Page 32 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

His jaw firmed and his stomach muscles tightened. He would talk to Josh. Sometimes his friend and mentor was grumpy, but he needed to let this frustration go. Josh and all the other contractors needed to realize they were cutting off their own noses to spit in their own faces. Working with Sloan would help everybody.

This had to end, or they’d run Sloan off.

Rhett could not let that happen. Not on his watch.

Chapter

Twelve

Sloan slippedinto a funk as she walked away from Rhett that night. That touching of their lips had been like dynamite and then they’d been yanked apart again.

It was for the best, but it didn’t make her happy. They’d been having a great time together. Even stuffed with sushi, she would’ve happily gone for ice cream with him.

She and Rhett werenotmeant to be and didnothave any kind of future. She had to wrap her mind around that.

Even though it felt instinctively wrong and hurt all the way through.

She felt achy, as if she had the flu. When she was in college, she’d had the flu and Kathy had taken care of her, made her herbal teas, filled their bathtub with warm water, essential oils and Epsom salts, gone to the store for medicine, and warmed up blankets in the dryer. She’d never experienced someone ministering to her before.

Rhett had ministered to her in very different ways. Protected her from her cousins, rescued her from the mud, showed her how fun flirtatious banter could be, made her feel desirable andfeminine. Being without him was causing this flu and he was the only cure. Sadly, she couldn’t turn to him.

Her hotel room had been refreshed and her coat and now-clean clothes were hung in the closet, miraculously with no mud or stains on them. She’d have to leave a good tip when she checked out tomorrow.

She changed into comfortable pajamas and forced herself to find a short-term rental. She found a studio apartment above a garage in what looked to be a gorgeous area on the Flathead River. A park called Leisure Park ran through the backyard. From what she could tell on Google maps, this Leisure Park was a running trail. It was perfect. She wouldn’t be alone, but she’d have her own space and be in a very nice neighborhood. She booked it for a month and felt settled, about that at least.

She found herself Googling Rhett Coleville next. There wasn’t a lot about him, some about his construction company and some accolades for football in high school. He didn’t even have social media accounts. Dang. There was a lot about Lieutenant Miles Coleville, Navy SEAL, who’d married the famous actress Eva Chevron. Some about Easton and Walker Coleville, who were a bull rider and steer roper of some notoriety. Walker had also married a bestselling author named Marci Richards.

For hours, Sloan let herself click on links, read articles, and stare at photos. She was blessed with a few family pictures with Rhett in them, but he was pretty scarce online. Every time she looked into those blue eyes, even in a picture, she longed for him.

His family was impressive. Each of the brothers had different careers and incredible wives. Only Rhett and one other brother were alone in the photos. She thought his parents looked just perfect—his dad was broad, handsome, and protective looking,and his mom was smaller, slightly rounded, beaming, and lovely. Millie Coleville reminded her of her new friend Annabeth.

What would it be like to be part of a loving and large family? Would she not be such a mess emotionally if she had anchors like that? It explained how Rhett could be so grounded, tough, and all-around perfect.

If only she would’ve made a rude gesture to his friend Josh and kissed Rhett long and hard outside the sushi restaurant.

No. She smiled to herself. If they ever kissed, she wanted it to be meaningful, not something to spite his friend who didn’t like her.

As she thought of Josh and how embarrassed his wife had looked, she knew she had a lot more work cut out for her.

Settling into bed, she made a plan for the morning and fell asleep with renewed purpose.

Sloan was up with the sun—well, the sun didn’t show its face; she wasn’t certain the sun ever broke through the clouds in Montana in the spring—but the sky was lighter. Tomorrow she would run on that river trail. Today, she should get plenty of movement with her plan.

She got ready, opting for the flannel jacket over a T-shirt and her new jeans instead of her red sweater. She’d save that for when it didn’t have a risk of getting muddy. She put her new baseball hat on and pulled her long, dark hair out from under her jacket. Her curls would be a soppy mess, but she wanted people to know she was female.

She loaded up her suitcases, checked out of the hotel, and left a tip for the maid and whoever had washed her coat. Putting all her things in her car, she drove to the nearby Ceres Bakery where she placed her orders for five boxes with at least a dozen of whatever sweets they could get ready fastest, and one cinnamon roll.

Eating the cinnamon roll, she waited for her order, then loaded up the delicious-smelling boxes of cookies, donuts, assorted pastries, cupcakes, and mini-pies in the back of her Sonata and drove toward her development in the drizzling rain.

Half an hour later, she parked her car just off the main road in a turnout, not risking the mud of her unfinished road and another stuck vehicle. She realized she’d never thanked Rhett for rescuing her car or asked if he’d washed it. She wanted to start with Rhett’s site, but she strode past the opening that led to his lot and headed north.

Trekking through the muddy road above the river almost a mile, she carried a box of treats to the just-started new build closest to Grandpa’s house, itching to know if those brutes Jaxon and Preston had returned to the cabin but not risking getting too close.

She walked up to a crew clearing land. The men stared at her like she was a wraith. She introduced herself to the foreman and his men—unfortunately the general contractor wasn’t there—and handed over her treats. They all took a break and ate the cupcakes that were in the box, some of them shyly thanking her, others still looking at her like she was from another planet.

The men got back to work, but she chatted with the foreman for half an hour, telling him the progress she’d made with the county and the road base coming soon, asking what concerns he had, and feeling she’d at least broken down some barriers as she walked away. She did hear a few wolf whistles and thought of Rhett telling his men to knock it off, but she could handle it. She kept her head high and navigated the mud with her new but already filthy boots.

The next site went all right. The general contractor was there, and the men weren’t quite as friendly, but they did accept the mini-pies, and at least the general thanked her when sheexplained the road base would be laid next week and the county had promised she was at the top of the list for power installation.

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