Tempting the Billionaire (Love in the Balance 1)

She appreciated the support, but couldn’t agree. It may have been easier to be angry with Shane, but how could she fault him? He’d been transparent from the start. Crickitt told him to give her what he could, and that was exactly what he’d done. She was the one who became disappointed when it wasn’t more.

“We agreed to keep it casual,” Crickitt explained. “I was the one who changed the rules.”

“Yeah,” Sadie said, “I know what you mean. I did the same thing with Aiden.” She quirked her lips. “I was so sure I wouldn’t fall…” She shook her head, unable to finish her sentence. Resting her chin on one knee, she stared at the sofa cushion between them. “The night I met him, we spent the entire night talking.”

“Talking? Is that what you kids call it now?”

“Ha-ha.” Sadie gave her a good-natured eye roll. “I told him things I never tell anyone. We talked about my crazy family, about Trey marrying Celeste.”

Crickitt raised a brow. Sadie never talked about her ex-fiancé. Never.

“I know, right?” Sadie said, noticing Crickitt’s silent reaction. “Aiden’s mother is dying and here I sit, unable to feel anything but jealousy because he’s pretending to be married to his scumbag, cheating ex-wife.”

Crickitt’s stomach clenched. “And he believes lying to his mother is better than telling her the truth?”

Sadie shrugged.

Crickitt considered the blessing of having both her parents alive. Sadie didn’t have her father. Shane didn’t have his father or his mother. And Aiden’s mother was terminally ill. “It must not be easy for him. To balance obligation, duty, and grief.” Realizing she was on the verge of defending the man who broke Sadie’s heart, Crickitt added, “Oh, my gosh. Sadie, I’m sorry.”

Sadie shot her a remorseful smile. “No, you’re right. I’m being selfish. Which is nothing new. He’s going through this horrific family turmoil, and all I can think about is how he didn’t even give me a chance to step up.” She pinned Crickitt with a look. “I would’ve.”

“Of course you would’ve,” Crickitt said, meaning it.

Tears ran down Sadie’s face for the second time tonight. “I don’t understand how I got in so deep so fast.”

“Oh, honey.” Crickitt moved to hug her best friend, but Sadie held up a hand. “Right.” Crickitt resettled against the back of the sofa. “I forgot.”

An earlier hug, when Crickitt ’fessed up about Shane, reduced them into a puddle of wailing sobs. They agreed not to touch each other for the rest of the night.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t know how to stop loving Shane, either. I’ve tried hating him, I’ve tried ignoring him. Nothing works,” Crickitt said. “Maybe I can ask Ronald for some pointers.”

Sadie laughed, pressing her fingers to her lips as if surprised by the sound. “You are so strong, Crickitt.”

“No, I’m really not.”

“I play strong on TV, but you, you’re the warrior of the two of us.”

Crickitt was going to argue, but the truth was, she felt strong. “Thanks, Sadie.”

“I love you, you know.”

She couldn’t help smiling at Sadie’s rare display of affection. “I love you, too.”

Sadie smiled wistfully for a moment before hopping off the couch and reaching for the empty wine bottles. “Enough of this Mush Fest,” she said, heading for the kitchen, bottles clanking against one another. She turned in the doorway. “I assume you’d like more wine.”

Crickitt grinned.

“That’s my girl.”

* * *

Shane couldn’t believe he was in Mexico, and not just because he had to board a plane to get here. When he found out Angel was dating her co-designer, Richie, he couldn’t have been more surprised. Then they announced their nuptials, and suddenly, he was.

As instructed, Shane wore an all-white linen suit and stood in the sand at Aiden’s side to witness Angel’s whirlwind romance advance to the next level. Shane glanced at Angel’s flat stomach, recalling Crickitt’s made-up story about Angel wanting to be a stay-at-home mom and wondered how close that dart came to hitting its target. Then he pushed the thought away, preferring not to think of Crickitt at all.

Aiden watched his sister say her vows, his smile wide and genuine. How did he do it?

Harmony had returned along with Kathy’s cancer diagnosis, but she didn’t stick around. Aiden opted not to tell his mother, allowing her to assume Harmony was at work, or make up some other plausible excuse, whenever the topic came up.