Hard to Handle

by Jessica Lemmon

  “You must be Sadie.”

  Sadie turned to find a woman with chestnut-colored hair and kind blue eyes smiling at her. She was Sadie’s height, and in flats no less, Sadie realized as she scanned her simple, attractive black dress and shoes. “I am.”

  “Angel Downey-McCormick.” She shook Sadie’s hand. “My brother’s been hiding you from me all evening.”

  Sadie emitted an uncomfortable laugh. “I—”

  “Thank you.”

  Sadie blinked at her. “For?”

  Angel licked her lips as if debating whether or not to say what she was thinking. “Dad told me Aiden is a different person since you came back into his life. Better. Happier. I imagine it must have taken a lot to forgive him for the way he treated you last year.”

  Sadie felt the gratitude swell in her chest. Angel…understood. She didn’t seem to be giving Aiden the benefit of the doubt. “I’m still working on it,” she said thickly.

  Angel’s attention went to Aiden, who approached, fresh drink in hand. Before he got close enough to hear, Angel winked at her. “Keep working on it.” She beamed over at Aiden. “Hey, baby brother.”

  “Evan’s the youngest,” Aiden argued, clearly not liking the nickname.

  “You’re all babies to me.” She patted his arm. “Nice to meet you, Sadie.” Then to Aiden, “I like her. Don’t screw it up this time.”

  Aiden bit his lip and looked the slightest bit chagrined.

  Sadie grinned. “I like your sister.”

  “Yeah.” He put his drink down. “I bet you do.” Aiden’s attention went to the back of the room. “PDA alert.”

  Sadie turned to see Shane butt into the gaggle of suits surrounding his wife and put a protective arm around her waist. He tugged her against him and, heedless of professional company, Crickitt allowed him to tow her away. Shane leaned in to whisper into Crickitt’s ear and Crickitt tossed her head back to laugh. Something warm and gooey pooled in Sadie’s belly. I want that.

  They were happy together, perfect for one another. Who wouldn’t want that? In a world where marriage ended more often than it endured, Sadie hoped against hope that her best friend and Shane beat the odds.

  “Dance with me.”

  Aiden’s warm breath against her temple sent gooseflesh popping up on her arms. She turned to find him smiling down at her. “I know it’s not ‘The Electric Slide’”—he nodded to the jazz band in the corner—“but I think we can handle it.”

  Aiden led her to the floor and pulled her against the hard wall of his chest. She put a hand on the shoulder of his jacket and swayed to the music. The last time they’d danced together was at Crickitt’s wedding. Sadie hadn’t been very nice to him that night. Aiden had been apologetic and exposed and so…Aiden. Again she felt a wave of regret for not treating him better.

  Keep working on it.

  “Relax,” Aiden murmured against her cheek. His palm splayed across her back, pulling her closer. “You smell so good.” His voice rumbled against her chest, sending her hormones into fan-girl hissy fits.

  That she and Aiden hadn’t tumbled into bed the night they met had to be some sort of miracle of biblical proportion. Though technically, they tumbled into bed the next, next night, but they hadn’t gotten physical. Another miracle. The attraction between them had always been—and continued to be—dangerous. Combustible.

  She thought back to the evil-slash-brilliant idea she’d had on her way in. The idea of seducing Aiden once and for all. Of finding out what sex was like when she gave herself over to the connection between them. Sadie was all out of hidden aces. She didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to date, didn’t want to pussyfoot or beat around the bush any longer. She wanted Aiden. Period. And she’d bet with the right approach…Aiden would fold like a cheap suit and have her out of this dress faster than she could say Do me.

  Only one way to find out.

  Sadie moved the hand not clasped in his from his shoulder and rested it over his heart. “I do wish you’d reconsider your stance on premarital physical relations.” She tilted her chin down and peered up at him through her lashes.

  Aiden’s muscles went taut and his hand squeezed hers hard before he realized it and eased up on the pressure crushing her fingers. Sadie lips arched into a dirty-girl grin. She had his attention. And while she’d never taken teasing this far before, she felt herself ease into familiar territory. She was a good flirt. And she hadn’t even dialed it up halfway.

