Because of Love

by Jill Sanders

  Driving from his folks’ place to the small cabin, he couldn’t get his mind off how tired his dad had looked. It had taken all his strength to help him into the house. His father might be rounding sixty, but he was still built like a thirty-year-old. Aiden supposed it was because he was on his feet most every day.

  Driving through town, he decided to stop off at O’Neil’s for some basics for the upcoming workweek.

  Strolling the aisle in the grocery store brought back so many memories. It was strange—he’d never gotten homesick until he stopped at the ice cream aisle. Standing in front of the old coolers, he realized how many great memories he had of the town.

  How many times had they stopped here for treats after one of his sports games?

  “Are you going to stand there drooling or pick your poison?”

  Aiden turned slightly to see Suzie watching him, a basket of food in her hands.

  He smiled and shrugged. “I’m thinking.”

  He hadn’t been. He’d been daydreaming, but now he looked at the flavors of ice cream and debated. “What’s your favorite?” he asked her.

  She reached past him into the freezer and grabbed a container of cookie dough ice cream. “It’s two great things wrapped into one.” She smiled as she put it in her basket.

  “True, but you can’t beat the classics.” He grabbed a container of mint chocolate chip and set it in his cart.

  “My second favorite,” she told him.

  “How did it go at the shop today?” he asked as they started walking down the aisle together.

  “Great.” She smiled. “It was just as busy today as yesterday. I had half the town in purchasing flowers for your dad.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I had to haul them all to my parents’ house in my truck from the hospital.” He stopped and turned to her near the front of the store. “You made all those yourself, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. Now that I have some part-time help, I have more time to create arrangements.” Her smile brightened.

  He couldn’t help but smile with her. “Hiring Kate was a great idea.”

  She turned on him. “Didn’t you two used to date?”

  He nodded. “For a few weeks.”

  Suzie turned towards him. “In fact…” She tilted her head. “Thinking about it, who haven’t you dated?”

  He shrugged. “There’s just so much of me to go around,” he joked.

  “Seriously?” She groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “Hey, I can’t help it that I’m Pride’s most eligible.” He smiled.

  “Right.” She shook her head. “Everyone in town knows that title was given to Conner last year when Matt married Blake. Besides, you were no longer in town.”

  “I’m back now.” He shrugged.

  “Yeah, but for how long?”

  “Long enough to pick up where I left off.” He leaned a little closer. “Why is it we never dated?”

  He knew he threw her off with the question, since her eyebrows shot up and a slight frown formed on her lips.

  “Because”—she turned and started walking towards the checkout counter— “you were never interested.”

  It took him a moment to catch up with her. By the time he stood next to her, she’d dumped all her items onto the counter so Patty could scan them.

  “That’s not true. Well, not entirely true anyway,” he admitted. “You were always like a…”

  “Little sister?” she supplied.

  He frowned down at her and once again took in her sexy green eyes, the luscious pouty lips. Maybe at one point he’d thought of her as such, but not now. Shaking his head, he thought about it. “No, not a sister… more like… a little sister to someone I’d date.”

  She frowned and handed Patty her credit card. “That’s classic,” she told Patty. “This is why I haven’t dated in over a year. Some men only come knocking on your door when you’re their last option.”

  He reached out and took her arm so she wouldn’t turn away. “That’s not fair. You are by no means my last option. And besides…” He tilted his head and smiled. “Who said I was knocking?”

  He watched as her temper spiked and somehow found her even more appealing. Her cheeks flushed and turned a deeper shade of pink while her green eyes… well, they almost glowed.

  Stuffing her credit card back into her purse, she yanked the bag of items from Patty and stormed from the store.

  “You stepped in it now, boy.” Patty chuckled.

  He frowned at Suzie’s back as she marched from the store.

  “She has a way of making me crazy.” He groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

  “She’s a Jordan,” Patty supplied while she rang up his items. “They all have a knack for it. But, still, some of the best people I’ve ever known.” Patty leaned closer to him. “You mess with one, you mess with them all.”

  “Yeah.” He waved her off and slid his credit card into the machine to pay for his items. “I suppose I owe her an apology.” He glanced up to the ceiling.

  “It would be the smart thing to do.” Patty handed him his bag.

  “Guess my ice cream is going to melt.” He groaned as he headed up the outside stairs towards the apartment above the store.

  When he reached up to knock, the door flew opened and Suzie stood there, hands on her hips. “And another thing,” she said, “who says I’d be interested in you anyway?” She was about to slam the door on him, but he moved quickly and held it open while he juggled his bag of items in his other hand.

  “Whoa.” He held the door. “I don’t know what I said that has you so riled up, but I’d like a chance to respond. At least let me defend myself.”

  She leaned against her door for a moment, then she motioned for him to come inside.

  Stepping into the apartment, he glanced around quickly and noticed how nice the place was. He hadn’t been in it before but had seen views of it from the street through its large windows plenty of times.

