Unafraid (Amber Ridge #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

H e’d bought flowers. Expensive flowers. A freaking bouquet of them.

Who were they for? A friend? A date? When had he gone on a date?

Aspen Davies tapped her indigo-painted nails against the marble kitchen island as she stared at the receipt like it would somehow answer her questions.

Maybe he’d bought them for a sick aunt?

No. These were pink roses. A man didn’t buy pink roses for a sick aunt. Lilies? Sure. Tulips? Absolutely. But not pink roses. Pink roses were romantic. They were an I-like-you-let’s-date flower. An I’m-attracted-to-you flower.

Was he dating someone? Was he attracted to someone? Who? Nancy from the grocery store? She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off him when they’d gone in for rice last Thursday night. Or maybe it was Lorelei from the library. She was cute. Sweet. Had a girl-next-door vibe that guys usually loved.

Did Jesse love that?

Argh . Why did she care? Jesse was a roommate. Heck, he was her landlord, if you considered the fact that he owned the house and she was just renting a room.

She didn’t care. There was absolutely no caring happening here. None.

So why was she standing in the kitchen, stressing about some flowers on a receipt like she was crazy?

Her phone rang, Callie’s name flashing on the screen.

“I’m losing my mind without you,” Aspen said to her best friend, not even bothering with a hello. “Two entire months and poof, my mind is gone.”

“I miss you too.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m really losing it.”

“Your whole mind or just a little bit of it?”

“You don’t believe me? This morning, I left the conditioner in my hair and didn’t realize until I was out of the shower and pulling on jeans. I put my shirt on backward. Now I’m obsessing about something that should absolutely not be taking up space in my head.”

“First of all, every time I’ve left conditioner in too long, it’s just made my hair softer. I’m sure your blond locks are glowing. Second, if the shirt is a plain color with no logos or words, no one will notice. And what are you obsessing about?”

She nibbled the inside of her cheek, gaze returning to the receipt. “He sent someone flowers.”

God, it sounded as silly out loud as it did in her head. He was nothing but a friend to her…she shouldn’t care.

“He, as in—”

“Jesse. You know, the former Ghost Ops soldier who offered me a room in his house. The man who’s a million feet tall, with gorgeous tattoos down his arms and brown hair that’s far softer than it has any right to be.”

“How do you know how soft his hair is?”

“You can tell by looking at it.”

“I can’t.”

“Can we stick to the matter at hand, please? I’m going crazy without you.”

“That is not the matter at hand. The matter is why you care if Jesse sent someone flowers. You keep telling me you’re just friends.”

“We are just friends, and I don’t care. I just… If he’s dating someone, I should know.”

“And why is that?”

“Because we live together and that’s etiquette. He’s bound to bring said date home, and I would like a little heads-up.”

“Flowers don’t mean he’s dating someone. He could—”

“Pink roses.”

“Oh.”

Oh, exactly.

“So ask him.”

Was she out of her mind? “I can’t ask him! He’ll know that I snooped on his receipt, and he’ll think I’m jealous.”

“ Are you jealous?”

Yes . “No.”

Callie chuckled. She obviously wasn’t taking this seriously. “Okay, how did you find the receipt?”

“It was sitting on the kitchen island this morning.” Mocking me.

“Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“Well, it’s just a very obvious place to leave it. Maybe he wanted you to see?”

“Why would he want me to see that he bought someone flowers?”

“Maybe he wanted you to be jealous.”

She snorted. The sound was so unladylike that it was lucky only Callie heard. Not that she would care if a certain six-foot-four hunk of gorgeous heard. “He didn’t. We’re friends.”

“You keep saying that.”

“We are. We’ve gotten into this really good routine where he cooks and tells me I’m welcome to his food. Sometimes I throw his laundry in with mine. We even make each other coffee when the other’s up.”

That all screamed friends…right? Exactly how she wanted it…how she needed it.

There was a small pause before Callie’s voice softened. “Would it be so bad if—”

“No.” Aspen shook her head. “I mean, no, I can’t date him if that’s what you were about to suggest. I can’t date anyone. I need a break from…that.”

