If Ever I Would Leave You: A Montana Rescue Prequel by Susan May Warren

Author:Susan May Warren [Warren, Susan May]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: SDG Publishing
Published: 2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

No, no it wasn’t going to be all right. Because while Esme might have given in to his demands—and he felt a little like a prison warden when he’d issued his or-else, tonight Ian had gotten exactly what he’d hoped for.

A clear and present picture of just exactly where he stood with Sierra.

I just want you to know that I’m always here for you... As a friend. And an assistant, of course.

Of course.

Sierra’s words lingered in Ian’s head as she slipped into quietness, nestled beside him. And yeah, after she relaxed into slumber, he gave in and put his arm back around her because despite the sleeping bag, she was shivering a little.

He could kid himself all he wanted with that justification but really, if he were honest, he just needed to hold on to her, let all that warmth and hope seep into him.

And sure, it stirred to life that long simmering urge for more, but really, she’d drawn the line between them.

I am your friend. But I am not trying to be anything else but that.

If he’d had any hope lingering after the revelation that she’d invited him on this trip to reveal Esme and Dante’s relationship—something he could hardly blame her for, really—it died with the way she made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t coming on to him.

Roger that.

He’d tried to talk some sense into her, but she’d shut him down again with that lethal Mr. Shaw and then he had nothing.

He longed to tell her how much it meant to him to have her talk sense into Esme. How yeah, he wanted to be her friend, and more, but every time she called him by his formal name it screeched all his feelings to a halt. Not just because it made him feel like her boss, but right then, he became her old boss. The man years older than her, and he couldn’t shake the image of the old, rich guy chasing his cute assistant.

Then, all he had to do was remember how Sierra had laughed while talking with Deputy Sam, or the girls on the trail, or even how she related to Esme to see how impossibly young and sweet she was.

Ian didn’t have a right to pursue her. Just because she was in his life every day and had promised to never leave him didn’t mean he had the right to see her as anything but what she’d claimed.

His assistant. No, lucky him, his friend.

Okay, really, he was lucky to have her as a friend.

An incredibly beautiful, kind and way-too-tempting friend. Especially when she sighed in her sleep.

Overhead, the sky scattered stars across the bold darkness. The fire was dying, but he didn’t want to jostle her to add fuel, so he simply leaned his head back on the log. He slid his arm away from her and folded it over his chest. She stirred, but curled in even more to him, and he took a long, low breath and tried to sedate his heart.

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