Hard to Handle (Love in the Balance 2)

“You’re back,” Aiden said. She offered him a tight smile. “Forget something?” Funny how she’d left minutes ago and he was already glad to see her again.

She’d turned him into a damn golden retriever.

“Yes,” she said, followed by…nothing.

He raised his eyebrows and lowered his chin, prompting her to speak. She didn’t. Only turned her head and stared in the opposite direction down the road. “Okay,” he said. “Have fun doing…whatever it is you’re doing.”

He turned his back on her and counted to three, unable to keep the smile from spreading his lips when she spoke. Right on cue.

“Do you think I could talk you into going to a party?”

* * *

“You’re inviting me to a party?” Aiden looked confused.

That made two of them.

This was why she hadn’t asked him yet. She couldn’t decide if she should play the angle of him setting Perry straight, or mention she needed him to run interference in case Rick asked her out again. Maybe she should admit the underlying truth. That she kind of, sort of wanted to hang out with him. Aiden was fun. And good in uncomfortable situations. She could hide behind him tonight while he charmed everyone within earshot.

“Every year a client of mine has a Summer’s Passing party,” she started.

“‘Summer’s Passing’? I like that.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Sadie found herself giving Aiden what might be perceived as a shy smile. Suddenly it was so important for him to say yes. Which put her at a disadvantage. She didn’t like that but plowed forward anyway, her eyebrows pinched together in concentration. “There’s a big bonfire and beer. I just need you for a few hours.”

Aiden rested his palm on the edge of the open window. He had such nice hands. Strong, slightly rough. He was good with his hands.

“What was that last bit?”

She wrenched her gaze from his hand to his face, where she was greeted by those depthless sea green eyes. She managed to speak, albeit through a lump of lust. “Um…I need you…for a few hours?” She wasn’t sure if that’s what he was clarifying or not.

“You need me,” he repeated, holding her gaze. The cool evening breeze sent his short hair over his forehead, and that irresistible dimple dented his cheek. Seeing it made her remember how she’d kissed it once, darted her tongue into the groove and back out again. Her heart fluttered. She did need him. In more ways than one.

“I guess I do.” She forced the haze from her brain. It was only fair he knew the truth, knew what he was walking into. “The host, Rick, and I dated. Briefly,” she added.

Aiden nodded but said nothing, his handsome face unreadable.

“I ended it. I don’t even know why I let it get as far as I did.” A flash of something lit Aiden’s eyes. Anger? Hurt? She couldn’t tell. “I mean, it didn’t get that far, but I definitely went to more two-for-forty-dollars dinners than I wanted to. This is the first time I’ve seen him since I dumped him. And I can’t not go, since he’s my customer,” she said, unable to stop rambling. “I guess I’m asking you to come with me because I need…”

“A buffer.” Aiden finished.

She bit her lip. The definition of irony was asking Aiden to be a buffer when Aiden was the one she needed a buffer for. She nodded.

Hand still on her car, Aiden leaned his head through the open window. Sadie held her breath, watching his lips draw closer to hers. He stopped short of brushing her nose with his and she licked her bottom lip.

His voice was a low rasp when he spoke. “Why didn’t you say so?”

Before she’d succeeded to pull air into her deflated lungs, Aiden was in the car, belt buckled. “I’ll even let you drive,” he said with a wink.

Sadie pulled onto the street, utterly distracted by the heat emanating off her passenger. Woodsy-smelling, toothpaste-commercial-worthy Aiden Downey. Right next to her. Her hands grew damp on the steering wheel. He was sitting too close, was too distracting. Operating the gas pedal and steering wheel simultaneously wasn’t normally an issue she struggled with.

Maybe she should let him drive.

His bare arm brushed hers as he turned down the radio, sending goose bumps to the surface of her skin and her thoughts into dangerous territory. She jerked her arm, nearly veering into a cornfield.

“I was planning on taking the bike out,” he said, sounding terribly calm. Being near her hadn’t robbed him of his faculties. “It’s the perfect night for doing something outside.” He glanced her direction. “I’m glad you invited me.”