  “Before you start,” she said as he stepped inside and set his bag of groceries down. “You might as well not deny it. I know when a man is obviously flirting with me.” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

  “I won’t deny it,” he said with a smile as he ran his eyes over her. “You’ve changed a lot since I saw you last.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You haven’t,” she countered.

  “That’s fair.” He chuckled. “Then I won’t deny it.”

  “Care to tell me why? I mean, our entire life you’ve treated me like—”

  “A sister,” he jumped in.

  “Right.” She rolled her eyes at him. “When you weren’t treating me like a sister, you treated me like a kid.”

  He thought about it. “You were a kid.”

  She laughed and leaned against the countertop. “So were you. You’re only four years older than me.”

  “Four years is a lot when I was in high school and you were… not.” He shrugged, then glanced around. “If we’re going to have this talk, how about letting me dish up some of my ice cream. I only stopped at the store because I wanted some.”

  She shrugged and then turned to grab them each a bowl. Her carton of ice cream was still sitting out on the counter, and he pulled his out. She handed him a spoon and he scooped some into his bowl.

  “I can put that in the freezer if you want?” she said, putting her ice cream away.

  He walked over and handed it to her. “Now, where were we?” he asked after taking a bite.

  She motioned to the sofa, and he followed her over and sat next to her. She instantly tucked her legs underneath her and dug into her ice cream.

  “You were telling me why you want to sleep with me,” she said easily.

  He almost choked on his ice cream. “Who said anything…”

  She was smirking and he realized she was joking. Two could play at that game.

  “It’s too soon to tell if I do.”

  “Oh, it was pretty obvious this morning.” She chuckled. “So
much so that Brook started spreading rumors around town.”

  “Yeah.” He frowned slightly as he remembered his mother’s conversation. “My mom even tried to play matchmaker this evening.”

  “Great.” Suzie rolled her eyes again. “Now the folks are involved.”

  “So how is your family, anyway?” he asked.

  For the next half hour, they talked family. She filled him in on Sara, Parker, and the twins and her brother Matt and his wife, Blake, whom he had only met briefly at the couple’s wedding. The pair was expecting their first child any day now.

  Since she’d been in town for a few months, she’d bumped into his sister Carrie and her husband Josh plenty of times.

  “Weren’t they high school sweethearts?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He frowned slightly.

  “What? You don’t like the guy?” she said with a chuckle.

  “No, it’s not that, it’s just… She’s my little sister.” He shrugged. “I think it’s on principle that I’m supposed to be…”

  “Moody around them?” she asked with a giggle.

  “No,” he responded. “Cautious. After all, the guy did take off on her for a few years.”

  “Yeah, but then he came back with a successful business,” she reminded him.

  “Right. Which is why I gave the guy a second chance.”

  She laughed. “You act just like my brother. I swear when Sara and Parker started seeing one another, Matt brooded around the house for months, complaining about every little thing about Parker.”

  “It’s our job as brothers,” he joked.

  “You don’t see us brooding or complaining about the women you bring home.”

  “Carrie complained plenty about some of the women I dated.”

  She laughed. “Of course, she did. Do you remember some of the women you were dating before you left town?”

  “They weren’t that bad,” he responded with a slight frown as he shifted so that they were a little closer. He liked the way she looked when she laughed and teased him. Maybe it was the newfound confidence she had that turned him on so much.

  He was finding it hard not to focus on kissing her every time she bit her bottom lip as she listened to him.

  “You dated Stephany Martin.” She motioned towards him.

  “What was wrong with Stephany?” he asked with a slight frown.

  “The woman didn’t know how to rub two sticks together.” She laughed.

  “So?” He shrugged. “Brains are not a requirement for what I got out of the relationship.”

  She shook her head. “That’s disgusting.”

  “Oh, like you’ve never dated arm candy before?” He narrowed his eyes as he thought back. “Scott Palmer.”

  She laughed. “Okay, you got me there. But Sara had heard from her friend Ruth that Scott had told Bobby that he wanted me to ask him out.”

  He shook his head. “So, you jumped at the chance?”

  “He was captain of the basketball team,” she reminded him.

  “Only because I had a broken arm that year,” he added with a smile. He hadn’t realized he’d thrown his arm on the back of the sofa and was playing with the ends of her hair. The subconscious move caused her to tilt her head and look at him.

  “See, I bet you can’t even turn it off.” She motioned to him.

  “Turn what off?” he asked easily.

  “The flirting.” She nudged his hand away. “I think you do it without even knowing.”

  He shrugged. “Is it such a bad thing?”

  She rolled her eyes and stood up. She tripped slightly on the rug but corrected herself before he could help.

  “It is if you end up playing with people’s hearts.” She turned towards the windows. “It’s raining again.”

  “It’s Oregon.” He moved to stand beside her as he played her words over in his mind. Was that what he was doing to her? Playing with her heart?

  He’d always thought of attraction as a mutually fun event. Sure, he knew that a few of the women he’d been with had gotten scorched, but he had always made it clear in his relationships that his heart wasn’t on the line.