“That” being men. Or trusting men on a romantic level. After Dylan, she wasn’t sure she’d ever trust another man again.

His name made a shudder course down her spine. Once upon a time, she’d thought he was a good guy. Sweet. Charming. But it just showed, you never really knew a person unless they wanted you to know them. Unless they chose to show you all their sides.

It was a lesson she’d learned the hard way.

She forced her nails out of her palm and her breathing to even out.

“Aspen.”

Oh no, Callie was using her soft, hard-talk-for-her-best-friend voice.

“You’ve moved away from Dylan now. He’s your past, and the next guy you date will be nothing like him.”

It wasn’t just about the other guy though. It was about her. About her readiness to jump into another relationship. About her new inability to trust her own judgment. About how far she’d deviated from the person she’d been before Dylan.

She sucked in a sharp breath. “I know you believe that. You’re with your soul mate.”

“But that wasn’t an easy journey.”

No. It hadn’t been for either of them. But they’d gotten to where they needed to be, and Aspen was so incredibly happy for her friend.

She shook her head. “Enough about me. Tell me about Lock.” She needed a change of subject. “Are you two still doing well?”

Callie and Lock had a complicated past. One that most people wouldn’t have been able to work their way through. They had, and now her best friend was happier than Aspen had ever seen her.

Callie sighed, like she knew Aspen was changing the subject on purpose but also knew how stubborn she was. “We’re great. He’s great. Still super protective. Still so gorgeous I can barely take my eyes off him.”

“Good. And how’s our little bun in the oven?”

“Getting bigger every day.”

And Aspen was missing it. Sometimes she hated that she’d left Misty Peak. But she hadn’t had a choice. She’d needed to get out. Between her ex and her overwhelming mother, she’d been on the verge of a quarter-life crisis.

“I’m—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” Callie interrupted. “We’ve talked about this. You needed to leave, and Jesse offered you a way out. Taking it was absolutely the right decision. Other than the flowers fiasco, how are you doing out there?”

“Still fielding daily calls and texts from my unhinged mother, but I’m not having to deal with her shit in person or run into Dylan on the street, so my days have a bit less stress in them.”

“I hate that she can’t be the mother you deserve.”

“Me too.” Although, after a lifetime of the same hot-and-cold treatment, she was used to it.

“And how’s your book coming?”

Aspen cringed. A big don’t-ask-me kind of cringe. “I wrote a thousand words yesterday. Then I deleted four thousand, so I’m going backward now.”

“Why did you delete four thousand?”

Aspen dropped her head into her hand. A bit dramatic maybe, but this called for drama. This was her income they were talking about. The way she earned a living and, you know, paid for things. She was a self-published romance author, and if words didn’t get written, books were not released and money was not made.

“Because the words were wrong,” Aspen finally said. “But I can’t seem to put any words to the page that sound right at the moment.”

“Are you sure they were wrong? Maybe you’re just being overly critical.”

“No, trust me, they were terrible. My hero sounded like an ass, and there was no chemistry between the two main characters. None. Zip.” And the chemistry was kind of important in a romance novel.

“Hm.”

Aspen lifted her head. “What does that mean?”

“Just that, maybe—”

The front door opened, and Aspen shot up straight, shoving the receipt behind the fruit bowl.

Jesse.

And holy fucking shit. He was shirtless. Tiny beads of sweat were making his skin glisten like he was a freaking sports model, and those muscles…holy hell, those muscles. They were glorious.

“I have to go,” Aspen said quickly, not hearing a word her best friend said after Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome walked in. “Jesse’s back from his run.”

“Say hi for me.”

“Uh-huh.” Aspen hung up.

As Jesse toed off his shoes, his gaze swung to her. The grin that spread across his face was huge and it was beautiful.

“Hey.” His deep, rumbly voice slid through her belly like lava.

She cleared her throat. “Hey. Good run?”

Good work. She wanted to give herself a big pat on the back for how unaffected she sounded.

