Chapter Eighteen
Eighteen
“It’s finally let up,” Leslie said as she stood at the window looking out. The wind had died down, and it was no longer snowing.
“After nearly three days of nonstop snow, it’s about time, don’t you think?” Sloan said, coming to stand beside her.
She looked over at him. Those snow days had been wonderful for her. Not just the time they’d spent either in bed, making out in front of the fireplace or in the shower, but the time they spent together, talking over hot chocolate or their meals, or just curled up together on the sofa.
He told her about several of his business ventures and the plans he had for them.
He also told her about the call he’d gotten three days ago concerning Martin Longshire, and what Sloan had to finally do to show the man he meant business.
Although she regretted it had to come to Longshire being asked to step down, she knew over time he would have gotten worse.
The man didn’t know the meaning of cutting losses and moving on.
Sloan also told her more about his Westmoreland cousins and through him she got to know them better.
The one thing they hadn’t talked about, and what she wasn’t sure about, was what would happen with them.
“Now that it has stopped snowing, does that mean you’re ready to take me back to Wasilla, Sloan?” she asked, wanting to know, since as far as she knew his plans hadn’t changed.
He turned to face her, reaching out to hold her around the waist. “Do you still want to leave?”
Leslie raised her chin. “If I recall, my leaving was your idea. You couldn’t wait for me to be gone.”
“But that was before...”
When his voice trailed off and he didn’t finish what he was about to say, she decided to finish it for him. “Before what? Our two-day sex marathon?”
He frowned. “It was more than that, and you know it.”
“Do I, Sloan? I don’t recall you saying it was more.”
“Well, I’m saying it now,” he said, turning to walk off.
That wasn’t good enough for Leslie. “Tell me how it was more than that, Sloan.”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “Why do you want to get into this now, Leslie? Why can’t we continue to enjoy the moment?”
She bit her bottom lip to hold back saying what she really wanted to say. Instead, she said, “I guess there’s no reason we can’t, Sloan.”
“Good.”
Leslie doubted he knew how much his words hurt.
There were a number of reasons why they couldn’t continue to enjoy the moment without them deciding where things went with them from here.
His words basically let her know that what she’d assumed was true.
Over the past couple of days, they had been making up for all those years they’d been apart, but with no real plan in place to move forward together beyond this week.
All she’d been was a bed partner for him during the storm.
She’d suspected it, but she had hoped he’d eventually see things differently.
Although he’d admitted he was just as much to blame as she was for their breakup, he wasn’t ready for a reconciliation.
The only thing he was ready for was sex.
“Now that the roads appear clear, I need to drive over to Walker’s. I talked to him earlier, and he has an extra fuse that I need for the electric box in the underground tunnel. Will you be okay here until I get back?”
She plastered a smile on her face. “Yes, of course, I’ll be fine.”
Twenty minutes later, Leslie stood in front of the window and watched as Sloan drove away.
He hadn’t even bothered inviting her to go with him.
It wasn’t like she and Walker had never met.
Besides, she would have loved to have met Walker’s wife and seen their twins.
Evidently Sloan didn’t consider Leslie worthy of doing either.
At that moment, she knew what she needed to do.
Grabbing her cell phone off the table, she was glad it was working again.
It didn’t take long to arrange a car service to take her to the airport.
A part of her refused to think that she was doing the exact same thing she’d done ten years ago, which was to run away without confronting him.
In a way that might be true but this time it wasn’t about a lie she believed.
It was about the truth she knew. She loved him but he didn’t love her.
Accepting that truth, she had to pack and be ready when the car arrived and hope she was gone by the time Sloan returned.
It was obvious that he wasn’t ready to say one way or the other if she meant anything to him, so she had to assume she didn’t. Ten years ago, the only way she’d gotten over him had been to make a clean break. To protect her heart, she had no choice but to leave him once again.
Sloan entered the cabin. He’d been gone way longer than expected, because part of the roof on Walker’s barn had collapsed from the weight of the snow. Sloan had helped with temporary repairs until the roofer could get there tomorrow.
