A Sweet Possibility (Archer Cove Series Book 2) (12 page)

"Well, I think that is great news. You work so hard that I can't imagine that you wouldn't be a household name. If there's anything we can ever do to help...I'd love to invest in you."

Jessie warmed at the offer, but she could never ask her cousin to put money into her business. "That's so sweet. But I'm going to be applying for a loan. It's a lot of paperwork, and it's a little intimidating, to be honest, but I was thinking it's time to suck it up and figure out how to make some graphs to demonstrate projected growth. But thanks anyway. I'll let you know."

"Absolutely." Wren paused and looked down at her plate as if she was trying to decide what to say next. Then she picked up her fork and held it in midair. "His career, huh? That's the excuse he gave you?"

Jessie mulled this one over as she chewed. Jax set a glass of ice water in front of her and said, "This sounds like it's going in a particular direction, and there's a game on —"

"Go ahead," Wren said, lifting her glass. "Everyone without a vagina is excused."

"Thank God," he muttered. "I'll be back in a bit to clean up."

Jessie watched him walk out before leaning closer to Wren and whispering, "You have Jax Cosgrove doing dishes? What kind of kink did that take?"

Wren gave her a wry grin. "I'm lucky that here in this house, we both forget that he's some Hollywood hotshot. But don't change the subject. Look, I'm enjoying my bowtie noodles, but when you tell me that Quinn dumped you to focus on his career, I smell pasta and bullshit."

"I don't want to talk about Quinn." And she didn't. Her stomach had started to knot as she thought about the real reason she'd been so relieved her cousin had called and given her an excuse to visit. She tried to sound upbeat. "You know, Emily and Nate are going out. On Friday. It's just a first date, so who knows. It could be serious."

When Wren didn't answer, Jessie dragged a bowtie around the bottom of her bowl, making little wave patterns in the sauce. Then as the silence dragged on, she did what she seemed to do best those days: turn off her brain and plow ahead. "And I'm happy for them. Who wouldn't be, when they're both such nice people. Nice people should end up together. Like you and Jax. You're both nice, too." Jessie took a breath. "I was going to set him up with Heather MacKenzie. I thought they'd hit it off, because Nate is all into physical fitness, and Heather...you know."

"Heather? Seriously?" Wren shook her head vehemently. "I would never see them together. And isn't she dating that politician? A state senator or something?"

"Oh yeah? I guess we've lost touch."

There was another stretch of silence. Then Wren started chuckling. "You were really going to set him up with Heather MacKenzie? Why would you do that? Nate's such a great guy!"

At first Jessie opened her mouth to defend herself, but Wren kept on laughing, and really, what defense did Jessie have, when she'd essentially decided to set up two single friends because they were...well, single. She started to giggle. "Come on, Heather is nice enough."

"If you like piranhas in Gucci. Nate is much too down-to-earth for her. Emily may be a better match." She took a sip of her water and then said, "You're funny. Your heart is where it should be, and I love you for that, but sometimes your schemes are so...elaborate. You're always looking for the complicated solution. Like Nate and Heather. Nate and Emily are a great match, and right in front of you." She shook her head. "And like your chocolates. I'll write you a check tonight and let you skip the whole business loan thing if you allow me to. It's my money, from my latest project."

"Ooh, latest project? You didn't tell me about that."

"It's a vampire romance."

Jessie wrinkled her nose and giggled again. "Vampire romance? That sounds awful."

"It's not that bad," Wren laughed. "And again with changing the subject! You're hard to pin down tonight!"

Jessie lifted another forkful of pasta and smiled, feeling suddenly lighter than she'd felt all day, even though nothing had been resolved. Friends could do that, make you feel like all the troubles in your life were a little bit funnier than you'd realized. "I haven't told you my biggest news yet," she said. "I'm running a 5K."

Wren nearly choked on her pasta. She clapped her linen napkin across her mouth and laughed silently. When she finally managed to collect herself, tears were forming at the corners of her eyes. "How in the world did you not mention this sooner? Okay, please tell me you have a camera crew documenting your every footstep, because that's television gold right there."

Jessie filled Wren in on the details, but kept a few out. Like the fact that she'd started running in order to fit in her maid of honor dress. Or the fact that she had an odd case of butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing Nate first thing in the morning in his sexy running shorts. Sure, sometimes Jessie shared too much, but every now and then, she had enough sense to know which things were better left unsaid.

"I sort of enjoy running," she confessed. "Emphasis on sort of, and I think it's mostly because of the company." Jessie caught a fleeting arch to Wren's eyebrows, and her cheeks grew hot. "With Nate. I mean, he's funny. He makes me, um, not think about running."

