together, Jake asked her to marry him, and she accepted. They were the fairy-tale couple everyone aspired to be. That was until Jake walked in on her with another man two years after the engagement.
Still, seeing him smiling at her like that made Jessica’s blood boil with jealousy.
And why the hell was she with him? His luring eyes glistened as he stared down at her.
“Doesn’t he look so in love?” The voice continued to nag, and it continued as her eyes filled with bitter tears. “He doesn’t look too worried about you. Then again, why would he? Look at her. Look at you. The difficulty to decide.”
Jessica could feel her throat tighten and the hot wetness trailed down her cheeks.
“Besides, you won’t be here for much longer. You’re dying. And if you really love him, you will want him to be happy.”
“Of course, I want him to be happy,” Jessica agreed, her breathing becoming frantic as the beads of sweat slid over her collarbone. She felt like screaming as she watched Jake reach in closer to Katie’s lips. A wide, loving smile spreading across his beautiful face.
The street began to spin as he reached in even closer.
Then everything went black.
*****
Jessica sat up sharply, feeling her heart pound viciously against her chest. The cold sweat seeped through her pores. She hated dreams like that. They were always too real, and every time she got them, it was for a reason. She didn’t even want to think about why she had that one.
A loud bang made her jump once again. This time it was her front door. Slowly, she gave her pulse time to calm down before she made her way out of the bed and through her living room towards the door. She opened it cautiously, still panicking from her dream, and sighed with relief when Sharon’s irate face greeted her.
“What is with the face that launched a thousand ships?” Jessica grunted as her friend stood there with her arms firmly crossed.
“Hilarious. Do you know how long I have been standing out here waiting for you to answer the door? It’s one o’clock in the day. What the hell are you still doing in bed?” Sharon yelled, storming into the apartment with her arms flying about.
“One o’clock?” Jessica repeated, astonished she had stayed in bed that long.
“Yes, one o’clock and I am extremely hungover, so it’s not the best day to have me standing outside your front door waiting for you to answer.”
“You have keys,” Jessica reminded her when Sharon finally took a breath, leaving Jessica with a chance to speak.
“I forgot them.”
“Well, don’t pick it out on me if you forgot the keys. Shut up and get over it. You are going on like a five-year-old. And there are painkillers in the bathroom for that hangover. I have ice-pops in the freezer.” Jessica pointed as she brushed past her.
“Oh, you sure know how to spoil a girl.” Sharon’s eyes lit up. “And what is wrong with you? You are as pale as a ghost.”
“Bad dream,” Jessica answered honestly, walking away before Sharon could ask her anything else.
Just as Jessica finished making her bed, Sharon strolled in, an orange ice-pop swinging from her dehydrated mouth.
“God bless the ice-pop, and may they never run out of ice to make them,” Sharon hailed as she threw herself on the bed. The one Jessica had just made.
“Hello. I just dressed that bed,” she stated, waving her hands in question.
“Thanks.” Sharon shrugged, rolling over and switching on the small television with the remote.
“Not for you; you shit head,” Jessica muttered to herself and she lay down next to her.
“What time is he picking you up?” Sharon mumbled, the ice-pop stuffed into her mouth.
“Six,” Jessica answered casually.
Her head turned sharply towards Sharon when she heard her coughing loudly.
“Are you alright?”
“Six o’clock?” Sharon just about squeezed from her lip
s.
“Uh-huh.”
“Jess, it’s ten minutes past one. Start getting ready. Now!” Sharon demanded. Her worried face made her nose wrinkle.
“Sharon, I have five hours to get dressed. Calm down.”
“No, you have four hours and fifty minutes. Big difference.” Sharon nodded frantically, biting down on the tangy orange ice as she jumped from the bed.
“There’s ten minutes in the difference. And I am not you. It doesn’t take me hours to get ready.”
“Well, it should. You are going to the most talked about party of the year with Jake. You want to impress him, so his mouth hits the floor. Miss, you should have been getting ready since this morning,” she rambled.
