by Eryn Scott
“You need to fill these out. Your first session is—”
“On me,” Luke interrupted. “Put it on my bill, please.”
Jenny typed something into the computer in lieu of an answer while Hadley filled out the forms.
“I didn’t realize the two of you were together,” Jenny said as Hadley finished the paperwork and slid it back toward her.
Luke gazed lovingly at Hadley.
“It’s pretty new,” she said.
“But a long time coming,” he added. His body language, expression, tone, all of it felt so far from acting. “Ready?” He gestured over to the weight room.
“Yep.” She wrapped her arm through his and leaned in close as they walked away from Jenny. When they rounded the corner, she stopped him and pretended to rip a thread from the collar of his T-shirt. “You know the whole town is going to think we’re dating now, don’t you?” she said so only he could hear it.
Luke caught her hands as she brought them away from his collar, and he wrapped them around his neck. He stepped closer until his lips were right by her ear.
“I think I can handle that,” he said.
Hadley pulled in a deep breath and followed when he led her into the weight room. At that point, she wondered how she’d remain standing, let alone work out.
She didn’t have time to wonder any longer because Hunk came out of the men’s locker room wearing a muscle tee and a drill-sergeant scowl.
“Okay,” he growled. “Let’s get you two into shape.”
Hadley gulped and threaded her fingers through Luke’s.
15
Luke hadn’t been overreacting the other day.
At all.
Hunk was a weight-wielding terror and an equal opportunity one at that. He didn’t care about Hadley being a woman; it only made him yell louder about how she had strong legs that could take more, more, more.
More squats.
More burpees.
More push-ups.
To make matters worse, Hunk’s answers to their “innocent” questions about his own training sessions only solidified his alibi. His trainer came Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Rain or shine.
Laney had been killed on a Friday.
He did outdoor workouts as much as possible on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, so when he had sessions with his trainer, they stayed indoors.
So he wouldn’t have been anywhere near the juice shop on that afternoon.
And—most significant of all—he was earning enough from the gym these days and hardly relied on his money from his sponsors anymore. The blackmail would’ve been most damaging to him if it meant he would lose out on his income. While his steroid use would definitely lose him his sponsors, it wouldn’t affect locals coming to his gym.
The more questions Hadley and Luke asked, the more reps Hunk made them do. Hadley stretched out her back, knowing she would be sore tomorrow. Her legs and arms already felt wobbly with overuse.
The workout wasn’t all bad, though, Hadley thought. A spike of heat ran up her neck as she stepped out of the shower in the women’s locker room and wrapped herself in a towel.
She and Luke had joked and laughed and talked the whole time. To Hunk’s continued frustration, along with asking questions, she and Luke had danced to the workout music, made fake wagers on the number of reps they could do, and took exponentially more breaks than Hunk allotted because they were laughing too hard to continue.
Checking the time, she realized she needed to be back at the shop. She dressed in her clean jeans and T-shirt, stuffing her sweaty workout clothes into her bag. Braiding her hair so she wouldn’t have to dry it, she headed out into the foyer. Luke waited for her, hair damp and freshly showered as well.
Her gaze cut to Jenny who had her arms crossed in a way that spoke of defeat and a disgruntled frown on her face.
It had ultimately been their playful banter that had made the woman back off. Toward the beginning of their workout, Jenny still hung around Luke, washing off perfectly clean machines and shooting him flirty looks. But Hadley and Luke’s laughter, the way they brought up old inside jokes and memories, had finally scared her away.
Which Hadley supposed made sense. Public displays of affection aside, the kind of relationship she wanted with someone was based on a friendship. A best friendship.
It’s what had gone wrong with Tyler, she supposed.
But this wasn’t real, she reminded herself when Luke took her hand and made a show of saying, “Bye, Jenny,” reminding her they had only been pretending for her sake.
When they walked through the gym doors and out onto the street, the act would be over. They’d go back to just being friends.
The last hour had felt so right, so easy. Pretending to be his girlfriend hadn’t been difficult in the least. In fact, the hardest thing was going to be stopping. She squeezed his hand tighter, not ready to let go as they approached the front door.
But then something on the community bulletin board next to the door took up her full attention. Hadley pulled Luke over to the flyer hanging near the center. The one missing all but one of the small tearaway tabs along the bottom. Hadley remembered seeing the same flyer on Simone’s desk last night in the juice bar, when she’d spilled the papers and had to reorganize them.
CPU Knight.
The tech help service Gran had used and had been talking about just that morning. The very one that wasn’t working anymore … now that Laney was gone.
“What is it?” Luke peered at the flyer, not privy to Hadley’s inner revelations.
Jenny stood there snapping at the hair elastics around her wrist. Hadley didn’t need her listening in on their conversation. She pulled Luke outside onto the street so they could talk.
“CPU Knight,” she said, turning to him as the gym doors closed behind them. “I think that’s how Laney was getting the blackmail.”
Luke paused. “Okay … don’t you think Paul would already know that?” His voice was flat.
“Maybe.” She checked both left and right to make sure no cars were coming and then pulled Luke with her across Main Street. “But then why hasn’t he mentioned it before?”
