Cowboy Creed (Cooper's Hawke Landing Book 1) Page 8

  “Oh…I’m sorry. He’s booked today. Can I add you for another day?” Willow sat back down and reached for a pen from the butterfly holder. In a click of a second, she’d gone from friendly to all business.

  Mindy leaned over the counter slightly, looking down at the planner, thinking quick. “He said I could stop by any time.” She hated lying but she wasn’t leaving until she had a long, thorough discussion with the new owner of Sage Ranch.

  “He did?” Her groomed brows scrunched slightly. “He’s up to his eyeballs in trouble today, Mindy. What with working on the heli and trying to get it up and running before his next scheduled flight. Then we had a missing person up on the mountain—”

  “Oh, I understand.” Mindy glanced around the small office space, stalling for time. Then she remembered… “Hey, whatever happened to Vance Neil? Remember him? He was your senior prom date, right?” Willow had the biggest crush on Vance, although he didn’t know she existed. Mindy couldn’t understand what Willow had seen in the rude twerp, but with a little convincing from Mindy, Vance agreed to take Willow to the dance.

  “He’s married with three kids and bald—” her brows snapped together. “Hey, wait. I see what you’re doing.” She tapped the end of the pen against the planner and sighed. “You’re calling in a favor, aren’t you?”

  “No, not really. Just recalling how we were such good friends back in the day.” Seeing the softening lines of Willow’s face, Mindy could practically see the chains of resistance breaking in the woman.

  “I can also recall how hot you and Creed used to be. What a waste. I would have staked my front teeth on you two getting hitched.” Willow shrugged. “I guess I was wrong, just like I had been wrong about Vance. Because you were always so nice, I’m going to let you pass, but if I get fired—”

  “I won’t tell him. I’ll say that I didn’t see you if he asks.”

  “Fine. He’s in the hangar, but I’ll warn you, the bear is out of hibernation.”

  Smiling, Mindy took off toward the door that read “private”.

  The hangar held two helicopters. One was disassembled with two wide shouldered men bent close. Her cowgirl boots thudded the polished cement floor as she strolled to where the Hawke men were discussing something about an airframe and transmission. She cleared her throat which brought the youngest Hawke’s attention up from the engine.

  A smile appeared on Boone’s handsome face. He elbowed Creed who brought his tight jaw up looking at her like he could have bit nails in half with his teeth. Both wore stained white T-shirts that fit their torsos like a second skin. That was a lot of testosterone for one room.

  “Well, hell. Do my eyes deceive me? Is that really Minnow coming my way?” Boone whistled through his teeth.

  Mindy blinked. The last time she saw him he was a scrawny kid with a bushy head of hair, acne on his face, and a dusting of dark fine hair on his upper lip. He’d grown up and looked a lot like Creed, with less vinegar in his veins. She could practically feel Creed simmering in his anger.

  “Hi, Boone—”

  Mindy squeaked when he wrapped his arms around her waist and swept her off her feet, swinging her in a full circle. The deed was crushed between them, momentarily forgotten in the happy reunion. She’d always liked Boone—always enjoyed his infectious personality. Of all the Hawke clan he was the easiest going. Of course, she hadn’t seen him in so long.

  Once he set her back down, she fixed the straps of her top then giggled at his excitement. At least she knew she had one friend left in Cooper’s Hawk.

  “Hope I didn’t get any grease on you,” Boone said.

  “I’m not wearing my Sunday best so don’t worry.” She couldn’t get over how much the man had changed…and looked like Creed and Hank. They all had dark wavy hair, broad jaws, pensive eyes, and were tall in stature.

  “Girl, California has been good to you.” Boone slipped his gaze down her then whistled.

  Beyond his shoulder she saw Creed’s frown. She felt a flush crawl up her neck and into her face, and certainly must have turned red. The brooding glare he had on her didn’t help with the awkwardness.

  “Boone, what are you up to these days?”

  “About six-foot three last I checked.” He winked.

  The Hawke men had good genes. “Sorry I’m interrupting, but I need to speak to Creed.”