She may as well have been naked just then, she felt so exposed. But Wren had the good grace to simply reach over, stroke the ends of Jessie's hair, and say, "You're worthy of love. You know that, right? You're worthy of someone who stares at you like you're a goddess and doesn't put you second to his career. Maybe you already know someone like that?"

Jessie's face was so hot that all she could do was stare at the napkin in her lap. "Maybe. I don't know."

"Uh huh." Wren stood up from her stool and stretched. "You're in a shame spiral, Jess. I've been there. The sooner you step back and say that you won't accept second place — and actually mean it — the sooner you'll find what you're looking for. I'm guessing it's staring you smack in the face."

Jessie swallowed the tightness in her throat, her heart still hammering away in her chest. Man, "shame spiral" didn't sound like something she wanted to be a part of, but that was exactly where she was, wasn't it? Ashamed of her looks, ashamed of herself. Why did she think she needed to change, anyway? Screw Quinn and his stupid country club manners.

She hated eating her cereal dry and her oatmeal plain. She hated feeling like she had to be someone else to make Quinn love her. Maybe she couldn't afford a fancy dress and frequent pedicures, but she had a little chocolate business that she'd started all on her own, and she was darn proud of that. Something shifted, and Jessie breathed easier. She felt okay. She should celebrate.

"You want some dessert?" Wren said as she pulled open the freezer and stuck her head in. "I've got fudge swirl ice cream, mint chocolate chip, and a flavor called crème brûlée." She glanced over her shoulder. "Choices are made for other things. I think we should have a little of each and call it a tasting."

Jessie grinned and stood to clear her plate. "It's like you read my mind."

N
ate had downed
three glasses of cold water before leaving his apartment, but his legs still felt like lead. He never should've let Quinn talk him into that beer and wings. Now he was going to be fighting dehydration all day. If he was lucky, he had another water bottle rolling around somewhere in the back. If he wasn't, well, he'd only be paying the Stupid Tax.

Quinn had called him after dinner the previous night. He and Caryn were fighting again. "It's her ex-boyfriend," he said, his fingers hooked around the neck of a beer bottle. "I know he's trying to get back together with her."

They were sitting in Desmond's out in Spencer, just a dive bar with loud music, sticky round wooden tables, and plenty of people looking to get laid. Nate had once found a line of cocaine in the men's bathroom, right there on the windowsill. Needless to say, it wasn't his favorite place, but it was where Quinn was drinking.

"Is that what she said, that her ex wants to get back together?" Nate stifled a yawn into his fist. It was only ten o'clock, but he'd been waking early to run with Jessie, and it was catching up with him.

"She didn't say it, but then I see her texting someone and when I ask her about it, she won't tell me who she's talking to." Quinn clenched his teeth. "I think she's hiding something."

Quinn had always had this type-A, control freak streak. Usually he managed to keep it in check or to channel his energy in more appropriate ways, like into work. Caryn seemed to bring out the worst sides of him. "If you're going to be in a relationship with her, you need to trust her. If that's a problem, then you shouldn't be in a relationship."

Quinn tilted the beer bottle against his lips, watching Nate the entire time. He let out a belch as he set the bottle back down on the table. "Me and Caryn have a dynamic. I wouldn't expect most people to understand it." The words came out like unnerstan it.

Nate thought he unnerstood it just fine. "Basically you're worried that Caryn's going to do to you what you did to Jessie. Isn't that it? Because in your mind, that's how people treat each other."

Even more than he hated the hostility in his voice, Nate hated the way his anger wound itself through his gut. Quinn had been his best friend for twenty-five years. He was part of himself. But Quinn was acting like a real asshole lately, and friends set each other straight.

"I didn't do anything to Jessie," Quinn said, lifting his finger to point at Nate across the table. "I did the honorable thing and broke up with her."

"Honorable my ass. Don't tell me that you weren't fooling around with Caryn before that night."

Quinn looked like he was going to argue, but then a slow smile spread across his lips. "It's hotter when it's wrong."

Nate wanted to throw the table across the room and have it out right then. Instead, he'd grabbed Quinn's bottle right out of his hand and stood up. "Hey!" Quinn said. "That's my —"

"You're finished." Nate threw a few bills on the bar and grabbed his friend by the upper arm. "Let's go. I'm driving you home." Again.

Quinn tried to jerk himself free of Nate's grip, but it was useless. "I wasn't done. Did you hear me? I said —"

"You're done, all right. When you start talking like cheating is hot, you're fucking done."

Nate yanked him out of his chair and pulled him across the floor. After a few steps, Quinn stopped fighting. "Man. You like Jessie," he slurred.

Nate's heart skipped. "She's a sweet girl. And she's not the type to get into casual dating."

