Page 76 of Beach Vibes

He kissed her again, more slowly this time. She leaned into him, savoring the feel of his hard body against hers. Wanting grew—delicious and a tiny bit frustrating. Because they still weren’t lovers, and there was no way that status was going to change today.

She drew back and stared into his dark blue eyes. “Hi.”

He smiled. “Hi, yourself. Ready for this?”

Her smile faded as she remembered why she was here. “Oh, God. Your children. Did you mean to have three?”

He laughed. “You’ll do great.”

She pointed to the large pink box. “Are they going to judge me because I didn’t bake?”

“This is a judgment-free zone.”

“You have no idea how much I wish that was true.” She picked up the box. “I’m bribing them with a bear cake. Is it wrong? Probably, but I’ll take the stain on my soul.”

“Bear cake. What do you mean?”

They went into the kitchen. She carefully unfastened the box and let the sides fall away. Inside was a tall round cake coveredin rich brown rosettes. She turned the cake so he could see the big black eyes, the long lashes and the bulbous nose. Large bear ears sat on top of the cake with a two-inch marzipan bee by one of them. The animal’s expression was friendly, and the bee had a tiny smile.

“It’s all edible,” she said. “The decorations are mostly sugar. Actually the whole thing is mostly sugar. But it’s cute, and I thought they might like it.” And by association, her.

She twisted her hands together as she looked from the cake to him. “Too much?”

He put his arm around her. “It’s perfect. They’re going to love it.”

“I hope so.”

Jana walked into the kitchen. “Hi. I thought I heard voices. How are you—” She caught sight of the cake and clapped her hands together. “Oh, look! It’s a bear. So adorable. Where did you find that?”

Beth felt some of her tension ease. “There’s a bakery I know. They do whimsical cakes, and I thought the kids might like this one.”

“They’re going to love it.”

“Hey, it’s me,” a male voice called.

“In the kitchen.” Jana turned back to her. “You haven’t met Dex yet, have you?”

Beth shook her head and quickly rubbed her hands against her jeans. A day of reckoning, she thought frantically. The childrenandthe best friend.Oh, please, oh, please let it go well.

A man walked into the kitchen and smiled. Beth glanced at him, prepared to walk over and hold out her hand for an introduction. Instead she found she couldn’t move.

She was staring at a surprisingly familiar face—one she’d seen hundreds of times up on the big screen, or in her living room when she’d streamed a movie. She’d seen him as a Special Forces leader who saved the village and got the girl. He’dbeen a spaceship pilot, a firefighter and a spy whose sense of humor and ability to get out of tight situations had rivaled the old James Bond movies.

“Shit,” Teddy said, his voice coming from behind her. “We didn’t tell her.”

Jana moved next to Beth. “I’m sorry. I forgot. I’m a terrible friend.”

Beth looked at her, trying to understand the words, but she couldn’t. The moment was too surreal. Yes, this was Malibu, and famous people were part of everyday life. Just not Dex Sanders in Teddy’s kitchen.

“You’re the best friend,” Beth managed.

Dex smiled at her. “For what? More than twenty years. We met on the set ofThat Last Year. He’s tried to shake me a few times, but I’m like a tick. I don’t let go.”

That Last Year? That Last Year?Her already spinning brain struggled to remember the old sitcom. It had been about a working-class family living in the Midwest, but the real stars had been the two brothers. If Dex had been one of them…

She turned to look at Teddy. He was older and he’d changed, of course, but somehow she now saw he looked exactly like—

“You’re Theo Mead, who played Sammy?”

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