  “We’re working here,” he said gruffly, pulling a dirty white cloth out of his back pocket and wiping his hands. His biceps stretched the knit of the T-shirt as he tossed the rag onto a work bench. Fumbling inside of a red box, noisily slinging tools, he seemed to be doing his best not to look her direction. She skimmed his broad back wondering how much more the cotton could take before it ripped. The loose-fitting jeans had large holes in the knees and more near the front pockets. He had a smear of grease down his cheek and a lock of hair had fallen over his forehead making him appear younger.

  A grim set came over his lips. “We’re booked for today. Make an appointment.”

  “I need to speak to you now.” Nervously, she tugged at the hem of her shirt that suddenly seemed too tight. Her breasts tingled and her nipples scrunched. A breeze rolled in through the hangar door and blew over her, easing some of the fire in her core.

  “Do ya?” He snapped up a thick brow, one corner of his lips lifted as if he found her demand amusing. “Sure, let me take a moment to speak to you instead of fixing the heli that we need running by afternoon.”

  Boone looked from Mindy to Creed then back at her with an apologetic shrug. “You two can chat. I’ll keep working. I’m smarter than Creed anyway.”

  He didn’t show even a sliver of tension relief at his brother’s joke. Instead, he growled, dropped the tool on a nearby table, and muttered, “I have five minutes to spare.”

  “Wish me luck,” Mindy mouthed to Boone who gave her a thumb’s up.

  She followed Creed through the door and out into the warm sunshine. She thought they would talk there, but instead he kept walking across the concrete lot in such a fast pace that she had to jog to keep up with him.

  They stepped up to a door that read, “Office”.

  He shot a look at her over his shoulder, frowning from ear to ear. “I’ll open it for you so you don’t break a nail.” He jerked open the glass door.

  Mindy smiled. What he meant as a burn she let slide. “You’re real cute. And so is the frown.” Why was he so damn angry? Like he had the right! She strode in first and was met with a blast of cold air from the AC that was whirring from a window. The room was clean with two large desks, a computer, a row of file cabinets against one wall, and a water container in the corner. She didn’t see any pictures, no personal effects.

  He strolled over to the farthest desk and dropped down into the worn, ripped black chair that gave a loud whine of resistance at his weight. Once he was settled, she sashayed her way to his desk, not allowing his heated gaze to ruffle her feathers.

  “Tell me what the hell couldn’t wait.” He swiped a hand down his whiskered jaw.

  Slamming the crumpled deed down onto the desk, she tilted a hip and watched several unreadable expressions flitter over his handsome face. He shifted uncomfortably and she wondered if the chair would hold up. Then he caught her off guard when he huffed a gruff laugh. “Still snooping I see.”

  “It seems it’s about the only way I can find out the things I have a right to know.” She glared down her nose at him.

  “Communication never was your strongest suit,” he growled.

  “I’m sure there’s an angle to that comment but right now I really don’t care. What I want to know is how you stole Sage Ranch out from underneath my daddy?” She drilled him with what she hoped was an evil stare.

  “Stole?” His baritone laughter made her nipples tingle. “I’ve never stole a damn thing in my life, outside of a cookie now and then.” His eyes turned a dangerous color.

  “Stop stalling, Creedy. I want to know why in the hell you are on this deed.” She leaned ov
er the desk, planting her palms on the mahogany wood.

  “Look, you don’t have the right to storm in here and demand anything from me. Take it up with Rusty.” He refolded the deed then held it up for her.

  Mindy didn’t take it, instead continued to stare at him. “Whether you like it or not I’m not leaving until I have some answers.” When he didn’t respond, she kept right on talking, “I always wondered why you hung around Sage Ranch. You used to tell me how much you wanted to stay there. You were different around Daddy, as if you couldn’t try hard enough to get him to like you. Well, now it looks like you finally gained his appreciation. Was this the plan all along?”

  “Enough.”

  “No, it’s not enough because I need to hear the truth from you. You won’t be satisfied until you have taken everything away from the Sage’s, will you?” She wasn’t sure where the words came from but once she opened the gates, she couldn’t stop the flood. Years of hurt and anger had been stored inside of her.

  “I won’t say it again,” he said flatly, almost dangerously.

