Learning to Breathe Again (7 page)

“
You’re more than welcome to
stay here for however long you want. And I’m sure Jason and Nicole
will offer you a place to stay when they get back.”

“
But these are your places.
It’d be nice to have my own,” her eyes strayed back to the
window.

“
My place wasn’t always
here. I had to build it. It took time and energy. And a hell of a
lot of patience,” he grimaced. He pushed back from the table and
stood up, holding his hand out to take her plate. “Don’t get up.
It’ll just take a few minutes to clean this up,” he instructed as
he tossed the paper plates into the trash can and made quick work
of putting away the leftover pizza. He rejoined her at the table
when he was done.

“
What’s Nicole like?” she
asked, her voice quiet.

“
She’s amazing. She’s smart,
beautiful, and sassy. She can out argue almost any lawyer around.
She’s the best partner anyone could ask for, that’s for damn sure.
Your brother was the luckiest son of a…gun around when she decided
to give him a second chance.”

“
How long have you known
her?” her lips quirked up when he stopped himself from
swearing.

“
We grew up together. My
uncle is married to her aunt. They raised me when my mother took
off, and took Nicole in when her parents died. Their own son Mitch
is only a few months older than I am, so the age span between the
three of us is about eighteen months.” He paused to take a sip of
his beer. “Mitch is now married to Nicole’s best friend Carly and
they’re expecting their first baby.”

“
Were they mad I didn’t come
to the wedding?” She was back to tracing designs on the tabletop
with her finger.

He took in the bent head and rounded
shoulders. The clink of his bottle against the wood table as he set
it down caused her to jump. “Bayleigh, look at me,” he waited for
her eyes to meet his across the table. He eased his hand across the
table and laid it over one of hers. He felt her tense, but she
didn’t pull away. He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. Her hand
started to relax under his. Her eyes were wide but she wasn’t
panicked.

“
To answer your question,
no, they weren’t mad. Disappointed might be a better word for it,
maybe. Not that they talked to me about it, but believe me, if
Nicole is unhappy with someone, doesn’t matter who it is, everyone
around her will know.”

She bit her lip, looking back down at the
table. “I wanted to be there. No one would have paid any attention
to me being gone except Will.” Stopping and clearing her throat,
her voice was more of a whisper as she stated “I should have come
home.” She tugged her hand free of his.

“
So, Miss Backup Singer.
What do you do for fun?” he changed the subject as he finished off
the beer, sensing she was about done with conversation.

She glanced between him and the empty beer
bottle and the hallway to her room. “What do you mean?” A guarded
look came down over her features as one of her hands went to her
lap.

Jack would bet money that she had pepper
spray in her pocket. Her other hand that was still resting on the
table was flexed, as if she were ready to sink claws into skin to
defend herself if needed.

“
It’s not a trick question,”
he pushed his chair back and stood up, tossing his beer bottle into
his recycling bin before resuming what had become his ‘normal’
stance around her: across the room, arms at his sides, feet crossed
at his ankles and leaning back against the counter. As
non-threatening as he could make himself. “I have a few
suggestions.”

“
I just bet you do,” her
voice had an edge to it.

He raised an eyebrow before continuing. “I
have a hot tub, which after the last few days that I’ve had, and
after the day you’ve had, would feel pretty damn good, I think. But
I also can see where that might not appeal to you. I’m just giving
you your options,” he rotated his neck on his shoulders,
emphasizing his own need for the stress relief.

“
I also have a pretty
extensive DVD collection, if you want to watch a movie, and there’s
even microwave popcorn we can make. Or, there’s always the simple
quiet of your own room, with the lock on the door.” He crossed his
arms over his chest. “It’s all up to you.”

“
And if I choose my own
company, alone in my bedroom with the door locked?” her eyes
narrowed as she studied him from across the kitchen.

He wasn’t sure why she was testing him but he
knew she was. He tilted his head to the side a bit and shrugged his
broad shoulders. “I’ll go ahead and use the hot tub, read over a
few briefs, catch the news and then head to bed, just like I always
do. If you want to join me in the hot tub, it’s through that
sliding glass door. Or if you’d rather wait until I’m done, feel
free to use it later.” He pushed away from the counter, moving
towards the hallway.