Jessica could see her mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear any of the words. It was like she had a switch in her brain to put her on mute. She had thought herself to do it over the years. Being friends with Sharon all your life can take its toll.
“Get up!” Sharon screamed, dragging Jessica from the bed. “Go and wash. Come on, you have given me very little time to work with you.”
“Work with me?” Jessica questioned, sounding scared.
Sharon’s claws were out, and she was about to feel every bit of them.
“Not that you need much working on, but it will calm me down if I know you are doing something.”
“Okay. Fine. I will have a shower if it makes you feel better. The last thing I want to happen is you throwing a hissy fit. This apartment is too small for one of your tantrums,” Jessica teased before she pondered into the bathroom to have a shower.
Four and a half hours later, Jessica emerged from her bedroom and into the living room, where Sharon sat waiting for her. Before she walked out, she took one look in the full-length mirror in the corner of the bedroom. Her off-the-shoulder emerald green gown hugged her womanly curves and flowed down her body. The lace bodice embraced her breasts and A-line bottom flowed to the ground.
Sharon had insisted on doing her makeup. Her dark, smoky eyeshadow made her ocean blue eyes explode against the colours and it reflected her neutral lip gloss on her creamy skin. She straightened her dark auburn hair and pinned it up loosely so many messy pieces were falling in around her face.
“Here it goes,” she breathed before making her way towards the living room. Her heels sounded like bombs against the wooden floor.
“Oh. My. God. He will not be able to keep it in his pants. You look beautiful.” Sharon hugged her close. “But I think it’s time for me to go because he will be here any minute.”
“Thanks for everything. You may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but you are always there for me.”
“I am only giving back for everything you have done for me.” Sharon winked before she left.
Now that Jessica was by herself, the silence consumed her, and the butterflies and nervousness kicked in again. She saw Jake every day, but it didn’t stop her mouth from going dry when she pictured his reaction when he saw her.
Rummaging through her bag to find her ringing phone, her nerves upped their power over her, seeing Jake’s name pop up on the screen.
“Hi,” she answered.
“Hello, gorgeous. I’m outside the building. I’ll be up in a minute.”
“Stay downstairs. Wait in the lobby.”
“If you insist.”
She could hear the buzz of the lobby in the background. This was her Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman moment. Except she wasn’t a prostitute.
The elevator ride on the way down felt like the longest ever. She just wanted to see his face.
As the doors opened to the warm, busy lobby, she stepped out and smiled as she watched him standing by the door. He was even more handsome in a black tux. His hands in his pocket, standing there, calm and drop-dead gorgeous, staring out onto the street through the glass door. His physique stood tall and strong, and the sun shining on him only enhanced his sallow skin and dark eyes.
He was oblivious to the stares of other women on their comings and goings through the lobby. It was a natural reaction. Jessica didn’t blame them. She wasn’t blind. Even she could appreciate his sex appeal. His broad shoulders had the strength to pick you up and do as he pleased.
With that thought and the urge to extinguish the sudden heat rushing to her core, she finally found the courage to put one foot in front of the other. She stopped when she finally reached him, staying silent for a moment, waiting for him to say something. He didn’t. He just stared at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she questioned, the words leaving her mouth slowly in fear he might say something she didn’t want to hear.
Had she lipstick on her teeth?
Still, he didn’t speak. Instead, he made her heart leap with a passionate kiss on the lips.
“Jesus, Jess, you’re stunning,” he whispered in her ear after he allowed her to take a breath.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
All he did was smile and stare at her again. No cocky remark about how he already knew how gorgeous he was.
“Could you stop looking at me like that?” she laughed nervously, feeling suddenly self-conscious.
“I can’t,” he confessed, making her heart do double flips in her chest. She looked away, trying to hide the embarrassment flushing through her cheeks.
Eventually, he placed his hand on her lower back, ushering her towards the door. Her eyes widened as they stepped outside where a limo was waiting.
“A limo? Why am I not surprised?”
“Yes,” he dragged out, sounding as if he were unsure about how to answer. “We could have gone in your car, Jake. God knows it’s fancy enough.”
