Ignoring him, Sloan turned to her. “I have to talk to you. In private.”

She couldn’t form a reply. She could simply stare, not daring to hope.

Evan shook his head. “I don’t suppose you care that you are causing a scene, Senator.” When neither of them appeared to hear, he climbed to his feet and brushed off his elegant frock coat. “Very well, I suggest you retire upstairs for your discussion. I shall make my apologies to the hotel management for the disturbance. I only dare hope a man of my consequence can withstand the indignity of being tossed on his backside.”

Heather glanced around her. They were indeed causing a scene. Several people were staring, including the desk clerk. Under normal circumstance she might have felt embarrassment, but just now she was too filled with anxiety to care what other people thought. She only wished to be alone with Sloan.

He must have felt similarly. Without waiting for her agreement, Sloan took her hand and pulled her up the elegant mahogany stairway.

“There…” Heather indicated her room when he seemed to be searching along the hallway. He drew her into the room and shut the door behind them.

Once inside, however, he abruptly released her. For a moment he simply stared. “You’ve been crying,” he whispered.

Absently she wiped at the stains on her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter. What… are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to beg you not to leave me.”

“Why?”

“Because I need you. Because Janna needs you.” His voice cracked slightly. “Because I want you for my wife. Please, will you stay?”

Her disbelief showed in her golden eyes. “Why should I?”

“Because I love you,” Sloan replied—too harshly, he realized. He heard Heather’s soft, ragged intake of breath. At her shocked expression, his chest twisted.

“I love you,” he said again, without the sharpness. “Maybe I don’t have the right to ask you to stay, Heather. I know I’ve hurt you … I know I’ve done nothing to deserve your love… But I’m asking you to give me another chance.”

The naked vulnerability in his face struck her like a physical blow. That expression in his eyes, so desperate and haunted, distressed her.

She felt the same desperation. The yearning in her heart was so painful, she thought she might faint.

“You love me?” she whispered, her eyes wide with uncertainty.

“Yes.” How could he not love her? Her devotion to his daughter, her fierce courage, her compassion.… She had faced the harsh challenges of this land, the trials of his failing cattle empire, without flinching. He loved her. Needed her. Even more desperately than she’d once needed him, when she’d been burdened by the crush of financial debts. It had taken nearly losing her to make him realize just how very much.