Hard to Handle (Love in the Balance 2)

She wasn’t sure if returning to the site of her former reception-to-be was what was making her skin crawl, or that she’d finally be meeting Aiden’s siblings. All of them. The sister from Tennessee, the brother from Columbus, the other brother from Chicago. She had no idea how she felt about that…or how she’d be received.

When she thought of seeing Aiden, however, a satisfied little smile curved her lips. She missed him, missed seeing him at Axle’s, missed him taking up her space. She’d thought of him often, while running her sales appointments, or at random times during the day. Her mind had been on him more than not.

When Midwest’s new catalogs had come in earlier this week, she’d used the excuse to pop in and see him. But when she’d gotten to Axle’s, Aiden had left for the day. She’d stayed and made small talk with Axle—very small talk; this was Axle, after all—but she’d kept one eye on the door on the off chance Aiden might walk through it.

They’d sort of left their…relationship?…on eternal pause. He’d asked her to the party, she’d said yes, and that had been that. But now instead of that there was this. This unsatisfied…this she felt now that she hadn’t seen Aiden for a week. She glanced at her calendar. Had it only been a week? It felt more like a month.

Her eyes went to her cell and she thought of calling him. She didn’t have his number saved into her phone any longer, but she could call Axle. He would give it to her if she made up a good enough story. She wondered if Aiden had kept her number. Surely he’d call before tomorrow.

Perry walked into Sadie’s cubicle and she stopped staring at her phone. No amount of “using the Force” would make the dang thing ring anyway. Perry folded himself into a bow, his tie swinging back and forth between them. “I hereby renounce my feud for number one,” he said. He rose and looked at his watch. “For the next thirty-six hours. Then it’s on.”

She had half a mind to brain him with her trophy.

His smile faltered and, for a moment, she was sure she’d said that out loud. “I’m sorry I was a prick,” he said. “You won fair and square, and I’m a horrible, terrible person during competitions.”

“Only then?” she asked drily.

He chuckled and pointed an Oh, you finger at her.

Sadie gave him a composed smile. She was pretty sure his recent attitude adjustment could be credited to Aiden. Just thinking of the way Aiden stood up for her honor at Rick’s party made her want to fan herself. She would have smiled, but she didn’t want to smile at Perry.

“I’ll take whatever reprieve you offer. However brief,” she told Perry.

“Truce?”

She regarded his outstretched hand before folding her arms over her chest. “For now.”

* * *

Aiden called.

Saturday afternoon, Sadie had been hobbling around with wet toenails and cotton weaved between her toes when her phone rang. She had to run on her heels to avoid smearing her pedi.

Hearing his voice made her heart swell, had memories cascading over her. Memories of kissing him, holding him, and the way he looked sprawled on her couch wearing nothing but his skivvies.

Which is precisely why Sadie used the excuse of an errand so she could drive herself to the reception hall. She was too nervous to have Aiden come to her place. Where she’d missed him in her space yesterday, today the idea of him in her apartment felt like a bad idea. She wasn’t sure why, but the pressure had mounted. Before, there was none, but now, she felt as if a pipe had burst and she was hip-deep in it, a dangerous undercurrent threatening to tow her down.

It was just a feeling, really. A pit-of-her-stomach gut call she couldn’t make sense of.

Sadie followed the signature patterned carpet of Diamond Crown Hall past smaller rooms hosting various celebrations as she looked for the August-Downey affair. The Klepps’ reception, Jim and Nancy’s fiftieth anniversary party, Jillian’s Sweet Sixteen…Finally she reached the room Shane had booked for his gathering and her heart sank. It was the very same room Sadie had booked for The Wedding That Never Was.

She steeled her spine and plowed forward. It wasn’t as if the site were haunted by unpleasant memories. Although, in a way, it kind of was.

Sadie may not have had her garter removed in here, or sliced her eight-tiered red velvet cake, but this was where her life was supposed to start. The marriage to Trey would have put an end to her single life and marked the beginning of the rest of her life.

Or so she’d thought.

When Trey and Celeste had married each other instead, Sadie’s forward progress had ground to a halt. And now she was…What was she doing? Perpetually bobbing along…randomly dating?