Page 89 of Hard Knock Hero

“You’re giving up a lot.” No one had ever given up this much for me. Even Trace had confessed that he’d needed a clean slate when he’d agreed to come to Colorado. Whatever had happened to my brother, he’d already wanted to leave his old life behind.

Aiden had offered to give up a life he’d been happy with. A life he’d worked for years to build. Forme. But his happiness was just as important as mine.

“I told you,” he said, “I don’t get attached to things easily. Guess I’m an asshole like that. My friends and family can survive without me, and I’ll be okay seeing them less often.” He kissed my hand again, then held it against his heart. “But I am attached to you, Jessi Novo. I am so damn attached to you.”

And Imelted. Swooned. Seriously, my stomach dipped like I was in mid-air.

I had fallen so far for Aiden Shelborne, and there would be no way back up. But I didn’t care. I wanted to go wherever this would lead.

* * *

I rested my head against his arm as we drove. No police cars followed us. The road was clear, with the last storm’s snow piled up against the edges of the barriers. The sky brightened more with each minute that passed. We were both quiet, tension ebbing away as we left Hartley behind.

After half an hour of driving east, my phone pinged with a message from Scarlett. We’d climbed out of the canyon. “Scarlett says she and Trace are at her house,” I reported, scrolling through my texts. “They’ve spoken to Owen. The fire in the building next to the diner is out. The police also found Chester in your jail cell, so they know you’re gone.”

“Is there going to be a BOLO for us? Colorado Highway Patrol chasing us down?”

“No. Owen is pissed off about everything at the moment, but he’s a lot angrier at the Rigsbys. He’s putting Chester under arrest, as well as one of the county correctional officers. But Owen decided that the paperwork foryourarrest is strangely incomplete, and in light of new evidence, you’re just being considered a witness.” I looked over at him and smiled. “I’m sure you’ll have to make a statement.”

“I can do it when we get back to Hartley.”

Smiling wider, I kept texting with Scarlett. It sounded like things were a mess in Hartley right now, between the fire and the events at the jail and the state authorities’ imminent arrival. But the investigation was now focused entirely on the Rigsbys. Meanwhile, Scarlett was in the process of telling everybody in town that Chester and Jeremy Rigsby had planted Mitch’s body at the diner to frame Aiden, and that they’d tried to kill him. Scarlett was hailing Trace as a hero for rescuing Aiden from the plot. Poor Owen. He had a lot of legal stuff to clean up, I had no doubt.

But in the war for public opinion, the scales were tipping.

“What about Jeremy?” Aiden asked. “What’s he up to?”

I continued texting with Scarlett and grumbled as I read her message. “No sign of him. He, Spencer and Dale have gone quiet.” I looked over at Aiden. “But several trucks were seen leaving the Hart-Made warehouse during the night. They’re probably moving out whatever illegal stuff they delivered. Maybe they’re pulling everything off Refuge Mountain, too. Without enough evidence for a search warrant, nobody can stop them.”

“If they’re running scared, that’s a good thing. Means they won’t beyourproblem. Or Owen’s.” Aiden squeezed the steering wheel. “I didn’t tell you about the offer Sawyer Rigsby made me. He came to see me in jail.”

“When?”

“A few hours before Chester showed. Sawyer offered to get me out of jail if I would leave Hartley and never come back. I told him no.”

“But you didn’t decide you wanted to stay until after that.”

He shrugged. “Deep down, I already knew. Just took my conscious mind a little longer to catch up.” Aiden reached for my hand again. “I think when we hiked up Refuge Mountain and you told me its story, told me your dreams for that place, I knew.”

“But that day, you said you weren’t the kind of man who could stay for me,” I reminded him. “What changed?” I still didn’t fully understand it.

“I did,” he said softly. “I can’t let you go, so I’ll have to be the kind of man who deserves you.”

“I never asked you to change for me. I wouldn’t want that. This is a big decision. Maybe we should try dating long distance for a while, and then—”

“Stop trying to undermine my grand romantic gesture.” He smirked at me. “I’m doing this becauseIwant to. That much about me hasn’t changed. I’m still pig-headed and not always nice. I’ll probably do something that infuriates you any minute now.”

“Good. I kinda like when you’re pig-headed. But I also think you’re nicer than you claim.”

“Maybe. For you.”

I leaned in for a quick kiss. I was bursting with happiness and possibility.This is happening, I told myself.It’s really happening.

“If Sawyer is smart, he’ll cut his losses and get his operation out of Hartley,” Aiden said a few minutes later. “If not, we can deal with him when we’re back. You and me. And Trace and Scarlett, too. We make a decent team. I don’t know what me staying in Hartley will look like, or even what you’ll want. But we’ll figure it out. If you’ll have me.”

“I can’t imagine anything better.”

He was going to try to make this work. When Aiden said something, he meant it. And I wanted the same. A chance to make this dream into something real for thebothof us. It wasn’t a guarantee, because that wasn’t realistic. But it was enough for now.

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