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was lost in the past.”
    “I understand that,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the past.”
    The waiter cleared the table and laid down the dinner plates. He removed the covers and she saw that there was a pan-seared tuna with a creamy risotto and asparagus. It smelled heavenly and she stared at her plate, trying to make the evening about food instead of about the past. But she knew that was a lie.
    The waiter offered cracked black pepper and refilled their wineglasses before leaving. She stared at the empty beach. The sun still shone but it wasn’t very bright.
    “Alysse?”
    “Yes?” she asked. It was silly to still be wearing sunglasses, she thought as she focused on Jay’s face.
    “Are you okay?”
    “No,” she said. “I’m not. This is the most surreal night of my entire life and that’s counting the night I married a stranger.”
    His mouth tightened but then he relaxed his shoulders. “I guess I’m glad it’s not boring for you.”
    Just that one sentence shocked her and made her smile. Then she started laughing though it wasn’t that funny and she felt the sting of tears and the very real urge to start crying. Damn. She turned her head away from him, pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head and wiped her eyes.
    “You do know how to show a girl an interesting time,” she said. “What have you been up to?”
    “Fighting,” he said. “That’s what I do.”
    She arched one eyebrow at him. That was almost too straightforward, especially for Jay.
    “Sorry. It’s on a T-shirt that a guy in my unit gave me last Christmas.”
    “Oh,” she said, realizing there was a possibility of him having a life outside the Corps. “I have one that says ‘I dream in dark chocolate.’”
    He smiled and they started eating. She gave Jay props for keeping the conversation light and she found him charming. Too charming as he recounted some humorous pranks he’d played on his buddies. That was how he referred to them. No names or any other identifiers.
    “Why don’t you call them by their name?” she asked as they were finishing up dinner.
    “I don’t know why, I just think of them as they are, like sniper-scout. He’s the fourth one I’ve been paired with since I’ve been in the Corps.”
    “What does he do exactly?” she asked.
    “He’s my partner in the field. He helps me sight the target by gauging wind and other factors. He’s got my back, you know?”
    She shook her head. “In the movies, snipers are always loners, but it doesn’t seem like you are.”
    He shrugged again and she noticed the way his massive shoulders moved. He was still in top form, with muscles bulging under that black T-shirt of his. “Sort of. We work in pairs but because of burnout and other issues we don’t always develop deep bonds. I’d work alone if I could.”
    “Why?” she asked, putting her silverware down to concentrate on what he was saying. To be honest, his answer didn’t surprise her. There had always been something solitary about him, even in Vegas when he’d been on leave.
    “That way I don’t have to depend on anyone but myself.”
    She tipped her head to the side to consider him. “Was that why you left me?”
    “I have no idea. I’ve never been a coward, but walking away from you was the only thing I could do.”
    “Why? Because you didn’t want to have to depend on me?” she asked.
    “No,” he said, putting his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “I didn’t want you to depend on me and then let you down.”
    * * *
    J AY DIDN ’ T LIKE admitting his weaknesses out loud but he knew that lying to Alysse wasn’t going to win him any favors. He’d planned what he’d say and how he’d say it, but he hadn’t been able to plan for her reactions.
    She was hard to get a bead on tonight as she was both angry and sad and at times almost relaxed. And seeing her behavior tonight made him wonder if he should have just stayed gone. Selfishly, for his own peace of mind, he’d had to