Now on the other side of the street, Hadley glanced down at their hands, still entwined. Her cheeks went hot, and she dropped his hand, pulling hers back.
“I’m going to go talk to him … you can come if you want.” Hadley cleared her throat, trying to disguise the odd tone to her voice.
Luke held out a hand in a “lead the way” gesture. They walked toward the town hall and pushed their way inside the large, wooden double doors. The sheriff’s office was toward the front of the building, so they didn’t have far to go. And even less so until they found Paul. He stood next to Sharon, leaning on her reception desk as they chatted.
Sharon raised her eyebrows as she caught sight of Luke and Hadley.
Paul turned to see who it was. “Hey,” he said, his face breaking into a smile.
Hadley waved at Sharon but pulled Paul over to his desk, making him sit down. Luke followed.
“I think Laney used a company called CPU Knight to gain access to people’s private files. That’s how she got the blackmail,” Hadley explained.
Paul was silent for a moment as he listened.
Taking this as a sign that he didn’t quite believe her, she continued. “It’s geared toward people who need someone else to show them how to do things with their computers. Gran just used it last week, but now it’s not working. I saw it in action. CPU Knight took over her computer remotely. Whatever software they have the customer download gives them access to the person’s desktop. I think it was Laney; that’s why no one can get it to work anymore because she’s gone.”
Rubbing the back of his hand along his beard, Paul nodded. “That would make sense. Even after going through all her digital accounts, we couldn’t find how she made money, besides the blackmail. I’ll have McKay do some digging into this company, and see if there’s a connection. If it’s how she
gained access to the blackmail information, it makes sense she’d hide her connection with it.”
Hadley hoped she was right. This might lead them to more clues, something that might solidify their argument against either Owen or Simone and Guy. Which reminded her …
“Also, we’re pretty sure Hunk’s not a viable suspect,” Hadley said, turning to Luke to see if he agreed.
Luke dipped his head. “We just came from there. It sounds like he was in a training session that whole afternoon, at the gym. I don’t think he had the opportunity.”
Paul cleared his throat. “Okay, well thanks for gathering intel for me.”
Smiling awkwardly, Hadley waved goodbye. She pushed her way out into the fresh summer air, hiking her workout bag higher on her shoulder. Pretending she and Luke were together had been all fun and games during their workout, but there were bound to be consequences. She hadn’t stopped to think about how much people would talk, wonder, assume.
Even standing on the steps of the town hall, Hadley could feel the locals passing by staring.
“Looks like Jenny’s been talking.”
Hadley jumped, not having heard Luke come up beside her. She looked from him to a whispering group of older women over by the park.
“I was just joking earlier when I mentioned the gossip mill.” Hadley groaned, spying a local couple turn away, trying to hide the fact they’d been staring. “I didn’t think Jenny would actually spread it that quickly. Now our gym ‘relationship’ will be all over town in less than half an hour.”
She turned to Luke, hoping his signature calmness might rub off on her, that he might talk her down. But he didn’t seem calm. In fact, he looked just as intense.
Great, even Luke is freaking out. This is bad.
“Luke,” she said, resisting the urge to snap her fingers in front of his face and get him to snap out of whatever panicked thoughts raced through his head. She let her workout bag drop to the ground in defeat. “What are we going to do? The whole town assumes we’re together.”
“You’re right. They do.” Luke’s face softened before he took a step toward her.
He wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a long kiss that made all her thoughts and worries disappear.
When the kiss ended, he grinned. “If everyone already thinks we’re together, we might as well try it out, right?” His blue eyes sparkled as they took in her reaction.
“Luke, I—”
He held up a finger, pressing it to her lips. “Please say the end to that sentence is, ‘feel the same way you do’ because I don’t know if my heart can handle anything else.”
Hadley tipped her head to one side and smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smelled like soap. “And how do you feel? Just so I know if I’m the same,” she said.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting to hold you in my arms since I can remember.” He slid them around her waist. “That I’ve been waiting to kiss you my entire life, and once I did, I knew I’d never be able to go back.” He kissed her again. “Oh, and today at the gym wasn’t an act for me. It was the most honest I’ve been in a long time.”
Hearing him confirm that he felt the same way she did made Hadley’s heart soar. She was, yet again, surprised by how easy it was to be with Luke. She needn’t worried. Just like everything else with the two of them, it was natural.
“Oh, good,” she said, kissing his jaw and his neck. “Then you feel the same as I do.”
Luke laughed, the sound rumbling through Hadley, pressed up against his chest. He glanced over toward the park and raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve attracted some attention, it seems.”
Hadley didn’t even turn to see. She leaned in to kiss Luke again. “Good. Let them talk.”
16
Hadley hadn’t even reached the jam kitchen before her phone rang. It was Suze.
“Hey.” She couldn’t keep the smile from taking over her face as she answered the call.
“Omigosh! Is it true?” she asked amid a squeal.
“What?” Hadley asked playfully.
“You. Luke. Kissing. Three different people ran into my studio to tell me. Please tell me this isn’t a joke.” Suze gasped. “Oh no. I’m just now remembering him inviting you to the gym to scare off Jenny. The kissing was all pretend, wasn’t it?”