  Mindy wasn’t the type to back down. Maybe she needed answers to all the questions of the past and present. “Damnit, Creed. Give me answers. Something! Why? How?”

  He jumped up so fast the chair hit the wall, knocking a glass off a file cabinet and crashing to the floor, but neither paid any attention. He rounded the desk in two long strides which brought him in front of her. His teeth were bared. His eyes were charged with an unspoken fury, and his hands were gripped into fists. She’d never seen this side of him before. He didn’t scare her, had never been scared when they fought, but she was frightened of the whirlwind of emotions increasing inside her. She couldn’t trust what she’d say to him when her emotions were on high.

  Taking several steps, the backs of her legs struck the flowered chair and she froze as he followed her, staring down at her with pent up emotion.

  “You crossed a line, Mindy,” he whispered.

  “And so have you.” She wished she could control the shaking in her limbs.

  “You want answers?” he said in a low, dangerous murmur. “I’d like some fucking answers too. How about we start with why you left Cooper’s Hawk? No goodbye. No kiss my ass. You just picked up and left.” His gaze seethed with anger.

  “You knew I was leaving. You were leaving too.”

  “My God, must we beat around the bush?”

  She slammed her head back onto her shoulder to look up at him. She wasn’t short at five eight, but he was still much taller. Broader. Angrier, and yet, she didn’t feel any fright. “I-I thought I was doing us both a favor.” Her knees quivered. “I thought I knew you as well as I knew myself but turns out I knew nothing about you.”

  “You’re the only one that probably ever knew me,” he said the words so softly, but they contradicted the blue inferno in his eyes.

  How could he upend her so easily? She had every right to be outraged. Creed and her daddy had kept the situation with Sage Ranch a secret.

  A splash of guilt washed over her. She had secrets too.

  Why couldn’t she manage to keep her head on straight when she was near him? Why did the old emotions come charging in and threatening to turn her into the woman who thought he hung the moon?

  Hurt made her want to bring out the big guns. “If I knew you so well then why couldn’t I foresee that what we shared in the back of your truck would change you?”

  His nostrils fared and he looked like he was searching deep for lost patience.

  Chapter Six

  CREED FORCED AIR into his lungs and exhaled noisily. He heard Mindy’s words but was he hearing right? How dare she come flouncing in here, into his life, and demanding that he open himself up to her. “That’s entertaining. You were the one who walked away, sweetheart. Not me.”

  “Things changed after we slept together. I guess you got what you wanted, and it was time to move on to the next one.” Once the word parted her lips, she realized how ridiculous they sounded. Creed had never been a player, not with her or anyone. He’d always been respectful. Why couldn’t she just admit that she’d felt rejected when things had gone back to what felt like “friends” only after they slept together.

  He blinked. “You’re really saying stupid shit now. What the hell are you talking about? I was a damn kid, Mindy. So were you. I’m sorry that I was an awkward kid who had no clue how to act after he’d slept with his best friend.”

  “So then what? Was I supposed to give you time? My God, I’d already spent most of my life up until that point following you around like I was your shadow. Maybe I’d hoped…”

  “Hoped what?”

  “You knew how much I cared for you. I made my feelings clear. I wanted—hoped—you’d treat me like a woman instead of a best friend.”

  Her words burnt his ears. “We were best friends. Are you suggesting that I mistreated you? I saved your ass how many times? Didn’t that prove I cared?”

  “Saved my ass? How?” She chuckled but it lacked humor.

  “How about the time you jumped off the bridge into the creek? Do you think I wanted to jump too? I had no choice but to follow because I was afraid you’d drown.”

  She squinted. “I didn’t drown. I knew what I was doing. I wanted to swim.”

  “Obviously you didn’t down. You’re missing the point. How about the time you climbed into the bull pen and that old fat bull thought you were the red flag. Or how about the time I beat Bobby Sager up because he touched your—”

  “I do get the point! You were always there for me.” As if the realization of her own words struck her, her eyes widened, and she dropped her arms to her sides. Her bottom lip trembled. “Just don’t throw those times up in my face. I never asked for you to take on the job as my bodyguard.”

