Page 70 of Hard Knock Hero

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The muffins were just starting to brown when Aiden ventured downstairs. His hair was messy from sleep, but he was dressed. A fresh T-shirt clung to his muscles, and his legs filled out a different pair of jeans.

“Smells good down here. What’re we having?”

“My special muffins. Trying to develop your latent sweet tooth.” I poured him a cup of coffee. Aiden took it from my hands and gave me a kiss. It started out as a peck, but our lips kept coming back together. Then our tongues got in on the act. I brought my hand to Aiden’s left butt cheek and squeezed it through the denim.

Over in the dining room, Trace cleared his throat.

I stepped back from Aiden, biting my lip.One more day. I really needed to get him back upstairs.

Aiden turned toward the prep table and subtly adjusted himself. “That was a nice way to start the day.”

“Could be even nicer. You made some big promises about later.”

He turned around and winked. “I did. I’m game whenever you are.”

I almost pushed him up the stairs right then. But the muffins weren’t done yet, and I had no doubt Trace would let them burn.

Somebody knocked at the diner’s front door.

I flinched.Now what?

But it was only Scarlett. I went over to let her into the diner. “Jessi, just heard that—” She dashed in, already mid-sentence, but clammed up as soon as she saw Trace. My brother slowly looked over at her, his hair falling across his face. He didn’t smile.

“Scarlett, this is the real Trace Novo,” I said. “Trace, Scarlett.”

Their eyes locked. And held.

I pulled Scarlett by the wrist into the kitchen with me so I could watch the muffins. “You said you heard something. What was it?”

“Um.” Scarlett blinked, as if getting her brain back on track. “Let’s see. Right. I heard Chester and Jeremy are going around saying Mitch is missing.”

My stomach twisted. “Did they say Mitch is dead?”

“Nope. Which I thought was interesting, after you told me everything that happened on Refuge Mountain the other day. I came straight here.”

Aiden leaned a hand against the prep table. He’d been listening. “They’re trying to get distance, so to speak, between the mountain and Mitch’s death. Just like we expected. They can claim Mitch was last seen somewhere else.”

“That’s good, right?” I asked. “They’re not accusing you or me because they haven’t got anything on us. And they can’t admit where it all happened without drawing attention to their secret operation.”

But after the warehouse last night? I wasn’t sure what it all meant. Aiden nodded, though his pensive expression said he was still thinking.

After breakfast, we were all sitting in the dining room when Aiden’s phone chimed with a text message. He pulled it out. “That’s Jake. My brother. I’ve been texting him and Owen about setting up a video call so we can share what we found last night.”

Trace was sitting over at the bar. He leaned his elbows on the counter. “This was the drone recon you did last night in the national forest?”

Aiden raised an eyebrow at me, and I explained. “I filled in Trace already about what’s been going on. The Rigsbys’ underground operation and the jeep deliveries to the warehouse.” I hadn’t updated Scarlett yet, but I knew she would catch on fast.

“Good,” Aiden said. “Welcome to the team.” He nodded at Scarlett as well. “Both of you.”

Trace grunted, while Scarlett curtsied.

Aiden’s thumbs moved over his screen. He got the video call set up, with the two of us sitting together on one side of a booth, Scarlett on the other. Trace hadn’t budged from his stool, so I guessed he was going to be a passive participant. Given our conversation a few minutes ago, I had no idea what Trace might have in mind. I’d gone from being almost entirely on my own to having two unpredictable ex-military men defending me. Plus a close girlfriend who could whip up a mean batch of brown sugar brittle. It was a lot to keep track of, really. I’d never had so many allies. It felt amazing and overwhelming and so incredibly good.

Beneath the table, I laced my fingers with Aiden’s. His gaze met mine, somehow a mixture of both heat and gentleness. Like a promise of how he’d kiss me and touch me later.

I wassoready for it.

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