Hard to Handle

Chapter 12

Landon. Aiden’s oldest brother. Who lives in Chicago?” Crickitt spoke slowly, making Sadie feel like the dimmest bulb in the chandelier.

“I know who Landon is,” Sadie said. She was just distracted, that’s all. Distracted by her admission to Aiden, and by his sultry promise after he kissed the brains right out of her head. “Oldest brother, started his own advertising firm in Chicago. Millionaire.” She gestured at Crickitt with a flourish of her fingers. “Go on.”

Crickitt tore apart a breadstick and mopped up the remaining marinara from her plate while Sadie sipped her iced tea. “Well, Landon and Shane have been referring clients to each other for years. Shane to Landon’s firm for their advertising needs and Landon to Shane for their logo design and general business consulting. But today”—Crickitt dropped her breadstick to rub her hands together—“Shane and Landon have officially partnered!”

“That’s great,” Sadie said flatly. She didn’t mean to sound so disconnected, but she was. Her mind was wandering along the fray, and definitely not here with Crickitt and the lunchtime crowd packing Giovanni’s outdoor patio.

“It is great,” Crickitt said, smile faltering. “It’s a big deal for August Industries, for Shane and me. For all of us, really.”

Sadie was happy for her friend. She was. So why couldn’t she muster up anything other than a thin smile of support? “I’m so glad,” she said, sounding less than convincing.

Crickitt frowned. “Oh my gosh. I’m bragging, aren’t I?” Crickitt swiped her mouth with her black cloth napkin. “I’ve gone and married a wealthy businessman and turned into a desperate housewife.”

“No, no you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have. I can’t believe it. Pretty soon I’m going to have plastic surgery and a drinking problem to go with it.”

“Crickitt, that’s not what I’m thinking.” Sadie smiled over at her friend. A real smile.

“Don’t let me buy a little dog and carry it around in a purse, okay?” Crickitt wrinkled her cute nose.

“Okay.” Sadie leaned in. “I have to tell you something.”

Crickitt’s eyes rounded. She leaned over the table.

Sadie kept her voice down, but spoke loud enough to be heard over the din of dining patrons. “I want to sleep with Aiden, but he won’t sleep with me because he’s decided to take a vow of celibacy until he gets married.” She didn’t know Crickitt’s eyes could get wider until they did. “I’m tired of being a virgin,” Sadie added, because, well, why not admit it all? The truth shall set you free.

Crickitt’s mouth dropped open. Sadie leaned back in her chair and watched her friend stare across the table at her.

“I know. I should have told you a long time ago,” Sadie said. “About the virgin thing, I mean. I don’t even know why I would want the man who left me an aching, devastated mess a year ago. Your plastic-surgery-wine-addiction is sounding pretty good right about now compared to the woman I’m becoming. I don’t want to be a doormat.”

Crickitt walked around the table and hugged her. “Oh, this is so great!” When she released Sadie, she was blinking away tears. “I always loved the two of you together.”

“Did you hear anything I said?” Sadie asked as Crickitt returned to her chair. “About my being a”—she mouthed the word—virgin?

Crickitt waved a hand and reached for her water. “Oh yeah, that. I had my suspicions.”

Sadie sat back in her chair. “Really?” She worked so hard to come off as worldly.

“It’s neither here nor there. The point is you and Aiden are back together,” she cooed.

“We’re not…together.” And evidently they wouldn’t be getting together if Aiden wasn’t having sex until his wedding day. What was Sadie supposed to do, marry him to get some? She snorted to herself.

“Why aren’t you two together?” Crickitt asked, reclaiming her abandoned breadstick. “What are you afraid of?”

“Are you kidding me? How about him calling from across the country to dump me over the phone?”

Crickitt tilted her head. “He regrets that, Sadie. More than you know.” She finished chewing and patted her lips with the napkin. “Don’t get mad at me for saying this.”

Sadie felt herself getting angry already, but willed the emotion away. Crickitt was her best friend. She wouldn’t tell her anything she didn’t need to hear. Even if she didn’t want to hear it. “Say it.”

“I think you’ve gotten all the mileage you can out of that phone call.”

