Men of Alaska 2: Sterling Sunshine Read Free

today you get to flirt with Ross. He’s cute, nice, and loves this town. Everyone says he’s not a real politician type. I bet you can convince him to work with you.” Mel smiled. “I better get into the dress studio and be productive.”
    “Good idea.” Gretchen nodded. “I need to get some files and proposals together to show him.”
    “Don’t overlook men in your lust for work. You gave me good advice about my guys. I want you to be happy too.” Mel gave Gretchen a stern look.
    “I am happy. I have plenty to do, and I lost the weight I put on from stress-eating over not having work. I’ll never be skinny, but I feel better. The air is cleaner or something,” Gretchen said.
    “I’ve learned that life balance is worth it. There might be more dress business in New York or Chicago but the men I love are here. As long as the group has enough, we’re okay. I like this town too. You can’t have it all, but you can pick what matters most and work around the rest. The right men for you are here. I believe it.” Mel slid on her sunglasses and grabbed her bag. “See you later.”
    “All the sunshine is going to your head,” Gretchen teased. She wanted Tony to ask her out and to get to know Ross better. No matter what, she wasn’t going to let men depress her. There was more to life than love, and all of that was going pretty well.

Chapter Two
    Sterling’s town hall wasn’t a huge building. It sat on one end of Main Street, nothing fancy or showy. Ross had learned the dull parts of the job and was finally digging into the good he could do.
    When his assistant showed Gretchen in, Ross found himself a little tongue-tied. She dressed in black slacks and a black blazer with a light blue blouse underneath that matched her eyes. That long black hair was pulled up and showed off her creamy skin. They’d met and talked several times before, but her professional touches made him want to move beyond the mundane, if important, matters of the meeting and open the door to a more personal exchange.
    “Nice of you to see me, Mr. Mayor,” she said.
    “No trouble at all. Please call me Ross. Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?” He shook her hand and the spark hit again, like it did every time they ran into each other.
    “No, thanks.” She smiled and took a seat.
    He nodded to his assistant who closed the door on her way out.
    “So are you liking your move to Sterling?” he asked.
    “Loving it. The boat repair business is easier to promote. I’m hoping that we can combine efforts and boost tourism as well as get more business for the dress shop,” she said.
    “Even the tourists don’t get that dressy around here. Except for weddings and such.” Ross wanted to work with her but getting her hopes up would only hurt his chances.
    “We’re doing a wedding show in Anchorage and I’m planning some local photo shoots of Mel’s work. We’re even developing an app. If we could possibly slant the tourism angle to include the potential for destination weddings, it might benefit us both and other local businesses. The bakery, the inn, the salon, and so on. I have a breakdown of what Isa’s wedding used locally, and it wasn’t even a high budget wedding. There could be a lot of benefits for the town.” She pulled a folder from her bag.
    There was a knock at the door.
    “Yes,” Ross said.
    “Hey.” Tony entered and stopped short.
    There was a spark and a little unease that Ross detected.
    Gretchen’s cheeks pinked up, but she recovered with a big smile. “Hi, Tony! How have you been?”
    “Good. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Ross texted about lunch, and things are actually slow today.” Tony held up his phone and gave Ross a confused look.
    “I’m glad. Gretchen and I were talking about some tourism promotions. I thought maybe we’d all grab lunch if you had time.” Ross nodded to the chair next to Gretchen.
    “That’d be lovely, but I don’t want to bore Tony with work talk.” She