Trade Off (6 page)

“Thanks.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “You seem happy.”

“I am.” She laughed as she sat across from him. “It’s crazy most days, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Aiden linked his hands in front of him. “You don’t seem too surprised to see me.”

“I had lunch with Sela yesterday while the girls had a play date with my mom. She told me you were back in town.”

He tried to tamp down his frustration at being a day late. “I’m willin’ to bet she also asked you not to tell me what I need to know.”

Sharon brought the coffee mug to her lips before setting it on the table and circling her hands around it. “I hate being caught in the middle like this. I love Sela, she’s like a sister to me, and I would never betray her confidence…” She looked him in the eye. “Not even for you, Aiden. I’m sorry.”

He knew this wasn’t Sharon’s fault. He would feel the same way in her position. “Is there anything you can tell me, like maybe why you and Neil broke up? Did it have anything to do with his feelings for Sela?” He raked his hands through his hair. “Shar, it’s killin’ me, not knowin’ whether my best friend was in love with my girlfriend all that time and I was just too blind to see what was right in front of me.”

“He wasn’t.” She slid a plain gold band around on her finger. “At least I don’t think he was. I was the one who broke up with him, because I met my husband, James. He took it pretty hard, told me he loved me, that he wanted to marry me, and…” She shrugged. “You know how persuasive Neil can be when he wants something.”

“Obviously, it was harder for Sela to resist him than it was for you.” He leaned back in the chair and laced his hands behind his head. “What she that lonely after I left? I mean, do you think that’s why she hooked up with him?”

“I know she missed you. She talked about you every day.”

“Then how the hell did she go from missin’ me to marryin’ him? It doesn’t make sense.”

“You’re right, nothing about her relationship with Neil makes sense to me. But it’s her life, her choice.”

He was afraid to ask the next question, but he knew Sharon’s answer would help him decide how to proceed. “Is she happy with him?”

“You’re gonna have to ask her that question. It’s not for me to say.”

Aiden wasn’t surprised Sharon was as loyal to Sela now as she was years ago. Their friendship had obviously withstood the test of time for a reason. “Are you and Neil still friends?”

She smiled. “I don’t know if I’d go that far. We tolerate each other; him and James, not so much.”

Aiden chuckled. “I can understand why.” He knew he wasn’t going to learn anything more about what had happened years ago, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t glean some insight into how his ex felt now. “I was thinkin’ about askin’ Sela to help me find a house. You think she’d be willin’?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her.”

“Man, you’re not even gonna throw me a bone here, are ya?”

She looked at him a long time before she said, “You know Sela’s a private person. The only people aside from herself and Neil who knew what was goin’ on in her head after you left town were me and her parents.”

“You’re tellin’ me I should talk to them?” Aiden had always had a great relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Clarke. In spite of the fact they were young, Sela’s parents always assumed he would be their son-in-law one day. He couldn’t help but wonder how they felt about Neil holding that title.

“I’m telling you I can’t help you.”

He heard what she wasn’t saying… It was worth a shot. “They still livin’ in the same house?”

Sharon smiled as she got up to walk him to the door. “Some people are creatures of habit, aren’t they?”

She was telling him everything she could without betraying her friend’s confidence, which told him she was on his side, whether she would admit that or not. He brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Thanks for everything, Shar.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re still a good friend.” He grinned. “I hate that we lost touch when I left Nashville. I should’ve made more of an effort to stay connected to my old friends.”

“You’re back now. It’s not too late.”

“Would it be weird for you, bein’ friends with me again? You know, because of your relationship with Sela?”

“Sela knows how I feel about you.” She reached up to stroke his face. “You’re one of the good guys and she knows that. You’re always welcome in my home, Aiden.”

“Thanks.” He kissed her hand. “Maybe next time I can meet your husband and kids?”

“I’d love that.”

“I meant what I said about those tickets. You want me to hook you up?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. And I want to meet James after the game. Maybe we can go out for a beer. What do you say?”

“That sounds great. Thanks.”

Sela was sitting at her desk, eating a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich while perusing an offer, when a soft tap at her half-open door commanded her attention.

She reached for a napkin and pushed the sandwich aside. “Come in.”

“Hey,” Aiden said, pausing in the doorway. “Does that invitation still stand?”

“What are you doing here?”

She started tidying her desk, needing something to do so she could avoid ogling him. The man standing before her today was even more gorgeous than the boy he used to be. His dark, longish hair was stylishly cut, enhancing the expressive green eyes that had always told her what he was thinking and feeling. The tall, lean boy she remembered had grown into a well-built, muscular man who obviously took good care of himself so he could remain at the top of the game he loved for as long as possible.

“I was hopin’ we could talk.”

Her eyes drifted up, traveling from the well-worn boots to the lightly faded jeans. “Um, if you want to rehash the past, I really don’t have time—”

“No,” he said, taking the seat across from her. “I’m here to talk business.”

“Business?”

“I’m lookin’ for a house. Think you can help me with that?”

Sela knew developing a working relationship with him would be emotional suicide, not to mention that her husband would go ballistic. “I’d be happy to refer you to another agent in my office.”

“I don’t want another agent.
I want you
.”

The weight of those last few words settled over her, delighting and distressing her at the same time. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

He smiled. “We both know the market’s taken a hard hit the last few years. Your office must’ve felt it too, right?”

