Page 60 of Breathe Me In

She closed her eyes and let out a controlled breath. “The last thing I need, Brad, is a target on my back. He hates me already.”

“I gave him specific instructions, Bree. He knew what I told him to do.”

I really liked that sexy fire she got whenever I was bossy with her. I could see it in her face.

“You think you can order me around and I’ll listen?” She was mad.

“When it comes to work, yes.” I couldn’t resist poking a little more. “And when we’re alone.”

She raised a brow, then her expression fell. “We shouldn’t be alone together.”

“I disagree.”

I breathed in her freshly washed hair and felt my pants tighten. Shit. I needed a distraction, so I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. A movie that had been paused was on, so I hit play.

“Not that.” She tried to grab the remote, and a second later I saw why. I read the title at the bottom.

Through My Window? Now that piqued my interest, and I blocked her arm when she tried for the remote again. “Wait, I haven’t seen this before,” I teased as the guy on TV accused the girl of stalking him.

“Okay.” She pointed at the screen. “Let’s watch it. If you don’t mind that it’s dubbed.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Good.” She wiggled down under her blanket and tried to look relaxed. Ten minutes in, I wished I had put an action movie on—really anything but the sexual tension that played out in front of us. I sneaked a glance and saw her neck was strained. We were both feeling it. My head started to run with memories from when we were younger and how there used to be an unspoken spark between us. We’d never addressed it. In fact, most of the time, we’d ignored it, but there were a few occasions where we’d given in to the moment, and then the world would pull us apart.

I glanced at her. Something was really off here. Maybe I needed to go slower.

“I should probably go.” I snagged my phone off the table.

Bree paused the movie and quickly stood. “Yeah, it’s probably a good idea.” She walked me to the door, her smell lingering in the air. She opened it, and I reached above her head and pushed it closed again as my head battled with itself. “I wish you would talk to me.”

“Brad.” She slowly turned. I saw her fight tears. She covered her mouth. “I can’t do this.”

I ran the back of my fingers down her cheek. This was the woman I wanted. I needed. “Okay,” I assured her, “but Bree, what are you feeling?”

“It doesn’t matter what I’m feeling.”

“It matters to me.”

“It shouldn’t.” She looked away, and I knew she was closing up on me again. “I need to find where I fit.” Her glossy eyes looked at me.

I needed to say something. I hated to see her so confused.

“I felt so dead inside for so long.” I looked out the window. “Then you came back, and it felt like just your being here mended something.” Her chest heaved, and I looked down at her and saw tears leaking down her cheeks. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t, but you and Sherry have got such history.” She opened her mouth to say more, then closed it again.

Of course, she got the wrong idea of why I was out with Sherry. “We do, but my heart certainly isn’t with her anymore. The only reason I met with her the night you were hurt was because I want full custody of Ginger. She’s not making it easy on me, but I see it for what it is. She’s jealous you’re back.”

I’d made the wrong choice years back when I’d chosen Sherry. I’d turned to her because she’d made me feel safe. I had to make Bree see it wasn’t that way now.

“That explains the ambulance talk.”

“The what?” My hackles went up. “Did Sherry say something to you?”

“Never mind.” She tucked her hair behind her ears, and I could see the sadness in her eyes. “Brad, I think we just need to keep that line drawn no matter how tempting things get.”

“So where does that leave us?”