Chapter Six
Six
The next day, Leslie looked up from the document on her desk upon hearing the commotion outside her office door.
Stiffening, she recognized one of the voices just seconds before her office door flew open and Martin Longshire stood there.
Anger radiated not just from his features but also his stance.
“You won’t get away with this,” he snarled. “You’re a fool if you think an ex-boyfriend can save your company.”
She wondered how he knew about her and Sloan’s past relationship. Standing, she crossed her arms over her chest, but before she could say anything, Beverly moved from behind him and asked, “Do you want me to call security, Ms. Cassidy?”
Leslie switched her gaze from Longshire to Beverly. “If he hasn’t left in five minutes, then yes, call security.”
Beverly glanced over at Longshire with an expression as if she wasn’t convinced leaving Leslie with him would be a good thing to do.
“I’ll be fine, Beverly. Five minutes and he will be gone.”
“Like hell I will!”
Ignoring the man’s outburst, Leslie said, “Five minutes, Beverly. If it makes you feel better, alert security to be on standby just in case.”
Beverly smiled and said, “I think that’s a good idea.” She then swept past Longshire to leave but left the door open. Like before, he slammed it shut, but at least he hadn’t given Beverly a smart-alecky remark like he had the last time.
Leslie turned her attention back to Longshire. “State your business and leave. Now you have four minutes.”
He strode over to her desk, and for a minute she thought he would reach out and grab her, but he didn’t.
Instead, he said, “You’ve made a mistake by bringing Sloan Outlaw into this.
And he’s made a mistake by taking one of my companies from me.
Neither you nor Outlaw will get away with it. Now I will destroy you both.”
Longshire then turned and walked out of the office. When he’d opened the door, Leslie had seen two members of her security team standing by Beverly’s desk to escort him out of the building.
She drew in a deep breath as she sat back down in her chair. Beverly stood in the doorway. “Are you all right?”
Leslie nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”
Moments after Beverly left, she pulled her phone from her purse to call Sloan. Before they parted ways after dinner last night, he had told her to call him if Longshire showed up today.
“Yes, Leslie?”
She felt an intense pull in her stomach at the sound of him saying her name. Last night over dinner, although they’d disagreed on a number of things, the physical attraction between them had been mind-boggling. “Martin Longshire just left, and he made threats.”
“Against you?” Leslie could hear the anger in his voice.
“Against both of us, Sloan. He said he will destroy us both. Something else he said surprised me.”
“What?”
“He knew you were my ex-boyfriend.”
“Um, I wonder how he knows that?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I guess he did research after wondering why you’d come to my aid the way you did.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s gotten the message that he’s wasting his time trying to take away your company.”
“How long will you be in town?” she asked him.
“I’m flying out Saturday.”
“Oh.” She wondered why hearing that he was leaving Wasilla was somewhat of a downer.
“Cassidy Cosmetics closes for the holidays on Friday, right?” he then asked her.
“Yes, why?”
“How would you like to fly to North Pole with me to meet those toy makers?”
Leslie lifted a brow. “You want me to go with you?”
“Why not? I’m only going to be there a couple of days. And before you get bent out of shape, let me go on record to say I will make sure we get separate rooms at the hotel. I recall you’ve never been...unless that has changed over the last ten years.”
“No, I’ve never been to North Pole.”
“You’ve always wanted to do so, now here’s your chance, Leslie. Of course, if you don’t trust yourself around me, then I understand.”
She frowned. “I do trust myself around you, Sloan.”
“Does that mean you’ll go?”
Leslie recalled when they’d met, he couldn’t believe she had never visited North Pole.
He’d figured every Alaskan had done so at some time during their childhood.
She had explained that although she’d always wanted to go, there was never time to do so.
Her parents had worked long days making the company a success, and they rarely traveled too far from Wasilla.
Now Sloan was giving her a chance to go there. With him. Should she?
Why not? Hadn’t she just told him that she trusted herself around him?
What they’d once shared was over. She’d blown things years ago, and they’d both moved on.
Besides, wouldn’t they be spending a week together at his cabin in a week or so anyway?
“Yes, Sloan, I would love to go. Thanks for inviting me.”
“I’ll pick you up Saturday morning at six.”
“All right. You’ll need my address. I’m no longer living in my father’s house. I sold it.”
“I know where you live now.”
Leslie frowned, bothered that it seemed both Sloan and Martin Longshire knew too much about her.
“You’re up early, Sloan.”
Sloan chuckled as he walked out of the hotel to his rental car. “I’m on my way somewhere, Cole.”
Sloan’s cousin Cole Westmoreland was a former Texas Ranger who had married Dr. Patrina Foreman.
The couple lived in Montana and had three kids.
When Cole retired as a ranger, he joined forces with another cousin, Quade Westmoreland, who’d worked for a special services unit to protect the president, to start a network of security companies.
“So where are you headed?” Cole asked.
“The North Pole.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope,” Sloan said as he loaded his luggage into the trunk of his car. “I bought a toy company there.”
“Yeah, right. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that it’s run by an older couple named the Kringles.”
Sloan smiled. “It’s run by an older couple, but their last name is Yule.”
“Whatever.”
