Watch Over My Life: Emotional Love Story (What Will Be Book Series)

by Laura Ashley Gallagher

  Watch Over My Life

  Laura Ashley Gallagher

  Gala & Co Publishing

  Copyright © 2021 Laura Ashley Gallagher

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  To all the amazing women,

  no matter the colour of your ribbon,

  head up, stay strong, and be proud to fight like a girl.

  Chapter One

  Do you ever get the feeling you have forgotten something?

  Jessica Connors had that feeling from the second she walked out of his house this morning until just five minutes ago when she realized what she had forgotten was her underwear.

  She sat at her desk, tangled her fingers in her dark auburn curls, and read the same line of the book five times before it dawned on her that she had already read it. She loved her job as a book editor; always gave one hundred percent, and goddamn it, this book had to be on his desk by tomorrow morning.

  But today her mind was elsewhere. She couldn’t get him out of her head; his big brown eyes, his short cut dark brown hair, his skin rubbing gently against hers. It replayed like a movie repeatedly in her head. He touched her so lovingly and with so much care that she almost believed him. The thought of his kisses trailing down her body made her want to jump ecstatically from her seat and yell at the top of her lungs.

  No!

  She had to stop with these thoughts. They were ruining her. She never acted like this, and it was time for her to get on with her work. But he was so damn unforgettable. He hadn’t stopped floating around her head since she’d woken up this morning and saw his muscular body sprawled out against the bedsheets.

  Then the guilt came along to crush her. The unbelievably heavy thumps pounding at every inch of her being made her want to throw up, and her head ached with the pain.

  The loud, echoing sound of the phone ringing knocked her out of her trance.

  “Hello,” she answered, her voice trembling.

  “Good morning, Jessica. I have a call for you on line two,” the young receptionist, named Sophie, sang through the phone.

  Why did everyone sounded so chirpy this morning? First, there was the teenage girl in the coffee shop; there to make some money for her weekly cinema trips with her fellow giggling teeny boppers. She just stood there patiently, like a robot, a never-ending pearly white smile beaming over the counter. And she was still grinning, in her own little world when numerous people continued to change their orders, asking for unbelievably detailed coffee. For the love of all that was holy, coffee was coffee. How hard could it be?

  And now, there was Sophie. The pretty redhead receptionist sounded as if she were on top of the world.

  “Jessica?” Sophie’s voice repeated, waiting for a more educated reply than silence.

  She could feel her heart pound in double speed, making her pulse race and her palms sweat.

  “Oh, yes, of course. Put them through.”

  She pressed the number, anxiously waiting to hear the voice she dreaded on the other line.

  But did she really dread that voice?

  No, and she hated she could admit it to herself.

  She dreaded what the voice would say, what it could do to her senses. That voice could take over her entire body if it wanted to, just as it did last night. It could take her to new heights. But those heights were usually three feet off the floor, on a bed with silk sheets, and his hot, male flesh hovering above her.

  Sweet lord above, get a grip on yourself.

  “Hello?” a low hum came through the speaker of the phone. The husky voice sounded almost lost.

  “Thank God,” Jessica let out. That voice may have sounded lost, but she would have known it anywhere. It was her friend, Sharon. Any other time of the day she might have tried to avoid their long conversations because she knew her friend would complain about something. But right now, she embraced the fact Sharon was calling. She even embraced her complaining like a warm, fuzzy teddy-bear.

  “Is that you?” Sharon spoke.

  “Yes, it’s me,” she confirmed, not fighting away the smile on her face from the sheer relief.

  “What the hell are you doing? I tried to ring your mobile. Where is it?”

  Jessica’s eyes narrowed, confused. “It’s in my bag. You know me, I probably have it on silent,” she explained, lifting her black leather handbag from the floor next to her chair.

  “Anyway,” Sharon continued, “Melissa is having her baby shower tomorrow. You are coming, right?”

  “Yes,” Jessica answered, distracted as she rummaged through her bag, feeling her pulse quicken as each second ticked by and she couldn’t find her phone.

  “Good, because you are my victim. Grown people babbling about shit-stained, hungry, crying little humans, makes me want to vomit. Why the hell she went and got herself pregnant baffles me anyway,” Sharon went on.

  “Maybe, because she just got married, and she wants to start a family,” Jessica grunted, rolling her eyes. Her friend was never the best for understanding situations she was not involved in.

  Again, Sharon baffled on in something rather incoherent to Jessica’s ears.

  “Shit.”

  “What?” Sharon questioned.

  “My mobile, it’s not in my bag. Shit. Shit. Shit.”

  She remembered seeing it on his bedside locker this morning. She left in such a rush, doing her best not to wake him, she must have left it behind.

  “I left it on his locker.” She slammed her palm on her wooden table, feeling like a complete idiot. Now she was going to have to face him again. Not that she could avoid him, but she was planning on keeping a low profile for at least a week.

