Breathe (Sea Breeze #1)(38)
Author: Abbi Glines

I let out a happy sigh and leaned back against the seat and crossed my legs. Jax cleared his throat, and I looked up at him.

“Could you try to not flash me any leg while we’re alone. I’m having a hard time with it.” His smile was strained, and I bit back a smile.

“Sorry,” I said softly and tucked my crossed legs back toward the seat.

We pulled up to the establishment, and there were men waiting to open our door. Jax took my hand and walked us up to the hostess, who immediately noticed Jax.

“Mr. Stone, we have your table ready. Right this way.”

Jax was right. The other diners were not going to come ask for autographs, but they did notice him as we walked by. Several whispered, and their eyes followed him. We were seated at a table away from the main dining area, where there were no other people around us. Jax held my chair out for me, and I sat down, glad we weren’t going to be in the view of curious eyes.

Jax grinned. “Do you read French, or should I order for you?”

“The menu is in French?” I asked, surprised.

He nodded. “Yes, and I know to stay away from oysters and shrimp. Are you okay with veal or lobster?”

I wasn’t really sure what I was okay with. The nicest restaurant I’d ever been to had a menu in English and nothing cost more than fifteen dollars.

“Just order whatever you think I will like.”

He chuckled. “Okay.”

A server appeared, and Jax ordered in French, of course. I watched him, mesmerized by his voice and the way the foreign words flowed from his mouth with such ease.

He stopped. “What do you want to drink?”

I frowned and almost hated to ask. “Do they have Coke?”

He grinned and went back to speaking in French.

Once we were alone again, he leaned toward me and whispered, “I ordered you lobster because I know it is good here. It also tastes nothing like shrimp or oysters.”

Before I could reply, a Coke appeared in front of me, and in front of Jax.

He took a sip and reached out a hand toward me. I slipped my hand in his and sighed.

“It’s hard to be near you and not be touching you in some way.”

I knew exactly what he meant. The thought should have been a happy one, but the fact that July was half over reminded me 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 has 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, and 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 have ever had to do. I’m just not sure how I will 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 will 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 and 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 the 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 foot two inches. He leaned down until the warmth of his breath tickled my ear and neck.

“You feel amazing in my arms.”

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 am 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 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 a piece of bread and put something that might have been oil instead of butter on it, and then 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 himself a piece with the yummy oil 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 am 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 are really good with words.”

He winked at me and 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.