“Mileage?” Sadie asked, struggling to keep her tone even. “You mean, like, pity?”

Crickitt shook her head and kept her hand firmly over Sadie’s. “It was a terrible, awful, devastating phone call from a man who was going through a terrible, awful, devastating time. Aiden is a good man, Sadie. And you”—she lifted her hand and gestured to Sadie—“you’re an absolute ten in every way. Let it go. Forgive him. And let yourself be happy.”

Sadie thought about that for a second. Crickitt made it sound so easy. Was it that easy? “But what if I can’t?”

“What if you can?”

Sadie blinked at her empty plate. A second later, it was whisked away by their waiter.

What if she could?

Did she dare put herself on the line again?

* * *

Aiden managed not to fidget with the pen in his hand, but his foot bounced up and down like a sewing machine needle. He’d spent the last ten minutes explaining his plan—his creative financial plan—to purchase all five Axle’s stores. Axle remained silent the entire time, his eyes flat black stones, his face impassive.

The day Aiden had taken Sadie to lunch, she’d given him invaluable advice. Find out what he wants, she told him. Did Axle want to open a smaller store elsewhere or never look at another motorcycle again? Did he want to continue custom building and advertise locally or collect soda cans in Key West and live in a hut?

Since that lunch, Aiden had slipped in questions whenever he and Axle had a moment alone, mentally taking notes and planning his pitch. Turns out Axle had no plans to move to Florida, and he wasn’t about to give up building bikes. Axle wanted to stay in Osborn, build replicas of vintage motorcycles, and sell to local stores who would in turn resell them for profit. Axle’s business plan was solid, his talent for crafting custom-made bikes impressive. They’d sell like hell. But Aiden didn’t want him to sell to anybody. He wanted Axle to sell to him.

Exclusively to him.

Aiden hoped the offer he’d pitched—giving Axle all of the profits from the sale of his bikes, and a percentage of the profits from this, his largest store for two years—would appeal enough to get his agreement. Aiden needed to get some more money together to get the loan for the stores. After extensive number crunching, and adding in the increased business Axle’s coveted replicas would bring in, Aiden figured two years was more than enough time. By then he could buy the stores outright and Axle could continue his hobby and bank a hefty lump sum when the sale closed.

Aiden just needed Axle to keep it in his name for those two years.

“Done deal,” Axle said.

Aiden blinked the mountain range in front of him into focus. “Really?”

Axle’s mouth cracked into a barely there smile. “Yup.”

Aiden burst out of the guest chair like his pants were on fire. “Thank you, Axle. You won’t be sorry. I’m—” Aiden cut himself off when he realized Axle was grousing up at him. “Thanks.” Aiden ran into Sadie on her way to the office from the sales floor.

He grasped her shoulders and backed her into the supply closet, flipped on the light, and closed the door behind them. Sadie’s eyebrows were up, lips poised, probably to ask him what he was doing.

Aiden lost sight of the answer.

Sharing his news took low priority with Sadie’s lips this close. He pressed her against a shelf filled with paper, boxes of pens, and rolls of receipts, and kissed her. She kissed him back, stroking his face with cool, slim fingers as she moved her mouth against his. He pulled away to find a satisfied smile on her face, her lids at half-mast. Mmm. His favorite look on her.

“Um…thank you?” she said.

“Thank you,” Aiden said in a thick husk. “I’m buying Axle’s.” He briefly explained the details. “He loved the idea.”

“Loved?”

“Well, loved it like only Axle can love anything.” Aiden said.

She grinned up at him. “Congratulations.”

He could kiss her again. Would have if he didn’t suddenly become aware of the haphazardly stacked supplies over her head, the dust tickling his nostrils. “I’ll let you out of here now.” But he didn’t move, lowering his head for one more brief kiss after all. “Unless you don’t want out of here.”

Sadie flattened a palm on his chest. “I was coming to find you to say good-bye, so yeah, probably we should get out of here.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Aiden popped open the door and practically smacked into Axle, who slid them a strange glance as he lumbered by.