  Sadie walked her fingers up Aiden’s suit and let them trickle down his open collar, brushing the flesh at the bottom of his neck with her nails. “Imagine,” she said, leaning close to his chest and smelling his skin, “what we could spend the evening doing if you changed your mind.”

  Aiden came to a halt and Sadie lifted her eyes, flitting her lashes again. His jaw was set, eyes dark, nostrils flared. He looked like he might devour her, and Sadie got a little thrill low in her belly at the thought. As if he just realized they were standing stock-still in the center of the dance floor, Aiden began moving with her against him again.

  Sadie bit her lip to hold in the triumphant giggle. Instead of a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, she had a pair of pitchfork-holding twins on her back. And they were both chanting the same tawdry suggestion.

  Sadie lowered her voice and pressed her body against Aiden’s, going in for the kill.

  “What do you say?” she asked in her sultriest voice. “Would you like to take me to bed tonight?”

  Chapter 13

  Aiden needed a drink. A big one. One the size of the bucket of Gatorade football players dumped over the coach’s head after a game. Though he doubted iced-down sports drink would cool the heat slowly consuming him, even if he poured it in his pants.

  Sadie made him an offer he wasn’t sure he could refuse.

  And why would I?

  Great question.

  Ever since Harmony cheated on him with Daniel, Aiden hadn’t exactly been looking. Then he met Sadie. And after last year—losing his mom, ruining what he and Sadie had together, and learning he was completely unsuccessful at getting over the blonde in his arms now—Aiden decided not to get involved with a woman until he was serious.

  Serious, serious.

  It wasn’t a pact he’d taken lightly. Lord knows he’d had the opportunity over the last year to go to bed with a woman—even casually—but he had zero desire to satisfy his body’s impulses.

  Since his mother’s diagnosis, Aiden’s life had stopped being his own and had become one of service to others. It was why he’d moved to Oregon. And why he’d moved in with his dad. And why he’d taken the job at the factory temporarily. But now Aiden was slowly reclaiming himself. He’d found the part of him that wanted things just to want them. The idea of saving himself until marriage was probably unfashionable and archaic, but dammit, that’s what he wanted. Or maybe that’s what he told himself so he wouldn’t get involved with a woman at all.

  Aiden probably never would have considered marriage again—would’ve probably been more against it than Sadie claimed to be. He’d been burned as badly as she had. He knew how she felt. He also knew how he felt.

  He loved her.

  Sadie was the only woman he trusted to walk down the aisle at his side and not betray him. He could trust her. He’d always trusted her. He still trusted her. It wasn’t just love; Aiden had sunk like he was wearing a pair of cinder block shoes. He was a fool if he believed the whole marriage thing would work with anyone but this woman.

  All he had to do was get her on board.

  Aiden looked into Sadie’s cinnamon-colored eyes, long lashes sweeping over them as she attempted to seduce him. A slow smile curved his mouth. Sadie was trying to get her way. A common theme. He wanted what she was offering, but he had terms.

  Terms including a ceremony and the key phrase I do.

  But this wasn’t a game. Not any longer. If he was being honest with himself, hadn’t he been making plans since Sadie reentered his life to
include her in his future? When he pictured himself moving out of Dad’s house, hadn’t he imagined buying a place big enough for a family? In two years, hadn’t he pictured celebrating with Sadie on the day he closed the deal and owned all five Axle’s stores?

  And in the wee, small hours of the morning, when Aiden lay awake in bed, his mind too busy to allow sleep, didn’t the family he envisioned feature a little girl with Sadie’s cherubic face and fair hair?

  Yes. To all of the above.

  Aiden’s heart beat erratically in his chest as he stared at the woman in front of him. He loved her; he knew that. He’d known that. But not until this very moment had he seriously considered what he was considering now.

  He glanced around the full room. Shane, Crickitt, his brothers…Angel over in the corner with her husband. Was he really willing to risk asking Sadie here? Risk that she might—hell, probably would—say no? Asking would be a leap of faith. Without a net.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Sadie purred. She was an exquisite, naughty angel. A beautiful winged creature with tiny horns poking up out of her blonde curls.

