A Boy Worth Choosing (The Worthy Series Book 2) Page 4

  Jessie sighs and rubs the back of her neck as she tries to keep her composure. I place my hand on her knee, careful not to touch her bare leg. She’s in distress and I want nothing more than to scoop her up and shield her from the world, but she clearly doesn’t need any distractions right now.

  “Jess, we’re going to figure this out. I promise. Everything will be okay.”

  She jumps up and starts pacing the little space between the coffee table and her desk.

  “It just pisses me off that he would attack my business, my baby. He’s not just hurting me, he’s hurting my business partner,” she says gesturing at Daphne, who is nodding in furious agreement. “But also my staff and the potential intern we could take in next fall. I dumped him. I didn’t send his business into financial failure.” She looks like she could burst into tears at any given moment.

  “Girls, could you give us a moment please,” I say, gesturing at the door.

  Shaina gives Jessie a sympathetic smile and Daphne storms out angrier than I’ve ever seen her. I follow them to the door and shut it behind them. I turn back to Jessie, who won’t stop pacing. She starts to walk away from me and I pull her to my chest and wrap my arms tightly around her. After a second or two, she wraps her arms around my waist and I kiss the top of her head.

  “Gah! I just want to storm into his office and –“

  “Hey,” I shush her. “You and I both know that he won’t take you seriously, and honestly he’s likely to get distracted with you in that skirt.” I smirk down at her. “Lord, knows I could easily get distracted…”

  She slaps at my chest and I pull her back in again.

  “You think that pretty face of yours is going to get you out of trouble, Cahill, but I’m here to tell-“

  “You think I’m pretty?” I feign innocence and she tries to push away from me. I swoop in for the kiss, placing a hand in between her shoulder blades to push her back into me. I can’t get enough of this girl, and by the way she won’t back down from my kisses, I’m pretty sure she feels the same. I finally decide to loosen my grip on her and she slowly lowers herself back down.

  “Feel better?” I ask.

  “Mmm, much.” She gives me a satisfied grin.

  “Good. Everything is going to be just fine. We’ll figure this out. But I will need a few things to get the ball rolling. Let’s bring the girls back in and the sooner you ladies can get me the information, the sooner we can put this to bed. Okay?”

  She nods and opens the door to let Shaina and Daphne back in. Isaiah joins us this time and I set about giving them the list of needs I know Grady and I will need. Daphne and Shaina take off to work from the lobby. I follow Isaiah out and pull him aside.

  “Hey could you do me a favor?” I ask.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “Could you keep an eye on the girls for me? I know both Jessie and Daphne have an emotional stake in this, so I need to know if they are getting too upset over it all. I can’t have either one of them flying off the handle; they won’t get the results they’re looking for if they do something irrational.” I explain.

  “Absolutely. But you need to know that we all have an emotional stake in this business. We may not have been here from the beginning, but we’ve all put enough blood, sweat and tears into this place to call it our baby too.” He gives me an appreciative look, before excusing himself.

  I think deep down, I knew he would say that, but to see Isaiah, and Shelby too, treat Jessie’s company like it’s their own gives me a sense of relief. They’ve got Jessie’s back in a way that I won’t always be able to, and to know she has that kind of support eases any concerns I could have while she’s here.

  I re-enter Jessie’s office to find her slouching in her desk chair. She looks exhausted, and after such an eventful day back, I don’t blame her.

  “Hey you,” I say, propping myself up on the edge of her desk beside her.

  “Hey,” she responds sleepily. “What a day… I am so ready for some sweats and some spaghetti.”

  “You and your spaghetti.” I shake my head. “I was thinking Mexican. Or we could do Italian if you want.”

  She looks up at me from her chair and gives me a half smile.

  “Is it kind of boring of me to ask if we can stay in tonight? Today has me beat.”

