Unafraid (Amber Ridge #1)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

M mm . Aspen was warm. So warm, she didn’t want to get up. But why was her pillow hard? And why was it moving? It was rising and falling…and there was a dull thud beneath her ear.

Her eyes popped open. Not a pillow, a chest. She was lying on a chest. Jesse’s chest.

Shit . They’d slept together. He was in her bed…because she’d asked him to get in with her.

She winced. Stupid . What was she thinking?

But she knew what she’d been thinking. That she was sad and didn’t want to be alone, and beautiful Jesse could fix all that.

It was fine. This was fine. She could get out of bed without waking him. Avoid the awkward “good morning, thanks for letting me cry on your chest and use you as a pillow” conversation.

She did a quick body scan. His hand was on her back, but no biggie, it would drop when she slid off the mattress. And her leg was tangled between his, but that should be a simple lift-and-roll situation.

Now she just needed to move.

But what if she woke him?

Possible. Very possible. But the longer she waited, the more chance there was of him waking.

Slowly—so slowly she swore an entire minute passed—she lifted her leg.

Good. Next, she needed to lift her head and arm, then roll away.

She raised her head and the arm wrapped around his stomach, then went to roll, but the arm around her waist tightened.

She froze.

“Running away?”

Her head shot up to see Jesse staring at her. A very sexy, very awake Jesse. “You’ve been awake this whole time?”

“During your grand exit? Yes, I have.”

She whacked him.

“Ow.” He grabbed at his chest.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I liked watching you try to be all stealthy.”

Stealthy? Ha. That wasn’t a word that had ever been used in reference to her before, and it certainly didn’t apply now.

He shifted a leg, and his muscled thigh rubbed against her, making her lower belly tingle. And suddenly her attention was brought back to his chest beneath her. His very bare chest. And his face…it was so close to hers she could feel his breath on her cheek.

She swallowed. “I should get up.”

“Why?”

Why? Had he lost his mind? “Because we’re in bed together.”

“I don’t have a problem with that.” His thumb swiped her bare hip where her top had risen.

She jolted.

Get out, Aspen. Get out before you do something stupid. Like touch his sexy day-old stubble or kiss his oh-so-kissable lips.

She threw off the covers and, in her haste to stand, almost fell straight back on top of him.

“Whoa, darlin’.”

He tried to touch her, but she lurched away from the bed so fast that she stumbled. “I have to go.”

Humor danced in his eyes. “Where?”

“Shower.”

She turned and speed-walked out of the room so fast that it was basically a sprint. The bathroom door closed behind her with a thud, and it wasn’t until she was locked in that she took her first full breath.

Oh, God. Why did the man have to be so…everything? Sexy. Funny. Chiseled. And she’d slept with him. All freaking night.

She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. The water was far cooler than she usually made it, but she needed a bit of cool right now.

She should be focused on everything that happened last night. Her mother trashing the living room and accusing her of stealing. The information she’d learned about Dylan.

Dylan. The memory slapped her in the face. Had he really almost killed a woman? If she’d stayed, would that have been her?

She touched her cheek, closing her eyes and remembering the first time he’d hit her.

“You can’t tell me what to do, Dylan. If I want to go to Meridian with Callie, then I’m going to Meridian with Callie.”

His hand moved so fast, she didn’t see it coming, slapping her across the face and whipping her head around. Pain ricocheted through her skull, and she fell back onto the floor.

For a moment she was still, shock and fear and disbelief clogging her throat and stealing any words.

Then she looked up, way up, into Dylan’s hate-filled eyes.

She closed her eyes, forcing the memory away. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that he’d apologized the next day, begged for her forgiveness. And stupid, weak Aspen had given it to him.

Self-loathing clenched her hands into fists. She hated herself for that. Deep down, she knew he was the reason she couldn’t write, because a part of her had fallen out of love with men that day. Or the idea of men being protectors, at least. And maybe even the idea of love itself.

But she was here now, with Jesse, a man so beautiful he made her want to believe in love again. And romance and happily ever afters.

