Forsaken Trails by Bonnie R. Paulson

Author:Bonnie R. Paulson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: montana, montana romance, montana series, cowboy romance box set, cowboy romance, cowboy, cowgirl, western, western series, western romance
Publisher: Captiva Publishing
Published: 2017-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Sloan

Sloan couldn’t believe how fast a week flew by. He’d only caught glimpses of Ruby as she swam or sat on the grass down by the river. They were supposed to go to dinner, but they hadn’t settled on a night, so he’d taken the opportunity to back off a bit, since Jessica Bland had referred to him as a safe place.

That was a lot of responsibility for a man who didn’t quite know if he was raised trustworthy enough or not.

He sat in his office, which was really nothing more than a fancy closet. He hadn’t wanted to have a huge lavish work space to push numbers around when he wanted to make sure the occupants of Parker’s Place had the nicest he could give them. Plus, he was only in the office to do paperwork.

Sloan jumped at every sound since sending for Ruby. She would be at his office sometime that day and he wasn’t sure when. The wait might kill him. He needed to see her and denying that while trying to stay away from her all week had been a true test of his resolve.

He didn’t have any.

Another creak outside the office door and he shook his head in disgust. People walked by his door. It didn’t mean Ruby was out there, waiting to come in and see him. He had to shake off the excitement and nervousness wrapped up in anticipation of seeing her.

Taking a deep breath, Sloan let it out on a whoosh. Just relax, Sloan. A watched pot –

A knock on the door brought his head up. Ruby pushed in with a hesitant smile on the bow of her lips. “Jessica said you wanted to see me.” Her presence was almost painful because he didn’t have a real reason for staying away from her and seeing her again when his reasons weren’t clear felt like an unjust punishment had ended. Only... she wouldn’t understand and some of her guard had returned.

His pain aside, a healthy color tinged her skin instead of the paleness she’d arrived with and she wasn’t as fidgety as she’d been.

The brilliance in the green of her eyes and the slope of her neck confused him and he blurted out, “I figured maybe tonight would be a good night for dinner. Are you hungry?” Of course he would have to have an ulterior motive to see her, but he needed that dinner date. Craved it all week and since all of his defenses were down, he easily allowed himself to ask.

He was grateful he needed to talk to her. In case she pushed him for more, he had another reason to speak with her.

She scrunched her lips to the side, confused. “That’s why you called me out here?” She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I mean, we haven’t really spoken all week. I figured you didn’t want to do dinner.” Ruby lifted her vulnerable gaze to Sloan’s face and he felt the shame of his actions course through him.

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