Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
“You deserted Sloan Outlaw a second time, Leslie?”
Leslie rolled her eyes. Leave it to Carmen to get dramatic. “Trust me, he got just what he wanted from me. If you recall, he wanted me for Christmas.”
She wouldn’t bother mentioning that she’d gotten what she’d wanted from him, too, even when she hadn’t realized she had wanted it or needed it. All it had taken was a day in Sloan’s arms to make her realize just what she’d missed the past ten years. To be honest, she hadn’t gotten enough of him.
“And what if he comes after you?”
“He won’t, since he has no reason to do so.
Besides, it’s been almost two days and I haven’t heard from him.
Not even a phone call.” She had received a text message on the day she’d left letting her know he would be returning to the cabin later than expected, because he was helping Walker.
She hadn’t responded to the text because she’d been busy packing.
“You know what they say, Carmen. Out of sight means out of mind. I figure since he is my business partner I’ll eventually see him at some point after the office opens in January.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
She opened her mouth to lie and discovered she couldn’t.
This was Carmen. Her best friend. The woman who knew all her secrets.
Most of them, anyway. Carmen knew how much Leslie had loved Sloan before and probably suspected she loved him now.
“It doesn’t matter. Sloan made it clear all we were sharing was sex this time. ”
“But you said he told you it was more.”
“Yes, he did say that, but he couldn’t tell me how it was more, so what he said doesn’t count, Carmen.”
“Well, at least the two of you know the extent of Sarah Olsen’s deceit.”
“Yes, now I know what he didn’t know.”
“I wonder how Sarah can live with herself after what she did.”
Leslie rolled her eyes. “You saw her at that nightclub, and you heard how she bragged about it. She might have been drinking, but she didn’t have any remorse then and I doubt she has any now.” Leslie glanced at her watch. “Look, Carmen, I need to go finish up my laundry.”
“All right. And you still haven’t made any plans for the holidays?”
“Nope,” she said, looking at the Christmas tree. “I plan to spend quiet time here.”
“You know you’re welcome to join me in Atlanta at my sister’s. She would love seeing you again. And Elan received that package you sent to him. He can’t wait to open it on Christmas Day.”
“I’m glad he got it. Thanks for the invite, but I’ll be okay.”
A few hours later, she had finished laundry and taken a bath. She had changed into her Christmas pj’s she’d gotten from Carmen last year. She’d even taken the time to make Christmas brownies and a batch of sugar cookies. The house was filled with the aroma of baked goods, and she liked it.
Leslie headed for the stairs to grab her e-reader and finish the book she’d begun reading at the cabin when she heard the doorbell. She went still, having an idea who was at the door. There was a reason her body was beginning to tingle all over.
Deciding to ignore the bell, she was about to go upstairs as heavy knocks sounded on the door.
Frowning, she decided to answer it to see what Sloan could possibly want.
When she snatched the door open, a bouquet of red roses stared her in the face, but she recognized the hand holding them. “What do you want, Sloan?”
He lowered the flowers and said, “Now that’s a loaded question, Les.”
Her frown deepened. “No, it’s not, and the name is Leslie to you.”
Instead of addressing what she’d said, he asked, “May I come in so we can talk?”
“Why?”
“I think we need to clear up a few things. Besides, it’s cold as the dickens out here.”
“So? You like the cold.”
He shrugged. “I liked the cold. That episode at the cabin has changed my mind about that. Now can I come in so we can talk?”
Deciding she didn’t want to freeze while standing in the doorway talking to him, she moved aside to let him in.
He glanced over at the tree. “Nice tree.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve seen it before, Sloan.”
“Yes, I have.” He sniffed the air. “Something smells good. You’re baking?”
“Yes.” She needed him to say whatever he’d come there to say so he could leave. Seeing him standing in her foyer, looking yummy enough to eat, wasn’t good.
“Do you mind if I remove my coat, Leslie?”
Deciding not to be impolite, especially when he’d called her by her full name, she said, “You can give it to me and I’ll hang it up. I’m sure whatever you have to say won’t take long.” After putting his coat in the closet, she walked off toward the living room, and he followed.
Leslie offered him the wingback chair, and she sat down on the sofa. “So what do you want to talk about, Sloan?”