He crossed the living room and walked into the kitchen, the muscles in his stomach contracting as he moved. “Yeah. I used to love running with my team. It’s harder since I got out and don’t have them pushing me. I’ve lost a bit of my fitness. I might get Becket to start running with me.”

Lost a bit of his fitness? What had he been like before? The Terminator? Right now, he looked and moved like a gladiator. But then, so did his brother Becket, who was a former Navy SEAL. It must be a special operations thing. The men were just built different.

He nodded toward her phone before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “Was that Callie?”

“Yep, she called to check in.”

One side of Jesse’s mouth lifted, showing the sexiest dimple she’d ever seen. “You tell her how terrible it is to live with me?”

“I absolutely told her about our mess situation.”

The mess situation being her leaving messes and Jesse getting on her back about it. She wasn’t a messy person. In fact, she’d always considered herself quite tidy. Sure, she left the occasional coffee cup on the table. The odd pile of clothes in the bathroom. Jesse was just a bit of a clean freak.

“I trust she and Lock are on my side,” Jesse said.

“Do you know anything about how female friendships work? No matter how wrong I am, that woman will defend me until her last breath.”

“So you admit you’re wrong.”

“Never.”

He chuckled, and the sound was beautiful.

Stop it, Aspen. Every inch of him may be unbelievably gorgeous, but you’re not dating for a very, very long time. Years…maybe centuries!

He walked around her to the sink, and his arm grazed hers. The gesture almost made her shudder…almost.

He did that a lot. Little grazes here and there. Small touches.

Torture. It was all torture.

“What are you doing today?” he asked.

“Well, I was supposed to write three thousand words yesterday, but I ended up writing minus three thousand, so today I need to write six just to catch up to where I’m supposed to be.” Did she think that would happen? No. But she could dream.

“How do you write minus three thousand words?”

“You don’t want to know. But I’m trying a new writing location. It’s called The Tea House, and I’m hoping it inspires me.” So far, she hadn’t felt like writing in any of the places she’d tried around town. The diner. Public parks. The library. They all sucked for inspiration.

He frowned. “We have a tea house in Amber Ridge?”

“I thought this was your hometown?”

“It is. I’m just not much of a tea drinker. My mom might know about it. You don’t want to write at the diner?”

“No. That’s where I wrote my minus three thousand words yesterday. Plus, their coffee sucks.”

“All the coffee in Amber Ridge sucks.”

She wouldn’t have believed that if she hadn’t experienced it firsthand. How not a single business in an entire town could make a good cup of coffee, she had no idea. “Maybe this tea house has good coffee.” Did tea houses sell coffee?

He gave her a keep-dreaming smile. “Do you want a ride?”

More one-on-one time with Jesse? Heck no. She’d sold her car before leaving Tennessee for Montana and was getting everywhere on foot. Luckily, the town was small, and Jesse lived close to everything.

“I’m okay to walk.” She straightened. “Hey, I forgot. It’s your first day as sheriff, right?”

He’d become a deputy when he’d returned home from the military and had quickly proven his worth in the department. Now the sheriff had fallen ill, which meant while he was out of the office, Jesse was his replacement.

Jesse dipped his head. “It is. Wish me luck. I think I’m gonna need it.”

She scoffed. “You don’t need luck. One look at you and the whole office will fall into line, especially the women.”

Her eyes widened, lips snapping shut.

Shit . Had she really just said that out loud?

One side of Jesse’s mouth lifted, and he stepped closer, his sandalwood scent all she could smell. “Did you just pay me a compliment, Davies?”

“No.”

“Really? Because it sounded like a compliment. It might have even sounded like you were implying I was good-looking.”

“No siree. Unfortunately for you, I do not find you good-looking. Not even a little bit. You look like a friend. A roommate. A landlord.” Jesus Christ, what words were coming out of her mouth? Someone get some tape and stick her lips together.

Jesse’s smile widened. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” Then he lowered his head so that his mouth was beside her ear. “And just so you know, I think you’re cute, too.”

Then he walked away like he hadn’t just made her belly do the biggest somersault it had ever done in its life.