Hard to Handle (Love in the Balance 2)

Aiden didn’t notice. He’d already started toward the back of the store. “Gonna get more coffee,” he called over his shoulder, reaching up to tap the doorway over his head as he walked under it. “Since somebody is drinking mine.”

* * *

Giving Sadie his coffee hadn’t completely erased the devastation she’d hauled into the shop with her this morning. Not that he’d expected miracles, but he made really, really good coffee. She’d snapped out of her bad mood for an hour or so, but after, there’d been a constant frown marring her features.

Watching her dash back and forth to the warehouse, take things off of the display tables only to put them back on, and switch out the mannequins clothing in the front window three times (that he’d seen) was wearing him out. Normally she’d have left by now, to run more sales calls or go back to her office and finish out the day.

Not today, though. Today, she was avoiding something. If he had to guess, the office, and her insulting coworker.

Just some jerk I work with.

Aiden could meander on over to Midwest Motorcycle Supplies and find said jerk she worked with. He could have a talk with him. Or hit him. Whichever came first.

An hour before Axle’s closed, Aiden spotted Sadie at the window, fretting over what geometric shape to stack the Midwest boxes on the table. She darted past him and went outside, scowling through the window at her display. Unhappy, she came back in and started dismantling the pile. Again.

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.”