  Chapter 5

  Suzie could tell that Aiden was thinking about it. How harmless flirting could turn into something else. She knew personally that the extra attention he was giving her was messing with her heart.

  It practically jumped out of her chest each time he looked down at her lips like he wanted to taste them. She didn’t think she could live through letting him play with her heart any longer. Not after spending half of her childhood infatuated with the man.

  Wrapping her arms around herself, she glanced over at him.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” she joked. “It’s not that difficult of a problem. When you play with people’s feelings, eventually someone is going to get hurt.”

  “Have you?” he asked with a slight frown. “Gotten hurt before?”

  She thought about it. “No, my last few relationships ended mutually.”

  He nodded. “You’re probably still friends with ’em.”

  She chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. Steve is back in Portland engaged to my close friend Kelly. I caught them in bed together. My bed,” she added with a frown. “So, I broke up with him.”

  He whistled and shook his head. “I thought you said it was mutual?”

  “Oh, it was. I didn’t kill him because my heart wasn’t really invested in the relationship,” she said with a smile. She turned to him. “You?”

  He thought about it. “I guess you’d tell me I’ve broken a few hearts along the way.”

  She nodded. “I know of at least four.”

  His dark eyebrows shot up. “Please don’t tell me your sister was one of them.”

  “Sara?” She chuckled. “No.”

  “Who then?” he asked after a moment.

  She held up her fingers and ticked them off. “Kate, Robin, Elizabeth, and Joanna are the four that I know of.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Kate Farrow, Robin Cummings, Elizabeth Stark, and Joanna…”

  “Richardson.” She saw him wince.

  “That was in sixth grade.”

  She laughed. “Heartbreaks can happen at any time.”

  “Kate Farrows… She works for you now.” He glanced at her sideways.

  “She does,” she agreed. That morning after she’d shown Kate around, they’d talked about Aiden being back in town. Suzie was grateful to know that Kate was seeing someone at the moment and was completely over Aiden. “She’s seeing someone currently.”

  He seemed to relax a little.

  “Joanna is happily married and Lizzy… well, last I knew, she had her career. I don’t know what happened to Robin,” he admitted.

  “She moved to Tulsa in eighth grade. I’m sure she’s over you by now.” She waved her hand.

  “Then I’m off the hook,” he said with a shrug.

  She turned to him and cocked her head a little. “So, playing with women’s hearts is just a game to you?”

  “I never said that,” he answered with a frown. “If I’m not as dedicated as they are, it’s not my fault.”

  She knew he was right. After all, she hadn’t been one hundred percent in the relationship with Steve. He’d been hot and fun to hang around, but her heart just hadn’t been into it.

  He turned towards her, and she realized how broad his shoulders were. Had he always been this big? His arms were thicker than her thighs and full of muscles she itched to explore.

  His dark eyes ran over her face and once again landed on her lips. She couldn’t stop herself from wetting them with her tongue.

  “I don’t set out to play with women’s hearts,” he said in an almost whisper. “Nor do I intend to string anyone along.”

  “I… didn’t think you would. It’s just…” She swallowed, not wanting to tell him that her heart was already vested in him. That it had been for years and, upon seeing him again, was once more.

  “What would you do
?” he asked softly, moving a step closer to her.

  Her breath stuck in her lungs as he reached out and touched the ends of her hair again. His eyes traveled up to hers and a slight smile formed on his lips.

  “It’s amazing how they change color like that,” he said as he closed the distance between them.

  “What?” she asked, too focused on his closeness to understand what he was talking about.

  “Your eyes.” He glanced down at her lips again. “I’ve thought about kissing you.”

  She sucked in her breath. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “You’re right,” he said as he inched closer. “It’s probably a terrible idea.”

  She swallowed, knowing that she wanted it more than she’d ever wanted anything. Her body swayed slightly, and she felt his arm wrap around her waist to hold her to his chest.

  Her fingers fanned out on his shirt. She felt his heartbeat under her fingertips and enjoyed the hardness of his pecs. She’d imagined all her life what it would be like to be kissed by Aiden Brogan.

  As his head dipped closer to her, she realized she was unprepared. As if frozen in place, she held still as he covered her mouth with his.

  When his lips brushed over hers, she sighed and melted against him. Every sensation she’d dreamed of having at that moment flooded her all at once.

  Her toes curled, her mind twirled, and her knees turned to jelly. It was a good thing that his arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her up, because otherwise she would have slid to the floor in a puddle.

  “My god,” Aiden said against her lips. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his shoulders, digging her fingers into his thick hair and pulling him back down to her. She slanted her mouth over his and enjoyed the taste of him as he played his tongue across hers.

  Her body melted against his, and she would have easily continued to kiss him if she hadn’t heard the horn honk outside. She realized they were standing in front of the large windows kissing. In perfect view of the entire town.

  Pulling away from him, she glanced out the windows. She didn’t know who had honked and thankfully didn’t see anyone out there currently.