  “Not at all.” In all honesty, my favorite time with her has been spent on a couch, but that kind of sounds dirty, so I don’t say it out loud. I love it when she falls asleep curled up next to me. Maybe I’ll get lucky tonight. Ha! “But unless you went grocery shopping since you’ve returned from your dad’s, we’re going to have to order in.”

  She sighs and I guess it’s too soon to start giving her a hard time about her empty fridge.

  “I’ll order something from that Italian place near your place. Spaghetti or those lobster raviolis you love?”

  Her face lights up.

  “Why Mr. Cahill, you sure know how to spoil a girl.”

  “Well, she told me we were taking things one step at time, so gotta bust out the big guns while I have the chance.”

  She steps in front of me and blushes.

  “Careful, she just might come to expect the big guns all the time.”

  “Well, then it’s a good thing I’m getting a promotion and a raise then.” I wink at her. She laughs and just shakes her head as we leave her office.

  ***

  Her breathing turns into gentle snores about halfway through our movie. Her head lays on my lap, and she’s managed to roll so that she’s face up. I curl the strands of her ponytail around the fingers of my left hand while my right arm lays along the back of the couch. I barely pay any attention to the action movie she picked out, but just stare at the features of her face. Her thick lashes fan over her high cheekbones and her slim lips are slightly parted.

  I watch her sleep so peacefully, and all of a sudden I’m so overwhelmed that I’m sitting here now, with her, like this. It’s kind of amazing that this part of our relationship hasn’t changed. She’s still the girl I grew up with, the same old Jessie, but now I get the rest of her. The parts she reserved for Jake and, for a short time, Caleb; they’re mine now.

  God, I have no idea where this is going, but thank you for bringing us here. Help me to be the man she needs me to be, because she’s definitely everything I want. And I don’t want to ever let her go.

  Jessie stirs and looks up at me with super sleepy eyes.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty.”

  “Hey, you.” She reaches up and gingerly touches my cheek. “Sorry I crashed on you.”

  “Trust me, I don’t mind,” I tell her as she smiles sleepily, sits up and stretches.

  “I need to call it a night. I’m sorry. Do you have plans for Thursday night? Maybe we could actually go out on an actual date?”

  “Would I sound too eager if I asked for tomorrow night?”

  She gives me a flirty look as she stands up and folds her blanket before laying it over the back of the couch.

  “So taking things slow…?”

  “Thursday sounds great.” I concede. I stand up and wrap my arms around her. “Would kissing you right now be taking things too fast?”

  Her breathing goes staccato and I’m quite fond of this new effect I have on her.

  “No,” she barely whispers. I tilt my head down just as she tilts hers up and we meet perfectly in the middle. Her soft lips part for me and a moment later, I have to step back and away from this woman who does all sorts of things to me.

  She touches her fingertips to her lips as I take a step backwards, my eyes never leaving hers.

  “Just so you know, I’m not making plans for tomorrow night. Let me know if you change your mind.”

  Chapter Five

  ~Jessie~

  Two weeks have passed since I called Stephen in for his assistance with our cancellation issue, and every time I bring up the issue he tells me it’s being taken care of, but he won’t tell me how. We have definitely seen a decrease in t
he number of cancellations, and this morning Daphne told me that the reviews are no longer posted on the website, which of course made me even more curious as to what exactly went down.

  It would have been nice if someone had reminded me curiosity killed the cat before dinner with Stephen though.

  “Soooo…” I start to say as I watch Stephen push his vegetables around his plate, “The reviews have been removed from PicturePerfect.com as of this morning.”

  “That’s great,” he said without looking up.

  “Are you going to tell me how you were able to manage that?”

  He sighs, obviously exasperated with my persistence.

  “I honestly can’t tell you.” He says with a tired, defeated look.

  “Stephen, I-“

  “I can’t tell you because I don’t know.” He sighs. “I had to call Grady in. With the vote up soon for my senior partnership, I had to relinquish the case over to someone who wasn’t so personally involved.”