  “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? No matter what I say you’re going to peck me to the bone like a vulture on roadkill. Don’t blame me because you went in search of a whole new world in California. You got what you wanted, and life here went on without you. Are you seeing that you no longer have a place here?”

  Hurt filled her eyes. “What happened to the nice Creedy?”

  “Maybe he went out the door with the nice Mindy,” he growled. “Then again, when were you ever thinking of my feelings?”

  “Really? That’s a riot! You talk about the times you were there for me but who was there every time you decided to do something stupid that could have gotten us into trouble?”

  “You’re so annoying. I see that hasn’t changed.”

  “You’re still an asshole. And like all asses you’re a bigger one now than ever.”

  “Oh, that’s just funny. Coming from the woman who had her nose so high in the air she’d drown in a rainstorm. Check out my BMW. Ooh ooh. Check out my pretty diamond. Oh oh.” He mocked her tone, lifting his hand and waving his fingers.

  Her mouth fell open, but he sparked her fiery spirit. “The car was a present from my ex who had a large guilty conscious. The ring, as you so cruelly point out, belonged to my mom. It was her engagement ring from my father and the only piece of jewelry she owned.”

  He felt a kick to his gut. I am an asshole. “Mindy—”

  “Jackass.”

  Smiling, he shrugged. “Controlling.”

  She smirked. “Bitter.”

  “Childish.”

  “How does a man become so full of himself?”

  “Probably the same way a woman thinks every man owes her something.”

  “Do men gather in groups to brainstorm these ridiculous, sexist comebacks? When a man gets a little upset with a woman, he negatively points out her strength or accuses her of needing something from a man. Do you make index cards with these crazy points? I don’t need anything from a man.” Her face shifted from anger to something else far more dangerous.

  “And women are any better? You all blame the male gender for everything. If we communicate too much, we’re weak. If we don’t communicate enough, we’re closed off
. If you ask us a question and we don’t answer it perfectly then we’ve become the enemy. Can a man ever be good enough to make a woman happy?” he seethed.

  “I’d love to answer yes, but I’m guessing no.”

  “Don’t come in here busting my balls. You don’t have the right. When you left Cooper’s Hawk you gave up every right to expect anything from me.” He shoved his hands to his hips.

  “I guess I should be grateful that I was smart enough to give up on that childhood dream. Where would we be now? Melody was much more your speed any way. Glad it only took you a couple weeks to get over what we shared.”

  The mention of his ex made the hair on his neck lift. He took a step back and tore his hand through his hair. He wasn’t sure how much she knew about Melody. That was a train wreck he wasn’t willing to unveil with her, not right now.

  With slumped shoulders, he took another step back. “When I came home from the rodeo circuit your dad and I became friends. He offered me a job and I worked at Sage Ranch while still helping run Hawke Farm. I needed to raise the money for this place. There’s something you’re right about. I always loved the ranch and respected your father. Year after year passed, I stuck around, even after I opened Hawke Landing. After Rusty’s heart attack he’d changed, mentally and physically. You had to see that for yourself. He started talking about his fear of losing the ranch. And financially, he was drowning after the medical bills came rolling in and a few business decisions turned ugly. He came to me one day and said he was tired, wanted to retire. He asked if I was interested in running Sage Ranch. Your name did come up, but he believed you wouldn’t come home. You were too busy.” He blew out a long breath and rubbed his forehead. “I couldn’t stand to see him sell the place to a stranger. It’s true, I had a personal stake in this too. A lot of Sage Ranch used to belong to my family. It had always been my father’s intention to get back what rightly belonged to the Hawkes.”

  “I remember. Our fathers were friends until the transfer of land.”

  “Dad could barely look at himself, let alone Rusty. Not that he was the enemy, but he was a reminder of Dad’s failure. Rusty felt like the property should be back in the hands of the Hawke family. He made me a fair offer and I couldn’t refuse. Didn’t want to refuse. The house with a few surrounding acres still belongs to your family. Why he didn’t speak to you first, or share the news, is something you’ll need to ask him. I’ve told you my side of things.” He picked up the deed and shoved it toward her.