Aiden walked Sadie to the parking lot. She paused before settling into her car. “Um…so Axle’s is completely stocked with Midwest parts.”

“Great,” Aiden said. And soon he’d be running the place. He needed to hire someone else before Axle left. Or maybe two someone elses. Axle wouldn’t be easy to replace.

“And the window is done.”

“I saw.” There was something in Sadie’s face. Distance. Maybe a little sadness. Aiden digested what she was telling him, focusing on the words completely and done. “You aren’t saying good-bye for the day,” he said. “You meant…”

She shrugged. “I’m done.”

Aiden nodded. That sucked. “Okay. Great.” He’d sort of forgotten she was only around temporarily, had become accustomed to seeing her almost every day. He liked running into her in the hallway, talking to her in the store when they were slow. He liked finding her alone in the break room at the vending machine. And now she was “done.” He frowned.

Sadie shut her car door and rolled down the window. “I’ll be glad to get back to the office.” She slipped her sunglasses on and sent him a grin.

Was she telling him the truth? Was she glad to be done? Glad to go back to sitting in her cubicle for most of the day? Aiden had watched her in the store, interacting with customers, setting up displays, chatting with employees. She liked it, was good at it. Her ease with people was the driving force behind her success.

“I’ll miss you,” Aiden said. When that hurt too much, he corrected. “I mean, miss your help. With everything.” He gestured at the store. “In there.”

Sadie’s smile remained, which bothered him. “I’ll miss it, too. It’s a cool store, Aiden. You’ll do well with it.”

Why was this starting to sound like reunited high school friends promising to meet up for drinks before the next ten years passed them by? Had their attraction only been one of proximity? Convenience?

Sadie turned the key in the ignition and Aiden realized if he didn’t make plans with her before she left, he never would. Convincing her to go out with him, to do anything with him, always worked better when he was face-to-face with her.

He leaned into her car window. “Hey, before you go…” She tensed slightly, so he put his hand over hers on the steering wheel.

Aiden briefly explained his brother’s and Shane’s partnership, and the celebratory cocktail party scheduled for this weekend. “Landon will be there, and my sister, Angel. Shane invited Evan and me, I think so we wouldn’t feel left out.” He wished he could see Sadie’s eyes. With sunglasses hiding her eyes he wasn’t sure what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

Stop stalling.

He squeezed her hand and shot her a smile. “Come with me, Sadie. Be my date.”

* * *

Sadie rested the statuette on her desk. A few coworkers poked their heads into her cube and congratulated her some more. The awards ceremony took up the entire afternoon and now most of Midwest’s employees were filing out to the destination of happy hour.

Sadie had worked so long, so hard to achieve number one in sales at Midwest. She studied the gold placard with her name engraved on it, and thought she should feel more of a…she didn’t know…an oomph or something. More powerful, or successful. Ready to tackle her job with renewed fervor.

Instead, she felt sort of meh.

Maybe the cloud overshadowing her achievement was the invitation from Aiden on her last day at Axle’s. Not only would tomorrow be her first real, official date with Aiden since last year, which, face it, she wasn’t a hundred percent certain was a good idea, but the party was also a very classy affair. Crickitt and her billionaire husband would be throwing the soiree at Diamond Crown Hall, and that place was fancy. Sadie should know. She’d booked her wedding reception at Diamond Crown.

She wasn’t sure if returning to the site of her former reception-to-be was what was making her skin crawl, or that she’d finally be meeting Aiden’s siblings. All of them. The sister from Tennessee, the brother from Columbus, the other brother from Chicago. She had no idea how she felt about that…or how she’d be received.

When she thought of seeing Aiden, however, a satisfied little smile curved her lips. She missed him, missed seeing him at Axle’s, missed him taking up her space. She’d thought of him often, while running her sales appointments, or at random times during the day. Her mind had been on him more than not.

When Midwest’s new catalogs had come in earlier this week, she’d used the excuse to pop in and see him. But when she’d gotten to Axle’s, Aiden had left for the day. She’d stayed and made small talk with Axle—very small talk; this was Axle, after all—but she’d kept one eye on the door on the off chance Aiden might walk through it.

