Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

Rhett was not going to leave Sloan alone in this filthy, too-remote cabin. Her cousins may have vacated the premises because of him, but they’d come back and they’d be armed next time. Was the local law enforcement truly on their side? He’d talk to Clint and get an insider’s track on that. If he had to, he’d call in a favor from his family’s friend, the infamous security expert Aiden Porter.

He didn’t know Sloan very well, but he felt instinctively protective of her. She was in over her head as the developer, but even more so with her cousins. The other contractors, his crews, or the subs might whistle at her or make crude comments and of course he’d wanted to protect her from that, but they wouldn’t physically hurt her.

The Lewis brothers were trouble. They might have run this time, but they’d be back. What was their ploy? Were they simply entitled and thinking they deserved the cabin or was it something more nefarious? It looked like they’d been living here for a while.

Rhett had just made two enemies, but he wasn’t worried about himself. He was worried about Sloan.

“Sloan.” He stepped closer to her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and reassure her, but she was a brave and independent lady and he didn’t know if she’d take exception to him holding her without spike heels and slippery mud as a reason. “I’m not bringing you back here tonight. We’re going to file a report with the local law enforcement. I’ll take you shopping and to dinner, and then you can …” He was going to recommend staying in a hotel, but even that didn’t sit right. He didn’t want her alone. “I don’t want you alone at a hotel, and especially not here. You can stay with me.”

Her eyes widened. “Rhett … that is extremely generous of you, but I don’t even know you.”

Her husky voice got to him every time.

He cocked an eyebrow. “But you trust me,” he said, evenly and calmly just as he’d spoken to her cousins. He’d had to earn everyone’s trust as the youngest general contractor anybody had ever met. He’d done it. He was now the premier builder in Kalispell and the surrounding areas. He’d even passed Josh up last year and his mentor and friend had been great about it.

Hopefully he’d earned Sloan’s trust helping her through the mud and fighting her cousins for her, but she was a brave and independent woman. It would likely take time to fully earn her trust. Maybe he shouldn’t have offered to have her stay with him.

She studied him, her brown eyes troubled. Then they calmed and he saw promise and possibility in those beautiful dark orbs. They came from different worlds, but he felt magnetized to her.

“I do trust you,” she admitted.

“I swear to you, on my honor as a Coleville and as a Christian, you will be safe with me and at my house.” He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. “I have locks on my bedroom doors, and you’re more than welcome to put furniture in front of the door if you’re worried about it.”

She half-laughed at that. “I said I trust you, and I do.” Then she drew in a steadying breath and admitted, “Thank you. I was terrified to stay here alone, and a hotel sounds cold and lonely.”

“Understood, and nobody’s blaming you for not wanting to be here or be alone tonight. Those cousins of yours are something else.”

She only nodded.

“Now would you like to clean up and change before we go?”

“Oh, yes, thank you.” Her bottom lip quivered. He wished he could kiss it and then kiss her fully on the lips.

Where was his head? She was in danger and upset. She was a daring, with-it lady, but she would’ve been in danger here alone. Thank heavens for the mud and her stuck car and his insistence to drive her here. His stomach dropped just imagining her walking into the situation with her cousins all by herself. She was fearless, but those two idiots would’ve just laughed at her sass and probably done something nefarious to her. He had seen fear in her eyes a few times—when she saw his gun and when her cousin threatened her going out the door. He wanted to hold her close and be her hero, protect her from all her fears.

“I’ll go grab your suitcases,” he said to get a little distance from all the emotions rushing through him. “Do you need both?”

She smiled. “No. One is fine, thank you. I have shoes and clothes in both.”

“Okay. Be right back.” He hurried past her, out the door, and to his truck. He grabbed the closest suitcase and hefted it out. Returning to the house, he carried it in and then asked, “Where do you feel comfortable changing?”

She drew in a breath, clasping her fingers together. Walking in front of him, she slowed her steps as she proceeded down the short hall and stopped outside the bathroom. She flicked on the light and grimaced. It was filthy. “I’ll try not to touch … anything.”

Rhett nodded; she’d need some water to scrub off what mud she could. He set the suitcase down inside the door. “I’ll just be in the living room.”

“Okay.” Her dark eyes darted around as if one of her cousins would jump out of the shadows.

“On second thought, I’ll stay right here in the hall.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. She closed the door.

