Page 104 of Hard Knock Hero

“I’m hardly perfect.”

“Perfect for me.”

I kissed her nose. “Then that’s what I’ll aim to be.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO

Jessi

Over the nextweeks and months, I often felt like I was swept up in a whirlwind romance. Something worthy of poems and heartfelt country songs. But other times, my story with Aiden felt like the slowest of slow-burns.

I loved every minute of it.

What Ididn’tlove was the everyday logistical stuff that followed in the aftermath of Sawyer and Dale Rigsby’s downfall. All the legal and administrative mess. Mostly, that wasn’t my problem. It was Owen’s. And the teams of state police and federal agents who occupied Hartley for a while. But they brought business to the diner and to Scarlett’s sweet shop, so that was a benefit.

As soon as Aiden and I got back from Steamboat Springs, we reopened the diner and got back to it. We worked together on planning menus. We fell into a natural division of labor. He handled the cooking, while I worked the front of the house and made all the desserts, which quickly grew a reputation. And as the media attention caused by the scandal brought in more tourism, online reviewers raved about my tarts and Aiden’s upscale diner cuisine.

To fund their legal defense, Sawyer and Dale sold nearly all of their holdings in the county at bargain prices, including the building that housed my diner. Somehow, I scraped together the funds for a down-payment, with some help from my Hartley friends. It was the same with the sweet shop, which Scarlett bought with some local business partners, including Marco. She got rid of the Hart-Made branding, and she stopped making brown sugar brittle. But aside from those changes, the sweet shop was just as charming as ever. She sold some of my tarts, and I had a display of her signature sweets on my counter at the diner.

Eventually, the investigators wrapped up their work, and the government finished its cleanup efforts on the national forest side of Refuge Mountain. The Rigsbys faced multiple state and federal charges, and were awaiting trial in a federal detention center without bond.

Hartley settled into a more normal pace.

We were still rebuilding after everything that had happened, but the increase in tourism was making a difference. There was a fresh sense of optimism around town as well. New businesses opening up. Transplants moving to town after seeing the scenic photos of our little corner of Colorado online.

Every day with Aiden was new to me, too. An adventure.

But I couldn’t help it. My dreams grew bigger. Even bigger than myself. I wanted to give back somehow, to share my happiness and newfound prosperity with others who needed help.

I just didn’t know yet how to make that happen.

Aiden took me to California for a long weekend. It was my first time out of state. The first time I’d ever seen the ocean and felt the surf lapping at my bare feet on the shore. It was incredible, but it also solidified my conviction that I was a mountain girl. I visited with Aiden’s family, met Aiden’s friends, and helped him pack up his things to ship to Colorado. I loved getting to see those parts of his life. Finding out more about this man I’d fallen for so quickly, yet was still discovering.

Though we’d spent nearly every single day together since we’d first met, we chose to live separately. Aiden rented a room above the saloon, while my brother slept on the floor in my studio.

And every Sunday night, we closed the diner, and Aiden took me out on a date.

Now that Aiden and I were really trying to make this work, I was all the more determined to take things slow. Aiden seemed to feel the exact same way. He took me out to restaurants in nearby towns. Took me dancing. He invited me over to his place and made me dinner, kissing me breathless over dessert. But I always left to go back to my own apartment, never spending the night.

After months of dating and little more than sultry goodnight kisses, I started to get impatient. By then, it was Aiden who was adamant about taking our time. As if he wanted to prove how committed he was to his life in Hartley, his life withme, before we took that next step. So that when we got intimate again, we would both be absolutely sure.

It took a full three months after we’d come back to Hartley after the Steamboat Springs wedding. And I wasdying.

That Sunday night, Aiden made French food for dinner. Beef bourguignon, potatoes roasted in duck fat, jewel-toned Burgundy wine. He kept our fingers entwined during dinner, his eyes burning into me, and my heart was going so crazy that I could barely manage to eat even though it was all delicious.

And finally, he kissed my knuckles in that way that made all my nerve endings go haywire. “I love you, Jessi. I am very much in love with you.”

It was the first time he’d said it. Everything inside me was spinning around in ecstatic, dizzying circles. It was all the emotions and all the words I’d been holding in, because I had known that I loved him for a while now.

“I love you, too. With my whole heart.”

He pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist. “Can I make love to you?”

I launched myself at him, jumping into his lap right there at the table.

Our kiss didn’t break as he carried me into his bedroom. A few seams got ripped and buttons popped as we tore at each other’s clothes. That first time after our long hiatus was a little desperate. Tongues battling and hands groping, trying to get our bodies as close as possible. We were finally naked together again after so much waiting, skin to hot skin. His erection nudged insistently against my stomach as we made out, and his thumbs caressed the curves of my breasts before his hand dipped between my legs. His fingers circled my core, finding the wetness there that was just for him.

“No condom,” I managed to say. “I don’t need it.”

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