The problem was that her greatest loss after dating Dylan was her trust in her own judgment. In her ability to separate the good guys from the bad. Dylan had seemed good…until he’d proven he wasn’t.

She stayed in the shower so long that her skin wrinkled. When she finally stepped out, she wrapped a towel around her chest and cursed.

Dammit. She’d been in such a rush to leave her bedroom, she’d forgotten her clothes. She always took a set in with her so she didn’t have to walk into the hall and risk running into Jesse half naked. It had happened the other day, and the way he’d looked at her…she’d almost turned into a puddle on the floor.

After a deep, closed-eyes breath, she unlocked the bathroom door and stuck her head into the hall.

Empty. Good.

She raced to her room like she was being chased by a herd of wild elephants. The door slammed closed behind her.

She’d made it. Thank God.

She turned to see that her bed was already made. He’d made her bed? And the room smelled of him. How on earth could it smell of him after one night?

With a groan, she dropped the towel and got dressed. She took her time getting ready, and only when she couldn’t hide any longer did she finally make her way into the kitchen. But that room was also empty. On the counter, she found a mug of coffee beside a note.

She frowned as her gaze slid over Jesse’s masculine handwriting.

I made you a coffee. Hopefully you didn’t hide from me for so long that it’s gone cold. I’m meeting Becket and Clara at the diner for breakfast. You’re welcome to join us. J.

Her heart gave a little pitter-patter, and she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed that he wasn’t here.

She lifted the coffee and took a sip.

How did he always make it so freaking good?

She could meet him at the diner. They had good bacon there.

Her gaze caught on her laptop on the coffee table. She frowned. Did she actually feel like writing? Her fingers itched to move across the keys, and words and storylines whispered in her head.

Would it all disappear when the screen was in front of her eyes?

Only one way to find out.

Still holding her coffee, she crossed the room and opened her laptop.

As soon as she opened her manuscript, her fingers started moving. Full sentences formed on the screen in front of her. Good sentences. And for the first time in a long time, she felt inspired.

Jesse pulled into the diner’s parking lot. The place was called Rob’s Diner, because a guy named Rob had opened it. But he’d sold it years ago, and the name remained even though it no longer fit, so most locals just called it the diner.

He climbed out of his car. The place had changed hands a few times, and every time someone new took over, he hoped they’d make better coffee.

Nope. Hadn’t happened yet. Everyone seemed just fine with the awful pots of instant shit.

His mind shifted to Aspen. To the way she’d slept half on top of him last night. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d planned on getting up and going back to his own bed. But she’d been so soft and warm against him, he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes open.

A part of him hoped she’d join him this morning. But another part of him knew that too much Aspen could be a dangerous thing when she didn’t want more than friendship.

She was afraid to date him. Maybe afraid to trust him? Maybe even of trusting herself?

He was about to step into the diner when the door opened and Mrs. Allen stepped out, walking stick in hand. Her gaze immediately pinned to him.

Great. It was bad enough he had to deal with the woman at work, he didn’t need to see her when he was off duty too.

She was the angriest woman he’d ever met. Everything made her rage, and that walking stick was more of a weapon than an aid.

“Sheriff.”

His chest rose on a deep inhale. “Mrs. Allen. Having a nice morning?”

“No. That ratbag pizza delivery boy almost ran me down yesterday. I thought you were going to do something about him.”

“We’ve had a chat with him.”

“A chat?” She lifted her stick and pointed. “He doesn’t need a chat. He needs a—”

Jesse grabbed the end of the stick the second it started waving in the air. “I need you to keep your cane on the ground.”

“But that kid—”

“Has been spoken to, and I can speak to him again if you’d like. But I need you to make sure you’re not assaulting people.”

“Assault? I don’t assault people!”

How many times had they had this conversation? “Hitting people with your cane is assault, Mrs. Allen.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Back in my day, it was called discipline. Do your job before I become roadkill.” Then she walked away, muttering something about no-good, unruly kids.

Jesus Christ.

He stepped into the diner to see Becket and Clara sitting in a booth by the window, humor in their eyes.

