Page 7 of Love By Sunset

‘I’m thirty-two. Come on, spill the beans.’

He laughed. ‘Twenty-eight. Four years is neither here nor there and anyway, if I was four years older than you, it wouldn’t merit commenting on, so why should it be necessary to comment when it’s the woman who’s older?’

Emily shrugged and smiled. ‘I suppose. But I’ve never been out with someone younger than me. I don’t want to be accused of having a toy boy.’

‘I’m more than happy to be your toy boy.’ Jake stood, flashing her his killer smile as he snagged a tray Jenny had missed because it was propped against a planter, and piled the remains of their lunch onto it. ‘Let me just take this in and then how about a walk on the beach? We’ll have to part ways after that, because I’m the one closing the café tonight. Where are you staying?’

‘Believe or not, the Seaview Hotel in Solhaven.’

Jake’s mouth twitched, then broke into a rather endearing grin. ‘Not the most upmarket hotel, but clean and comfortable and, if I recall, a decent breakfast.’

‘Now how would you know that?’ Emily murmured, shooting him a teasing look from those amazing eyes.

‘That,’ he said with a slow wink, ‘would be telling. Hang on a mo.’

He strode off with the tray, his thoughts like tumbleweeds.Definitelynot his usual type, but whoa—she was something else. Never mind her looks, he liked her responses. It would be quite something to bed her. He had a feeling she’d be a great lover—probably knew a hell of a lot more than his holiday flings. His mouth twitched into a smile at that idea.

Dropping the tray onto the side of one of the large kitchen sinks, he snaked an arm round Jenny’s waist and kissed her cheek.

‘Hello, young Jake. What do you want, then?’

He wanted Emily. For now. She would take his mind off the awful chasm gaping in front of him, which he was afraid to look into in case he saw himself no longer the owner of Jake’s Café. He knew he had things he must do—contact the solicitor at the estate agents, for one. Maybe see if he could get into Henry’s house and look for the will was another possibility he’d considered. His thoughts faltered, and he looked out of the window at the blue skies and rolling waves. What would he do—whatcouldhe do—without his café?

For now, he’d concentrate on Emily, a late season bonus.

Jake smiled at Jenny. ‘I promise faithfully I’ll be back within the hour. Pretty please, will you cover for me until then?’

‘Oh, get yourself off. She seems like a nice lass. Behave, mind?’

‘No time to do anything but.’ Jake was grinning as he headed for the door, his mood already lifting. ‘Thanks, Jenny. I owe you.’

In easy, loping strides, he covered the distance back to Emily. She was standing on the edge of the café terrace, gazing over the beach.

‘Ready?’

‘Ready. I assume you’ve soft-talked Jenny into staying on a bit?’

‘How did you guess?’ he murmured, catching hold of her hand as he tugged her towards the edge of the carpark, where a slatted wooden pathway led down to the sands. Slipping out of his shoes, Jake left them at the top of the path. and was pleased that there was no hesitation on Emily’s part to do the same.

‘Have you ever surfed?’

‘Not like you do, no. I’ve done some body-boarding. It was fun, but I’ve not done it for years.’

They reached the sand, soft and powdery, and he took hold of her hand again. After a moment of tenseness, he felt it relax in his warm clasp. ‘Let’s get onto the hard sand. This beach is a mile long, end to end. There are a couple of caves down towards the far end and,’ he turned and pointed towards a jut of low cliff, ‘another, much rockier beach over there.’

The tide was half-way in, and like yesterday evening, there was the sparkle of sunlight on the waves. Seagulls wheeled and cried, their wings flashing white in the sun, and the soft smell, unique to the seaside, of seaweed and ozone filled the air. Jake heard Emily take in a deep breath and glanced sideways at her. She had a smile on her face and was looking out across the waves. It seemed as if she, too, was letting go of a burden. Maybe they had more in common than just… lust. He smiled to himself at the thought, then wondered why it mattered, because after all, she was only a holiday fling. Yet there was a deeper tug inside him than normal when he picked up a new woman.

They reached the shallow waves, curling with a fringe of froth onto the warm sand. She had strong and shapely feet. In fact, so far, he’d found nothing to complain about. Every time he started thinking physical, his stomach contracted and the beginnings of an erection stirred. Hopefully, it wouldn’t become too pronounced. Oh, yes, he’d like to get this one into bed, but during a long weekend? Bit rushed, even for him. He sighed before taking in a deep breath of the warm, salty air, appreciating, like Emily, the sun, the sea, the sound of the gulls and his companion, pushing intrusive thoughts about his future away for now. Time for those later.

Emily tugged on his arm. ‘What do you do now, surfer Jake? Now you can’t compete? I don’t know… can you earn a living surfing, anyway?’

Hell. Had he really thought he’d be able to leave the heavy stuff behind? Her questions broke the peaceful silence round them and brought his fears for the future crashing back into his gut where they churned and thrashed, causing him to clench his free hand. At least his erection died down, a swifter death of arousal than he’d ever experienced before.

He sucked in the salty air, trying to calm his stomach, before answering. ‘Not as an amateur, no. As a professional, there’s prize money, advertising, modelling, demos… stuff like that. I made quite a bit, but Henry made me buy property, so I’ve not got much in the way of liquid assets. I could sell some, I suppose, if it comes to that, but Henry was very against doing that. I have an income from renting it out, but there’s insurance, repairs, all that sort of thing. The café…’ His voice tailed off, facing the real problem. His beloved café.

‘The café?’

‘It gives me as much as I need, day to day, but it’s more than that…’

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