Page 20 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

If anybody found out … crap would hit the fan.

Chapter

Seven

Sloan didn’t knowif she’d upset Rhett or if he was simply reflective as they drove the forty minutes into Kalispell. She asked him about his background in building and he told her about the five different certificates he’d earned from the tech college, and his apprenticeship with Josh Francis and Francis Homes. She recognized the builder as one who had a home in her development. One who’d sent her increasingly irritated emails.

Hopefully she could salvage relationships and make her development a success. From her awful cousins to the mud to everyone being upset at her, she was in a mess. The man seated next to her was her only ally. She hid her discomfort and focused on what Rhett was saying.

Rhett admitted he’d worked hard on his parents’ ranch growing up and had a large savings which had helped him secure property and build spec homes when he had the required years of apprenticeship and was ready to go out on his own. He had made a name for himself and was blessed with opportunities to build custom homes and his business had soared from there.

He was a very impressive man, not to mention a very enticing one. If she only had one ally in Montana, Rhett Coleville was an ideal choice. He could protect her from her foul cousins and knew the construction industry in this area, but she found it wasn’t just Rhett’s advantages that were appealing … it was the man himself. Too appealing. Had she really agreed to stay at his house? That was letting down her guard in a way she’d never done, and she was already regretting being impulsive. She did trust Rhett, but she couldn’t grow close to a man.

She looked out the window to avoid staring at him. A glorious infusion of color showed the sun was setting behind the clouds over the mountains as they pulled into town. The rain had paused. For a moment.

Her stomach growled.

“The store’s open until nine,” he said. “Shall we eat first?”

She put a hand to her abdomen. “Did I make it that obvious I’m starving?”

“A diet of chocolate-covered everything will do that to you.” He smirked at her, tilting his head to her treat bag in the back.

“For sure.” Normally she’d be embarrassed that a fine-looking and impressive man had seen her chocolate obsession, but Rhett wasn’t judging her for it. Besides being upset at her when he thought she was a man, he’d been very even-tempered and generous. Even when he had dueled her cousins, he hadn’t lost his cool. Impressive.

“So the question I’m dying to know...” He drove with one hand, his cowboy hat on the console, and his blue eyes darted to hers. “Sushi or steak?”

“Either one, please. I can imagine the steak from some of your Montana longhorns would melt in my mouth.” Those blue eyes of his were powerful.

“I think it’s Texas longhorns, but we definitely know beef around here.”

“You have sushi here?”

“Even in the backwoods we can import raw fish.”

“Ah-ha,” she mock-laughed at him. “Okay, hmm. Raw fish or raw steak? It’s such a big decision. I’d settle for McDonald’s at this point.”

He stopped at a traffic light and glanced at her. “You know, I might be a redneck contractor, but I’m not taking a date to McDonald’s. Especially not a classy lady like you.”

“You’re not a redneck. You think I’m classy? Even after my spills in the mud and dealing with my truly redneck cousins?” Sloan shouldn’t have asked that. She didn’t open herself up to men, especially contractors.

“I do.” His gaze was warm and meaningful. “Classy and brave.”

Their eyes held. His compliments lingered between them. She was grateful he didn’t think she was a hot mess. She wanted him to see her as classy and brave. Uncertain what was happening inside her, she couldn’t pull her eyes away. His blue eyes were full of delicious promises. Was she letting down her guard with a man? Kathy would be screaming to go for it, but Sloan had a lifetime of defenses built around her heart. She never wanted anyone, but especially not a tough and courageous man like Rhett, to see how scared she was inside.

A honk sounded from behind them. They both startled. The traffic light had changed. Rhett pushed on the gas. “Sorry. Got distracted.” He smiled at her.

She leaned back against the seat. Rhett returned her interest. She had no experience on what to do with a successful, confident, and appealing man’s interest. She offended or rejected self-assured and handsome men within hours or sometimes minutes of meeting them. The day still had some hours in it.

“We do need to go report your squatters and the fight before we eat,” he said. “So you have a few minutes to ponder on the sushi and steak dilemma.”

Her stomach turned at the thought of talking to the police about her cousins, but she supposed it had to be done.

Rhett pulled into the Flathead County Sheriff’s office. Now her stomach was feeling even worse. The fact that it was empty probably didn’t help, but she’d been jumping through hoops with Flathead County for eighteen months. She realized the sheriff’s office was different, but …

She put a hand on Rhett’s muscular forearm. “What if Jaxon was right and Sheriff Joe is loyal to him?”

“The White Pine area is in the county’s jurisdiction so we need to try the sheriff’s office first. If the sheriff won’t listen, we can try to talk to the Kalispell City police and see what they can do. Just a second.” He pulled his phone out and clicked on his texts. After a few moments, he said, “Clint said Sheriff Joseph Pollard is a good old boy and he’s never heard of him not upholding the law. Sheriff Pollard helped Clint rescue his wife Lily when a murderer kidnapped her. Clint was impressed with him and his department.”

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