AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lucien’s offer sat squarely in the front of Jay’s mind. He wasn’t convinced he’d be happy on a security detail, but if he knew he’d be coming home to Alysse each night, maybe he could be.
6
THE END OF THE LUNCH HOUR signaled the end of their busy time at the bakery. During the school year they’d sometimes have a rush of after-school moms and kids, but it was summertime and the afternoons were slow-paced. Staci was in the kitchen trying to perfect a recipe she’d been juggling with for days. It was a main course, not a dessert.
Alysse was afraid sometimes that Staci was getting restless in the bakery. One of her greatest fears was that Staci would move on and leave Alysse alone with Sweet Dreams. She knew she could handle the shop, but she had come to really depend on having her friend around.
But that worry wasn’t foremost today, she thought, as she cleaned the counter in the empty shop front.
Okay, so she’d gotten the usual professions of love from men who liked her baked goods. However, today it hadn’t seemed as much fun as it always did. She’d had a hard time flirting, knowing that Jay was back. Since their divorce had been final he’d been in the far recesses of her mind. But last night had changed all of that.
Meanwhile, her brother had called and invited her to join him and a group of their friends for a bonfire on the beach later tonight. She’d started to make her usual excuses but then decided to go. What was she going to do? Stay home and stew over Jay?
The doorbell tinkled as someone entered the shop. “Welcome to Sweet Dreams...”
Jay.
He stood backlit by the summer sun, looking totally out of place in her shop. He had on a pair of faded skintight jeans, a form-fitting khaki T-shirt and, despite the heat outside, a leather jacket. His aviator sunglasses were on so she couldn’t see those dark chocolate eyes of his.
Why was he here? This was her Jay-free zone. She didn’t want to talk to him or see him right now and certainly not in her shop.
“Why are you here?” she asked, knowing she didn’t sound hospitable but not really caring. She was tired from last night, edgy about Staci’s future plans and he was the source of a lot of her unease about her own future.
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said as he stepped into the shop and removed his sunglasses. He opened up the side of his jacket and put them in an inner pocket. “I don’t have any other number for you.”
“Oh. Right.” She wasn’t ready to deal with Jay. Not now. Possibly not ever.
She wished she could be cool and calm, instead she figured she was coming off as more than a little flaky.
Get it together, she admonished herself.
“So, what’s up?”
“I think we still need to talk. And I didn’t feel comfortable about the way you left last night,” he said.
“I can’t really do that here because if I have a customer they have to be my priority.” Thank God. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash last night and her bold proclamation that she was using him for sex.
“Can you take a break?” he asked.
“Can’t this wait until later?” She needed a good twenty-four hours of sleep and some distance between them so she could forget about how those big muscled arms of his felt around her. But right now all she could see was him last night as he’d moved between her legs and made her his once again.
“It could,” he said, moving slowly closer to the counter.
“Great,” she said.
“I can come back when the shop is closed and take you to dinner,” he offered.
She wanted to do that. Have a private dinner with him, but she knew she’d end up making love to him again. She needed to get out and do things with him that brought other people into their company. Otherwise, she’d fall back into bed with him and in two weeks he’d be gone and she’d be wondering why the hell she’d let him dominate her life again.
“I can’t tonight,” she said.
“Do you have plans?” he asked.
“Yes. I have a very busy life. You got lucky last night when you asked me to bring you that cupcake, which you never paid for,” she said.
“Let me rectify that now,” he said, taking out his credit card and handing it to her.
She went to the cash register and rang up his order from the night before and then slid the card through the credit-card machine. She focused on every detail of the mundane task, ignoring the spicy scent of his aftershave and the fact that he was so close she could reach out and touch him.
