Free A Sweet Possibility (Archer Cove Series Book 2) by Natalie Charles Page A

we don't have to talk about it. Let's talk about how boring everything is here." Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Damn it!
    Nate had heard some women talk about "ugly crying," which he guessed was what women got self-conscious about these days, looking too emotional or something. Not Jessie. She sat there in the middle of the restaurant and bawled her eyes out. Nate stared at his hands, unsure where he should be directing his gaze. Not at her face. He wasn't supposed to look at how splotchy her cheeks were getting, because that was rude...right? Damn, he didn't know enough about women and all of their unspoken rules.
    He swallowed and then handed her a napkin, avoiding eye contact. "Do you...want to use mine?" he muttered.
    She accepted the napkin, but just gripped it in one hand and used the other to swipe at her cheeks. "What did I do, Nate?"
    "Nothing." Now he thought he could safely look at her. He leaned over and set his hand over hers. "Listen to me: Jess, you didn't do anything."
    Quinn was his best friend. Had been his best friend since the first day of kindergarten, and nothing had ever come between them. Not school, or sports, or girls. But seeing Jessie cry like this made him want to pummel him right then.
    She pulled closer and set her face against his shoulder. Her hair smelled like soap and flowers. It tickled his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and held her while she cried, smoothing his hand down her back. She was so soft. "I'm sorry," he whispered. His chest hurt.
    A waiter who looked to be fresh out of high school came over then and gave them a shy smile, pencil and pad in hand. "Are you ready to order?"
    "No," Nate said. Was this kid serious?
    Jessie pulled back then and covered her face with her napkin. "Just give us a minute, please?"
    The waiter stuck the pencil behind his ear and stuffed the pad into his apron. When he was out of earshot, Nate mumbled, "You want to get something to go instead?"
    "No. I don't want to be alone."
    Jeez, was he invisible or something? Not worth arguing about. Call it guilt over his friend's insensitivity, but he'd close down the restaurant with her if that was what she wanted. "Suits me fine," he said. "I don't have any client appointments tomorrow morning, anyway."
    The tears were over, at least. She sniffed and eyed the menu. "I feel like eating popcorn shrimp. You should stop me."
    "No ma'am. I'm not making that mistake again. You get what you want."
    She blew some hair off her face and pouted at the menu, looking defeated. "I should eat a salad."
    "Jess." He pulled the menu out of her hands. "Talk to me."
    She set the menu aside with exaggerated patience and folded her hands on the table, but she refused to meet his eyes, instead setting her gaze somewhere off toward the restrooms. "Jess?" he tried again. This time he watched her return to him, slow as molasses, but eventually getting to where he needed her to be. "What's going on?"
    She didn't cry. She pulled her hands into her lap and said, "I knew that things weren't going well. I've known for a long time. And then last night was just horrible." She shuddered.
    Nate recoiled as he thought of how badly things had actually gone, and how unlikely it was that Jessie knew the first thing about it, but he recovered quickly. He was supposed to be offering support, not making it worse. "So the party was...stuffy?"
    Her eyes widened as if to ask him how clueless he was. Then she said, "No, the party was amazing. Everything was so perfect and...luxurious, and the E&P wives are all gorgeous, of course. Then I was wearing this chartreuse dress. That's green, by the way," she added. "I don't know. It wasn't super high quality, but I wouldn't say it was cheap, either, but I felt cheap in it. I felt like I didn't belong at all, like maybe they were all laughing at me."
    The statement struck him somewhere square in the chest. He winced. "That's a terrible way to feel."
    "Yes. It is." She took a sip of her beer and sat