He leaned forward, and when he did so, his jeans tightened across thighs she remembered riding. “First, I have a question for you about Sarah Olsen.”
She frowned, wondering why he would bring her up. “What about Sarah?”
“Did you know that while the two of you were roommates, more specifically, during the time you and I were together, that Sarah and Martin Longshire were involved in an affair?”
She knew her expression must have shown her shock as she leaned forward in her seat as well. “Are you kidding me?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not kidding you.”
“Do you think he had anything to do with aiding and abetting our breakup?”
Sloan held her gaze. “I know he did. I paid Sarah a visit, and she confessed to everything.”
“Was she sober?”
He nodded. “Yes. She was also desperate to save her job but was fired anyway.”
Leslie leaned back in her seat. “I don’t understand.”
He leaned back in his chair as well. “You know the old saying what comes around goes around?”
“Yes.”
“After discovering Sarah was involved with Longshire, I had Cole research her. Imagine my surprise to find out that she’s living in LA and had a real cushy sales and marketing position with a film company where I’m a silent partner.
Imagine her surprise when she walked into the conference room to find me sitting there. ”
“And?”
“And she confessed to everything she did to break us up and said Longshire paid her to make sure we ended our relationship. He figured hurting you was a way to get back at your father and your deceased mother.”
Leslie stood, too angry to sit, and began pacing. “I had nothing to do with what happened between my parents and Longshire. He had no right to go after me.”
“No. Just like he had no right to go after the Yules because their daughter rebuffed his advances. He did so anyway. The man is demented. Sarah was apologetic and hoped, since her involvement happened a long time ago, that I could forget about it and move on.”
“What did you say?”
“I honestly didn’t feel any sincere remorse from her. So I told her there was no way I could forget and move on, and that a person with her tendency for deceit was not anyone my partners and I would want working for our company. I fired her on the spot.”
Leslie went back and sat down on the sofa. A part of her wanted to feel bad for Sarah, but all she could remember was how cruel Sarah had been at that nightclub. “I’m sure she’ll get another job.”
“Not in LA. However, I suggested she follow her ex-boo to Paris. According to Cole, now that Longshire had to step down as CEO, that’s where he’s moving.”
Sloan watched Leslie stand up and begin pacing again. Even in her red-and-green pj’s with designs of Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees and candles, he thought she looked cute. He also thought, like he always did, that she had one hell of a figure.
Just looking at her in motion made him want her all over again, but he knew there had to be more to their relationship than lust. There was more. Now he had the important task of convincing her of it.
She suddenly stopped pacing and turned to stare at him. “I should have suspected something. If you recall, I mentioned to you that when Longshire came to my office, he knew you were once my boyfriend. We both wondered how he had known that when you and I hadn’t been in contact in ten years.”
“Come to think of it, considering what you told me about Longshire’s relationship with your parents, it makes sense that he went after us all those years ago,” Sloan said.
“How so?” she asked.
“He was engaged to your mother, but she eloped and married your father, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then what better revenge than to have something similar happen to her daughter?”
When he saw that Leslie was no longer following him, he said, “It was my plan to ask you to marry me that week at the cabin during spring break.”
“What! It was?”
“Yes,” he said, seeing surprise on her face. She hadn’t known. “That was my plan. I even bought the ring. I figured we would get married after you graduated.”
“You wanted to marry me?”
“Of course I wanted to marry you, Leslie. I loved you and believed that you loved me. I figured marriage would be the next step for us.”
“B-but you never mentioned marriage. We never talked about it. I had no idea you wanted a future with me.”
He leaned forward again, to make sure she understood.
“That’s apparently another mistake I made in not making sure you knew how I felt.
However, in my defense, you told me plenty of times that you loved me, and I told you numerous times that I loved you.
I figured that although you might not have known about my pending marriage proposal, you knew I wanted our relationship to continue beyond graduation.
I had no intention of giving you up, Leslie. No intention whatsoever.”
“But how did Sarah know you were going to ask me to marry you? Did you tell her what you planned?”
“No. I was so happy about it, though, I told Keosha, Tyler and Redford. I especially wanted Keosha to know so I could have an idea of your ring size.”