Chapter Twelve #2
Sloan frowned. Friends? Not hardly. “In all honesty, Garth, I can’t rightly say I even consider her a friend. She is nothing more than my business partner. Not the first time I’ve invited a business partner to the cabin.”
“Yes, but the others were business partners who were also relatives, like Cole, Quade and the other Westmorelands. No woman has spent time with you at the cabin before, Sloan.”
“How would you know?”
“I just do. Are you denying it?”
It was times like this when he wished his brother didn’t know him so well. “There is nothing between me and Leslie, Garth.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so, and there’s no reason I shouldn’t,” Sloan said, ready to end the call.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Trust me, Garth, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“I just hope whatever plan you’ve concocted doesn’t backfire on you.”
Sloan lifted a brow. “Meaning what?”
“That you fall in love with her all over again. I know how much you loved her before.”
Yes, of all people, Garth would know. He’d been the one to pull Sloan out of the pain and misery when Leslie had left. “Trust me, it won’t happen. There is no way I can or will love her again.”
“Possibly, however, I think you have forgotten something.”
Sloan frowned. “What?”
“You should have told Leslie that her friend had come on to you, Sloan. Had you told her, there’s a good chance she would not have believed the lie that woman told her. As far as I’m concerned, you share the blame for what happened.”
You share the blame...
A short while later, Sloan was thinking about the words Garth had spoken as he sat on the sofa, slowly drinking his beer while watching Leslie decorate the tree.
She was deliberately ignoring him, but he didn’t mind, because he definitely wasn’t ignoring her.
Far from it. He was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He was tuned in to every movement she made as she decorated the tree.
She wasn’t trying to draw his attention.
In fact, he would bet money she would have preferred he was someplace else, instead of sitting there, with a front-row view of what she was doing.
Especially when he wasn’t saying anything but pretending to listen to the Christmas music playing on her cell phone while she went about her business hanging ornaments on the tree.
Where in the world had all that stuff come from?
“You’re frowning, Sloan. Don’t you like how the tree is taking shape so far?”
He blinked upon realizing what she’d said. “The tree is looking good,” he said, as if the tree and not her had been holding his attention all this time. “I was just wondering where all this stuff came from. You had all this stuff left over after decorating your own tree?”
“No.”
“Then you went out and bought all this stuff.” It was a statement more than a question, since it was the most logical one.
“That’s precisely what I did. And my suitcase was mostly filled with decorations.”
“You didn’t mention anything about having a tree until we were on our way to the airport yesterday. What made you think I would go along with it?”
“I saw no reason why you wouldn’t.”
Yes, he could see her thinking that way.
In the past he’d been known to give in to anything she’d wanted.
It wasn’t that she’d asked for much, and most of the time she asked only to help others.
But whenever she did ask, he would move heaven and earth to give her whatever she wanted.
That was then. So why would she think it would be the same now?
“The least you can do is flip the switch since I’m all finished now,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
She was staring up at the tree with a huge smile on her face, as if she was pleased with what she’d done. His gaze shifted off her to the tree. It looked good. “I assume you’ll be taking this tree down before we leave here,” he said, standing to move toward the light switch on the wall.
“Of course, but I don’t plan to take all this stuff back to Wasilla with me.”
He stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder at her. “What do you intend to do with it?”
“Leave it here. If someone else in your family decides to spend time here around the holidays and wants to put up a Christmas tree, then they will have the decorations to do so. It’s my donation.”
He couldn’t see that happening but decided to let her think whatever she wanted. He flipped the light switch and watched as an even wider smile spread across Leslie’s face when the tree came to life.
The tree wasn’t overly done. Every ornament she’d selected was in the right place, and the lights seemed to illuminate the tree in a way that made his breath catch.
At that moment, he wished more than just the bears could see her handiwork.
There was no way anyone who saw this tree wouldn’t eagerly anticipate the approaching holidays.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Sloan?”
He shifted his gaze from the tree to her. The blinking lights seemed to say, “Look at me.” And he was looking. Ten years ago, he had loved her to distraction, had wanted to make her a permanent part of his life, and now...
“The one thing I didn’t get is a timer.”
He lifted a brow at her comment. “A timer?”
“Yes. That way I could program the tree to come on and go off at certain times. Now we’ll have to do it manually.”
He shrugged. “That’s not a problem.”
“Glad you feel that way. I’m assigning you that job since you didn’t help decorate.”
He was about to tell her that anything dealing with the tree was her job since it was her idea, but he didn’t want to ruin it for her.
“Do you want me to prepare dinner, or are you still keen on the idea of doing all the cooking this week?” They had eaten leftover chili for lunch, and he’d told her more than once just how good it had been.
But then, breakfast had been good as well.
“I’d like to prepare dinner if you don’t have a problem with me doing so. However, if you ever want to spend time in the kitchen with me or without me, please let me know,” she said.
She didn’t have to worry about that happening. Had he been here alone, Sloan would have been just fine getting by on easy meals he could prepare quickly. But he wasn’t here alone, and Leslie loved to cook and had a way of turning an easy meal into a masterpiece.
A short while later, he was back to sitting in front of the Christmas tree, watching the blinking lights while his ears picked up the sound of Leslie moving around in the kitchen as she prepared dinner.
He didn’t want to think that if things hadn’t ended between them ten years ago, this could very well be the same scenario.
..with them here spending Christmas at the cabin.
He’d like to think they would have had at least two or three kids by now.
Maybe she would have a position in Outlaw Freight Lines or he a position at Cassidy Cosmetics.
Hell, there was no reason they would not have been able to manage both.
While dating, they had never talked about marriage.
He’d just assumed it was a foregone conclusion and figured she’d thought so as well.
Proposing to her at this cabin would have been a surprise to her, but it was something he’d wanted to do for a long time.
He had seen forever in their future. Not only had he seen it, but he had wanted it with a yearning that went down to the very core of his existence.
Sloan drew in a deep breath, trying to regain control of his thoughts and accept that none of those plans happened.
He’d never gotten the chance to propose, and there was no forever for them.
A part of him wished he could forget about their past and handle her like he would handle any other business partner.
Just like he’d told Garth, Leslie wasn’t the first business partner he’d invited to the cabin.
But Garth had been right as well when he’d said it wasn’t the same. Sloan and Leslie had history. Personal history. He didn’t want to think of what Garth’s reaction would be if he knew why she was spending a week here, and the stipulation Sloan had placed on her to save her company.
You share the blame...
He rubbed his hand down his face, feeling like an ass. He’d had hopes for how this week was supposed to pan out. Granted Leslie had said she wouldn’t be sleeping with him, but he’d felt the attraction that was still there between them, and he was banking on her feeling it, too.
Garth was right. Sloan did share the blame for their breakup. Just like she should have trusted him, he should have made her aware of the situation when that trust might be challenged.
Standing, he began pacing, deep in thought.
After a short while, he knew there was only one thing to do.
Over dinner he would tell her to pack up her things tonight so he could fly her back to Wasilla in the morning.
He would no longer hold her to the proposition that had been part of his plan to settle a score.
A vengeance he’d refused to acknowledge until now.
But what about him not wanting her to spend the holidays alone?
At that moment he decided Leslie spending the holidays alone was better than her spending them here with him for all the wrong reasons.