They’d sort of left their…relationship?…on eternal pause. He’d asked her to the party, she’d said yes, and that had been that. But now instead of that there was this. This unsatisfied…this she felt now that she hadn’t seen Aiden for a week. She glanced at her calendar. Had it only been a week? It felt more like a month.

Her eyes went to her cell and she thought of calling him. She didn’t have his number saved into her phone any longer, but she could call Axle. He would give it to her if she made up a good enough story. She wondered if Aiden had kept her number. Surely he’d call before tomorrow.

Perry walked into Sadie’s cubicle and she stopped staring at her phone. No amount of “using the Force” would make the dang thing ring anyway. Perry folded himself into a bow, his tie swinging back and forth between them. “I hereby renounce my feud for number one,” he said. He rose and looked at his watch. “For the next thirty-six hours. Then it’s on.”

She had half a mind to brain him with her trophy.

His smile faltered and, for a moment, she was sure she’d said that out loud. “I’m sorry I was a prick,” he said. “You won fair and square, and I’m a horrible, terrible person during competitions.”

“Only then?” she asked drily.

He chuckled and pointed an Oh, you finger at her.

Sadie gave him a composed smile. She was pretty sure his recent attitude adjustment could be credited to Aiden. Just thinking of the way Aiden stood up for her honor at Rick’s party made her want to fan herself. She would have smiled, but she didn’t want to smile at Perry.

“I’ll take whatever reprieve you offer. However brief,” she told Perry.

“Truce?”

She regarded his outstretched hand before folding her arms over her chest. “For now.”

* * *

Aiden called.

Saturday afternoon, Sadie had been hobbling around with wet toenails and cotton weaved between her toes when her phone rang. She had to run on her heels to avoid smearing her pedi.

Hearing his voice made her heart swell, had memories cascading over her. Memories of kissing him, holding him, and the way he looked sprawled on her couch wearing nothing but his skivvies.

Which is precisely why Sadie used the excuse of an errand so she could drive herself to the reception hall. She was too nervous to have Aiden come to her place. Where she’d missed him in her space yesterday, today the idea of him in her apartment felt like a bad idea. She wasn’t sure why, but the pressure had mounted. Before, there was none, but now, she felt as if a pipe had burst and she was hip-deep in it, a dangerous undercurrent threatening to tow her down.

It was just a feeling, really. A pit-of-her-stomach gut call she couldn’t make sense of.

Sadie followed the signature patterned carpet of Diamond Crown Hall past smaller rooms hosting various celebrations as she looked for the August-Downey affair. The Klepps’ reception, Jim and Nancy’s fiftieth anniversary party, Jillian’s Sweet Sixteen…Finally she reached the room Shane had booked for his gathering and her heart sank. It was the very same room Sadie had booked for The Wedding That Never Was.

She steeled her spine and plowed forward. It wasn’t as if the site were haunted by unpleasant memories. Although, in a way, it kind of was.

Sadie may not have had her garter removed in here, or sliced her eight-tiered red velvet cake, but this was where her life was supposed to start. The marriage to Trey would have put an end to her single life and marked the beginning of the rest of her life.

Or so she’d thought.

When Trey and Celeste had married each other instead, Sadie’s forward progress had ground to a halt. And now she was…What was she doing? Perpetually bobbing along…randomly dating?

Aiden and I could date.

Excitement flitted through her veins.

What a brilliant idea.

Not that it hadn’t occurred to her before now, but whenever the thought arose, she shoved it back down again. Now that she thought about it—really thought about it—she liked the idea even more.

Aiden admitted he wanted her, and if she had any doubts, she couldn’t deny she’d felt the press of his manhood against her hip a time or two. As much as she hated to steal his reclaimed virtue…well, hell, who was she kidding? She didn’t mind at all.

Maybe she should apply a bit more pressure tonight. And a bit more the next date. Dating Aiden would be fine, wouldn’t it? Dating and sleeping with Aiden sounded finer than frog hair, as a matter of fact. She could stop fretting once and for all. If she could convince him to take her to bed, she thought with an evil smirk.

Oh yes. She liked this plan.

