Page 17 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

Rhett quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t I? You wouldn’t shoot a man who trespassed on private property?”

Preston’s eyes widened. “I don’t know who you are, but you picked the wrong fight.” He tried to say it bravely, but he was quaking badly now.

“I’m ending this fight.” Rhett was as calm as Preston was upset. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near Sloan, this house, or any of Sloan’s building sites, or I will shoot to kill. Understood?”

“Y-yes,” Preston managed.

“You may leave now.” Rhett dismissed him with a tilt of his head.

Preston backed hurriedly toward the door. As soon as he reached it, he grabbed it and swung it closed behind him. His hurried footsteps could be heard on the porch and a few seconds later his truck started and spun away.

Rhett holstered his gun and focused on her. “Are you all right?”

Sloan could only stare at him. She’d seen Hollywood stars who weren’t this compelling. “Who are you?” she asked in awe.

What kind of a man was this? He could fight better than a military superhero and he was willing to fight for her. She refused to be the docile female, but Rhett made her want to behisfemale.

She pushed that unreasonable thought away. Ten minutes ago, she’d been terrified of his gun and questioning his intentions. Now she was grateful to him and trusted he’d protect her. Her prayers for clarity and protection had come true, but that didn’t mean she could develop a relationship with him.

“Rhett Coleville, ma’am.” He picked up his hat, dusted it off, put it back on his head, and tipped it to her. “At your service.”

Sloan smiled unsteadily. She wanted to run at him and fling her arms around him, cling to his strength, composure, and allure. Instead, she settled for, “Thank you. A million times, thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

Their gazes caught and held. Sloan had been terrified of that gun when she first saw it, but when she’d watched Rhett use it to control her cousins, she’d appreciated the weapon.

She wanted Rhett to stay by her side from here on. First he had helped her in the mud and muck, then he had rescued her with her stuck car, buried his frustrations about her mistakes with the construction projects, and now he’d truly rescued her.

What if she had come here by herself? She wrapped a hand around her throat, feeling it constrict. Grandpa had never let her be alone with Preston or Jaxon the times she’d visited, but they’d said surly, terrifying things to her whenever they got close enough and an adult wasn’t within listening distance.

They would’ve hurt her, threatened her, maybe even killed her. Who knew? They hadn’t liked her as children, and they despised her now that she’d received the inheritance they thought they should get. Her dad had warned her repeatedly that the Lewis men were underhanded and desperate. The lawsuit wasn’t the end of it. She knew her father was underhanded, so she had ignored his warnings, but he had been spot-on this time.

She was even more grateful for Rhett.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay by her side always.

She dragged her eyes away and looked around the living room. Pop and beer cans, dirty plates, and takeout containers littered the coffee table and the floor. Muddy footprints were all over the wood floor. A thick layer of dust covered any space Preston and Jaxon hadn’t sat on or set something on. She’d be cleaning for hours, and she’d have to find a way to bar the doors so she could sleep tonight. It had been a mistake thinking she could stay out here all alone. She shivered and hugged herself.

“You all right?” he asked again.

“Because of you,” she admitted. “I can’t ever express my gratitude to you, Rhett Coleville. You’ve rescued me in everywhich way.” She sounded like a besotted female, but at the moment she didn’t care. “If you’re still up for shopping for boots and maybe a few groceries, I would really appreciate that. Then I’ll come back, clean this place up, and find a way to sleep tonight.”

She met his gaze, forcing herself to be brave. It was one thing to be an assertive woman and speak to a conference room full of male contractors, surprising and impressing them with her knowledge. It was quite another to be alone in the forest, in a filthy cabin with a wood-burning stove and a generator for power, terrified that her cousins would come back as soon as Rhett wasn’t by her side.

Something in his blue eyes brought warmth to her chest and a shot of courage that didn’t feel like she was dredging it up.

Sloan might be in danger and in over her head, but she had Rhett Coleville on her side.

If that was true, she’d never been so safe physically, yet so in danger emotionally.

Chapter

Six

Rhett was not goingto leave Sloan alone in this filthy, too-remote cabin. Her cousins may have vacated the premises because of him, but they’d come back and they’d be armed next time. Was the local law enforcement truly on their side? He’d talk to Clint and get an insider’s track on that. If he had to, he’d call in a favor from his family’s friend, the infamous security expert Aiden Porter.

He didn’t know Sloan very well, but he felt instinctively protective of her. She was in over her head as the developer, but even more so with her cousins. The other contractors, his crews, or the subs might whistle at her or make crude comments and of course he’d wanted to protect her from that, but they wouldn’t physically hurt her.

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