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“Yes. That sounds nice,” she said. “I’ve been dying to meet some of your friends. I thought maybe you were embarrassed by me.”
“I never could be embarrassed by you. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said.
“Really?” she asked. “Don’t answer that. I meant to say thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So how about I pick you up in the morning very early for that balloon ride and then after lunch I will drop you back off...?”
“Okay,” she said.
“We can have drinks with Lucien and then I’ll take you out. What do you want to do?”
“Anything?”
“Sure,” he said. “What’s your dream date?”
“Dinner and dancing,” she said without hesitating.
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said. “I’ll be back at six to pick you up.”
He walked through her house to the front door and she followed him. She had a reluctant hope that this time maybe things were going to be better for them.
* * *
ALYSSE SLEPT RESTLESSLY without Jay by her side, but a part of her knew that she was better off this way. He wasn’t ready to make a decision about his career or her. And she needed to be able to protect her heart.
She was awake at five so they could drive up to Temecula. It was very chilly, something she didn’t realize until she was on the back of Jay’s bike holding on to him. She started shivering and he pulled off on the highway.
“Why are we stopping?” she asked.
“Because you’re freezing,” he said. He took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her. He wore a black sweatshirt bearing the Marine Corps emblem under his jacket.
“Will you be warm enough?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine as long as you aren’t shivering,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. “I like your sweatshirt. I notice you don’t often wear something with the Corps logo on it. Why is that?”
“People want to buy me coffee and stuff and it makes me uncomfortable,” he said.
“They’re just saying thanks for doing your job.”
“I know that,” he said. “But it’s a job. The only one I’m trained to do and I’m nothing special.”
“Yes, you are,” she said.
“You think so?” he asked her.
She could tell he wasn’t sure if she was joking around with him and that bothered her.
“Yes, of course I’m sure,” she said.
They got back on the bike and finished the drive. There were three other couples waiting to go up in the hot air balloon. Jay had signed them up for a two-hour flight across the valley, and it had sounded fun to her until they climbed in the basket and she saw how fragile the basket was as they started to rise.
“I’m not sure about this,” she said.
“What aren’t you sure about?” he asked.
“That we won’t fall,” she said.
“It’d be bad for business if I let you fall,” the pilot said with a laugh.
Jay moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her body. He leaned down close to her ear and said, “I’ve got you and you know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She relaxed against him. She might not be sure whether he would stay with her forever, but she knew that he’d protect her with his life. It was still and quiet as they rose up from the valley floor. The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains below. They floated higher and she was almost afraid to speak; the only sound was the occasional hiss of the fire used to inflate the balloon.
“Do you know which vineyard is Paulo’s?” Jay asked.
“I don’t,” she admitted. “I haven’t been to visit him and Frida because I’m always so busy at the bakery.”
“You work too hard,” he said.
“I’m a small-business owner,” she said. “If I don’t do it, no one else will.”
“I don’t like that you have to work so hard,” he said. “You don’t have enough time for yourself.”
“That’s just the way my life is. You work hard, too,” she pointed out.
“But that’s different.”
“Why? Because you’re a man?” she asked.
The pilot chuckled at her tone and Jay tightened his arms around her. “I know better than to answer that question. I just wish that I could pamper you a little bit.”
