Breathe Again Read Online Free

comment he’d just made.
“Seriously? Do you know how long that one took me? Wait, I’ll save you the
trouble. Twelve hours. Twelve hours of baking and waiting and piping and making
tiny fondant diamonds to put over the entire damn thing.”
    His face scrunched slightly. “Wait, you made that?”
    “Um . . . duh?” I said.
    He blew out a breath. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.
Really, I thought you were just delivering the cake for someone else.”
    It wasn’t until then that I realized that he still hadn’t
taken his hand off of my arm. He wasn’t gripping me, keeping me from going. It
kind of just laid there, gently. Suddenly, it felt like there was an electric
current running from his fingertips, over my skin, into my nervous system, and
straight to my core.
    I struggled not to let it affect me. “It’s okay. I’ll refund
them the money, but there’s not much more I can do than that. I’ve already
delivered the rest of my orders for the day, and sent one of our customers home
with all the leftover baked goods. I feel terrible.”
    I took a chance and looked up at where the world’s sexiest
and most eligible bachelor stood next to me. He had a troubled look on his
face, one that should never be there. He was far too handsome to look that
upset.
    “Really, it’s okay. There’s nothing we can do about it now,”
I said, for some reason trying to make him feel better.
    “True, but I still feel shitty.”
    I couldn’t help but feel a little smug satisfaction at that,
and I let a small smile slip. At least he wasn’t someone who couldn’t take
responsibility when something happened. It was an accident, true, but he was
the one who wasn’t looking where he was going.
    “It’s fine, I’ll just go home and get myself cleaned up and
we’ll forget it even happened, okay?” I said, reluctantly pulling my arm from
his grasp. Finally.
    “I’ll explain what happened. No need to refund their money,
I’ll make sure it gets taken care of.”
    I was just tired at this point, and uncomfortable with the
heavy layer of sugar still coating my shirt and pants. Thank God no more of it
had fallen to the floor in the kitchen, but I was sure there was still a
mountain of cake left outside where I dropped it.
    “I should go back out there, clean up,” I said quietly,
exhaustion evident in my voice. It wasn’t just the cake; freaking out like that
always tired me out.
    “Don’t worry about it,” he said, shaking his head. “I got it.
Go get yourself cleaned up.”
    I nodded, reluctantly thankful that he was giving me a way to
get out without actually having to face everyone outside. I moved back to the
sink and rinsed out the towel, and left it in the sink.
    I offered him one last smile before turning to head out the
door, and I could feel him watching me as I left.
    “Wait,” I heard him call out after me. “What’s your name?”
    I paused, wondering if I should just keep going, pretend I
didn’t hear the question. But it was impossible. There was something in his
voice, something that I wasn’t completely sure I was really hearing. It was
low, rougher than in the movies that I, embarrassingly enough, loved to watch
by myself on lonely Saturday nights.
    I couldn’t stop myself, not when the thought of him just
knowing my name sent shivers down my spine.
    “Mellie,” I said, turning and looking him one more time. He
held my gaze, refusing to let it go.
    “Hi Mellie. I’m Jackson.”

CHAPTER 4
    I was in trouble.
    I wasn’t boy crazy. I’d never had the chance to be boy crazy,
let alone stay locked up in my apartment for two days watching Jackson Traver
marathons. Sure, when I was a teenager I’d had my fair share of movie-star
crushes, but my mother always quickly reminded me that they were unrealistic. I
shouldn’t waste my time pinning up posters of Leonardo DiCaprio in my bedroom
when there was a perfectly acceptable boy next door, literally right next door.
    But it was two days later and