“
Nicole always leaves an
extra bathing suit in the dresser in your room. She won’t mind if
you borrow it,” he called back over his shoulder. He was hoping
she’d join him but knowing now what she’d just been through, he
wasn’t going to hold his breath.

Bayleigh made her way back to her bedroom and
closed the door but stopped short of locking it. She eased down
onto the edge of the bed, across from the mirror on the dresser,
and stared at her reflection.

Now why did I act like that?
He’s just trying to be nice. Jason said I could trust him.
She glanced down at her hands, which were gripping
the edge of the mattress so tight, her knuckles were white.
Not all men are assholes. I have to learn to trust
again.
She took a deep breath, trying to
force herself to relax. She closed her eyes and thought about the
man just down the hall.

She knew that he had figured out what had
happened to her. It wasn’t like her reactions fell into the
‘normal’ category. She was well aware of the articles on the
Internet. There wasn’t much about the attack, but a few of the
tabloids had jumped on the story: American singer attacked and
beaten in her rented apartment, and the guilty party was the owner
of a popular nightclub; it was the stuff that sold newspapers. But
he wasn’t acting any different towards her.

He was still courteous, even
protective of her. And she was being rude, staying in her room like
this. He was letting her crash here, without prying into any of her
personal story. And all she’d done was pull back from him, and just
now out in the kitchen, she’d pretty much accused him of having
ulterior motives when all he’d been trying to do was ask her
what
she
wanted to
do for the night.

With a heavy sigh, she stood and pushed
herself off the bed, walking over to the dresser. He’d said Nicole
kept a bathing suit here, maybe it’d fit her. She found it tucked
into the top drawer, and she pulled it out, holding it up.

A simple one piece with a modest style and in
her size. But could she do it? Could she prance around in front of
a man, wearing next to nothing? She stepped into the bathroom with
the swimwear clenched in her fist. The towels he had stocked in the
bathroom drew her attention. They were large, over-sized bath
towels, made for tall people. Wrapped around her, it would cover
her from just above her breasts all the way to her knees.

She could do this. She’d make herself do
this. Besides, she wanted to get to know Jack. She wouldn’t deny
she was attracted to him, as much as that scared the crap out of
her right now. But she hadn’t felt this kind of spark with a guy
for a long time, long before she and Will had called it quits. And
after his treatment of her once she’d decided it was time to end it
for good, she hadn’t wanted to get involved with anyone else.

One way to find out if the attraction was
mutual, she decided, tossing the bathing suit onto the bathroom
counter. Before she could talk herself out of it, she was changed,
a towel wrapped around herself and she was making her way out to
the hot tub.

Jack was stretched out in his hot tub, head
back against the side, when he heard the patio door slide open and
close. Struggling to hide his grin and keep his eyes closed, he
listened to her feet shuffle across the deck and stop near the spa.
When he’d walked past her door on his way to the hot tub, he heard
her in her room, opening and closing dresser drawers. He had hoped
it had meant she was looking for that bathing suit he’d mentioned
but he also knew she could have been putting away her own
clothes.

When he didn’t hear any other sounds coming
from the pool area, he cracked one eye open, turning his head
towards where he’d last heard her. “You getting in?”

When she didn’t answer, he opened both eyes
to look at her. She’d found Nicole’s bathing suit and had wrapped
herself in a towel so that only the straps of the suit showed as
they crossed over her shoulders. He made a mental note to himself
to buy smaller towels in the future.

Jesus, are you trying to get yourself killed
by your best friends? Stop with that line of thinking!

“
Not sure yet,” she
muttered, looking down at the water.

“
You should drop the towel,
if you are,” he told her with a smirk.

“
Still not sure,” she
repeated, biting her bottom lip, looking between him and the water.
He laughed and stood up, offering her his hand.

“
Come on, Bayleigh. You
won’t regret it. I promise,” he watched the emotions chase each
other across her features: the indecision, fear, shyness, courage
and determination. He cocked an eyebrow and grinned at her. “Trust
me.”

Trust him. She could hear Jason’s voice
echoing in her head, telling her he trusted this man with his life.
Knowing she should and letting go of her fears and doing it were
two very different things. She swallowed hard and met his gaze,
allowing the towel to drop to her feet. She took those last few
steps to the edge of the hot tub, her eyes dropping to the water
once she was at the edge.