Free Hard to Handle by Jessica Lemmon Page A

Sadie’s wrist to halt her tirade on the woes of corporate restructuring. “All the more reason for you to help me convince him I’m the right buyer.”
    She looked at his hand covering hers, then back at him, her expression hardening. “Okay.” She folded her hands together on the table and the sharp glint returned to her brown eyes. “Tell me your plan and I’ll tell you if it’s crap or not.”
    *  *  *
    “Going to see your boyfriend today?” Perry chimed in as Sadie knelt to retrieve a granola bar from the break room vending machine.
    Clenching her teeth into a forced a smile, Sadie stood and faced him. “Which one?”
    “Touché. I’m talking about Axle. You have to be doing something to have landed that five-store deal. He turned you down for three years straight,” Perry said, suffering no shyness when it came to reminding her how she’d struggled.
    Sadie clenched her fist around her breakfast, the foil wrapper crinkling. “My persistence paid off, I guess,” she said as she headed for the door.
    “Or maybe it’s because you used to date the new guy.”
    Sadie halted midstep. She shouldn’t turn around. Shouldn’t give merit to Perry’s jabbering. But neither could she let him spread rumors and tarnish her reputation. She forced a placid expression and faced him. “What are you talking about?”
    “Word gets around,” Perry said, not bothering to answer her. He didn’t say like you , but his smarmy smile implied it.
    “Well…he had nothing to do with it.”
    “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Perry said with an exaggerated shrug. “He dumped you, right? Probably doesn’t take you into consideration at all.”
    When Sadie pulled in and parked in Axle’s lot, she was still seething from her run-in with Perry. Normally Perry was flirtatious just this side of annoying, but ever since she’d landed Axle’s stores, he’d been downright mean. He’d hit her below the belt this morning, and without a twinkle of levity in his eye. He’d meant to throw her off, make her stumble. She recalled the smirk on his face.
    Bastard.
    She stomped to the front door. It was unlocked, but the store didn’t open for another fifteen minutes. Good. She could use a few minutes to pull herself together. Her anger was burning off and if she wasn’t careful, would turn into tears. She may as well have eaten an estrogen sandwich this morning for how emotionally off-kilter she felt.
    This , she could not allow.
    She took a few deep breaths, sealing her emotions behind a brick wall of confidence. She could do this, could ignore the shake working its way down her arms to her fingers and causing her pen to rattle. Or so she thought. It was hard to write legibly when her body shook like she’d mainlined a triple espresso.
    Giving up her note-taking, she propped her elbows on a shelf. She was grateful the store lights were off, and sucked in a clarifying breath. She visualized her anger ebbing, but it didn’t recede. It persisted, simmering just under the surface. How had Perry found out about Aiden? They didn’t know each other. She hadn’t shared her heartbreak with anyone at work. Unless…
    She had several phone conversations with Crickitt last year, especially after Aiden left for Oregon. Many of them were made from the faux privacy of her open-air cubicle. Anyone could have heard. Perry could have easily eavesdropped and mentally logged the conversations for later…to throw her off when she was getting ahead.
    “Bastard,” Sadie growled as the overhead lights winked on.
    “Hope you’re not talking about me,” Aiden said, strolling down the aisle in her direction.
    Sadie faced him. He looked as warm and welcome and familiar as Perry did standoffish, undesirable, and douchey. She shook her head. “Not you.”
    Aiden assessed her before offering her the mug in his hand. “You look like you need this more than I do.”
    “Only if there’s whiskey in it.”
    “Like I said.”
    She couldn’t help