He noticed that although it had gotten dark outside, there were no lights on inside the cabin. Was Leslie in her room reading now that power was fully restored? He’d sent her a text message letting her know he would be delayed because he was helping Walker with the roof.
Bailey had raked him over the coals for not inviting Leslie along, saying she would have loved to have met her. When he’d told Bailey he hadn’t brought Leslie because there was no reason for the two of them to meet, it had suddenly occurred to him what his words had meant.
Those words hadn’t been true, and he’d known it.
When he’d left for Walker’s, he’d been deliberately running away from emotions he hadn’t been ready to face. Emotions Leslie had forced him to face. He couldn’t help but recall bits and pieces of their conversation earlier...
Does that mean you’re ready to take me back to Wasilla, Sloan?
Do you still want to leave?
If I recall, my leaving was your idea. You couldn’t wait for me to be gone.
But that was before...
Before what? Our two-day sex marathon?
It was more than that, and you know it.
Do I, Sloan? I don’t recall you saying it was more.
Well, I’m saying it now.
Tell me how it was more than that, Sloan.
Sloan hadn’t told her because at the time he couldn’t. Instead, he had found an excuse to leave. To escape by putting distance between them—that had given him a chance to think and accept a few things.
Now he could tell her what he should have told her during those two days they’d been making love.
What he should have told her when she had confronted him earlier before he left the cabin to go to Walker’s.
He could tell her that making love to her was more than just a sexual marathon, because he loved her.
She had made him realize that he hadn’t stopped loving her.
That’s what had made him protect her from the likes of Martin Longshire.
What had made him want to spend time with her at the cabin.
And what had gotten him to finally see that those plans he’d had for bringing her to the cabin had been made for the wrong reasons, what had made him see that taking her back to Wasilla was the right thing to do.
Now he needed to tell her why taking her back to Wasilla was not the right thing to do.
He needed the rest of the week to show her their time together meant more to him than sex.
It was about loving her unconditionally.
Wanting a life with her. Sharing everything with her.
Having children with her. He smiled at the thought of a little girl as beautiful as her mother.
He was about to head down the hall, eager to see Leslie, when he realized Leslie had removed all the Christmas decorations and had placed them in a box beside the tree. Why had she done that now when they had two more days to spend at the cabin?
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he moved toward the tree. When he got closer, he spotted the note hanging on one of the branches. Snatching it off, he read it.
Sloan, I am returning to Wasilla. Thanks for a wonderful time at the cabin. I hope you got what you wanted for Christmas.
Leslie
Sloan crumbled the paper in his hand as he headed for his bedroom to pack. If Leslie Cassidy thought she could take off and run away from him a second time, then he intended to prove her wrong.
He was in the middle of packing when his cell phone went off. He quickly pulled it out of the pocket of his jacket, hoping it was Leslie, but sighed in disappointment when he saw it was Cole. “What’s going on, Cole?”
“Calling for two reasons. First, I wanted to make sure you’re okay. We all heard about that massive snowstorm and were concerned when we couldn’t get through to you, Walker and Bailey.”
“We survived,” he said, deciding not to mention his accident. Just thinking about it made him once again appreciate that Leslie had been there with him.
“Good to hear it. The other reason I’m calling is about Martin Longshire.”
Sloan stopped packing and released a frustrated sigh. “Please don’t tell me Longshire has refused to step down and I have to take away his company.”
Cole chuckled. “No, that’s not it. I understand that, although he’s not happy about it, he will retire and has plans to move back to Paris.”
“Good riddance. So, what’s up with the man?”
“While checking him out, I came across a few things that warranted further digging. There’s something I found rather interesting, and I’m not sure you know about it.”
“And what’s that?” Sloan asked as he resumed packing. He placed the call on speaker so he could move around as he threw items into his luggage.
“Did you know that a few years ago, Longshire was some young woman’s secret sugar daddy?”
Sloan continued packing. “Why would that be of any interest to me, Cole?”
“Because the woman was Sarah Olsen, Leslie Cassidy’s roommate.”
Sloan went still. “Damn.”