Free The Summer of Jake by Rachel Bailey Page B

really busy. He said he’d look at her tomorrow and give me a call.”
    “It didn’t look that good when the tow truck took it away.”
    “She’ll be fine.” Mindy was like a friend, had been since I’d bought her at seventeen. I knew it was silly, but I wasn’t prepared to contemplate anything less than her full recovery. I injected all my confidence into a smile, as much for my own reassurance as his.
    He probably thought I was insane to care so much about an old car, and I tried not to let it matter to me…not to let Jake’s opinion matter.
    After dinner, he drove me home and walked me to my door. “Thanks, Annalise, I had a great night. Beer, fish, and stimulating company.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Nice to see where I rate. Anyway, I had a great night, too.”
    “With me and my uncouth manners?” He grinned, and I melted. Even if he had been bad, who’d choose manners over that grin?
    “Your manners were great. I could even say I was proud to be there with you,” I teased.
    “I could definitely say I was proud to be there with you,” he said with a husky note in his voice.
    He was close enough that I could see the beginnings of stubble roughening his chin. Even dressed for dinner, Jake seemed slightly rumpled. His eyes darkened, and his breath seemed to come faster. I moistened my lips, and his gaze tracked the movement. For a sweet moment I had the feeling he was going to kiss me, but my imagination was plainly in overdrive, because he stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair as he said, “I was thinking that when I visit Mum and Kelly, you might come, too. You haven’t seen them for a while.”
    I blinked to reorient myself. His words brought back the warm-fuzzy-Kelly-Eden feeling. “That’d be great. When are you going?”
    “I’ll call them, maybe see if Kel and Adam will meet us over at Mum’s. Is Saturday good for you?”
    I could already feel the excitement bubbling in my belly. “It’s fine.”
    “Good,” he said. “I’ll call them and let you know when I’ll pick you up. And don’t forget we’re meeting Tracey, my stock manager, tomorrow.” He looked over my face, pausing on my mouth again, and my pulse jumped up a notch, tangling with the Kelly-Eden fuzzies, creating a bizarre jumble of excitement.
    His lips parted a touch, and my whole body went on alert—my gaze locked on his mouth like a lip-seeking-missile. Was he going to say something? Draw breath? Kiss me? Maybe I hadn’t been imagining things a minute ago…
    Then all pulse-pounding and internal-bubbling ceased and desisted as Jake turned to walk back to his car.
    “’Night, Annalise,” he called over his shoulder.
    “’Night, Jake.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
    Even the knowledge I was going to see Kelly again in two days couldn’t ease the pang I felt watching Jake leave.
    …
    Jake
    Early the next morning, I surveyed the beach. North Bondi was farther from the resorts and cafés and, being a weekday, there were only a few people around. And eight people in the class I’d come to watch.
    I looked over at Gerry, my first surf coach, substitute father-figure, and first employee all rolled into one. The Jake Maxwell Surf School had been my initial venture into business, and it seemed natural as it grew that I employ Gerry to oversee the other coaches I needed to take on. For Gerry, previously a sole operator, it’d been a chance to move into coaching coaches, a whole new challenge.
    Gerry still taught his share of classes—he always said that it was the combination of the two aspects he enjoyed the most.
    Moving closer, I listened to Gerry’s description of wave sets. Gerry’s expression as he spoke held the same enthusiasm it had when he’d given the explanation to me, almost fifteen years earlier.
    How did he manage to hold the passion?
    I’d decided to drop in on the class after a sleepless night, spent replaying the dinner with Annalise. How would she have reacted if I’d kissed her