A Sweet Possibility (Archer Cove Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

about my dreams? I've always wanted to own my own chocolate shop, and here I am, still working at Hedda's."
    Jessie's uncle owned Hedda's Bakery, and Jessie had worked there for years. When Nate first met her in high school, she was living with her uncle and her cousin Wren in the apartment above the bakery. She didn't talk much about her own parents, but he'd gathered they had moved to Europe for a few years and wanted Jessie to stay behind. She'd always seemed fine with it, and didn't mention it much. It wasn't like it had scarred her for life.
    If anything, living with her uncle seemed to give Jessie direction. She was a brilliant baker, and in recent years she'd been experimenting with her own line of chocolates, which she'd set out in a brand-new display case in the bakery. "I always thought your chocolates were selling well," he said.
    She gave a halfhearted shrug and made a noise that sounded like, "Meh."
    "It takes a lot to build a business. Sometimes it's painful."
    He knew that all too well. Nate was a personal trainer who'd built his client list over a number of years, taking on odd jobs when business was slow. He'd finally broken past that point, and business was booming. He was almost having trouble fitting in all his client appointments, and he'd started to consider what the next move would be. "It will happen," he concluded. He liked to put an end to problems, wrap things up and tie a bow on them — figuratively speaking, of course.
    "Not as long as I'm in Hedda's," she said. "I need my own space. Somewhere to grow and expand. I want to feel proud of where I am."
    He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he pulled to a stop at an intersection. "You got all of that from a baby shower? What, did they have a motivational speaker there?"
    "I took away two things," she said. "One, I'm not where I want to be professionally. Second, I'm not where I want to be personally." She tugged at the ends of her blonde hair. "All of these people close to me are getting married and having babies. It never bothered me before. I'd think, well, I'm a feminist. Fish on bicycles and whatnot. I had my career, and I didn't need to get married. Except I sort of want that. The whole thing."
    He studied her as they waited for the light to change. "What whole thing, Jess?"
    Part of him didn't want to know, because she was dating Quinn. The other part of him held onto hope that today would be the day she'd come to her senses and give him a chance. Maybe they wanted the same whole thing.
    "You know, the white picket fence. The pillow fights. The boring Saturday nights on the couch. Stability and ugly flannel sheets. Children and a dog and Christmas morning." She counted the items on her fingers. "I don't need them, but I want them. The American dream." She leaned her head against the window. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. Like you even care. I'm going to have to talk to Quinn tonight."
    Nate's stomach dropped. What did he expect, anyway? If she wanted a picket fence and a husband, Quinn was the logical choice. He was almost partner at his firm, so he'd have the financial means to make it happen. Nate may have taught the uber-wealthy how to do squat thrusts and dead lifts and compete in marathons, but that was a far cry from being one of them. Quinn, on the other hand, was approaching their ranks.
    But Quinn didn’t want a commitment, and he'd said that more than once. To him, Jessie was a friend with benefits — just someone to pass the time with. But try telling her that, when her feelings so obviously went deeper.
    He took a deep breath. "You know that a new space just opened up in Archer Cove, right? It's only a few blocks from Hedda's. The Dinardo Deli space."
    "What?" Her jaw dropped. "Wait. Shut the front door! When did that happen?"
    The store had been vacant for months, and lots of people in town had been speculating about what would fill it. Nate played apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be useful to you.