“I take it you saw,” Jesse muttered as he lowered to the bench opposite them.

“I got really excited when she started waving that stick,” Clara said, tilting her head. “I thought she was going to hit you.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“I would pay good money to see that,” Becket said with a chuckle. “We ordered your usual. You didn’t bring Aspen.”

“I didn’t.” And he didn’t want to go into why either.

Clara frowned. “What’s going on between you two?”

“I’m not sure.” He knew what he wanted to go on between them.

Her lips pursed like she was thinking. “I think with a bit of time, she’ll come around.”

How did she even know Aspen was hesitant?

Becket’s gaze went to the counter, a half smile stretching his lips.

Jesse followed his gaze to a woman with long brown hair pulled up in a multicolored scrunchie. She wore leggings and a white T-shirt that said Easily Distracted by Dogs.

She caught Becket’s gaze and immediately rolled her eyes.

Jesse bit back a grin. He didn’t know who it was, but he liked her. Usually, women fell all over themselves for his brother. He looked back to Becket, only to see him chuckling again.

“Know her?” Jesse asked.

“That’s my jolly neighbor, Sky, who has an issue with my very existence.”

“Sky’s here?” Clara asked, looking over at the woman. Clara smiled at her, but that smile dropped as soon as she looked back at Becket. “What she has a problem with is your security camera that films her driveway.”

“Safety,” Becket cut in.

“And you cut down her tree,” Clara added.

“It impeded my view of the street, and I only cut what was on my side.”

Clara laughed. “Liar. You forget I saw the original state of that tree, and after your little trimming fest, there was barely any tree left.”

Becket’s gaze returned to Sky. “Like I said…safety.”

“Am I going to get a report about you?” Jesse asked, hoping like hell he wouldn’t.

“Maybe. She does seem to really dislike me.”

Clara frowned. “Strange. You’re such a likeable person.”

“That’s what I tell her.”

This time, Clara rolled her eyes.

“How’s the fire department going?” Jesse asked.

Becket lifted a shoulder. “Crew’s great. And everything’s pretty quiet, but I can’t say that too loud. Last time I did, we were flat out for a week. We’ve been doing mostly small callouts and training to keep up our skills.”

Jesse dipped his head. The department was lucky to have his brother. Even though Becket liked to joke around, he took his position as fire chief seriously.

“Been talking to your former teammates much?” Becket asked.

Jesse nodded. “Most days we check in with one another, especially after everything that happened in Misty Peak.”

Becket’s eyes narrowed. He knew exactly how much the events in Misty Peak—when Jesse and his ex-teammates found themselves betrayed by one of their own—could mess with a former soldier.

“I spoke to Lock yesterday and Holden the day before. Holden’s actually moving out here soon.”

Clara choked on her juice. “Holden’s moving here?”

“Yeah. Is that okay?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course. He’s spent enough holidays with us that he’s basically family.”

Jesse’s brows twitched. Why did she sound…off?

He was about to ask when she cut in and started talking about the shopping she was doing with their cousin Indie later today.

Jesse was looking around the diner, listening with half an ear, when his gaze caught on a woman as she stepped inside and sat at a table. His eyes narrowed.

Karen Davies.

Before he could think better of it, he rose from the booth and moved over to her table where he took a seat opposite her.

Her brows rose. “Jesse—”

“You need to leave.”

“Now wait a second—”

“You broke into my house last night.”

“The door was unlocked.”

Like that made it okay. “You said awful things to your daughter.”

“I thought she took something from me.”

Thought? Past tense? His gaze lowered to a silver bracelet on her wrist. “Is that the bracelet?”

She squirmed in her seat. It was.

Jesse’s jaw clicked. “You said you’d leave when you had it back. You have it back, so go.”

“I’ll go when I’m good and ready!”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “If you love her at all, you’ll get out of Amber Ridge and give her the space she needs.”

“You can’t—”

“I can . Apologize to her, then go.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond, just got up and returned to his booth, hoping like hell she did as he said.