Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

warning that clearly said
Behave
, and Marcus frowned and turned toward us. Jax leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his juice.
    “Ah, good morning, Sadie, Mr. Stone.”
    Jax nodded toward Marcus, and Marcus’s gaze didn’t linger. He just headed back to the laundry room to get into uniform. I sighed in relief that he hadn’t said anything stupid. Jax leaned toward me.
    “Nothing he can say will make me fire him, unless it’s against you. Stop worrying. I realize he’s angry with me, and part of me doesn’t blame him, and the other part is just relieved you wanted me.”
    The place in my heart where Jax had taken up residence grew. I smiled at him. “Thank you.”
    He shrugged and leaned back again. “You have nothing to thank me for, but you’re welcome.”
    The rest of breakfast went smoothly, and Jax pulled me aside before I went to help clean up from breakfast.
    “I’ll try to stay away from you, if I can, while you’re working. But as soon as you’re off, I’m coming to get you.”
    A silly grin plastered itself on my face, and I nodded. He took my hand and kissed it before turning to walk away.
    I forced myself to push all thoughts of Jax aside in order to stay focused the rest of the day. Several times a warm, tingling sensation coursed through me, and knowing he watched me made my heart race. The end of my workday couldn’t come soon enough. Just as I walked out of the laundry room after changing out of my uniform and into my clothes, a hand came out and grabbed me by the arm.
    “Come with me,” Jax whispered, and I let him lead me up steps I’d never used and through several doors and halls I hadn’t known existed. Finally we were at his bedroom door. I remembered clearly the last time I’d been in there, but walking into it with my hand in his made everything different. This was the place where he slept and wrote songs. Something inside me knew that each time I got closer to him would make it so much harder when I let him go. I stepped inside, and he closed the door and turned to grin at me.
    “I wanted you to see my room. Well, I guess I should say I wanted you to see my room with me.”
    He took my hand and pulled me over to the wall of guitars. He reached for the old worn guitar in the middle and took it down. The reverence he seemed to have for the instrument made me smile.
    “That must’ve been your first one. It looks well loved.”
    He nodded and held it out to me. I took the cool, hard wood in my hands and studied the writing on it. I thought at first it was autographed by someone else, but holding it up close, I saw the childish signature:
Jax Stone
. I ran my fingers over the name, thinking how long ago it must seem to him now.
    “When I was seven, I begged my parents for a guitar. They wouldn’t buy me one since I’d also begged for drums the year before and not stayed with my lessons. I promised them I’d learn to play without lessons if I could just have one. It took two years before I finally wore them down. I woke up one Christmas and it was standing in front of the Christmas tree. I’ll never forget the thrill that ran through me. I grabbed the guitar and ran straight back to my bedroom. I played it until I figured out the chorus to ‘Wanted Dead or Alive.’ It was then I realized I could play by ear.”
    I’d read that tidbit once, but I had chalked it up to publicity fiction. “I bet your parents were surprised.”
    He laughed and nodded. “Yes. It isn’t every day a nine-year-old boy picks up a guitar and strums out a Bon Jovi song without any formal training.”
    I grinned and handed him the guitar. “So, this is how it all began. No wonder you have this one in the center.”
    He nodded and turned to hang it back on the wall.
    “No, wait.” I reached out and touched his arm. He glanced back at me. “Play it for me.”
    He turned back to the wall of expensive guitars. “Well, I actually lured you in here to unleash my chick magnet gift on you.” He gave me a crooked grin. “Considering my star persona doesn’t impress you, I was going to cheat and pull down the Fender Stratocaster original over there and play you one of my number ones. See if I could get you to become putty in my hands, or at least throw your panties at me.”
    I laughed and shook my head. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but your Fender Stratocaster original and a number one hit I have heard countless times on the radio will not make me putty. And as for the panties,