I also did not pick up lesbian overtones in this piece, WR, but the last line rang false for me in an otherwise realistically evocative piece - it seems to me that ALL parts of "me" would be breathing in the presence of this marvelous creature. The alternative, I suppose, would be that the narrator is simply struck breathless.

I would also dispute Gretchen's reference to the girl as a tart. As evidenced by describing her as "careless," I instead see a girl/woman as yet either unaware of or unconcerned about her sexuality (casting it off "like a branch one smacks out of one's face"). Temporarily, no doubt.