Learning to Breathe Again Read Online Free PDF

flirting. But now, she just
couldn’t let go of that all-consuming fear. The injustice of that
made her want to scream. Instead, she clenched her jaw and looked
up. Her determined gaze meeting his concerned one.
    “ You sure you can walk?” He
raised an eyebrow as he removed his hands from her
waist.
    “ I’m
fine. It’s just sore. I think…I…I shouldn’t have jumped out of the
cab like I did. Stupid mistake.” She grasped the hand he offered
with a tight grip, accepting his support. She could do this. She
had to do this.
    “ I could have told you that before you jumped
out of the truck,” he lifted his eyebrows when she glared at
him.
    By forcing herself to
ignore the pain radiating from her knee, she took the first step,
congratulating herself on having to use his arm as a crutch only a
little. She couldn’t let him carry her
again, she didn’t think she could take another panic attack. That
was one of the things she’d neglected to fill Jason in on. She knew
Jack wouldn’t buy into the exhaustion theory if she did have
another one and she just wasn’t ready to tell him or Jason the
whole sordid story. Not yet.
    There was also the whole
issue of what to do if they didn’t believe her, or understand what
she was going through and turned their backs on her. Like Will
had.
    Her ex hadn’t understood,
she knew that much for certain. He’d blamed her for the whole
thing, never once admitting to his own failures that led to this
mess. He’d made the other band members choose between them, causing
her to quit the band and head home to Texas.
    “Earth to Bayleigh.” Jack
squeezed her hands, bringing her attention back to him.
    “ Sorry. I
was…” she looked around and realized she’d managed to make it all
the way to the bedroom and they were standing in front of the bed.
Her eyes darting between him, the bed and the door, she tugged her
hand free from his and took a step back away from
him.
    Frowning as he let go of her hand, he
motioned to a door. “You have your own bathroom,” he scrutinized
the room. “I think you have everything you need. There’s extra
blankets in the closet, if you need any.”
    “ Thank you.” She wrapped her
arms around her waist.
    He turned, facing her once again. She
stiffened as he took a step towards her, causing him to stop and
take two steps backwards. Compassion shone in his eyes, along with
understanding as he again looked in her eyes. “I don’t know who
hurt you, pretty lady but you are safe with me. I promise you.” His
voice was soft and the words went straight to her heart, warming
the darkest recess of her soul.
    He looked down at her fists briefly. “You are
safe here,” he repeated forcefully, as his eyes came back up to
meet hers. There was something else in his eyes; was it a flash of
desire? She took a ragged breath, and with a jerky nod blinked to
clear the tears.
    He turned away and paused at the door, one
hand on the doorknob. “You need to rest. I’ll get your bags later.”
He hit the light switch as he stepped into the hallway, pulling the
door closed behind him, leaving her alone in the room, the only
light coming from the setting sun through the window.
    As soon as his footsteps
faded down the hallway, she threw herself backwards on the bed and
covered her face with her hands. How many times in a day was she
going to embarrass herself in front of him? She’d gone weeks without a flashback
or panic attack. She had both within minutes, in front of
him.
    And the look in his eyes. Was he interested
in her? It had been so long since anyone had looked at her with
anything but pity, she was afraid to read too much into it. But
what if he was interested? What was she supposed to do? Could she
push the panic down far enough to explore the attraction?
    And for some strange reason,
she trusted this
guy. And not just because her brother had given his stamp of
approval, either. But what if he was like her ex, and found her at
fault for anything and