Free Breathe by Abbi Glines

not bump into anyone, or drop it.”
    His gaze darted to Ms. Mary, whose back was still turned, and then back at me. “One thing I want to warn you about is the fact there will be guys here tonight. They are not going to find you invisible.” He reached up and tugged at one of the curls falling down out of my ponytail. “This hair and those eyes are hard to miss, and although I have to give it to Jax, he is a nice guy and not like most guys in his position, some of the guys here tonight will not be so nice.”
    I nodded not sure what he meant by this. “Okay,” I said, hoping he would elaborate.
    He leaned down toward my ear. “They will flirt with you heavily and some may touch you in areas they have no business touching. Tell me if they do. I don’t care who they are or how much money they have, it isn’t all right for them to do those things.”
    “Okay,” I said again for fear my voice would betray my nervousness if I said more.
    Marcus stood. “You won’t be alone, so don’t worry. Preston and Rock are coming. Which is another reason you should tell me if someone messes with you. If Preston were to see, I think he might get us all fired.” With a wink, he left the room.
    I sat there with my hands in the lemon juice and thought of what flirting heavy may entail, and how I might get out of tonight’s event.
    “Girl, the smell left your hands an hour ago. Now you’re just turnin' them into lemon-scented prunes.”
    I took them out of the lemon mixture and dried them off on the same hand towel Marcus used. I sniffed them to ensure their fresh scent and smiled at their lemon aroma. “Ah, much better.”
    Ms. Mary laughed and shook her head. I stood, took the bowl to the sink poured it out, and placed the bowl in the dishwasher. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to get changed before the party started, so I forced myself to get focused and not dwell on what might happen. Besides, I’m pretty tough. Heck, I’d just peeled and deveined twenty pounds of shrimp. I could do this. I couldn’t expect Marcus to sacrifice his job to stand up for my honor. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy made unwanted advances at me. Preston might be a concern, but I wasn’t convinced Marcus was right about Preston’s interest in me. How long could this last anyway? I could handle anything for a few hours...right?
    The outfit the girl servers had to wear reminded me of a French maid’s costume with a little more fabric. Marcus seemed so worried about making me comfortable about tonight, I couldn’t let anyone know how nervous I really was. First off, I knew I would see Jax tonight. The fact that he’d made no effort to see or speak to me after our trip to the grocery store stung, but honestly I shouldn’t have expected more. He was famous, rich, and beautiful, and I worked in his kitchen. It irritated me when I thought of all the things I told him. Something about his eyes made me want to spill my soul. I was too mature to stoop to mooning over a teenage rock star. I pulled my hair up into a loose bun on top of my head, which I always thought made me appear older. Right then, I needed all the confidence I could muster. If I dwelt on my actual age, I tended to freak out in stressful moments. I would be serving the oysters, nasty little things, and the shrimp cocktail, which I seemed to have formed a weird bond with, so I didn’t mind those as much. Marcus stood in the kitchen talking to Preston and Rock. Trisha and a girl I remembered from the pool were standing over to the side giggling.
    “Hey, guys,” I said, forcing a smile. Butterflies had settled in my stomach, but I acted casual.
    “Sadie, you can work with me,” Preston offered with a wink, and Marcus elbowed him.
    “Stop it, or I will send you home without the money.”
    Preston sighed and shrugged. “Can’t a guy be nice?”
    Marcus rolled his eyes. “Now, everyone, remember what I said. Girls ignore and discourage any advances.” We all nodded.
    Ms.