Free Just Breathe (Blue #1) by Chelle C. Craze

it scares the hell out of me. I try to come up with any excuse making it okay to care for him. I can’t. I shouldn’t like him. Definitely not as much as I do. I only met him two days ago. One thing is certain; this isn’t normal. Maybe I could plead temporary insanity, which would explain everything.
    Lucas returns, carrying two mugs of steaming coffee. He sits on the bed beside me and places his coffee cup onto the nightstand. Shifting, he hands me my cup.
    I close my eyes, inhaling the comforting aroma. “Mmmm, this is delicious. What kind is it?” I ask after taking a sip. The warm liquid soothes my dry throat. “It has to be one of the best I’ve ever tasted.” I take another lingering sip, savoring the flavors. “White chocolate and caramel?”
    “It’s caramel macchiato with my special ingredients. Pretty amazing, don’t you think?” He smiles shyly, reaching for his mug before taking another sip. He runs his fingers along the rim of the mug, and I can’t help feeling jealous of the ceramic beneath his fingertips. “Why did you hit me last night?” He looks down into his cup, like it has the answers he’s seeking. “You kept murmuring ‘no’ in your sleep. I wasn’t sure if I should wake you or not. Maybe I should have, but hell, I didn’t know.” He exhales and turns his head toward me, letting his hazel eyes roam my face.
    “Next question, please.” I have no intention of answering that anytime soon, or ever. Lucas continually smirks at me in between sips of his coffee, like he knows some inside joke.
    He moves his back up against the headboard and stretches out his legs along the bed, matching my position. He sits back, chewing his bottom lip and sighing loudly. My breathing catches as I exhale.
    “I’ll accept that answer for now, but I wish you’d eventually tell me. So, for the next question, what exactly do you find sexy about poultry in toe socks? Freud would’ve loved to have you in one of his case studies.” He laughs, instantly causing my skin to turn a brilliant shade of scarlet.
    I giggle nervously. “I don’t find anything ‘sexy about poultry’, as you put it, in socks. It’s something my friends Michael, Lynn, and I used to say when we were younger. Michael and I were maybe, hmm, fifteen, at the time, which would have made Lynn thirteen. Michael and Lynn are brother and sister.” I nod, reassuring myself of the math I did subconsciously inside my mind. “Now, it’s my turn. What question should I ask first?” I tap my nose with my index finger, thinking. “I have it! What the hell do you do for a living? Are you part of the mob, or do you do male escorting?”
    He erupts in a frenzy of laughter. “The mob, a prostitute? No, I’m neither of those things,” he says in between laughs. “Seeing how I told you I wouldn’t lie to you anymore, I’ll tell you. I own The Hot Spot and bartend there for fun. Plus, it’s a way to keep an eye on my employees.” He takes another drink of his coffee, and I do the same as I watch him. “That’s not all. My uncle died of a massive heart attack four years ago, leaving me this house and a sizable amount of money. My turn.”
    I cover my mouth with the mug, stifling a yawn, unsure of what his next question might be.
    “What were you thinking about when I picked you up last night? Before you yelled at me about personal space or something like that.”
    That you smell delectable. Can’t he ask me questions that are easy? Before answering him, I set my mug onto the table and stretch, trying to think of something less embarrassing to tell him. “Umm…well…ugh…” I look down at the blue down-filled comforter and start nervously picking at the edges with my fingers. “I…well...I was thinking that you smelled amazing.” My cheeks fill with blood, and the embarrassment I believe to be worse than when I fell face first into his room.
    Lucas places his coffee mug onto the bedside table, and the bed dips as his weight