Sloan shook his head, knowing his cousin probably didn’t believe him. There was no need to tell him the man’s first name was Rudolph. “The reason I’m calling is because I have a job for you.”
“What?”
“There’s a person I want you to investigate by the name of Martin Longshire.”
“Anything in particular I need to look for?” Cole wanted to know.
“Not sure. I screwed up his plans to take over a couple of companies, and he’s known for getting revenge. I want to be ready if he tries.”
“I’ll dig to see if there’s something in his past we could use as leverage if it comes to that.”
“I’m sure if there’s something out there on Longshire, you’ll find it. You’re good at what you do.”
Cole laughed. “If you have so much confidence in my abilities, then let me take a crack at finding out why your old man refuses to claim the Westmorelands as kin. That’s rubbish when you can’t deny these strong Westmoreland genes.”
Sloan knew that was the truth. Not only did all the male Westmorelands look alike and favor the male Outlaws, but their cousin Bailey and his sister, Charm, looked similar as well.
“Charm’s mother, Claudia, persuaded us to not look into it.
She felt it was an invasion of Dad’s privacy and felt when he got ready to tell us why he was so opposed, then he would. ”
Sloan and his brothers had agreed not to let their father’s refusal to accept their Westmoreland kin have any bearing on their willingness to do so. Over the past years, the Westmoreland and Outlaw cousins had formed a close bond.
“Will you be flying that toy plane of yours to North Pole?” Cole asked.
He chuckled. “Yes, one day I’ll let you at the wheel.”
Sloan knew Cole had his pilot’s license.
In addition to the security company, Cole owned a helicopter service that provided transportation between the various mountains in Bozeman, Montana, to the people who lived on them.
Cole’s father was one such person who lived on a huge mountain they called Corey’s Mountain.
After disconnecting the call, Sloan thought about the woman he would be seeing in a few minutes.
The same one who’d occupied his thoughts most of the night.
He was trying to keep a level head where Leslie Cassidy was concerned.
Once burned, you never wanted to experience such pain again.
However, the thought of her being alone for the holidays was outweighing any desire to keep his distance.
Sloan couldn’t imagine such loneliness, because he’d always had his siblings.
They all knew, although Bart would never admit it, that their father had loved having a full house, and they’d been content living on the Outlaw compound.
However, when they got older and Bart began trying to manipulate them, they’d each moved into their own places.
All except for Charm. She adored the old man and managed to see past his faults.
Besides, like her mother, Claudia, Charm knew how to handle Bart.
Pulling into Leslie’s yard, Sloan saw that even more snow had fallen overnight in the area where she lived. He hoped there wouldn’t be a delay in getting his plane off the ground.
Flexing his gloved hands a few times and tightening the scarf around his neck, he got out of the car.
There was no way you could live in Alaska and not be used to the cold and snow.
To them it was a way of life, but as far as he was concerned there was no other place he’d rather live.
He had traveled to most of the states in the lower forty-eight, and although some had been nice to visit, there was no place like Alaska.
As he shoved his hands into the pockets of his long coat, he glanced around. There had to be at least three feet of snow, possibly more. But it was beautiful.
Sloan liked Leslie’s home. It sat in a cul-de-sac with four others, all spaced a nice distance apart. He was glad she hadn’t asked how he’d known where she lived. Had she done so, he would have had to confess to researching any personal information he could find.
She had moved out of her father’s house a month after he’d passed away. Sloan recalled the house had been massive, much too large for one person. The size of this house was perfect for her.
He also gathered from his research that since returning to Alaska, she had rolled up her sleeves and worked hard beside her father. The bulk of Cassidy Cosmetics business was in Alaska. The businessman in him wondered why Lester Cassidy never expanded into the lower forty-eight.
Ringing her doorbell, Sloan was surprised when she opened the door immediately.
His gaze automatically moved over her from head to toe.
Why had he forgotten how beautiful she could look first thing in the morning?
He was suddenly filled with a hefty dose of desire. To a degree he didn’t want or need.
“Good morning, Sloan. Come on in. I just need to grab my travel bag and coat,” she said, walking off.
Sloan nodded, unable to do anything other than that. She wore a pair of skinny burgundy corduroy pants, a light gray pullover sweater and knee-high black boots.
Leslie had such a gorgeous body, he couldn’t help but stand in the doorway and stare. Just watching her ass in motion was an arousal waiting to happen, and seeing her small waist and all those curves had him transfixed.
Glancing back over her shoulder, she stopped and turned back around, a questioning look on her face. “Is anything wrong?”
He drew in a deep breath and decided to play dumb. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
She shoved her hands in the pockets of her pants. “You’re standing there with the door wide-open, letting out the heat.”
“Oh,” he said, entering her home and quickly closing the door behind him.
When she continued walking toward an area that he figured was her bedroom, he glanced around, not wanting to think about where she slept.
She had decorated for the holidays and had a nice tree.
He moved closer as an ornament caught his attention.
It was the same one he’d given her years ago. He was surprised she still had it.
“I’m ready.”
Sloan turned around. He’d forgotten how she dressed warmly from her head to her toes.
Cold Alaska weather was never going to get the best of her.
She looked cute in her fur hat and knitted face mask with a scarf to match.
Then there was her heavy wool coat. There was no doubt in his mind it was totally lined.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said, taking her overnight bag.