  “Okay,” I say, trying to leave an encouraging tone in my voice. “I don’t really care who addressed Caleb, just so long as there weren’t any more reviews posted. I really wasn’t expecting the reviews to be removed altogether, but I’m thrilled with the results. So thank you.”

  I reach over and lay my hand over his. Something is obviously bothering him. I’m hoping it’s not me, but I want him to know how much I appreciate his help, however I can get it.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask timidly.

  “Jess, I don’t really want to talk about it.” He finally looks into my eyes and my heart takes a nose dive. Even before we started dating, I wanted nothing but for him to be happy, and well, right now, he definitely isn’t happy.

  “Okay, but you know I’m here if you need to talk about it.” I don’t really know what else to say.

  We finish dinner; well, I finish dinner, he just rearranges the food on his plate for the next twenty minutes before letting the waitress take his plate away. I want right then to take away his worries, but I know that until he’s ready, he won’t let me in on whatever is bothering him. As we walk out into the cool spring evening, I take up his arm and squeeze it tight to me.

  He finally looks down at me and I take the quick opportunity to give him a kiss. He lingers, so I slip my arms around him and just hold him tight. After a few moments, he wraps his arms around me too and we just stand there on the sidewalk until I feel him relax.

  “I could get used to this,” he tells me, planting a quick kiss on the top of my head.

  “Get used to what?” I chuckle.

  “You really are the best cure for a bad day.” He smiles, pulling back.

  We start to make our way back to his car, hand in hand. He walks me to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I stop before sliding in.

  “I’m sorry you had such a bad day. Anything I can do to make it better?” I ask.

  He takes my face in his hands and lays a slow, sweet kiss over my lips. He pulls back so that our noses barely touch.

  “You already are,” he says softly. He lets me go and I slip in to the car, still concerned.

  We ride in silence back to my apartment, and this quickly becomes one of those times where his silence bothers me. I really want to know what happened today that could pull such a strong man down. When we pull up to my building, he turns the engine off and jumps out, still without saying a word. He manages a sweet smile by the time he opens my door for me, but I know he’s struggling to be positive. Ever the gentleman, he offers his hand as I climb out. Lacing his fingers through mine, he wraps his hands around my waist, pinning my arms behind me and pulling me close.

  “I’m sorry for being such a horrible date tonight,” he says in a low voice. “Any chance you’d be up for company? I’m not really ready to let you go for the night.” He nuzzles his nose just below my ear, and he could have told me he wanted us to rob a bank and I would have agreed.

  I murmur something intelligent like, “uh huh.”

  He chuckles as he lets go of my hands, keeping one of his around my waist to direct me toward the front of the building. The night air has a hint of warmth to it and my skin aches to soak it in before calling it a night.

  “A new coffee shop just opened up a few blocks down, want to check it out? It’s too nice out to be stuck inside.” I ask.

  “Sure.” He shrugs.

  We stroll down to the quaint little shop and order, enjoying the unseasonably warm evening by taking the long way home. Stephen still doesn’t really say anything, but he seems to be physically relaxing so I take some comfort that my mere presence is helping. By the time we make it back to my apartment though, the sun is no longer out to keep the air warm, causing the temperature to drop quickly. I’m starting to shiver by the time we reach my front door, and as I put the key in, I feel his hands rub up and down my arms to warm me up.

  I turn around and he engulfs me into a snug hug. He exudes warmth, and I kind of melt into his chest as he walks me backwards into my apartment. By the time we have crossed the threshold, his lips have found mine and his strong arms have constricted, reducing the amount of space in between us. He swings me around without breaking contact, somehow manages to close the door and pushes me up against it, all in one movement. My lips open in surprise and he takes advantage, deepening our already hot kiss.

