Sweet Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page A

protector.” She narrowed her gaze. “I told you to throw them all out. Did you?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Yes. I said I did.”
    “Good.”
    Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the screen.
    “Andrew or Zeke?” Matt asked.
    “Joe.” She turned off the phone. “Sorry.”
    Matt studied her. “How many guys are there?”
    Not a question she wanted to answer. “This isn’t a very interesting topic.”
    “It’s interesting to me.”
    “I date but I don’t get serious. It’s no big deal.”
    “You meet a lot of different guys?”
    “Sure. It’s easy. They’re everywhere.” And men were not the least bit challenging to attract. Not that she was interested in keeping them around for any length of time.
    Their server appeared. Jesse was relieved by the interruption. Talking about her personal life would only depress her and it might make him think she was…
    What? Slutty? Isn’t that what her sister called her? Stop thinking about Nicole, she ordered herself and opened her menu.
    Matt waited while she placed her order first, then he listed his selection, even including a glass of wine.
    “Very smooth,” she said when they were alone. “The glass of wine is a nice touch. You know, we could go to the Chateau St. Michelle winery sometime. They have tastings. You could practice being snobby.”
    He laughed. “You want me to be a snob?”
    “You never know when it will come in handy.”
    The server brought their drinks. Jesse stirred her iced tea. “You’re making some great changes. How do you feel about that?”
    “You’re not going to get me to talk about my feelings,” he told her. “It’s a guy thing.”
    “Good answer.”
    “Are you playing me?”
    “Maybe a little.”
    “I can handle it.”
    There was a quiet confidence in his voice she hadn’t heard before. It matched his straight posture and the way he looked her directly in the eye.
    Still looking at her, he asked, “What’s your story? I know you’re not really a lifestyle coach. So who are you and what do you do when you’re not hounding me to go to the mall?”
    At least they weren’t talking about her personal life, Jesse thought as she wrinkled her nose. Not that the rest of her world was in much better shape. “There’s nothing much to tell. I work in a bakery that my sister and I own. Well, my half is in trust until I’m twenty-five. I don’t especially like working there, but that’s more about me not getting along with Nicole than anything else.”
    “Why don’t you get along?”
    Jesse considered how much to tell. “I have a second sister. Claire. She plays piano and is kind of famous. She went off to tour the world right after I was born, so I don’t really know her. When I was six, my mom took off to be with Claire and Nicole got stuck raising me. My dad wasn’t much help. I was a handful, as they say. Nicole thinks I only ever screw up and I think she’s the queen bitch of the West. Like with the bakery. I’ve begged her to buy me out so I can just leave, but she won’t.”
    “What would you do with the money?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Maybe that’s why she won’t give it to you.”
    Jesse smiled. “If you’re going to be reasonable, we can’t have this conversation.”
    “Sorry.”
    “That’s okay. Enough about me. I know you live with your mom. What about your dad? Are they divorced?”
    “They were never married. My mom doesn’t talk about him at all. It’s always been just the two of us. She worked really hard when I was young. Money was tight. She did everything for me.”
    A possibly scary thought, although Jesse decided not to judge until she knew all the facts. “She sounds nice.”
    “She is mostly. She didn’t care that I was into computers. She never bugged me to go outside or worried that I didn’t have a lot of friends. She kept saying I’d grow into who I was meant to be and not to worry if things weren’t how I wanted them now.”
    “Good for