Rhett could hear the suitcase thump to the floor and unzip. He thought about her unbuttoning that white shirt and his body tensed. Not a good idea to think about. Yanking out his phone, he started typing quickly to Clint. He wished he could call, but he wanted to be listening for the sounds of trucks or anyone moving outside. He explained the situation as best he could and asked Clint what he knew about ‘Sheriff Joe’, if they should report to the Flathead County Sheriff or see what the Kalispell Police Department had to say.

The door opened. He hit send and glanced up.

“Ah, Sloan,” he managed.

She was wearing a white T-shirt with a fitted blue jacket and jeans that molded to her legs. Her hair had been fluffed and her lips were shiny. Her eyelashes were still thick and accented her eyes beautifully.

“Okay for shopping? I did a sponge bath, but I still need to shower and scrub at the mud-stains on my legs at some point.” She smiled, looking more herself.

“Safe showers at my house,” he said with a smile. His gaze trailed down to her feet and his smile grew. Maybe she wanted him to have to wrap his arm around her to walk anywhere. “You don’t own anything but spike heels?”

She laughed. It was a glorious sound after the stress of the last half hour. “I do have running shoes, but unfortunately they’re in the other suitcase.”

“I think it’s fortunate. You look incredible and you’ll have to lean on me to get through the mud.” He winked, hoping he wasn’t being too forward and scaring her away.

Her returning smile was radiant. “I think you’re one of the only men I know that I would agree to lean on, and like it.”

Rhett swallowed. That felt more substantial than just helping her through the rain. She’d said she trusted him. Was she going to let down her guard around him?

Maybe his original thoughts of Mama praying her here weren’t so far off.

He put the damper on the fireplace so it would die, left a faucet dripping in the kitchen so the pipes wouldn’t freeze, and went out back to shut off the generator.

“How did you know to do all of that?” she asked as he walked back through the cabin now lit by the murky day outside.

“I’ve been to a few snowmobiling cabins that are off the grid.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”

“I can’t believe I thought I could come here on my own.” She looked around. “I don’t even know how to properly light a fire, let alone put one out.”

“Central heating at my house; no need to worry about making a fire.” Rhett winked and hefted her suitcase. He locked the front door before pulling the handle closed, not that it would do much good. He suspected the cousins would be back as soon as they were armed and drank some liquid courage. They hadn’t planned on him being by Sloan’s side. Had they known she was coming or had they simply been living here since their grandfather died?

Helping her to the truck, he thoroughly enjoyed his arm slung around her trim waist, her clinging to him, the scent of heady gardenia.

“Don’t get any ideas that I spend my life relying on men,” she said, blinking up at him as they slowly made their way.

He chuckled. “You take independent woman to a new level, Sloan. I’ll keep my ideas to myself.”

“Yeah, right.” She laughed with him. “You told me my clothes were all wrong and cussed me up one side and down the other when you thought I was here to represent Sloan Jensen.”

They reached the truck. “Hold that thought and hold onto the truck handle.”

She transferred to the truck handle and thankfully obeyed. “I’m only listening so I don’t take another dip in the mud pond.”

“Smart girl.”

It was a relief they could banter again and that she’d agreed to stay with him. He wasn’t sure what that would look like, or if they were moving too fast, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her being exposed to her cousins and he wanted her by his side.

He opened the rear door and hefted the suitcase back in. Closing it, he ushered her away from the truck door, opened it, and wrapped his hands around her waist.

She looked up at him and moistened her lips.

“Did I really cuss you?” he asked, his hands tightening on her waist.

“Oh yeah, I was near tears.”

“Sloan.” His gut turned over. He’d been upset about the situation, but he didn’t want to cause her distress. That was ironic because he would’ve happily caused the Sloan Jensen he didn’t know earlier today loads of stress.

“I’m teasing.” She lightly tapped his face and grinned. “No man can make me cry.”

“Oh.” His brows rose. She was such a feisty and independent woman. He wanted a woman who could stand by his side, but he wasn’t certain about one who had to prove herself constantly. What demons was she battling from being in the construction industry her entire life or maybe living in her father’s shadow? He didn’t know her well enough to even guess at the reasons she prickled often, but at least she had let him defend her against Jaxon and Preston Lewis and trusted him enough to stay at his house.

He didn’t know what to say, and could guess she wasn’t ready to answer the questions spinning in his head. So he simply lifted her into the truck.

“Thank you,” she said.

He tipped his hat to her, shut the door, and strode around.

The implications of what he was doing hit him. His employees, the sub-contractors, and the other general managers all thought of Sloan Jensen as the enemy.

Now Rhett was carting her around, fighting her battles, and putting her up in his guest bedroom. He was planning how to protect her in the future and help her with the development.

If anybody found out … crap would hit the fan.