Take a Breath (Take #1) - Jaimie Roberts Page 0,90

Jessie misses me. She wants to go for a quick drink after work, and I said yes. What’s the harm in that?”

Jake rises slowly out of his seat, towering over me as he presses his fists onto the table. “Sit. Back. Down!” I do as I’m told because he seems pretty pissed off. I don’t want to cause a scene at work, but he’s made me so angry. “You’re not going out with Jessie tonight or any other night until I know you’re safe. You got that?” I try to protest, but he puts his hand up. “I don’t want to hear any more. That’s all there is to it. I’ll be finished by six, and you will wait for me. Now, get out of my office because it’s taking every ounce of strength I have to not come over to you right now and do something I should never do at work.” I huff at him, and he waves me out. “Out. Now.”

I rush to grab the door but close it a bit too loudly on the way out. Everyone looks up at me, making me blush. Oops. Way to cause a scene.

Tony suddenly appears from nowhere. “Ana, what’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

I frown at Tony, stunned. “No, of course not. Why on earth would Jake hurt me?”

He looks sheepish and rubs his hands on his face. “I thought I heard shouting, and you don’t look happy.”

I place my hand on his shoulder. “We just had a bit of a disagreement about something. Nothing major. I’m fine. You should be more worried about looking after yourself. Don’t you think you should go home? You look terrible. No offense, Tony, but you look like you need the rest.”

He nods and moves away. “Maybe I will,” he sighs.

I walk away, stunned at Tony’s reaction to my door slamming and head over to my desk. Jessie, as usual, is sitting there waiting to hear what’s just happened.

As I sit down in a huff, I say, “When we’re finished after five, we will go for that drink.” I put my hand up, and she high fives me.

“Way to go, girl! What happened?”

I tell her what went down in Jake’s office, and it seems to amuse her. “I know he has a point to a certain extent, but I’ll be there and so will lots of others. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” I smile. “And we’re only going for a quick one. He’s so overprotective at times.”

Jessie rolls her eyes at me. “Yeah, I can imagine that would be a bitch.”

My mouth drops. “Are you taking the piss?”

Jessie snorts. “No, of course not, but what woman wouldn’t want to be made to feel wanted, special, and protected?”

I throw my hands in the air. “Hey, whose side are you on here anyway?” I grumble.

Jessie puts her hands up in surrender. “Yours—you know that—but I’m trying to be the devil’s advocate here. I mean, come on. Every woman loves that sort of shit deep down. It’s just that none of us would ever admit it out loud.”

I can’t help but smile at Jessie. Why is she always right? I do hate the fact that he is trying to rule my every move, but at the same time, it also ignites a certain familiar fire between my legs. I don’t know whether to hit him or throw myself on the desk and demand that he ravish me. Why do we have to have such conflicting emotions?

“Admit it. I know you want to go for a drink, but one of the reasons you want to is so that you can make your ‘overprotective boyfriend’, even madder than he already is. You want to goad him into a reaction. You’re going in spite of the fact that you know he will be mad at you. You love it.”

I inhale a deep breath. “You’re supposed to be on the side of women here. Power to us and all that. If I just sit here like the good little girl he wants me to be until six o’clock, then it shows him that he can boss me around not only here, but in all areas of my life. I’m not giving him the satisfaction.”

Jessie pulls her chair over to me and nudges my shoulder. “And, power to you, girl. You show him. I’m all for it. But just be prepared for the consequences later. That’s all I’m saying.”

I swing my chair round. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. It’s