Music drifted from the double doors of the main ballroom. Soft notes of the piano, the rasp of cymbals, the smooth cadence of horns. The sign out front read AUGUST INDUSTRIES & DOWNEY DESIGN GALA. Sadie gripped the handle and let herself in.

Shane knew how to throw a party. From the candles and vases of live flowers scattered around the room, to the low light cast on the walls, every square inch of the room spoke suave sophistication. Since this was a Black and White Party, the guests were asked to dress accordingly. The wait staff was dressed in black and white, but wore ties in August Industries’ signature bold blue and silver to differentiate them from the guests.

Sadie used the excuse to purchase a short white dress with a black lace overlay. The ornate black chandelier-style earrings and beaded black bracelet were also new, as were the four-inch satin high heels with lace overlay that matched her dress.

Matching lace overlay. She hadn’t been able to resist.

She spotted Aiden standing with a man who could only be his brother. He was a few inches taller than Aiden, his hair the same dark shade of blond, but his was a much crisper cut than Aiden’s careless shag.

Both men wore black on black, but Aiden’s suit was playful, the cut casual. He didn’t wear a tie and his shirt hung open at the collar. The very picture of easygoing. Conversely, the other man’s outfit was made up of razor-sharp lines, matching his angled, clean-shaven jaw, and a black tie sliced down the center of his shirt. As if he felt her eyes on him, Aiden turned and waved Sadie over.

When she reached him, he took her hand. “This beautiful woman is with me, if you can believe it,” Aiden said, his eyes shining as he smiled down at her. “Sadie, this guy, despite his appearance, is not a celebrity. He’s just my brother Landon.”

“Nice to meet you.” Sadie extended a hand.

“And you,” Landon said with a regal tilt of his head. He took her hand in a corporate handshake. He was handsome, no doubt about it. From his stylish black-framed glasses to the enviable cheekbones beneath them. But the seriousness in his eyes and his firm, flat line of a mouth made him less approachable than Aiden. She turned back to Aiden, his familiar smiling face like a blast of warmth.

“Would you like a Blue Martini?” Aiden asked, moving her hand to his arm. “They’re the signature drink of the evening.”

“Please.” Happiness trickled molasses-slow down her spine. She liked being here with him. She’d probably like being anywhere with him. She may as well loosen up and have some fun, especially since she planned on convincing Aiden to have some fun, too. The kind of fun that wouldn’t require a scrap of the clothing he wore now, she thought with a devilish grin. But first, she had to play the game. They were on a date. Sadie was good at dating. She practically had a 4.0 in dating.

“Your brother seems very…professional,” she told him as they meandered through the well-dressed crowd.

Aiden chuckled. “He’s a serious guy. Brilliant head for business. He and Shane will make good partners.”

Shane had a brilliant head for business, too, but according to Crickitt, he managed to keep a firm hold on his playfulness. Landon struck her as the type to ream the waiter if his martini wasn’t precisely chilled to a preferred temperature.

Blue drinks in hand, Sadie and Aiden made their way to one of the chairless tables scattered around the room. There was an occasional stuffed sofa or ottoman along the wall, but they were full.

“They don’t want people lounging, do they?” she asked.

“They don’t want them to eat much, either.” He cast a dubious glance at the table of plated tapas in beautiful but miniscule portions.

“The prosciutto bruschetta looks delicious,” Sadie said.

“It is,” Aiden said. “I’ve had about fourteen of them.”

She laughed, but Aiden didn’t join her. His smile dropped, shoulders tightened. She followed his eyeline to the man approaching. He was dressed in black pants and a white shirt, and his sleeves were pushed over forearms decorated with tattoos. This had to be Aiden’s other brother. His facial features were a mix of Aiden and Landon, but his hair was several shades darker. The bump on his nose was his own and hinted that this Downey brother had lived a rougher life than the other two. A shock of dark hair dropped over his forehead when he nodded at Aiden, his mouth set in a hard line.

“Sadie,” Aiden said, his tone careful. “My brother Evan.”

Evan gave her a curt nod but kept his hands in his pockets. She retracted the hand she held out for him and clutched her purse under her arm instead.

