Hard to Handle

With a shake of his head, Aiden returned to the chore he’d been avoiding all week. Stocking key chains wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of stimulation, but it was a necessary part of running the store. He knelt and opened the box and pulled out several bags filled with assorted plastic key fobs. Each had a funny saying on it, but he’d since stopped reading them with comprehension, losing track of time in the task of filling the pegs on the shelf he’d assembled.

“‘You look like I need a drink.’”

Aiden looked up to find Sadie standing at the counter, a key chain dangling from her finger. “Is this supposed to be funny?” she asked, waving the square of plastic.

Aiden stood and unhooked the keychain from her finger. “Well, not when you read it like that.” He returned it to the display and handed her another. “I do like this one, though.”

“‘I pray God’s not too picky,’” Sadie read. Her glossed lips tilted, but more in a show of indecision than amusement. She spun the rack before pulling another off the peg and holding it up for him to see.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, make him rich and make him tall.

“Well, I’m tall.” He took it from her and returned it to its peg. “But Shane’s the rich one.” Aiden leaned in a little closer, watching Sadie’s eyes darken despite her attempt not to react to his nearness. “Sorry, he’s married.”

A smile tickled the corner of her mouth but rather than comment, she pulled another keychain and handed it to him.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her. “‘Never miss a good chance to shut up’?” It was a small laugh, one she recovered from quickly, but he was making progress. He turned the stile, choosing his comeback carefully. “Ah,” he said when he landed on it. He slid it across the counter in front of her.

She leaned over it and read, “‘Remember this face; you’ll see it in your dreams.’”

He mirrored her posture. “So true,” he murmured softly.

Her smile faded and her cheeks went pink.

He held her gaze. “What’s his name?”

Her eyelashes fluttered as she regrouped. “Who?”

“The jerk at Midwest I need to have a chat with.”

“Perry,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “He thinks I sleep with my clients.”

Aiden narrowed his eyes. “And by chat I mean force feed a knuckle sandwich.”

“Easy, tiger.” She put her hand on his arm and Aiden felt a tiny bead of sweat prickle his upper lip. If she did sleep with her clients, he’d be first in line…and pummel anyone else who dared get in line behind him.

Sadie bit her lip. “Can I ask you something?”

His eyebrows shot to his hairline, his mind still on Sadie sleeping with him. He licked his lips. “Sure,” he croaked, inappropriate ideas popping in his head like a string of firecrackers.

“Do you think I muscled you into signing the Midwest contract?”

“Yes,” Aiden answered.

Sadie winced.

Aiden caught her hand when she started to walk away from him. “I’m glad you did. It’s fair. And the work you’re doing is beyond what anyone else would have offered.”

“Perry wouldn’t have had to swindle you. He would have bought you an expensive gift and taken you out for drinks,” she grumbled.

“You can take me out for a drink,” Aiden said, suddenly wanting that more than anything.

Sadie didn’t bite, pulling her hand free. “Ha-ha. You know what I mean. He would have wined and dined you. Wooed you. I offered to clean out your warehouse.”

Aiden’s thoughts were stuck on the wining and dining part. Or, more accurately, the one dinner date he’d taken Sadie on last year. The date had continued through morning. After breakfast, he’d sneaked her to the back of his parents’ property and led her up to his childhood tree house. Since his parents had no idea he was divorced, he had to settle for introducing Sadie to his mother from afar. Sadie had leaned against him, golden sunlight filtering in her hair, and watched his mother prune her prized rosebushes. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them had to.

It was a memory he’d never, ever forget. Sadie may not have met his mother, but she’d seen her. He considered how special that was, how anyone he dated in the future wouldn’t have the same opportunity. Sharing those precious minutes with Sadie made her uniquely qualified to understand what he’d been through. Some of the tension knotting his chest loosened.

The way it always did when she was around.

He opened his mouth to ask her out to dinner. Out for a drink. Out, hell, anywhere for a few stolen minutes, but Sadie backed away from him before he could.

“I should get out of here,” she announced. “Lots to do.” She muttered something about finishing the display window later.

Her loud farewell was such a departure from his thoughts, Aiden simply watched as she gathered her things and walked out the door.

Chapter 6

Sadie sat at her desk, fingers nested in her hair, and stared at the invitation on the screen. Rick Hammond’s Summer’s Passing party happened every year. She’d attended every year for the last four years.

How had she forgotten?

Now she stared at the colorful website and debated which of the responses to click. There was a YES, a MAYBE, and a clever NO, I’M LAME. She considered clicking the latter. That would be the most honest response. She was lame.

Perry’s words needled her all over again. She had dated a client. Granted, she didn’t date Rick to secure an account, and she certainly hadn’t slept with him. Last December, Rick had asked her to go with him to a fancy hotel party and ring in the New Year. Sadie should have told him no.

She didn’t.

After Aiden had gone to Oregon, after she’d cut all communication off from the man, Sadie gave herself twenty-four hours to recover and move on with her life. Problem was, her emotions hadn’t heeded her timetable.

Reminders of Aiden cropped up everywhere, when she least expected it. For months to come. And without him, she felt empty and sad. Putting on a front was brutal and, during the holidays, nearly impossible.

Seeing people at their happiest, watching Celeste and Trey snuggle by the Christmas tree, made Sadie want to hang herself with tinsel. Add the idea of spending New Year’s Eve alone, spending every New Year’s Eve alone since she’d banished herself to the kingdom of eternal singledom for her remaining years, and it wasn’t any wonder why she’d accepted Rick’s invitation.

She figured she could get out of the house, have some free drinks, and pretend to like the kiss at midnight. And she did. Pretend, that is. When Rick asked her out again a few weeks later, she told herself she was okay with the idea of dinner and a movie with a man she wasn’t attracted to. Look where attraction had gotten her with Aiden: riddled with holes and leaking emotion like a worn garden hose.

Rick, on the other hand, was safe. Predictable. There was no passion, but he could hold a conversation, and they had motorcycle supplies in common…

Wow. That was a really sad justification, Sadie thought, reaching for her coffee mug and taking a sip.

Almost as sad as the day she realized she’d let their casual dating go too far. Rick extended an invitation for her to join him on an out-of-town weekend trip. When he mentioned the shared room at the Bed and Breakfast, Sadie knew she had to end it. Right there in his car, her eyes fixed on her black Michael Kors platform heels, she let him down as gently as she could. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue. Maybe he’d known all along she was