Page 30 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

“How will you know if you’ve won?” She was playing right into his hands. That wasn’t like her at all. Could coming to this beautiful and remote mountain location be the breath of fresh air she needed? Could she learn to trust a man and trust that he had no desire to control her but to get to know her, care about her, be her equal?

“If you ask me to join you.” Rhett’s voice was deep and the question in his blue eyes was meaningful. They’d been on a roller coaster yesterday, from the way they met to the times she’d pushed him away, from how he’d rescued her to the fact that he and the other generals were upset with her. But she wanted to be near him, and it was just sushi. Right?

“Would you please join me for dinner?” she asked.

“I would love to, on one condition.”

“Oh? Now there are conditions?” She hoped he was teasing, but his eyes had gone a deeper blue. Conditions. She was tired of conditions. There were always conditions with construction, and her dad’s love and support was conditional on her obeying his every command.

“You snaked the bill last night. I get to pay tonight.” His eyes held a challenge and a plea. He didn’t want to control her, but he wanted to work together, find a compromise.

She thought about it. Could she let down her guard that much? She should probably insist they go Dutch, but working with Rhett sounded like blessed relief. She could be strong on her own, but leaning on him was a reprieve she’d never had.

“I suppose you do owe me,” she said.

His smile came out then. “At least a few dinners. Steak isn’t cheap.”

“Don’t push it, Mr. Manly Man.” She’d said that tease last night when she was upset. Tonight, it was just a tease. “You hunk a bunk of burning manliness.”

“Okay. I think we’re done with that description.”

Sloan laughed. Why did teasing and flirting come so naturally with him? She should dissect it, but for tonight she wanted to relax and enjoy the unique mix of comfort and excitement he brought. “Dinner tonight, Mr. Coleville, and I might even let you take me for ice cream after. I’ve got some great news to celebrate.”

“I can’t wait to hear this.” He pulled out her chair, and she sank into it.

They’d reached a compromise. They could have dinner, ice cream, and she could tell him her good news. They could banter and smile and laugh.

She’d proceed with caution, but maybe this new chapter in her life would be more exciting than she’d planned on.

Chapter

Eleven

Rhett hadto fight to keep a grin off his face. He and Sloan were sharing sushi rolls as she excitedly told him about her day at the county office, her new friend Annabeth, and her optimism that things were finally going to progress with the power lines and the road. He wished he’d been the one to help her find the road base guy, but he understood wanting to be independent and Sloan took that to the next level. Interestingly enough, he hadn’t been able to get any road base down on his own lot, so he couldn’t have helped her there.

He’d had a pretty crappy day with even his own men and Andy treating him like he’d betrayed them when they figured out—translation, Josh spread the news—who the ‘hot brunette on heels’ was at the job site the day before. He tried to reason with each of them that helping Sloan would only make each of their jobs easier, but it would take a minute for everybody to drop their pride and their frustrations and see reason.

He’d been able to see inside Sloan’s heart to her vulnerability and goodness. None of them but Josh had seen more than glimpses of her face and body and just assumed he was besotted with her because she was gorgeous. He’d been more stern withhis guys today than he’d had to be in years and still he heard mutterings about ‘hot brunette’ while he helped with framing.

Now that he was sitting across from Sloan, laughing, commiserating about the rain and how slow the county moved, and cheering with her stories from the day, all of that washed away. If only the guys could get to know her …

Wait a minute; he didn’t like that plan either. He wanted to keep this innocent, classy, and smart businesswoman away from all the men who would hit on her or put her in the box of ‘hot brunette’.

He didn’t even mind that Annabeth, the sweet older lady from the county offices, had called him a ‘hunk a bunk of burning manliness’. He wouldn’t mind at all if Sloan saw him as that.

He told her about the great news of Sheriff Pollard calling him and promising he had no allegiance to the Lewis boys and they would be on his radar for anything that went amiss at the job sites or with Miss Jensen. He said they’d drive by ‘old man Jensen’s place’ a couple times a day and come down on the Lewis’s for trespassing if they were there. They were both relieved about that.

They stuffed themselves with sushi, she let him pay the bill and tip without comment, and Rhett worried that their time together was coming to an end. Would she really want ice cream after eating her fair share of seven sushi rolls?

Shrugging back into the too-big red sweater, she smiled contentedly at him as they walked out into the misty evening. The sun strained to peek through the clouds to the west, lighting the sky with pink, red, and orange.

“Oh, my,” she murmured, staring. “That is epic. Almost as good as an Arizona sunset.”

“Almost?”

“Almost.” She leaned against his shoulder and focused on the view.

He smiled and couldn’t resist wrapping an arm around her and cuddling her close. She didn’t resist and he felt ten feet tall.

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