"If you're so worried about her, then you should date her." Quinn stood by the SUV, rolling slightly in place as he put a hand on Nate's shoulder. "There. I'm giving you my blessing."

Nate clenched his jaw. "That's how much she meant to you, huh?" He lifted Quinn's heavy hand from his shoulder and allowed it to drop.

Quinn looked like he was about to answer, but then he fumbled for the car door. It wasn't like Nate had been posing a real question, anyway. He knew that to Quinn, Jessie was just a casual fling. He'd move on, like he had a hundred times before, and he'd brag about how easy it all was for him. But this time, Nate wouldn't listen. This time, Nate couldn't indulge the boasting and chest-thumping. Because it was Jessie, and she deserved better.

He'd driven Quinn home and left him on the front steps to his house. Then he'd headed home and tried to sleep. He might have managed to squeeze in a few hours before the alarm went off.

When he arrived at the cottage, Jessie was waiting on the sidewalk, touching her toes to stretch out her hamstrings. She righted herself when he pulled up, watching him. "'Morning," she said.

"'Morning." His eyes stung with fatigue, and he yawned into his arm. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Jessie folded her arms across her chest and stepped closer to him. "Are you all right? You look tired —"

"Fine."

"Nate." She set her hand lightly on his wrist. The contact sent his heart racing. "We can do this another time. Later this afternoon, even. Go get some sleep."

She looked tired herself, with those red-rimmed eyes. "I'm okay to run," Nate said. "Are you?"

A flicker of hesitation before she nodded and said, "Yes. Fine. I'm ready to push to the brink of death, but no further."

"Then let's go, but keep it easy."

Dawn seeped through the clouds, even at that hour. Before he and Jessie had started running together, Nate had never woken so early — not on purpose, at least. He was still finding the early alarm painful, but he enjoyed the stillness of the hour, the smell of salt air in the breeze. He glanced at her as they ran together. She was focused on the road ahead, her brows knit in concentration, her cheeks puffing with each quick breath. For the first time in all of their runs, she was avoiding him: his eyes, his company, his existence. He didn't know what he wanted from her anymore. He only knew that it wasn't this.

"I'm going to take you somewhere new," he said. When he saw her eyes widen, he said, "Just trust me on this one. I promise you'll come out alive."

After a couple weeks of running, her stamina was improving and so was her speed. They ran to the end of the neighborhood, which cut off suddenly into a copse of thin pines split down the middle by a narrow, sandy pathway. Jessie stopped short. "Are we going on that thing?"

Like he was asking her to travel by camelback. "It's a little off-road. Nothing you can't handle, I promise."

But she stayed back, her hands on her hips, her head cocked. "What, are we going into the woods to light a bonfire and do keg stands?" Bullshit meter on high.

"You know, it's not actually weird to run on a trail. Some people even seek these opportunities out."

He waited for her to fire back some smart reply, but instead she shrugged and grumbled, "I should've brought my bug spray."

"You're an outdoorsy kind of girl, Jess," Nate said as she brushed past him down the path. "That's why I love you."

Shit. He said that out loud. Did she notice? She was jogging down the path, ducking below some hanging fir branches to reach a clearing. Nate waited a moment, holding his breath. When it seemed like he'd possibly gotten away with it, he exhaled. That was close. Not that he couldn't have laughed it off, said it was just a figure of speech, but —

"That's a mean thing to say, Nate." Her voice was soft, barely audible above the sound of their breathing.

"What, are you saying that you're really outdoorsy?" He forced a laugh. "Come on, I'm teasing."

Beside him, she was quiet. "You know what I meant. I've had enough of people telling me they love me and not meaning it."

His throat constricted. He didn't dare try to follow up with an explanation. Or a confession.

The path broke through the trees and cut through a dense spread of vegetation: stretches of pink Carolina rose and bearberry that ended at a small sandy hill tufted with beach grass. When she reached the top of the hill, Jessie stopped again. There she stood.

"You've gotten faster," he said. "You didn't even take the walk breaks."

She stepped down the hill as if he weren't there at all. Nate followed with a sigh as they both arrived at a small sandy beach. Here, the waves lapped the shore softly, and thumbnail-sized pink seashells littered the beach, together with the occasional stray crab leg. "I used to come down here all the time when I was a kid," Nate explained. "It's a great place for catching crabs in a bucket. This one time, I found a tiny turtle —"

"Look at all of these seashells," Jessie whispered as she stooped to get a better look. "I could spend hours down here. I never knew about this beach."

"No one comes here," he said, feeling proud. "It's cut off from the town beaches, and it's too small for recreation."