  Aiden’s brow quirked in challenge. Yeah. He was willing. She deserved no less than to be called out on her sexy antics. And he deserved no less than Sadie in his life. Forever.

  God, that sounded good.

  Aiden pulled Sadie against him and spoke roughly, “I think you know my answer. Now don’t move out from in front of me for a minute or the entire party will know it, too.”

  Sadie may have had the upper hand, but Aiden saw her resolve slip as he pressed against her. Desire bloomed in her brown eyes, and her lips parted as she took in a breath. Aiden nearly smiled.

  Not so composed and in control now, was she? He loved when she dropped her guard, when she had no choice but to be led around by her emotions like the rest of the human population. It was a small triumph, but enough to spear him forward.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” Aiden murmured into her ear, keeping her tightly against him as he steered her in another circle on the dance floor. “I’ll make love to you,” he said against her cheek. “And I’m talking about the kind of long, slow, agonizing, so-good-it-hurts love.”

  She shuddered in his arms. Aiden nipped her earlobe and whispered, “I’ll make love to you until your toes are permanently curled.”

  A small sound escaped her throat. One he’d bet she didn’t mean to let loose. He licked the curve of her ear with the very tip of his tongue. “Until you’re too weak to move…”

  Sadie’s fingers fisted the front of his shirt, wrinkling it all to hell. He couldn’t care less. Nothing thrilled him more than the sound of the sharp intake of air between her teeth. Proof that her control was shattering into a million pieces.

  “But I have stipulations,” he murmured, sliding his hand as low on her back as he dared.

  Sadie’s feet moved to the music, but the rest of her body was still. “Oh?” she breathed.

  “Mmm-hmm. Want to know what they are?” Aiden abandoned her ear and pressed a kiss onto her neck.

  “Uh-huh,” Sadie said. It wasn’t a yes, but he hoped she’d give him one next.

  Aiden pulled away so he could look at her and moved her hair over her shoulder. He stroked the back of his knuckles down her cheek and came to a stop in the middle of the floor. Her eyes widened slightly.

  “Marry me.”

  Sadie’s throat convulsed as she swallowed hard. “That’s not funny, Aiden.”

  He expected her to be nervous. He remained calm, moving them to the music again and holding her gaze. “I’m not kidding, Sadie.”

  She blinked a few times and gave him a shaky smile. “We can’t get married just to—just to—”

  “Make love for hours on end?” he finished, allowing his smile to break free.

  Sadie tried to narrow her eyes, but she didn’t quite make it. Instead, her cheeks grew pink and she darted her eyes left then right before landing on his face again. “That’s not a good reason to get married,” she whispered, angling an uncomfortable smile at the couple dancing near them.

  But they weren’t close enough to overhear. And in a second, the whole room would know his intentions. He just had to get her past this part, make a confession…the confession.

  “You’re right. That alone isn’t a good reason to get married,” he said with an intentional sigh. “I have another reason.”

  Sadie shook her head, just barely. “Aiden.”

  It was a plea he ignored. She deserved to know. He deserved the chance to proclaim it. “I love you, Sadie. I always have. I never stopped.”

  She inhaled. Held it. Bit her lip.

  Well, she hadn’t run from him. That was a good sign. “We’re good together, you and me,” he said. They were. They complimented each other in a way that was both synchronized and opposing at the same time. “We can talk for hours,” he continued. “We can kiss for hours,” he said, resting his cheek on hers and lowering his voice. “And I bet we’d be great at the long, agonizingly slow, making love part.”

  He pulled back to face Sadie. She licked her lips, desire prevalent in her wide, dark eyes. Then she squeezed them shut. “Be serious, Aiden.”

  He was. As a heart attack.

  “Okay,” he told her. “I will.”

  He took both of Sadie’s hands and stepped away from her, even though he saw the panic on her face. Now or never. It was time to find out whether he was wasting his time…or if Sadie felt the same way about him as he did her.

