And she usually went but lately she’d been busy at Sweet Dreams. Though it pained her to admit it, she was also a little jealous at Toby and Molly.
“’Bout time you showed up,” Toby said, giving her a hug as she unloaded cookies from the back of her car.
“I’m early,” she pointed out.
“I meant after putting me off for days. What made you change your mind tonight?” he asked as he grabbed her board from the roof of her car. She slung her beach bag over her shoulder and locked the car.
“I invited a guy to come along and join us,” she said carefully. She hadn’t realized that she was sort of setting Jay up by bringing him to meet her brother until she’d arrived here.
“Great. It’s about time. So who is he?”
Toby knew about her marriage so she had a feeling that he’d be less than welcoming, which was why she’d come early.
“It’s Jay.”
“Your ex?”
“Yes. He’s back in town.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Toby said as they reached the beach area where he already had a small bonfire burning. He put her board down and turned to her with his hands on his hips. “Are you sure about this?”
“No, I’m not. But the bakery is a success now and I really don’t know what to do next. I want to date, have a relationship, I thought, now I just don’t know. I’m going to spend some time with Jay and see what happens.”
Toby grimaced and stared out at the ocean. “God knows I don’t have any advice for you on marriage, but I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“Me, neither,” Jay said, joining them on the beach. “Sorry to interrupt.”
She glanced past her brother at her lover. He wore a pair of khaki shorts and a Marine Corps T-shirt. He had those aviator sunglasses of his on and he looked every inch the tough badass that he could be. Toby glanced over at him.
“I’ve got my eye on you, Michener, and if you hurt Alysse again I promise you there is nowhere you will be able to hide from me.”
“Good. That’s how it should be,” Jay said.
“Well, then...are you much of a surfer? I’ve brought a spare board you can use,” Toby said.
“I’ve surfed a time or two.” Jay stood taller than her brother and he had a more muscular build. For the first time in a long time she was seeing a man next to Toby who could hold his own. The few guys she’d brought surfing didn’t really have what it took to cut it on the waves or with her brother. But Jay looked like he could.
“Great. You want to hit the waves with Alysse and I until everyone else gets here?”
Jay glanced over at her and she nodded. She and Toby had spent a lot of time surfing in their youth, waiting for waves and just talking quietly about whatever was happening with them. Their parents had divorced when they were four and two years old respectively, and their teenaged years had been interesting, to say the least.
“Love to. But I’m not really prepared, I don’t have a wet suit,” Jay said.
“I’ll hook you up. Come with me,” Toby offered.
Jay looked at her, and she said, “Go ahead. I’ll change in my car and be right back.”
“Sounds good,” Toby said and led the way.
She admired Jay’s backside and his muscled body as he followed Toby. She was definitely going to enjoy every moment she had with him because the last four years of her dating life had left her parched. And Jay was exactly the man to quench her thirst.
She grabbed her wet suit and then decided she’d just get changed right there on the beach. She should have put her bikini on before she drove up to meet Toby but she had wanted to get here before anyone else.
She donned her bikini under her sundress and then pulled on the bottom part of her wet suit. Most of the other people on the beach were doing the same thing. The families with young children had left for the day and the older crowd was coming out...well, young adults anyway.
“You ready?” Toby asked when he came back.
Jay was wearing the wet suit her dad used when he came to visit, and he had Toby’s spare board tucked under his arm. He tossed his sunglasses in her bag and gave her a rakish smile.
“I like the way you look in that wet suit,” Jay said, giving her a hot once-over with his dark chocolate gaze.
She blew him a kiss. “You look good, too, hot stuff.”
Toby made a gagging sound, which was typical of her brother. Alysse laughed, thinking how perfect this moment was with her brother and Jay and the waves at their toes. She was so afraid to believe that things were good. And that worried her because with Jay she was always going to be waiting for him to leave.