  “Excuse me! Did you just say his locker?”

  “Shit,” Jessica repeated. She had just given herself away to her best friend. Now she would have to tell her something she had deeply intended on keeping a secret; a dark secret that would give her chills when she thought back on it and dreamed about it in the comfort of her mind.

  But that’s all she wanted it to be.

  A memory.

  Now she would have her best friend remind her every time she had too much to drink that she slept with the one man she hated.

  “Come on. Spill,” Sharon demanded, her voice rising in pitch from the excitement. That girl could smell gossip. “You can’t just say something like that and expect me to let you get away with it.”

  Jessica huffed loudly, feeling defeated. “I slept with someone,” she muttered quickly, trying to avoid mentioning his name.

  “Jessica Connors had a one-night stand? You go, girl. Get yours.”

  “Ugh! I’m not proud of myself.”

  “Who was it?” Sharon sounded serious now.

  Jessica bit down on her lip, deliberating if she should tell her the truth or lie and make somebody up.

  Who was she trying to fool? Sharon could read her like a book, she always could, and Jessica had to face that she would never get away with not telling her; no matter how hard she tried.

  “Well?” Sharon prompted.

  “I can’t believe I am saying this.” She took a deep breath and swallowed the embarrassment boiling in her throat. “I slept with Jake,” she said in a bare
whisper, fearful that if too loud, she would have to admit it to herself.

  The phone went silent.

  She waited for a moment.

  Then more silence.

  And more silence.

  “Shar-”

  But she cut her off with the loudest scream she had ever heard in her life. She kept the phone at arm’s length. Far enough to be sure her eardrum would not burst.

  “You slept with Jake!”

  “It’s not funny,” Jessica persisted through gritted teeth.

  “I know. I think I am laughing from shock. It’s a nervous reaction.” Her hysterical behaviour trailed off. “Okay, wait a minute. I can’t believe you slept with, Jake,” she said seriously. “Let me recap for a moment, just to make sure we are talking about the same person.”

  As if she didn’t know.

  “Is this the absolutely gorgeous, Jake Williams, who can, and does, have any woman he wants? The Jake who you do and always have despised? The same Jake you almost fainted over because you walked into work one day and found out he was your boss?” Jessica felt sick to the pit of her stomach.

  “He is not my boss,” she demanded.

  “He is a partner in the company. He’s your boss. Get over it. So, it’s that Jake, huh?”

  “Obviously, what other Jake is there?” Jessica shouted, annoyed at the continuous questions and the reminder of everything Jake was to her. As if it had slipped her mind by some miracle.

  “Hey calm down. Don’t get your knickers in a bunch. Is that what happened last night? He got your knickers all bunched up, and you had to rip them off?” Sharon teased.

  “You are not helping.”

  “Sorry.” But her tone didn’t match the meaning of the word. “So how did all of this happen?”

  “Look, can we talk about this later? I have some work to do.”

  “Eventually, you have got to come to terms with it. Avoidance will eat at your soul, but for now, I will leave you off the hook because believe it or not, I have work to do myself.”

  Jessica doubted it was actual work. She was probably feeding on some poor newbie who wanted to further his career, and Sharon had given him false promises. Jessica swore she was a vampire, thirsting for the blood of those she could take advantage of. She wasn’t being mean about it. Sharon did it plenty of times before, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it either. If it was for her gain, it was fine.

  “I will call around later for all the gossip. I will bring ice-cream.”

  “Good. I will need it.”

  But, of course, because Jessica had the worst luck in the world, it wasn’t long before the phone buzzed to life again.

  “Another call waiting on line two.”

  Jessica sighed heavily, feeling annoyed. Sharon always did this; rang back the second time because she thought of a joke she could tease her with.

  “Sharon, I told you I will see you later. I have work to do,” she breathed, rubbing the tips of her fingers over her temples.

  “You weren’t thinking about work last night.”

  Jessica thought her heart had stopped. Her pulse quickened, and she could feel the beads of sweat forming on her skin.

  “You okay down there?” he asked, waiting for her to answer. “No. Actually, you were great down there. Sorry, wrong use of words on my part.” And the confidence that boomed through his laugh made her want to vomit. Even so, that single vibration of his voice box also made her want to rip his clothes off.

  Vomit or rip his clothes off, make up your mind!

  “You’re sick, Jake,” she spat.

  “Be in my office in twenty minutes. I have two things belonging to you.” She could hear the sex dripping in his tone, and it scared her because it was his voice and his way with words that made her succumb to him the night before.

  “I have your phone and something…” he hesitated for a moment, “rather lacy.”

  Then the line went dead.

  Sweet divine. Her heart was about to explode from her chest with anxiousness. What the hell was he talking about? Her mouth went dry; suddenly realizing.

  Whoops! He had her underwear.