  In front of God, his brothers and sister, his cousins, and over a hundred guests, Aiden dropped to his knees in the middle of the dance floor. He said a silent prayer and squeezed her hands before making the offer of his life.

  “Sadie Ann Marie Howard, will you be my wife?”

  * * *

  Oh God. He did it. He actually did it.

  Sadie didn’t know what was worse, the pure sincerity on Aiden’s face as he waited, chin raised, for her response, or the fact that she was going to have to tell him no.

  Eyes, dozens of pairs of eyes, were trained on them. The other couples on the dance floor had stopped moving to the music, though (thank goodness) the band continued to play. They were watching, though—the band as well as the dancers. Everyone in the room waited for her to say yes, for Aiden to stand and embrace her, so they could applaud and shout their congratulations.

  Aiden was waiting for a yes, too.

  Regret was a snake coiling around her heart. But she couldn’t say yes…not here, in the room she’d once reserved for her and Trey’s wedding reception. Not now, in front of his family, in front of Crickitt, in front of gawking strangers. They weren’t even dating! What was he thinking?

  Regret turned to panic and Sadie’s heart jackhammered against her rib cage. She pulled her hands from Aiden’s, shook her head, and offered him as gentle a smile as she could muster. “I’m sorry.”

  Sadie slipped through the crowd, head down, as quickly as her four-inch heels would carry her. Outside the double doors, in the brightly lit hallway, her chest felt less constricted, her heart less erratic.

  How could he do this to her? They hadn’t talked about this, hadn’t eluded to it. They were friends. Coworkers. Well, not anymore. But what had given him the idea of m-m-marrying her?

  She couldn’t even think it.

  She heard her name being called and quickened her pace until the wide chandeliers overhead were flashes of light in her peripheral and her feet a blur over the red and gold carpet.

  Aiden chased her. Awesome.

  “Sadie!” He caught her easily, snagging her elbow and pulling her into the one of the open, unoccupied rooms along the hallway. The room was dark, the only light came from the hall and sliced across the floor at an arc. Aiden steered her behind the open door, out of sight from any passersby.

  He released her arm. She wouldn’t look at him. “Sadie.”

  It took every drop of her dwindling courage, but she finally lifted her eyes to his.

  “
That’s it?” he asked, his mouth a grim line. He’d taken his jacket off before coming after her. She idly wondered what he’d said to everyone in the room when he left.

  She blinked at him, feeling a flash of fear and regret that soon morphed into anger. “You asked, I said no,” she said, her voice shaking.

  “Actually, you said you were sorry.”

  She sighed. “I am.” Because she couldn’t marry Aiden. She couldn’t marry anyone. She was a hopeless wreck where men were concerned and—

  “So my only options are to take you to bed or lose you forever?”

  She blinked at him. “Are you quoting Top Gun?”

  “Maybe.” The corner of her lip tipped into a cautious smile. “Are those my only options?” he asked, his voice quiet.

  “I can’t marry you, Aiden,” she whispered, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the disappointment swimming in his.

  She felt his hand caress her shoulder and a moment later was enveloped in heat as he stepped into her comfort zone. Only, when Aiden was in it, she felt more comfortable, not less.

  “Okay,” he said, stroking her face.

  She opened her eyes.

  “You win.”

  His eyes held no clue as to what he meant by that. “What?”

  “Did you mean it when you asked me to take you to bed tonight?”

  Her heart slammed into third gear. He wasn’t serious…was he? She made the mistake of challenging how serious he was moments ago. She’d been dead wrong. Now he was suggesting…oh. Wow. But that was before…before he’d proposed to her. Before he’d forced her into a tight, dark corner where she couldn’t breathe. “Aiden—”

  “I want you to ask me again.” He walked her one step backward. Then two. She allowed him to advance until her butt bumped against the wall.

  She shook her head, but there was no conviction in it.

  “Ask me again,” he repeated, looking scarily serious. His hands were heating her hips through the material of her dress. He kept his stormy eyes on hers, refusing to allow her to escape. “But only if you still want me.”

  Her breaths came in short pants. “I do.”