  I can feel his need to let go of all the burdens of his day as he presses even further against me. His kisses start to trail down my jaw and my breath starts to stick in my throat. His hands move up my back while mine find his wayward blonde locks. This new feeling of need and desire passes between us in such a short period of time, that my mind barely has time to keep up. My subconscious tugs at me, reminding me that I’ve made a promise to him, myself and God. Not to mention something is clearly bothering him, possibly driving him to lose control, so I force myself to sober up from the drunken state his kisses have put me in.

  “Stephen,” I say, my voice way too breathy. I plant my palms on his ultra-firm chest and nearly lose my resolve to stop. “Hey. You know we need to stop.”

  He lifts his head and touches his forehead to mine, gasping for air. His eyes are squeezed shut and I know he’s reminding himself of all the reasons this isn’t right.

  “Talk to me.” I lower my arms to his waist and he looks up to the heavens, taking a small step back to put a bit of space between us. My heart tears just a little seeing him in so much pain. “Please, let me help take some of this burden off of you.”

  He shakes his head before stepping out of my reach.

  “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” He takes a few more steps back and refuses to look me in the eye.

  “I wish you’d talk to me. We’re still friends. I’m still here for you. Even if I shouldn’t be worrying about it, I can-“

  “I may not make partner,” he blurts out. My world stops spinning. I know how badly he wants this, and even though he hasn’t said it, something in the depths of my being tells me that it’s my fault.

  “Because I asked you to help me with my defamation case.” When he doesn’t respond my stomach bottoms out. “But I thought you said Grady handled it, not you.”

  “He did. Aside from immediately alerting my boss of the issue, I followed every rule to the ‘T’, staying completely away from it. I didn’t even know the issue had been resolved until you mentioned it at dinner.”

  “Okay, so if you did everything like you’re supposed to, why would this keep you from making partner?” I ask. He raises an eyebrow daring me to even explore the answer to that question.

  “Caleb.” I breathe. Of course, Caleb had told me he had worked with the name partners before. “But he was in the wrong here. How should he have any impact with whether you are made a partner or not?”

  “I’m not entirely sure. He was in the office this afternoon. I caught him in the lobby on my way back from a meeting with a client.” He starts pacing behind the couch. “Shortly after he left though, Dallas Michaelson pulls m
e into his office and tells me they have to push back the vote. Then he asked me about the issue with Caleb and I explained to him that after getting all the information from you, I immediately handed it all over to Grady, since you and I are in a personal relationship. Dallas thanked me for being frank and apologized. He really sounded contrite, like his arm is being twisted in the matter.” He runs his hands through his hair and finally plops down on the couch.

  “Grady was called in next, but came by my office afterward. He was hot. Furious. Said a few choice words and told me not to sweat it.” He finally looks up to me and shrugs.

  “I’m. So. Sorry.” I stutter out, hugging myself as I push off the door, starting to pace myself. “I should have reached out to someone else. I should have-“

  “No.” He jumps up and pulls me in his arms again, pulling my head to his chest. “I don’t want you going to anyone else. I will always take care of you, regardless of the consequences. Don’t ever think I won’t.”

  “This isn’t a matter of you not taking care of me, Stephen.” I pull back. “This is about putting you in a position that compromises your future.”

  “Jess, you are my future. I’d gladly give up partnership to make sure that your well-being is secure.”

  His words are like a punch to the gut, catching my breath. Here we are a little over two weeks into our relationship and he’s declaring me to be his future. My heart is doing somersaults at the possibility of a future with him. But my head is whistling and flashing a bright neon “Slow Down!” sign.

  “Stephen, I-“

  “Don’t have to say anything.” He steps back, grabs my hand and guides me toward the couch. I sit down, thankful to have the floor stop spinning on me. He doesn’t let go of my hands as he continues, “I have waited a very, very long time for you. I wouldn’t have asked you to try us out if I didn’t believe with all of my heart that I could be the one you choose to spend the rest of your life with. I’m not asking for that now, but I do want you to think about it, consider it.”