Page 55 of Hard Knock Hero

A thrill ran through me as I remembered touching him last night when he was naked, the shower filling the bathroom with warm, humid air.Yikes. His skin had been like touching a hot stove, and I did not want to learn my lesson.

Hopefully he wasn’t using any ofthosemethods to convince Owen, either.

“What are you laughing at?” Scarlett asked me.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Something about Aiden, I’m sure?” She grinned knowingly.

“Am I that predictable?”

She hummed. “I don’t blame you for a second, hon.”

Scarlett and I had been friends since I’d moved to Hartley. Like me, she hadn’t grown up here. She was a native of another part of the county, a far more remote and desolate spot than Hartley. The kind of place you had to cross a steep mountain pass to get to.

She had hinted about troubles in her past. A dark backstory that belied her sweetness and smiles. Yet I hadn’t gotten close enough to her for Scarlett to share the details. Really, I hadn’t gotten close toanyonein Hartley. Not the way they deserved. I’d just been so focused on surviving. Reaching for my dream little by little and trying to make things work day by day.

But suddenly, I was imaginingmore. A more secure standing as a member of this town. Friends I could open up to and truly count on. I was so tired of holding people at arm’s length.

Once things got busy enough with the lunch crowd, I had to stay in the kitchen and devote myself entirely to pushing out orders. “Hey, two more burger specials,” Scarlett called out, pinning up an order slip. “Plus chicken tenders and a large basket of fries.”

“Coming right up.”

As we’d done our prep work, I’d told Scarlett everything about our investigation of the Rigsbys, even what had happened with Mitch on Refuge Mountain, and it had been a relief to share it. She’d been shocked, of course. But also swept up in the excitement of a mystery. And she’d never liked Mitch.

The strange thing was, the news that Jeremy was back in Hartley had actually given me hope. After two years of dread and sleepless nights, Jeremy was back, but he couldn’t hurt me anymore.

I wouldn’t let him.

But at the very end of the lunch rush, when the last customer had just left, the bell on the front door jangled. My guts plummeted to somewhere around my feet.

Jeremy Rigsby had just walked inside.

Scarlett had been dropping off some dirty dishes, and she nearly dropped them as she muttered a curse. “Oh, hell no,” she whispered. “This is not happening. I’ll get rid of him, Jessi. Don’t you worry.”

“No,” I said under my breath. “Get him a menu. I’ll have to see him sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.”

She leaned over the counter and lowered her voice further. “But like this? Him coming in here as if he has a right? There’s a protective order. We should call Owen and have Jeremy arrested.”

But I knew Owen was busy. And having Jeremy thrown in jail would just make things worse with the Rigsbys, not better. “Jeremy’s uncle is my landlord. And your boss. We’ll be civil, and we’ll get through it.”

This was my chance to prove how far I’d come. Jeremy didn’t control me. He had no hold on my life.

I could do this.

Distantly, I heard Scarlett taking his order. She used a clipped tone, not nearly as polite as she’d been with the previous customers. I tried to ignore him, though I couldn’t help glancing at him from the corner of my eye. He looked different than I remembered. Thinner and more haggard. When I’d met him, he’d had thick blond locks and a strong jaw. Now, his hair had lost its golden color, turning a sallow beige, and he had a threadbare scruff on his chin, with the scar I’d given him visible beneath. He wasn’t as filled out as he’d used to be, leaner, but he sat with his shoulders back. There was something harder and compacted about him. Like granite.

I was stronger since I’d last seen him. I hadn’t thought about prison doing the same to Jeremy.

My vision started to tunnel, but I fought it. I sipped a glass of water. Took deep breaths. And in a few minutes, that brief panic had passed.

I couldn’t hide back here in the kitchen. I refused to cower. So after I finished his order, a BLT, I carried the plate out to the otherwise-empty dining room myself. I went straight to Jeremy’s booth and set the plate on the table.

“Here you go.”Asshole, I added in my head.

“Thank you, Jessi.” He nodded at me, and I saw a touch of humility in his expression. I didn’t believe it for one second. “I’d like to have a word with you. There are some things I need to say.”

Scarlett took a few steps toward us, but stopped when I held up a hand. “I’d rather you didn’t,” I said.

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