Around them, insects creaked and stirred. A seagull circled lazily overhead. He'd brought her to this beautiful place, and Jessie wouldn't look at him. I almost punched my best friend out last night, he wanted to say. I was about to feed him my fist for cheating on you. Because I'm not teasing when I say that I love you. I'm actually not being mean.

"This seems like the kind of place where you're supposed to think deep thoughts, doesn't it? So, do you ever think about what you want from life?" Her voice sliced through the air. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Like, I want my own storefront, a pink polka-dotted awning, and maybe a thigh gap. Just a modest one. I think with those things, I'd be happy."

"A pink polka-dotted awning and a thigh gap is all it takes, huh?" He poked at a purple-freckled seashell with the toe of his right sneaker. "I guess I'd want similar things. Not the thigh gap, but to feel successful, professionally."

"What about personally?" Jessie was sitting in the sand, resting her chin on her knees as she gazed out over the water. "Do you think you'll settle down?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Maybe. If I find the One."

She turned her face to look at him. "How will you know she's the One?"

He considered the question. "She'll know when and where to use her teeth, and when we're done having sex, she won't start laughing."

"Ha!" Jessie beamed and lifted her head. "Spoken like a true romantic."

"You think I'm joking? I could tell you stories." But he was laughing, too, and for a moment, the tension between them slipped away.

He thought of his date with Emily. How childish and impulsive and wrong of him that was, when the only woman he could ever imagine himself with was sitting beside him already. Hell, she could break out in a fit of giggles after they had sex if she wanted, or bite him in all the wrong places. She'd still be the One.

He crouched beside her, allowing one knee to touch the sand. "Jess, I —"

"It's okay. Whatever it is. I can tell you're about to apologize to me for something, and don't worry about it." She patted his knee, allowing their eyes to meet briefly. "You showed me this place. I forgive you."

She forgave him? For what?

Then in an instant, she was on her feet again. "We should head back. I've got another chocolate order coming, and I want to get in early."

Every inch of his body was weary and beaten down with fatigue. He rose to his feet with great effort, suddenly feeling a hundred years old. "Sure. Chocolate orders come first."

He did his best to make it sound light, but man. All he wanted was for her to slow down and spend a few minutes on him, and she was spending all of her attention on everything else. She was even jogging again, damn it. Following the path back into the woods, taking off without him. And for half an instant he wondered what she was so mad about, and then it hit him on the head. Emily, that was what.

He'd asked Emily out to piss her off, maybe even make her a little jealous. He didn't expect it to actually work.

"Hey, Jess?" Nate came up behind her and stayed at her elbow. "Emily and I are going out on Friday."

"I know," she said brightly. "I'm so happy for you two. Really. You'll have a great time. Emily's a nice girl."

Said without a trace of sarcasm. Was she mad at him or not? It was messing with his head. "I was wondering if you'd like to join us," he said. "Not like it would be the three of us. I'd invite Max."

She turned her head. "The SEAL?"

"Navy SEAL, yes. Not the animal."

Jessie fluttered her lips and slowed to a walk. They had reached the copse of trees again. The needles of a fir tree slipped softly across his arm. "I don't know about that," she said. "Max seems a little intense, and I think he undressed me with his eyes while he ate that chicken salad sandwich."

She was probably right, Nate thought. High-strung, intense Max was probably a terrible match for Jessie. That's what made the situation perfect. "You know, between you and me, I don't want Emily to get the wrong idea. I want to keep the first date casual, not move too quickly."

That got her attention. She stopped dead in her tracks. "So, wait. You want to double date because you want me to be a buffer between you and Emily?"

"'Buffer' is the wrong word. I just want to get to know her before we go out alone." He shrugged. "Maybe I'll hate her guts by the time appetizers roll around."

"I highly doubt that will happen."

Jessie looked at the pine trees around them as she stretched her neck. She was quiet for so long that he wondered if she'd lost her train of thought and had perhaps started contemplating string theory. Then she said, "I guess it's fine. It's not like I have anything else to do."

"I love your enthusiasm. I'll ask Max to refrain from visually assaulting you."

"That's fair. I'll tell Emily to lower her expectations. But it seems she already has." She tried not to laugh at her own joke, and failed.

God, did he love everything about her. "Hilarious, Jessica. If the chocolate thing doesn't work, you should do stand-up."

"I'm here all week, folks. Try the prime rib."

Nate rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "And still you keep going. Come on, I'll race you home."

J
essie clutched
the manila folder to her chest as she stepped into the bakery kitchen. Uncle Hank was there first, as usual. He whistled and cracked an egg into a stainless-steel bowl. Jessie took inventory of the ingredients surrounding his workspace: flour, butter, sugar, milk, and blueberries. Her stomach began to growl. "Muffins or coffee cake?" she asked.