Rescue Breathing (22 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY
-ONE

Owen

A day before I am to leave Seattle, I get
a call from my younger sister, Emily.
There was an accident. My mom fell off a short
ladder when she was refilling her hummingbird feeder earlier that
day. Outside of a dislocated shoulder and severe knee and ankle
sprains, she would be fine. Emily hated to call me, but she needs
my help to care for our mother. Without a second thought, I change
my flight back to New York for that night, only leaving a day
earlier. As I wait for my flight, I make the necessary calls to get
a few of my shifts covered at the firehouse so Emily can get back
to work.

After taking the redeye back to New York,
I find my SUV where I left it and drive out to my mom's house. It
is 7:00 a.m. when I let myself in. Leaving my duffel at the bottom
of the staircase, I climb the steps of the quiet house and softly
pad down the hallway, careful not to wake anyone. I peek my head
inside my mom's room and find her snoring lightly and out like a
light. As I close the bedroom door to her room, Emily walks out of
hers, tying her robe tight around her waist.

“
I thought I heard you. Hi,” she whispers
loudly.

“
Hi,” I say, giving my sister a hug before
tilting my head towards our mother's room. “She'
s still sleeping.
”

“
Good.
Come. I'll make us coffee and we can talk,” Emily says,
entwining her arm in the crook of mine as we walk side by side to
the kitchen.

As the coffee brewed, Emily filled me in
on the details of the accident and what the doctors said. “So she
just needs to stay off her feet for a little bit, but she'll be
fine, Owen. She's not the frail old woman you think she is,” she
explains with a wink, patting my hand.

I nod and draw a heavy sigh, relieved that
she'll be fine in a few weeks.

“
Tell me about your trip? How were the
guys?” Emily asks

“
Everyone'
s good,
” I say with a genuine smile. “Travis is as happy as I've
ever seen him and Marc is...Well, he's Marc.” I shrug my shoulders.
I open my mouth to tell Emily about meeting Olivia but think the
better of it. Instead, I turn to toward the cupboard to pull out
mugs for our coffee.

Emily tilts her head to the side and eyes
me suspiciously. “What aren't you telling me, Owen?” she
asks.

Emily has always been very
perceptive.
I've always
hated that. I look back at Emily over my shoulder and give her a
forced smile as I turn to fill our mugs with steaming, hot
coffee.

“
Spill it, O.
I know you took an all-nighter to get back to New
York early, but you look extra haggard.”

I lift my filled mug to my nose and take a
deep inhale of the rich chocolate and nutty notes that flood my
nostrils. Heaven in a cup.

“
Fine,” I reply, frustrated. “I'll tell
you. I met someone.” I slide Emily's coffee toward her. No more
details. The least amount of people involved in my personal life,
the better.

Emily's eyes grow wide with interest.
“About time,” she murmurs before taking a sip of her
coffee.

“
Hey now.”

Emily smiles at me. “I think that's great,
Owen. Really. Tell me the story, but please leave out the dirty
details. I know how you work,” she says turning up her nose
teasingly.

As we drink our coffee, I share the story
of how I met Olivia and our time together in Seattle. I spill my
guts about how confused I am with how I'm feeling, vacillating
between wanting someone again and craving my independence. I tell
her that I find myself thinking about Olivia all the time. I
confess to Emily that I'm tired of my playboy ways and want
something more in my life, but at the same time, I don't want to
give it up.

“
Did I mention I am confused here?” I ask
Emily, searching her eyes for an answer.

Emily sits back in her chair, appraising
me, her fingers interlaced around her warm mug of coffee. “You're
scared.”

“
Pfft.
What? I'm not scared,”
I argue in mock defiance.
“Am I?”

“
You are. You're scared to fall in love
again. If you keep running scared, Owen, you're going to keep
pushing everyone else away and never find what you truly want. Not
every woman out there is like Molly. And by the way you've
described Olivia, I can tell you really like her. How are things
now that you're both back in the city?”

