Sea Breeze 01 - Breathe

one, but it reminded me how short summer was and how close I was to not being able to touch him any longer.
    “That wasn’t supposed to make you sad,” he said softly.
    I made myself smile. “It doesn’t. I was just thinking about how quickly summer will be over. How fast it’s already gone.”
    His eyes showed emotion I didn’t understand. “I know,” he said, and tightened his hold on my hand. He looked at the drink in front of him, then back up at me with a sadness in his eyes. “I can’t think about it right now. Leaving you will be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’m just not sure how I’ll be able to.” He broke off and turned his gaze away from me.
    I wish I hadn’t brought up our very near future. I hated seeing the pain in his eyes. “We’ll figure it all out. Let’s not let it get us down now. We still have a month and a half to go.”
    He forced a smile and nodded. “You’re right.”
    Jax stood up, came around the table, and held out his hand. I stared at him in his tuxedo and my breath caught in my lungs. He really was breathtakingly beautiful.
    “Would you dance with me?”
    I slipped my hand into his and followed him into the main room, where a band played. I stepped into his arms and wished I could stay there forever. His hands rested on my lower back, and I slid my hands up his arms and rested them on his shoulders. With my extra height thanks to my killer heels, I was much closer to his six feet two inches. He leaned down until the warmth of his breath tickled my ear and neck.
    “I love having you in my arms,” he told me. I shivered and slipped a hand behind his neck. “However, if the old gentleman at the table to our left doesn’t stop ogling your legs, I’m going to have to go take him out.”
    I bit back my laugh and turned my head to see the offending old man. “You’re crazy,” I whispered.
    He nodded. “I’ve been crazy since the day I walked upstairs to my bedroom and found you wiping something off the floor. I’ll never forget thinking, ‘I don’t care if she snuck in here to get close to me. If she’ll let me lose my fingers in those curls and stare into those baby-blue eyes, she can get as close as she wants.’”
    I hadn’t realized he had felt anything for me that first day. “Really? I thought you were aggravated some crazed fan had slipped through.”
    He grinned wickedly. “How do you suppose someone gets aggravated at someone who could have fallen out of heaven?”
    I blushed and laid my head against his chest. We finished the rest of the dance in silence. I memorized his heartbeat and closed my eyes to commit the moment to memory. I knew one day soon I would need to remember how right this moment had been. When it was all over, I never wanted to think I had made a mistake by loving him. I wanted to always remember how he’d made me feel, so I would know the pain was worth it.
    Jax walked me back to my seat before taking his. I took a drink of my Coke and noticed there was some kind of bread on a silver platter in the middle of the table. Jax sliced the bread, then put something that looked like oil on a piece and handed it to me.
    “Their bread is really good,” he assured me.
    I took a bite and decided the strange oil tasted much better than butter. He had slathered the yummy oil on a piece for himself and somehow managed to be sexy while eating bread. I wondered if they gave lessons to rock stars on such things. And if so, could I get in on one of those lessons?
    “What are you grinning at?” he asked.
    I hadn’t realized my thoughts showed on my face. I shrugged. “I’m thinking about the way you make things as simple as eating bread attractive.”
    He gave me a crooked grin and leaned toward me. “Maybe the same way you make breathing sexy.”
    “What?” I asked, confused.
    He raised his eyebrows. “When you breathe, it gives me chills.”
    I laughed and shook my head. “You’re really good with words.”
    He winked at me, then sat back in his seat and took a drink of his Coke. “You make me feel poetic.”
    A server came up behind Jax, and I heard one behind me so I sat up straight and waited for them to serve our salad.
    “The wonderful thing about Alabama is you get pecans in your salad,” Jax said as the servers left.
    I had to agree with him. I loved pecans, but I’d never thought to put them in my salad before.
    Once our meal was finished and Jax had paid the bill, we went outside to Kane and the Bentley