They barely met their monthly expenses, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting as much. “What’s your point?”

“At the risk of sounding like an arrogant ass…” He grinned. “My pockets are pretty deep. It could be a nice sale for you or for the office down the street. It’s up to you.”

Failure wasn’t an option for Sela. Her business was the only thing she had left in her life to warrant getting out of bed in the morning. She’d never borrowed a dime from her husband or parents and she vowed she never would, no matter how dire things seemed at times. She’d worked her way up from a struggling new agent, saving every extra cent from her commission checks so she could open her own office. They’d only been in business a few months when the global market started to soften, taking their tiny office down with it.

“What’s your budget?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinkin’ five to seven mil, but I’d be willin’ to go higher for the right property.” He shrugged when her mouth fell open. “I don’t have a lot of the vices some of the other guys have. I’m not into sports cars, I don’t have any expensive hobbies…” He rubbed his hand over the dark stubble covering his tense jaw. “I’ve reinvested most of what I’ve earned. In some cases, I’ve managed to double or triple my money.”

If he was trying to impress her, it was working. The boy she used to know only cared about getting that coveted ice time and how he was going to make the most of it once he was out there. “Okay, well, it would take me some time to see what’s out there.”

“Does that mean you’re willing to work with me?”

The commission on that one sale could keep her business afloat for several months. What choice did she have? “I suppose so, as long as you understand that the past is off limits.” She offered her hand to seal the deal. “And so is my marriage. This is about me helping you find a house, nothing more. Agreed?”

He took her hand and looked her in the eye. “We used to be friends. Remember what that was like?”

She’d only spent the past eight years trying to forget. “I said I don’t want to talk about the past.”

He leaned forward, still holding her hand. “This is the only thing I’ll say about it, I swear.” He propped his elbow on the desk and brought her hand to rest against his cheek. “You used to be the person I called when I needed to talk, the last one I thought about before I went to bed. Yours was the face I saw, the one that made me smile when I woke up in the mornin’…”

It seemed so unfair that his words still had the power to affect her this way after so many years. She’d built a protective armor that made her immune to other men, but a few minutes in his company reminded her that she would never be safe from this man.

“You were my best friend, my lover, my everything.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and tried to withdraw her hand, but he held firm.

“I respect the fact that you’re married now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, does it?”

The seemingly innocuous question was loaded with enough ammunition to blow her orderly world apart and he knew it. “How am I supposed to explain to my husband that I’ve decided to befriend my ex-boyfriend?”

“He doesn’t have female friends?” His eyes narrowed when she didn’t respond right away. “Please don’t tell me he’s cheatin’ on you.”

He shouldn’t be able to read her so well after all these years, but they’d always had an inexplicable connection. No one, not even Sharon, understood her the way he had. “I didn’t say that.” She pulled her hand free. “Besides, I told you, my marriage is off limits.”

His gaze was hard and unforgiving when he glared at her. “Fine, but if I find out he’s messin’ around on you, I will kick the shit out of him. You can count on that.”

“Aiden, please…” His anger gave her a glimpse into what she could expect to see if he ever found out about the baby she’d intended to keep from him. “This is none of your business.”

“Like hell it isn’t. That worthless bastard stole the woman I love the second my back was turned. The least he can do is treat you the way you deserve to be treated. And if he’s not, I can promise you, he’ll be answerin’ to me.”

Aiden leaned over Sela’s shoulder. Bracing his fists on the desk on either side of her, he tried to pretend the subtle scent of her expensive perfume wasn’t making focusing on the impressive images and virtual tours she was using to entice him into buying a property difficult.

“So, I’m thinking our best options are in Belle Meade, Forest Hills, and Northumberland.”

“Great, let’s go and have a look.”

The tightened grip on her pen was the only indication that the prospect of spending time alone with him unnerved her. “Um, right now?”

“Sure, why not?” He leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms and legs. “You need to take care of somethin’ else?” He could see her mentally scrambling, trying to come up with any excuse to prolong the inevitable.

“Uh no, but most people ask for at least twenty-four hours’ notice prior to showings.”

He looked at the images of the house filling her screen. “That one looks vacant, so it shouldn’t be a problem, should it?”

She sighed before reaching for her notepad. “Let me see what I can do. If we’re gonna do this, we may as well try and see at least a few properties today… for comparison’s sake.” She jotted down a few addresses and MLS numbers before picking up her desk phone. “Corine, I’d like you set up a few appointments for me.”

Aiden listened to her recite the information as he took advantage of the time to note the subtle differences that made her the woman instead of the girl he used to love. The most notable, and most painful, was the large diamond on her left hand. So many times over the years he’d passed a jewelry store and a flawless diamond captured his interest, but the only woman he could imagine wearing his ring was already wearing another man’s, and thinking about it still cut him to the core.

“Corine is setting it up.” She withdrew a contract from her desk drawer as she tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “It shouldn’t be a problem. To be honest, the estate homes don’t get a lot of showings, especially in this economy, so I can’t see anyone refusing your request for a showing.”

“No worries,” he said, reclaiming the guest chair before folding one leg over the other. “I’m not in a hurry or anything.”

“Are you staying with your parents while you look for a house?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “It’ll be a few weeks before they start drivin’ me crazy, and by then we’ll be gearin’ up for the regular season.”