Page 46 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

“I … okay.” Her voice was full of misery and her shoulders rounded. She walked quicker, not saying anything and not looking at him. They reached the Hammers’ house, and he followed her up the stairs.

At the door, she turned to face him. “Rhett. If this doesn’t prove that you need to get away from me, I don’t know what does.”

“Pardon me?” Get away from her? Where had that come from?

“Your mama is an angel, and your papa going to get tea and chocolate for us, both of them so accepting and kind and …” She sniffled, and a tear crested her eyelid and traced down her cheek. “I can’t even open up and answer some questions about my family. With kind people who I know wouldn’t want to judge me. How messed up is that? You need an angelic woman like your mother, not a closed-off, selfish, career-oriented person like me who is unable to trust or rely on anyone.”

“Whoa, whoa.” Rhett touched the moisture on her face and then slid his hand along her smooth cheek, cupping it in his palm. “Sloan. My mama is an angel, but I’m not looking for someone just like her. She and my dad fit perfectly. Me?” He swallowed and studied her, willing her to believe him. “I want a hard-working, brave, funny, and unexpected lady … just like you.”

More tears rolled down her cheeks. She shook her head and bit her lip. Rhett didn’t know how she’d respond.

Her phone rang again. Rhett gritted his teeth. “Kathy?”

“She called to get me out of there, but then she had to say goodbye to her date before she could call me back and actually chat.”

Rhett held her cheek with his palm and appraised her. “Do you need to take the call?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I want to. To get out of this uncomfortable conversation.”

Rhett’s brows rose. He released her face and straightened. “Sloan, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I know. It’s not your fault.” She shook her head, and the phone finally stopped ringing. “But do you see what kind of person I am? Rigging phone calls to get me away from your sweet mother trying to get to know me. And she didn’t even get upset that we were in full-on make-out mode when they walked in. Oh, Rhett, you are all much better off without me.”

“I’m not.” He eased in and wrapped his hands around her lower back. “I’m much better off with you. And you just reminded me where we were when my parents interrupted.” He lifted his eyebrows. Could another doozy of a kiss heal what was between them, or was he thinking with his hormones instead of his heart?

Sloan laughed and bit at her lip. “Rhett.” Her deep, sexy voice shot thrills through him. “I would love to kiss you for hours.”

Now they were talking. He bent down closer. Her head-clouding gardenia scent filled his senses.

“But that would only be selfish on my part, when I know we could never be together for the long term.”

Rhett jolted in surprise at those words. “That’s not true.”

“It is. Far too true.” Her dark eyes were full of sadness.

Her phone rang again.

“Goodnight, Rhett.”

She punched in the code and turned the knob, saying hello to her friend as she cast one more look over her shoulder at him.

Rhett let her go. It was either the most understanding thing he’d ever done or the stupidest.

He was leaning toward the latter.

Chapter

Eighteen

Sloan talked to Kathy—orrather filled her in on what had happened then got reamed by her best friend—for over an hour. Kathy of course believed that Rhett was perfect, and his parents as well. Of course his Mama had prayed Sloan there. Hadn’t Sloan felt that this was her big chance? Kathy now believed that had more to do with Rhett than with the development. She begged Sloan to not shut him out, to give Rhett a chance.

Sloan didn’t commit to anything, and she fell asleep without even attempting to pray for help like Kathy had taught her years ago. She wasn’t ready to believe she could be the answer to an angelic Mama’s prayers for the most perfect man on earth.

The next morning, she was up by five-thirty. It wasn’t light yet, but it would be soon. She dressed in a long-sleeved running shirt and pants, tied up her shoes, drank a pre-workout for some energy, and eased down the stairs. She pulled her phone out and used the flashlight to maneuver through the dark backyard and onto the running path. It was silly to try to run in the dark like this. Her car wouldn’t even be ready until nine and she could’veslept in. But she needed to move and get some energy out, keep her mind from spinning with destructive and hopeful thoughts.

She jogged along the trail, slick with all the rain, but she stayed on her feet. An improvement from a few days ago. She smiled wryly thinking of meeting Rhett and all the times she’d fallen into the mud. Even though he’d been upset with her about the development’s messes that first day, he’d been kind and patient and rescued her from the mud.

Ah, Rhett.

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