Page 72 of The Offer

Dakota looked up at her sister with big, elephant-sized tears in her eyes.

“I’ll think about it,” Jess croaked.

Dakota’s bottom lip quivered. “Th-thank you.”

Calvin offered to walk her out, keeping a steady hand on her back as he guided her outside. Jess glanced out the window and watched as Jasper hopped out of the truck and ran for Dakota, his face full of concern and, from the looks of it, anger. She tore her gaze away before Jasper could notice her. She knew who that anger was meant for.

Kevin crouched down and tugged on Jess’s neck, forcing her to look at him. “Jess, what do you need?”

What did she need? She needed to scream, maybe throw the plate and the half-eaten hand pie across the room. She needed to blast her music in the car and sing at the top of her lungs until her voice went so hoarse she wouldn’t be able to make a sound for days. She needed to get her hands in dough and knead the emotions away, bake until the sweet smell of the shop drowned out her senses. She needed to curl up on her bed with Honey and sleep for a day. Maybe two. Maybe a week.

She needed to feel loved, cherished, adored. She needed to bend down and kiss those lips again, feel his confidence and joy, run her hands through his honey-brown hair.

She jerked out of his hold and stood up. “I need to figure out how we’re going to get afternoon customers.”

“Jess—”

She didn’t stop to hear what he had to say and escaped into the back of the bakery, tying up her apron.

Jess sat on the couch at the Balls’ cottage, Honey snoozing by her feet. She had her notebook open in front of her as she furiously took notes, doodles of pastry concepts and potential recipes covering the pages. Nothing she put together seemed to click, nothing seemed to be enough to keep the crowds coming. How could you compete with places like Pop’s Seafood or Penny’s Pizzeria or Seabreeze Café during the lunch hour? Sandwiches on leftover croissants did sound like a solution for lunches, but Grampy’s already sold grinders during the afternoons and the last thing she wanted to do was seem like a copycat again. She needed something fresh. Something these businesses weren’t already doing.

She heard the spinning of bike wheels and the click of pedals as someone approached the cottage. Loud footsteps climbed the stairs, then Kevin was standing outside the door. He had on that soft sweatshirt he wore when they went camping, paired with his signature board shorts and sandals.

Her heart skipped at the sight of him. She cursed to herself as she moved, squashing those feelings deep down back into her belly until they practically disappeared.

She opened the door. “Yes?”

“Jessica, hello, it’s a lovely evening.”

She squinted her eyes. “Why are you here?”

“For number seven on your list.”

She felt her face go warm. Which one was number seven? There’s no way he would be bold enough to offer a hookup, especially after throwing everything on “the table.”

He gave her a beguiled smile and ticked his head toward the ocean. “It’s the one where we get butt naked and dive into the Long Island Sound.”

Her face felt much warmer now—scalding, actually. “You don’t have to join me for that one. It would be…weird.”

“We’re adults, we can handle it,” he said with a wink. “Come on, grab a towel and let’s go.”

She didn’t move an inch.

He groaned. “Jess, come on. I know things are stressful right now, but I also think this will set you at ease.”

She charged back into the cottage, Kevin close at her heels. “I can’t think about anything else but the bakery right now, Kevin. We need a solution, and fast. How are we going to bring in afternoon customers? What else can we be doing? What am I not seeing here?”

He sighed. “I actually have an idea.”

Her brow raised. “You do?”

“But I’m only going to tell you if you follow me outside and take off your clothes.”

She covered her face in her hands, mumbling insufferable to herself a few times.

He must have picked up on what she said as he chuckled in response. He walked to the hallway closet and snatched a towel, then assertively walked out, as if he expected her to follow. She did.

She walked behind him down the windy road and to Scallop Shell Beach. The night was too cold for lingering late-night beachgoers, so it was only the two of them standing on the sand, looking out at the black waves that softly rippled a couple of feet in front of them.