“Jess, it’s the biggest event of the year. We weren’t about to show up in anything less than a limo. Now shut up and get in. It’s cold out here in case you haven’t noticed.” Jake smiled softly, rubbing her cheek with his thumb reassuringly, and guiding her towards the limo. Reluctantly, she got in.
As the engine started and they pulled away from her building, she could feel Jake’s eyes on her again. She turned around to face him and breathed a laugh as his eyes met hers.
“Please stop staring at me like that?” she begged, feeling her cheeks blush once again. He must have noticed, because he placed his fingers along her jawline, muttering something incoherent.
“You are too damn beautiful for your own good. Do you know that?” He shrugged, dropping his hand.
“Close your eyes!” she blurted.
“What?”
“I want you to stop staring at me, so I need to find a way to stop you. Just close your eyes.”
After a long moment, he gave in and shut his eyes. She licked her lips and leaned closer to him, slowly pressing her mouth against his, ravishing in the quiet moan he let out as she did so. She could feel his hand clasping in around hers. He gripped it tightly and continued kissing her as if it were the last kiss they would ever share.
She felt her leg raising, half straddling him and feeling a rush as the suit material rubbed against her inner thigh.
Instinctively, his hand clasped around the bare flesh and pulled her closer. With their breathing frantic and erratic, her rational mind pulled away. If she wanted to look half decent on his arm, she needed to stop. Having their way with each other in the limo would only prove counterproductive.
They both stopped when the limo did. Gasping for air, they stared at each other.
“You ruined my lipstick.”
“You don’t need that stuff anyway.”
He got out when the door opened and stood, gesturing his hand to help her.
The outside of the venue was decorated with bright white lights, and other shivering couples made their way up the mountain of steps into the heated ballroom. Jessica linked her arm in Jake’s, and he led her inside, where the large, grand room was beautifully embellished in black and gold. Servers were rushing around with trays, while people danced to the music of the jazz band, and others mingled.
“I
think every man in the room just noticed you walk in here, Jess. They can’t stop looking at you.”
“It doesn’t make a difference to me.” She bit down on her glossed lip.
“Why?”
“Because you are looking at me.”
She watched as his lips curved up into a smug smile.
“And I will always be looking at you.” He kissed the top of her head, and she swallowed hard as she stared up at him.
But the feeling Jessica had in her dream this morning suddenly punched her in the gut.
Her heart began to race and pound behind her ears. The rush of blood made her queasy. She should have already known why.
There she was. Just as clear as she was in her dream.
Katie was gliding towards them, in all her unmistakable beauty.
Chapter Fifteen
When you try to act calm and try not to give anything away, you always make it ten times worse. Or so Jessica learned when Jake looked at her as if she had multiple heads.
“Jess, are you alright?”
Slowly, she turned from the golden-haired goddess making her way towards them.
“Looks like we have company,” she breathed, looking away from him.
She wanted to hide her jealousy. She could never compare to Katie. Jake had loved her with all his heart. She was his first love, and for all Jessica knew, he could very well still love her.
“What are you talking about?” His eyes narrowed, making his eyebrows furrow into a deep, mysterious look.
Why did that man have to turn her on in the most awkward of places? He didn’t mean to, it just showed her how deeply attracted she was to him.
She decided she needed to answer him and lose all hope of him looking at her for the rest of the night. Once he saw Katie, he was going to melt. So, one last time, she let his eyes bore through her, seizing her closer and drinking her in.
Suddenly, he reached in and kissed her so passionately she thought he had taken the breath from her lungs. He turned his body a little, so he was completely in front of her now. She could feel his toned torso press against her as he took her face in his hands and kissed her as he had never kissed her before. She shivered as his fingers danced down her neck and across her collarbone. This kiss was different. Weighted in passion. But his movements were soft, as if he didn’t want to break her. He could have taken her home right there and then, and she wouldn’t have complained.
Watch Over My Life: Emotional Love Story (What Will Be Book Series) Page 11