Suze was rambling. Hadley should tell her right away, but she was enjoying this too much.
“Yes, we were pretending to be together so Jenny would leave Luke alone at the gym,” Hadley said, slow and measured. “At first. But …”
At that word, Suze inhaled a sharp breath.
“But?”
“Yeah.” Hadley bit her lip as she smiled. “It seems neither of us had to pretend for Jenny’s sake, and neither of us wanted to go back to how it was after we left the gym.”
Suze squealed again. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks. I have to admit, I’m pretty happy too. I think you were right about it being worth the risk. Well, you and Coach Wilson.”
“Coach Wilson knew before me?”
“I think he knew before me, honestly.” Hadley shook her head.
“Okay, well, I’m coming over tonight, and you’re going to dish everything.”
Hadley sucked in a breath through her teeth. “I can’t tonight. Luke’s coming over. He’s making me dinner.”
Suze laughed. “Of course he is.”
“But how does lunch sound tomorrow? I’ll grab sandwiches from the coffee shop, and I’ll tell you everything from today as well as tonight’s dinner.”
“Deal.”
They hung up as Hadley arrived at the back door of Pretty Jam Good. She took a quick detour to put her workout bag in her car. The jam kitchen door had barely closed behind her when someone came hurtling toward her, enveloping her in a tight embrace.
Hadley recognized the perfectly coifed white hair and warm hug of her grandmother. She chuckled.
“You’re one of the locals now, Gran. If you know the gossip within the first five minutes after it happens, you’re officially a Stoneybrookian.”
Gran pulled away, looking Hadley in the eyes. “Watching the two of you love each other from afar was cutting me to the core, my dear. I’m so glad you finally figured it out.”
Hadley sighed. “Sounds like I was the only one left in the valley unsure about my feelings for Luke.”
Raising an eyebrow, Gran nodded. “The jam jars knew it before you, darling.”
A few customers walked in, stealing their attention. Hadley helped Gran with the sale, knowing she would not get any jam made today with how occupied her thoughts were.
Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Hadley thanked her lucky stars for the constant flow of summer tourists. Their presence kept the locals at bay, serving as the perfect excuse of why she could dish with them. She even slipped out of Pretty Jam Good five minutes before closing, upon Gran’s urging. The town gossips would descend once the sign in the front window turned.
So she pulled into her driveway a few minutes earlier than usual. Which was yet another reason it surprised her to see Luke’s truck parked there, and him sitting on the hanging swing on her porch.
She grabbed her workout bag, knowing it would be a disaster if left in her hot car any longer. Then she rounded the corner of the house, concern written in the furrows on her forehead.
“Everything okay?” she asked Luke, worried he’d changed his mind and was waiting to break the news to her.
Her gaze caught on the bag of produce at his feet. When she looked back at his face, he was grinning.
“Everything’s great. I got excited about our date, and I got here a little early. Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Hadley’s heart swelled. She dropped her gym bag and walked over to him, kissing him again, wondering why she’d wasted so much of her life not kissing Luke Fenton.
“So what are you making?” she asked, peering down at the bag of fresh produce, no doubt fr
om his family farm.
“It’s a surprise.” He winked and gestured for her to lead the way inside.
A loud yowl echoed off the tall ceilings as they stepped inside.
All the perfect peaceful energy drained from Hadley’s body. She froze, heart hammering out a symphony of worry. Another meow, filled with desperation and woe, pealed through the space. Luke frowned and walked in before her.
Heart in her throat, Hadley followed Luke into her living room. Over by the fireplace, Sweat Pea crouched next to the flue damper. Her collar was caught on the lever. Her golden eyes rolled in her head, watching them, begging for help. Ansel and Marmalade paced nearby, looking helpless and worried.
Luke raced forward, slowing when he neared Sweet Pea so he wouldn’t scare her and cause her to bolt. Hadley held her hand to her chest as Luke gently picked up the cat and slid the collar from the lever.
Sweet Pea relaxed into his arms, purring. She blinked up at him lovingly. He whispered to her, running his hand over her back and body to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He smiled, nodding. Hadley rushed over, gathering the cat into her arms as Luke handed her over.
“She seems fine, but I think”—he reached over and unbuckled her collar—“we should take this off for good.”
Tears threatened the corners of Hadley’s eyes, mostly because of how close that had been. Had Sweet Pea not stayed still, crouching in one spot, she could’ve strangled herself.
“I didn’t even think to check if it was a breakaway collar.” Hadley inwardly scolded herself for assuming.
“What’s a breakaway collar?” Luke asked. He laughed. “I don’t even have a collar on Barnaby. I’m still learning about being a cat dad.”
Hadley almost melted at the sweetness of his statement. “That’s okay. Breakaway collars have a safety clasp that breaks apart if they put any intense pressure on it, that way a cat can’t strangle itself. Most collars for sale these days have to be.”
Luke inspected the thing. “It seems to be handmade now that I get a better look.” He reached out to grab her free hand. “Don’t blame yourself, you didn’t realize. This is Laney’s fault.”