She took another sip of her wine and leaned back in the chair. The marina was busy with foot traffic—couples and families taking a stroll. In the distance she heard the sound of a reggae band playing. The marina committee had a full schedule of events that were going until late tonight.
She stretched and turned to signal her waiter and was surprised to see Jay approaching. He wore his habitual jeans and a T-shirt with a thick leather bomber jacket over it.
He pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”
“I didn’t think you were coming,” she said at last, realizing that she hadn’t gotten over her expectation that he would leave her.
“I wasn’t sure I would either,” he said. “The traffic from L.A. was nuts. I don’t know how people drive here all the time.”
“This job is demanding?” she asked. “You haven’t said much.”
He hadn’t shared a lot of his life with her. In fact, if it wasn’t something she pulled out of him, he never volunteered information about himself. She suspected he was just used to playing his cards close to his chest.
“Today I went and did recon for a job they’re doing tomorrow. Guarding a dignitary at a dinner. I was checking out possible places where a shooter could set up in case...well, the guy’s a target so there is no in case.”
She heard some excitement in his voice as he talked about it. He ordered a beer from the waiter and then stretched his long legs out and looked over at her.
“Do you think you will take the job?” she asked. “It definitely sounds like your kind of thing.”
“Today was. But other jobs they have aren’t as interesting,” he said, taking a swallow of his beer. “I don’t know yet.”
He wasn’t going to make a decision that quickly and even if he did it would have no impact on her. Had things between them changed at all in the week they’d spent together?
She knew they had an electric sexual chemistry and she had to admit he’d let her use him for all the sex she wanted. But the truth was the more that she was with him, the more she wanted him. He wasn’t curing her so she could move on. She was falling for him and that loner persona of his, even though she was trying not to.
“Would you like it if I took that job?”
“I don’t think that’s up to me,” she said. “I don’t want you to hold it against me if I say yes and you hate it.”
“That’s fair enough. Have you thought about us in the long term?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Have you?”
He didn’t say anything, just took a long draw on his beer and she honestly had no idea what that meant. It occurred to her that while she’d been busy trying to cure herself of Jay, he’d been doing his best to protect himself, too. Maybe they just weren’t meant to be together.
“What are you thinking?” he asked her.
“Nothing,” she said. No way was she spilling her guts to him. He couldn’t even talk to her about the simplest of things. Wouldn’t give her an answer about anything connected with the two of them.
He shook his head. “You look sad.”
“I’m not. I’m concerned about the bakery,” she said. “That’s probably what you’re seeing.”
“Why concerned? I thought everything was going well there,” he said.
“It is. But Staci told me today that she wants to take a more backseat role in the day-to-day running of the store. It’s going to be a big change,” Alysse said.
“You can do it. What will be the biggest obstacle?” he asked.
She had been toying with that. “I think finding another baker. Most of the really good ones already have permanent jobs and it’s so personal in the kitchen I need to find someone who suits my style.”
“If it was me, I’d make a list,” he said. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a pen and a small notebook.
“Jot down the qualities you are looking for and then you can draft an ad or ask around to see if someone who matches them is available,” he said.
She smiled at him because for the first time today she didn’t feel alone. She hadn’t anticipated that Jay would be able to give her this. She needed to feel as though she had a partner when she had these kinds of decisions to make. And frankly, given the way their relationship had been going, she hadn’t had a clue that he’d step up to the plate this time.
She couldn’t help staring at him and seeing some changes that made her care just a little bit more for him. Jay was the kind of man she could count on in a crisis and that shouldn’t have surprised her because of his experience in the Corps.