  Chapter Two

  Jessica found herself having to stop as she reached the floor of his office. She needed to compose herself. She couldn’t let him see her like this.

  Sharon was right, and she needed to face it. He was her boss, and there was nothing she could do about it. Well, apart from never looking at the man sexually again. She could keep her distance, couldn’t she?

  Then why on earth was she reacting this way?

  She could hear the blood pound furiously behind her ears. Her pulse was beating so fast it made her breath sound like tiny explosions as it escaped through her slightly parted lips, and her tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of her mouth. Her slim shoulders tensed, and she shivered fiercely as a cold sweat crept down her neck. She couldn’t let him see her like this. She had to come across as if last night was nothing more to her than some casual sex. A moment of weakness.

  She had to let him think that, at least.

  Convincing herself was a different story.

  She knew it was wrong, but she had never felt so compelled to someone in her life. Honestly, it scared her when she couldn’t resist him because who on earth has sex with a man they hate?

  Reminding herself to curse her idiotic and abnormal behaviour every few minutes wasn’t difficult, considering she couldn’t get him out of her mind.

  But in reality, when she asked herself, and if she was truly being honest, did she regret it as much as she should have?

  She felt the guilt. Nothing else could describe the knot in her stomach, burning as a constant reminder of how stupid she had been last night. She should have been stronger and stood her ground, but she didn’t even have a ground to stand on. As corny as it sounded, when he touched her the way he did, she felt she was floating ten feet in the air. His kisses, her fingers tangled in his hair, the sheer pleasure of him; the way she shivered with his very touch.

  She bit down on her glossed lip to suffocate the heat radiating throughout her body.

  Damn heat.

  But at this stage, she needed a whole river to extinguish the flame burning right to her very core.

  She passed the ladies’ bathroom, stopped, and retraced her steps. She needed to splash some water on her face and relieve her skin of the furious blush spreading across her cheeks.

  Luck was on her side; the bathroom was empty. Jessica turned on the cold tap and let it run for a moment. Then she cupped her hands under the cold water and raised them to her face. She let the cool sting slap some sense into her.

  “Get a grip on yourself, girl. You are better than him,” she muttered under her breath. “You are worrying over nothing. It’s Jake, for Christ’s sake. It’s the same man that used to joke around with you when you were six for being chubby,” she grunted loudly, once again grateful the bathroom was empty.

  She never forgot it. Jake was two years older than she was and grew up with Jessica’s older brother. He used to tease her constantly for the extra bit of puppy fat she carried around, but he stopped when she confronted him one day and gave him an unmerciful kick into the one sensitive area of his manhood.

  She acted tough, but Jake didn’t know how he made her go home at night and cry because she had a serious crush on him.

  She got over her crush and he got over the name-calling, but when Jake asked her out on a date, her childhood crush was once again her everything. She was smitten and dressed up in her best blue dress. Her mother even styled her curls.

  He stood her up for Shelly Murphy. The school slut, with a liking for a constant cold butt; her skirts rode up far enough.

  That wasn’t fair. Jessica was just jealous of her long legs.

  But Jake broke her heart that day, and he never even acknowledged it.

  She was never one for holding grudges, but Jake was lucky. She made an exception for him.

  And it wasn’t jus
t that. Maybe it was his ways, his all too charming ways with every woman who crossed his path. It sickened her when she met him at a club and had to watch as ten different women drooled over him. It made her want to stick her fingers back her throat in disgust. But what made it even worse was that he indulged in every second.

  Shaking the irritating thoughts from her head, she took three deep breaths, breathing in some confidence. She brushed down her black pencil skirt and tucked her white shirt inside. She bunched her loose curls together in her hand, letting go of them so they bounced over her shoulders and down her back in loose wavy spirals, and for a moment she let her eyes close.

  All her five senses were taken over by him with just a single thought. She could still smell his scent like she could when he stood close to her; she could feel him just the same as when his body trapped hers between his arms; she could taste him on her tongue, see him in her mind, and hear the infectious words he whispered to her.

  Her mind spiralled back to a single moment when he was looking down at her. Instinctively, like an animal, she had raised her bare thigh, sliding it along his waist. It didn’t take long for him to grab it, pulling her even closer to him; his breath trembling as he brought his hot lips to hers. Then, as he trailed his kisses over her collarbone, he ran his tongue up along her neck and quickly blew cool air over the moisture his lips had left.

  It took everything for her not to leave out a moan right there in the middle of the ladies’ restroom.

  Stop doing this. A voice in the back of her head warned.

  “Right, it’s now or never,” she told herself before heading in the direction of the door and into the hallway.

  Jessica could hear her heels from her stilettos pound on the tiles as she walked towards his office.

  Her heels had never pounded before. Everything amplified, and that included her heart. Her fingers began to twitch nervously by her side.

  “Good morning, Jessica.” Those were the voices of people busy at work to her right.