How can I preview with audio in After Effects and be able to pause / resume the preview?
To enable the audio playback, only way is to use the RAM-Preview. Press Numpad 0 or the associated |||> in the Preview Panel to start the preview rendering process:




Press Numpad 0 again to stop it
Press Numpad 0 twice to stop and playback the previously rendered (green) frames


In terms of correct audio playback:


Set the Frame Rate to the composition settings
Enable From Current Time option
Enable Sound Preview (6th button in the first row)


In order to facilitate the work:


Set the rendering resolution of the view to a lower value for e.g. to half or quarter
Limit the work area in your timeline, press B to set the start render point (Begin), press N to set the end point (End) 
Enable Loop preview (7th button) to repeat the preview of the current work area 


Note: As @Emir Dupovac mentioned, also check your waveform:



See this related answer: AE - Composition video file/layer missing audio