Page 12 of Her Rugged Guardian

“It’s time to heal, buddy.”

“I have healed. Dad doesn’t rule my life any longer. No one rules mine, Riley. No one.”

“Which also means you have no one in your life.”

“So be it. I’m fine with it.”

“Whatever you say, bro, but if you aren’t careful, you’re going to end up alone and lonely.”

I pulled out my wallet, yanking out a twenty and a five. That should cover the cheap whiskey and beer. When I slid off the barstool, Riley grabbed my arm. I slowly lowered my gaze and he immediately jerked his hand away as if touching the scars on my skin hurt any longer. What no one could understand was that it didn’t matter how many scars had been burned into my skin, they’d never been the ones that had bothered me.

Only the ones destroying my heart did. Even then, that only occurred every once in a while.

“Hey. The guys and I are going to go to the zone on Saturday to get in some practice time on the ice. You wanna come? It’ll do you some good.”

I powered back the rest of the beer, slamming it down with a hard thud before answering. “Let it go, Riley. I like seeing you but I’m not ever going to be a third wheel.”

“What the hell are you talking about, a third wheel? They used to be your friends.”

“Yeah? Used to be is the key phrase at this point. You seem to forget. I don’t have any friends in this town any longer.”

With that, I walked out.

CHAPTER 4

Cassandra

“Shit.”

I jerked up, gasping for air, trying to figure out what had awakened me from the dead of sleep. A thunderstorm had come out of nowhere in the middle of the night, which had kept me awake half the night. Storms had terrified me since I was a kid, more so during the last few years. Especially being in a strange place, with a lumpy bed that wasn’t comfortable in the least.

The next sound I heard was Moose’s tail thumping against the bed followed by his loud yawn.

Groaning, I looked down at my sleepy boy who’d effectively stolen all the covers. I shook my head, reaching down to tickle him under the chin. That lasted a few seconds until I heard yet another sound.

Drips.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

I glanced toward the corner of the room and immediately tossed back the covers. Water was coming in through the ceiling. That meant on top of all the work listed by the inspector, I had a leaky roof to fix. Great. I’d thought I had enough money to fix up the place, even purchasing new furniture. Now I wasn’t so sure.

“Time to get up, buddy. I need to grab a bucket before I take you out.” When Moose remained where he was, I waved him off, laughing as I raced down the stairs to the laundry room where I’d seen at least one bucket. When I flipped on the light, I was shocked by the stench of mold, which I hadn’t smelled the night before. Or perhaps I hadn’t paid any attention after the blockhead had left.

Almost as soon as I started to race up the stairs, another noise assaulted my senses. Where was the pounding coming from? I returned to the bedroom and toward the window. A face appeared out of nowhere peering at me through the foggy window. I issued a high-pitched scream, tumbling backwards. My foot hit one of the boxes I’d brought in from my car and down I went, landing on my butt hard.

Woof!

“Don’t you dare make fun of me, Moose.” All it took was another glance at the window to realize what I was seeing: Mr. Grinch’s face leering at me. What in the fuck was he doing standing on a ladder outside my bedroom window? I quickly scrambled to my feet, realizing I was wearing a sexy little nightie and nothing else. I’d grabbed the first thing I’d found to sleep in, not bothering to unpack. Ugh.

Jake finally tore his gaze away, once again making pounding noises. When he climbed further up the ladder, disappearing seconds later, I backed away, turning sharply and heading to myopen suitcase. I tossed clothes aside, most landing on the floor, until I was able to find my robe. I was still struggling to get into it as I stormed down the stairs. Moose was on my heels, finally waking up enough to bark from all the excitement.

I threw open the door, almost falling on my face from the slickness of the aging boards on the steps. As soon as I stepped onto the grassy surface, my bare foot sank in. I hadn’t gauged the amount of rain from the night before. I was locked in now, carefully walking around the side of the building. The grumpy man was nowhere in sight, only his ladder providing any indication I hadn’t been hallucinating.

“Where are you?” I finally called, shielding my eyes from the morning light as I peered up at the roofline. As expected, he didn’t bother answering right away, continuing to make pounding noises. “Jake. Are you up there?”

Of course he’s up there, you idiot.

My earlier prediction about this not being such a good idea no longer seemed so far-fetched.

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