The Bachelor's Perfect Match

His family genealogy?

“Never mind.” Aiden planted his crutch against the floor and levered himself out of the chair. “It was stupid...”

And so was he. For eavesdropping on a conversation. For totally misunderstanding said conversation.

For thinking this was a good idea.

He made it two steps before Maddie landed in front of him, cutting off his escape.

“Aiden...wait.”

Even with a broken wrist and two cracked ribs, Aiden could have brushed Maddie Montgomery aside with no more effort than it would have taken to shoo away a butterfly. But because Sunni insisted her sons use good manners, he produced a grin instead.

“Look, no worries. I’m sorry for barging in on your study session tonight.” Aiden tried to ease around her and found his path blocked again.

“Who do you want to find?”

Aiden opened his mouth to tell Maddie that he didn’t want her help after all, but what came out instead was, “My sister.”

“I...I didn’t know you had a sister.”

“I didn’t either, until a few months ago.” Aiden couldn’t prevent the bitterness from seeping into his voice.

But Maddie didn’t gasp or pelt him with questions. She waited, her silence giving Aiden the freedom to retreat or explain.

Retreat seemed like the better option. Until now, it hadn’t occurred to Aiden that asking for help would mean opening the door to the past and allowing someone to see the skeletons rattling around in the Kane family closet.

He and his brothers had moved to Castle Falls when they were kids, but the past cast a long shadow. People still didn’t understand why the Masons had become foster parents and opened their home—and their hearts—to three troubled boys. And when Rich had unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack six months later, some of Sunni’s closest friends had encouraged her to send Aiden and his brothers back to Detroit.

Sunni had listened to God and adopted them instead, although they hadn’t legally changed their last name to Mason. Aiden hadn’t questioned the reasons behind that decision—or who’d made it—until Brendan had finally gotten around to telling the rest of the family they had a sister out there who might want to find them someday.

And family meant everything to Aiden.

He hadn’t been wanted—something Carla Kane had reminded Aiden often enough—but it was tearing him apart inside that their younger sister might have grown up believing the same thing.

“Our biological mother gave the baby up for adoption after she was born,” he finally said. “I thought...”

“I might know how to find her,” Maddie finished.

“Right.” Aiden touched the bandage on his forehead, hoping Maddie would dismiss the crazy notion as a side effect of his injuries. Playing the concussion card had worked pretty well with his brothers, after all.

“Maddie?”

They both turned toward the doorway, and Maddie’s face lit with a smile.

“Dad! I didn’t expect to see you until tomorrow night.”

A man with thinning gray hair and a frame the width of Aiden’s fly rod stepped into the room.

“I didn’t mean to intrude.” His gaze bounced from Maddie to Aiden and then back again. “I found some of those apples you like at the grocery store and thought I’d drop them off on my way home.”

“That wouldn’t be because you’re hoping I have time to make a pie for dessert tomorrow night, now, would it?” Maddie teased.

“Of course not.” Her dad flicked a look at Aiden. “I know how precious your free time is, sweetheart.”

Aiden didn’t miss the subtle implication that there were people in the room who didn’t.

“The door to my apartment is open.” Maddie’s smile didn’t waver. “I’ll meet you upstairs in a few minutes. Aiden just had a question for me.”

The only thing that moved was the man’s eyebrows. They sank together over the bridge of his nose in a frown that had probably scared away every guy who’d dared to ask Maddie out on a date.

It was a good thing Aiden didn’t scare easily.

Whoa. Where had that thought come from?

Not that Aiden had a problem asking a girl out. But like his brother Liam had so helpfully pointed out a few months ago, Aiden’s problem was that he never followed up with a second or third date.

Because of that, he’d gotten a reputation for avoiding commitment when the opposite was true. Because of his childhood, Aiden understood its value more than most guys his age. He never made promises he didn’t intend to keep. Aiden wasn’t a heartbreaker, but until he met a woman he could trust—with the good, the bad and the ugly—he stuck to the shallow end of the dating pool.

“That’s okay.” He tucked the crutch under his arm. “I have to go, anyway.” Sunni, who’d dropped Aiden off while she ran a few errands in town, was probably wondering where he was.

He took a step forward, but this time, instead of stopping him, Maddie escorted him past her father and into the narrow hallway outside the conference room.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door, you know.” Aiden’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “I’ll watch for rugs this time.”

Maddie tilted her head back to look up at him, and Aiden waited in vain for the dimple to appear.

Nope. Not happening. Once again, Aiden got the feeling she could see right through him.

“The library closes at two o’clock tomorrow,” she said. “But I’ll be working a few extra hours, going through donations for the used book sale.”

Her meaning was clear—if he wanted to continue their conversation. But Aiden didn’t respond.

Because right now, as anxious as he was to find his sister, Aiden wasn’t sure Maddie Montgomery and her fern green eyes wouldn’t prove more of a hindrance than a help. Because, oh man, he was distracted around her.

Chapter Four (#uf910011d-c735-5898-acf4-465fadba22a0)

Maddie started the countdown as her dad followed her up the staircase to the second floor.

Five. Four. Three. Two...

“I don’t like the idea of strangers wandering in off the street when you’re alone in the library at night, sweetheart,” he said.

Maddie tamped down a smile. When it came to her dad, the saying about old habits being hard to break had proved true. William and Tara Montgomery had loved and protected Maddie for twenty-five years. She’d been out on her own for several years now, but her dad never failed to come up with a reason to stop by and “check on things.” What he was really checking on was her.

“Aiden isn’t exactly a stranger, Dad,” she reminded him. “You see him every Sunday morning at church.”

“I see him staring out the window while Pastor Seth gives the message,” her dad grumbled. “He might be sitting in the chair, but it’s obvious his mind is somewhere else.”