I grimace as I stand to refill my mug. “I
haven't been in contact with her since she left Seattle two days
ago,” I say sheepishly.

Emily slowly lowers her mug and closes her
eyes, sighing heavily. “Well, that can'
t make her feel too good.
She probably thinks you don't take her
seriously. Man up and call her, you idiot. You need to woo her...if
you haven't already completely blown it by not calling.”

“
Woo her?
”

“
Woo her, Owen,
” Emily says emphatically.

“
I can give good woo,” I say to Emily with
a smirk.

With that, Emily throws a dish towel at me
and we both start to laugh.
Simultaneously, we both look up at the ceiling as we hear
rustling from mom'
s
room.

“
I got it,” I say, looking at Emily. “And
thanks for listening.”

“
Does Olivia know about the nightmares,
Owen?” Emily asks, concern written across her face.

I shake my head. “I never stayed the night
with her except on her last night in Seattle.” I tilt my head to
the side with a sudden realization. “Hmm. I didn't have a nightmare
that night now that I think about it,” I say, shrugging my
shoulders and heading upstairs.

“
Interesting,” Emily said quietly to
herself, her fingers slowly tapping her mug in thought.

* * *

I cannot stop thinking about her.
It's a problem. I think about
how Olivia's smile reaches her eyes when she laughs. How her eyes
looked when I thrust into her for the first time. The way her
fingers play with my hair and how she screams my name when she
comes. But more importantly, I can't get over how good I feel when
I'm with her. Now that I'm back at work, I feel stupid for
daydreaming about her and like an even bigger idiot for not calling
her. I need to “
woo
” her, as
Emily put it.

I flip through my phone to the picture I
discreetly took of her the night she met me at the club in Seattle.
She's talking to Charley, her head thrown back in laughter.
She'
s beautiful.
Really, really beautiful. I
miss that beautiful face.

I sigh heavily, thinking about the
colossal mistake I made in not calling her all because I'm scared.
Scared because I was confused. Scared now because I think she'll
reject me. She probably thinks I've forgotten about her and that
our time together was just a passing fling. At least that was the
plan going into the weekend until she made herself so damn
irresistible. My time with her makes me ache for something more.
She gave me a taste of how good an actual relationship could be
again.

That's it. Enough stalling. It can't hurt
to at least check in with her, right? I mean, the worst she could
say would be for me to fuck off. And frankly, I deserve
that.

I plop into a comfy chair in the firehouse
common room and dial Olivia's number on my phone. I look at the
clock. 3:00 p.m. She's probably working.
I'
ll just leave a message,
I think to myself.

The phone rings and she picks it up on the
other end after the second ring, “Good afternoon, Olivia Burke
speaking,” she says quite professionally. Her voice is like honey,
and I instantly feel relaxed.

“
I was wondering if you had any zippers
that needed fixing,” I say with a wide smile on my face. Damn. It's
good to hear her voice, but why do I feel like a nervous teenager
who doesn't know what to say?

Olivia laughs nervously. "Actually all my
zippers are in working order, thank you very much. How are you,
Owen?"

“
I'
m good, beautiful.
I wanted to check on you and I…” I pause to find the right
words. “I wanted to apologize for not calling you sooner. I feel
like a real asshole about that. Something came up with my mom and
I...Well...it's a shitty excuse really, but I just wanted to say I
was sorry. Maybe you'll let me make it up to you by taking you to
coffee? Today? Say in thirty minutes?"

Whaaaat did I just say?

I hear rustling of paperwork in the
background and the squeak of a leather chair. "Um, sure, I'd love
to have coffee! Where do you want to meet?" she says
warily.

I audibly exhale a sigh of relief. “Yeah?”
I smile wide and run my fingers through my hair. “Great! Um, I'm
actually on duty right now at the firehouse. It's near the DUMBO
area in Brooklyn. Are you anywhere close?
I don
't
know where your office is so...” My voice trails off when I realize
that I don't know many personal things about her at all. What I do
know is that I want to know everything about her.

