Hard to Handle (Love in the Balance 2)

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—”