“Lyon is a great kid,” she said. To her surprise, Evan’s face broke into a small smile.

He shrugged one shoulder. “He’s his mother.”

She cast a sideways glance at Aiden. A muscle in his jaw ticked and Sadie inched closer to him, brushing his arm with hers. Aiden wrapped an arm around her waist and took a breath, calming some now that she’d reminded him she was here.

Tension strung between these two in a practically visible cord. Sadie remembered what Aiden told her in her kitchen, about how his brothers held Aiden responsible for having taken their mother to Oregon. Half of her wanted to lecture Evan and defend Aiden. The other half of her knew exactly how Evan felt. She’d been betrayed back then, too. No matter how righteous Aiden’s reasoning, Sadie had been hurt. And recovering would take time, because hurt…well…it hurt. There wasn’t much anyone could do besides wait it out.

Evan took his hand from his pocket and ran a hand through his hair. A tattoo of a bird decorated the inside of his forearm. She grasped his wrist, startling him, but he let her look. Not just a bird, then, she thought as she turned his arm to get a better look. A sparrow. Holding a string of hearts in its beak. One heart had snapped from the rest and was broken in two.

“Lyon’s mom?” she guessed.

Evan’s mouth turned down as he studied the artwork on his arm like he hadn’t looked at it in a while. “Yeah.”

She kept her hand on him, letting her palm warm his skin. When he met her eye, she said, “I’m sorry.”

His eyebrows met over his nose in a brief flinch. “Thank you,” he said with a nod.

Sadie released his arm. She knew Lyon’s mother had passed away, but Sadie wasn’t sure if she and Evan were a couple when she died. It was clear from the anguish darkening Evan’s blue eyes that they were. And it made Sadie’s chest ache to see how much the loss still hurt him.

As badly as she and Aiden’s breakup had been, at least he was here next to her. She could touch him, look into his eyes, talk to him.

A bit of ink peeked out of Evan’s sleeve and a design tracked up his other arm. “I like your tats,” Sadie said, hoping to steer the conversation onto smoother terrain. “Aiden’s is really good. Did you do it?”

Evan’s mouth turned down and he cast an angry look at his brother. “You have a tattoo?”

Oops.

“When?” Evan demanded.

“After Mom…” Aiden didn’t finish, his posture going rigid.

Sadie tipped her head in Landon’s direction, hoping the mention of their oldest brother would end this conversation. “What about him? Does he have any?”

“If he did, I’d have done them,” Evan grumbled.

“Ev.” Aiden’s tone was a warning.

Sadie looked over at Landon again. A glaringly beautiful woman approached, her long honey-colored curls dripping down her lithe, lean frame. She turned and Sadie nearly swallowed her tongue. Lissa Francine? Lissa, a lingerie model and runway queen, was here in the enviable flesh. Sadie would trade her entire shoe collection to have a body like hers. Lissa leaned in and said something to Landon. Sadie didn’t think it was possible for him to look less comfortable until his face twisted into a grimace. He followed her woodenly across the room in measured, reluctant steps.

Sadie was about to point out the celebrity in their midst when Evan muttered, “Nice to meet you,” and brushed by them, wandering toward the food.

“He’s cheery,” Sadie said.

”You should have seen him after Rae died,” Aiden told her. “I actually think this is him being cheery.”

“Sorry about the mentioning the tattoo.”

His mouth relaxed and he palmed her back. “You didn’t know.” He slid his eyes down her body and back up, tucking her closer to whisper into her ear. “You look good enough to eat.”

Her knees nearly buckled.

“Speaking of eating,” he said, backing away from her, “if you expect to get a meal out of these hors d’oeuvres, you’d better grab ’em before someone else does.”

After Sadie had eaten her weight in mini crab cakes and was on her second blue drink, Aiden had gone to the bar for a refill. Sadie chose to hang at a table rather than go with him. She sent a wave across the room to Crickitt, who shrugged in apology as she hobnobbed with a few of the company’s mucky-mucks. Sadie waved her off with a shake of her head. Shane had made Crickitt full partner; Sadie understood that she needed to work the room.

“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?”