Olivia gives a lighthearted laugh on the
other end of the phone. "I guess you don't, do you? I'm actually in
Midtown Manhattan—NYU. We could meet at Jacques Torres right there
in DUMBO? I'm always up for one of his yummy chocolate chip
cookies, but need about forty-five minutes, is that
okay?"

I suddenly have an image of us in the
intimate cafe, the smell of chocolate swirling around us, and
I
'm aroused.
Calm yourself,
Maxwell.

“
I love that place. And yeah, I'll see you
there in forty-five minutes or so. I look forward to seeing you and
finding out what your hair smells like today,”
I say, grinning mischievously.

“
Oh my…” I hear Olivia gasp over the
phone.

“
See you soon, Olivia.”

We end the call, and I run up to the
bathroom to brush my teeth and give myself an
once
-over. I try to tame
my curls but end up giving up. I grab my wallet, phone, and a radio
and damn near skip out of the firehouse.

“
Yo. Maxwell, where you headed?” my buddy
Tanner calls out.

“
I'm off to meet a beautiful woman for
coffee. Be jealous, boys. Be very jealous.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY
-TWO

Olivia

I step out of the cab just on the corner
next to Jacques Torres.
The smell of chocolate wafts in the air like a beacon
calling to me. I had no time to freshen up before leaving my
office, but I feel like I look okay. Today was a down day in the
office, so I'm wearing a sundress and sandals. Nothing too
exciting. My hair is down, which I like to think is when it looks
its sexiest. In the cab on the way over, I swiped on some lip gloss
and checked myself in the mirror of my compact no less than five
times. I am anxious to see Owen, and I'm praying it won't be
awkward. Knowing that I have a few minutes before I arrive at the
café, I send Charley a quick text, eager to share my
excitement.

On my way to meet Owen for coffee! Gahh!

The cab stops in front of the quaint café and
I climb the stairs into the small but charming space.

If you're into chocolate, Jacques Torres
is like heaven. You are literally surrounded by it here. On one
side, you can watch the famed chocolatier making chocolates in his
pristine kitchen. Ahead of you is the ordering area with glass
cases reminiscent of old Paris, brimming with chocolates containing
every filling imaginable, mouth-watering cookies, and French
pastries. This is one of those places where your eyes are always
bigger than your stomach. It's nearly impossible to not want to
order one of everything. The walls are lined with interesting
chocolate confections, and there is something innately sexy about
being surrounded by this much sweetness. To my left is a small
seating area with just a few tables and chairs, again very
reminiscent of old French cafés. It's quaint, warm, and
luscious.

Despite the minimal seating, I spot an
open table and make my way there. Just as I pull out the seat, I
hear the chime on the door ring, and Owen walks in. He is...wow.
Tall, tan, in fireman's navy cargo pants and a navy FDNY shirt
pulled tight across his chest. I have been working with FDNY for
years, and I've seen lots of hot guys, but Owen is different. My
heart feels like there is a vise around it. Everything in my body
wants to fling myself at him, hold him, kiss him. I realize
suddenly how much I missed him—really missed him. And not in a
sexual way, although there's that too. But I really have missed his
company. Just by looking at him, I suddenly feel less lonely. It's
a very confusing feeling being that I've only known him for a
week.

He spots me right away and smiles.
His smile is wide and toothy
and full of something more than a casual,
Oh hey, good to see you.
He walks toward me quickly, but
clumsily, as his big frame maneuvers around the tiny tables in the
confined space. When Owen gets to our table, I stand, and without a
pause, he slips his arm around my waist and pulls me into him for a
kiss. He doesn't make a huge show of it, conscious of the many
people around us, but he presses his warm lips against mine and I
melt like the chocolate around us.
No tongue, no dirtiness, just
…a kiss.