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She took a deep breath. He smelled like cinnamon and honey from the cookies he just ate. It made her want to burrow under a blanket and fall asleep.
“I’m already so tired and it’s only been a day,” she confessed. “How am I going to do this?”
A section of his wavy hair flopped in front of his face. He removed his hand from her knee to push it back. “Do you still want this?”
She nodded, her words caught in her throat.
He grazed his knuckles against her skin ever so gently yet again. His touch made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling.
“Then we do this,” he said.
“We?”
“Yes, Jessica. We. You do not have to do this alone, because you’re not alone anymore.”
“We have your back,” Calvin added. She felt embarrassed that Calvin was seeing her like this, but he gave her a reassuring smile that set her at ease. “And you really did have a successful day. Let yourself enjoy it.”
Dakota was the only sibling she’d ever had, and Jess felt content with that. But somehow, these two men in front of her had become her brothers; two guys who cared about her enough to make an insane offer. One that would undoubtedly change the trajectory of her life—regardless of whether the business was successful.
Even if the way one of those “brothers” was touching her made her brain go fuzzy.
The three of them spent the rest of the night brainstorming specials and promos that could keep a steady flow of customers walking through the doors of Port Wheels for the rest of the summer. At some point Gram called Calvin into the kitchen, requesting his assistance with dinner.
Jess glanced down at Kevin’s hand, at how close it was to her leg, his thumb sinking between the couch cushion and her outer thigh. She hitched a breath.
He followed her gaze and swiftly removed it. “I’m sorry,” he rushed out. “I’m a physical touch kind of person. I have to remind myself that not everyone likes it. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered, surprising herself with how easy it was to admit that. Continuing to act on instinct, Jess reached for his hand and cupped it between her own. “Thank you.”
She knew she could have been more specific with him, how thankful she was for his comforting presence, his friendship, his promise to never leave her alone. But when Kevin smiled in response and curled his fingers against her hand, his hazel eyes dancing as he looked down at her, she knew he was already well aware, and there was no need to say anything more.
“So, what’s the first thing on your list?” Dakota asked.
“Technically I already achieved the first thing, which was to open a bakery.”
The two of them sat outside Seabreeze Café, the sun warming her skin. She let Dakota sit on the other side under the patio umbrella with proper shade. She’d also bought her sister’s coffee and pulled her chair out for her, helping her into her seat. Dakota insisted that she could have done all of those things herself, but Jess refused to listen. A few instances of over-the-top pampering was merely scratching the surface of all the lost years she needed to make up for.
Dakota took her last bite of the blueberry coffee cake in front of her, little brown sugar crumbles scattering across her dress. She wiped them off, then rubbed her belly, her engagement ring twinkling from a sliver of sunlight peeking through the umbrella. “What’s number two, then?”
“I don’t think the order of the list matters,” Jess continued, taking a sip of her iced latte. “Kevin said we’re scratching something off it today, but won’t tell me what.”
“Which one are you most excited to do?”
Jess tapped a finger to her cheek, then smirked. “Have a one-night stand.”
Dakota choked out a laugh. “I did not expect that.”
“Why? I was with Charlie for almost ten years.”
“Exactly,” her sister said, cocking a brow.
“Says the girl who’s about to have a baby with her college sweetheart,” Jess teased. “Tell me, haven’t you ever thought of being with someone else?”
“Who says I haven’t been?”
Jess gaped as her sister laughed.
“I was with a couple of other guys before Jasper, I will have you know. Until he blew my mind in the bedroom and I decided I was done-zo forever.”
