Page 6 of The Contractor & the Entrepreneur

Somehow.

“I am not fresh out of college.” She held herself erect, tilting her chin up. Twenty-two months out, but he didn’t need to know that. She knew commercial construction and had learned residential, on paper. She would make this work. “And I’m here to make sure my end of things gets accomplished.”

“Great. I’d love to see that happen.”

“You will,” she threw at him. “You’ll have a front row seat.”

“Aren’t I lucky?” He inclined his chin and smiled at her.

Sloan tossed him an impertinent look, whirled on her heels, and almost went down in the sludge again.

“Whoa.” Rhett caught her elbow. “Steady there.”

She huffed out a breath. This man was tantalizing and infuriating. She’d show him.

“I’m fine,” she bit out. “I am not some damsel in distress.” She tugged her arm free, straightened her back and neck, and stormed through the muck. One heel squelched in, grasped by the hounds of heck, and got impossibly stuck. Ah, no. She glanced over her shoulder to see Rhett Coleville hadn’t moved. He was watching her from underneath that cowboy hat, a slight smile on his firm lips and humor in his blue eyes. He was enjoying this show.

“Ugh.” She faced forward and yanked her leg to pull her heel out. She yanked and yanked and finally it flew free, throwing her off balance. She pitched forward, off both of her impractical heels. She sprawled into the mud, on her abdomen this time.Her hands braced her to keep from face planting, but dirty muck sprayed onto her neck.

“Ah, Sloan,” Rhett groaned from behind her.

Interesting that he’d used her first name now. Pity?

She didn’t want his pity. She wanted his respect.

Guffaws, laughter, and some more whistling sounded from the roof.

“Knock it off,” Rhett demanded in his ‘construction voice’, and they fell immediately silent.

Please, Father above. I’m not sure what I did to warrant such humiliation, but please let me disappear into this puddle rather than have Rhett Coleville laugh at me and come help me up.

She didn’t hear any laughter. She did hear footfalls approaching. Large, manly, booted footfalls. Looking over at his mud-splattered cowboy boots, she wondered if he could be any more macho, and if she could be any bigger of a mess. Good impression down the toilet. Respect? She was a laughingstock. Her father would be gloating.

She gritted her teeth. She didn’t care what her father or any man thought of her.

Rhett squatted down next to her, and she forced herself to lift her gaze and meet his. “That was quite an impressive Superman leap,” he said softly, obviously trying to diffuse the situation.

“I’ve worked years to perfect it.”

He smiled.

Ah, that smile. His cheeks and the corners of his eyes crinkled perfectly. His beautiful lips beamed at her and his blue, blue eyes sparkled. If she weren’t already lying face down in the mud, she might swoon.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he said.

“Thank you,” was all she could manage, not even attempting to claim she could do it on her own as she always did.

Her pride was ruined, everything she was wearing was ruined, and any high-power image she thought she could traipse in here displaying was destroyed. Rhett probably thought she was a prissy idiot. She didn’t blame him.

Sloan placed her hands in the mud—no sense fighting it anymore—and pushed herself up. Rhett wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her. When she was on two feet again, she rubbed at an itchy spot of mud on her neck with the back of her hand.

Rhett smiled at her. “Fighting a losing battle there, Ms. Jensen.”

“I’ll keep fighting it.” Their eyes met and held. She felt he did respect her, simply because she would fight and absolutely refused to give up. It meant something. “Please … call me Sloan.”

“Sloan.” He said her name in such a husky and meaningful way that she quivered inside. Sloan had grown up around men, businessmen and all varieties of commercial construction workers. She’d learned how to deal with all the come-ons and annoying flirtations. She dressed fancy to show she was a woman and one to be reckoned with. Her father’s name garnered a begrudging mixture of fear and respect. She’d fought to be her own person, respected and likeable, cutting herself off from her dad completely. Most of the men in school and throughout the past twenty-two months hadn’t given her a hard time for long.

Right now, all that was stripped away. She was dirty, a mess, and had lost all clout. It was obvious the contractors up here were upset with her. Rhett had revealed that, but he’d also tried to help her, be a gentleman, extend kindness, and banter with her.

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