“Need something?”
Sadie started, realizing she was leaning against the endcap, head tilted, staring directly at Aiden. Straightening, she turned her attention to her notebook and pretended to write on it. “Just, uh, planning.”
“Is that so?” He dropped the box and sauntered in her direction.
“Yes.” Her voice was thin, her heartbeat rapidly increasing as Aiden approached with the agility of a lithe jungle cat.
His attention flickered to her lips. “What are you planning?”
She swallowed, unable to think of what to say while he was standing over her looking at her like…like…she didn’t even know. “Um…”
“Well, if you need anything else…” Aiden pulled a stray strand of her hair away from her lipstick and smoothed it behind her ear, brushing her cheek with the back of his hand as he did. “Be sure to let me know.”
His lips quirked and she studied the short, pale patch of hair beneath his lower lip, unable to remember why she wasn’t allowed to kiss this bronzed Adonis.
But when he pulled his hand away, the words from their final phone call echoed in her ears. When he told her his mother was dying, and he was moving with her to the facility in Oregon. His family hadn’t known he was divorced, so it wasn’t like he could have introduced Sadie to them. And it wasn’t like she could have gone with him.
She wondered if she would have. Maybe.
No matter. Sadie hadn’t fit into his life then. She didn’t fit now. Aiden, no matter how attractive, no matter what her body insisted she do to him, had chosen to end things with her last year. And just because he regretted it now didn’t mean Sadie had waited around for his epiphany.
She learned her lesson. Once from Trey. Once from Aiden. And twice was enough.
Chapter 4
Aiden literally counted his steps to the counter, wondering the entire way if Sadie was still watching him. He told himself to keep his distance today, but then he caught her checking him out and couldn’t resist seeing how close he could get before she swatted at him like an irritated cat.
Closer than he thought.
And he could swear she’d stared at his mouth as he stared at hers. Under the pretense of moving a hair stuck to her glossed lips, he’d brushed his hand along her cheek, but he’d wanted to do more. So much more. Lean in and kiss her like he had last year, if for no other reason than to remind himself what it felt like to be wanted.
Aiden dug a box cutter out of the drawer next to the cash register, risking a look at the rear of the store. Sadie knelt on the floor, studying several sheets of paper lined up in a row. Those pants. Was she trying to give him a heart attack? The shiny black material barely qualified as material at all, hugging her curves like they’d been spray-painted on.
Blowing out a breath, Aiden sliced through the tape. A large bag filled with colorful key chains was on top, directions and several numbered pieces for the five-foot-tall display beneath. Tossing aside directions—they’d do more harm than good anyway—Aiden began assembling the display.
At first his mind was consumed by the task of getting all four sides to sit on the swiveling bottom portion. But once the skeleton was built, it was only a matter of snapping a hundred tiny pegs into the holes, and soon his thoughts wandered to the blonde at the back of the store.
Sadie was gorgeous in red. When he caught sight of her outside this morning, she stole his breath. Her smooth blonde ponytail and tall heels were the stuff of men’s fantasies. And yet, the sexiest thing she wore was the delicate red scarf tied around her neck. There was something about the skin hidden beneath the shock of sheer fabric that tempted him to undo the knot and slide it aside, rasping her neck with his mouth.
Hiding behind the display, he adjusted his too-tight jeans, pushing the thought out of his head. Turned on by a neckerchief. Quite a feat considering she should have a permit to wear those pants.
One thing was for sure, Aiden was going to have to rein in his roving hormones if they’d be working together for the next month. And, according to the proposal and contract he’d signed, it’d be at least that long. Sadie would be organizing shelving, reducing prices of other parts stocked in the warehouse, and buying any she didn’t sell out of her pocket. He wasn’t the least bit surprised she’d taken on the initiative, personally. Sadie was no stranger to taking charge.
Like that night at his house when she’d tugged the tie out of his hair and breathed into his ear. That was all it’d taken for him to dive into her mouth and lay her flat beneath him.
Ah, hell. He readjusted himself again, this time hiding behind the cash register before Sadie caught him fantasizing like an eighth-grade boy who couldn’t control his hormones.