“Okay.”
“Okay?” she asked.
“I’ll let you use me for sex.”
“Oh, Jay. I wish it were that easy,” she said. “I’m going to use you to get over you.”
Jay pulled her into his arms because she looked so small, so fragile, standing there and he needed to touch her. Really touch her, not just hold her hand. He hugged her and ran his hands up and down her back and then leaned away to see her eyes.
“You are going to get over Vegas Jay who wasn’t ready for you,” he said. “But I am a different man today, Aly, and I’m not letting you go.”
She pulled away from him and adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder as the cool evening breeze stirred her long ginger hair. She studied him for what felt like an eternity.
“I’m not sure that I’m going to give you the chance to keep me,” she said. “You’re going to have to prove you’re worthy of me this time.”
She walked away then and all he could do was watch her leave. He understood the path he’d started down was going to be hard and fraught with obstacles but he did know one thing with utter certainty. He wasn’t about to back down from this.
For the first time since he’d lain in that hospital in Afghanistan he felt truly alive, and he had Alysse to thank for that. He knew that had to mean something important and he was determined to understand what.
She wasn’t about to make it easy for him and he knew he didn’t want easy. He wanted a path to lead him to answer what she meant to him.
* * *
FOR ONCE SHE HAD no problems getting out of bed
at 4:00 a.m. Considering she’d tossed and turned all night it was a relief when the alarm went off and she jumped out of bed. Alysse took a quick shower and stared at herself in the mirror as she put on her makeup. She looked tired and tense. Last night had been...
Don’t think about it, she ordered herself as she went out to her VW convertible and drove to work. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the road at this time of the morning, which was a good thing because her mind was definitely not on the road. Instead she thought about last night and hoped against hope that she hadn’t made a huge mistake.
But she suspected she had. She’d let lust rule and now she was regretting it. She shouldn’t have slept with Jay because objectivity had left him. Ha, she thought. Objectivity had left her a long time before they’d had sex together.
She unlocked the back door of the bakery and let herself in. She grabbed a cup of French roast from the Keurig machine and got started on the Danish dough. But that didn’t distract her because she could do the morning baking on autopilot and all she could think of was last night and Jay.
It didn’t matter that she thought she’d made a huge mistake. A part of her wanted to see him again and only regretted that she hadn’t stayed and slept in his arms.
She groaned out loud. What was wrong with her? Was she destined to be a fool forever where Jay was concerned?
“You okay?”
Alysse jumped and turned to face the doorway where Staci stood. The other woman looked just as sleepy as Alysse felt. But she went straight to work on her morning baking.
“Yes. Why?” Alysse asked. She was having lunch with her mom later today and if she couldn’t fool Staci into thinking nothing was up, then she didn’t stand a chance with her mom.
“You have been staring at the flour for about five minutes, and unless you are trying to use your mind power to make the Danishes this morning...”
Alysse dumped the flour into the mixer and then added the other dry ingredients. She cursed under her breath as she realized she hadn’t sifted the dry stuff together. She had to get her head into baking and off a certain good-looking Marine.
“Sorry. I’m not myself today.”
“Are you getting sick?” Staci said. “If you are, I can handle this and you can head back home.”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just a little off my game.”
“Good. Because I want to hear about the guy last night,” Staci said. She started pulling things from the pantry area and bringing them to her own station. “Was he the big romantic you thought he’d be?”
“Ha, no,” Alysse replied.
“Sorry he was a dud. Did he pay you?” Staci asked.
Given everything that had happened last night she’d forgotten about charging Jay for the cupcake. She included that on his list of offenses.
“It was a setup, Staci. I never told you but I’m divorced. And the guy was my ex-husband. I never thought I’d see him again.”