Agitated, he rounded the corner and almost got knocked off his feet by the vision in front of him. There she was.
His heart was beating fast enough to jump right out of his chest. He could only stand there and stare.
This didn’t look like her, but it was her.
The Mindy he’d loved had been blonde with light highlights, tanned body, and a smooth smile that was a hook to his internal fish. She’d been cute, bright eyed and fancy free. A sweet girl hidden under a layer of dangerous sass that had been his undoing.
She bent over, sticking her firm bottom up high and his mouth salivated.
His body hardened so fast it hurt to breathe.
Once she stood, he concentrated on her timeless beauty. Her dark blonde hair was cut to her shoulders, angled longer in the front. One bright blonde highlight framed her face.
The spaghetti strap to the white cami slipped down her shoulder, leading his gaze downward to the outline of her small, firm breasts. That answered his question. No implants.
She lifted her chin. Her thin brows curved over surprised eyes, then she blinked twice.
Lord, although she’d changed some, she was still the tall, leggy beauty that could rock a pair of Daisy Dukes like no other.
She shook out whatever she was holding and he groaned. He recognized the shirt as his football jersey that he gave her to wear after “that one night”. He never got it back. Hell, he wanted it back.
“I hope you’re not adding that to the burn pile.”
He’d caught her by surprise because her deep brown eyes nailed him with a combination of disbelief and something else, something he couldn’t quite pin. The ends of her hair brushed her exposed skin in the skimpy top that dipped low, showing off the tops of creamy mounds. She was barefoot and her toes were curled in the grass. He crawled his gaze up on those amazing, knock out legs and onto her frown.
She dragged a tendril of hair behind her ear and he saw a helix piercing and a row of three diamond studs down the other ear lobe. Her lush lips were now drawn into a straight, irritated line that matched her death stare.
He snarled.
She moaned.
Seconds ticked by in awkward silence. Someone needed to make a move or they could have a staring contest for hours. He knew because they had a few as kids.
Clearing his throat, he pushed back the rim of his hat and smiled. “You look different.” Hard to believe this was the same girl who could spit a watermelon seed farther than any guy and ride a horse faster too. Her eyes widened and he caught a glimpse of the pigtailed, freckled face girl. And that had left Creed feeling things he’d never experienced before. A mixture of jealousy for the time he’d lost and appreciation that maybe the country girl remained.
Slow down, bro. The girl he once knew was lost that night when he’d allowed his need to get in the way in the back of his truck and destroyed their friendship.
“Great way to welcome me back,” she whispered.
“That’s not my job.” Guilt wavered inside him. Why? He didn’t owe her a damn thing. Holy smokes, and why did he feel a teasing throbbing below his belt? Nope. Nope. Nope. He couldn’t do this again. He clenched his teeth and took a step forward, but she shook her head, holding up a hand to pause him.
“Stay still.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t promise I won’t punch you.”
He chuckled but he could see she wasn’t laughing, not in the slightest. “And I can’t promise that I won’t take you over my knee and swat your tight bottom. How dare you come back,” he snarled.
“How dare I come back?” She crossed her arms over her flat stomach and laughed. “Wow. I didn’t know I needed your permission before I came home, to my ranch, to see my daddy. You always did have an overexaggerated imagination, Creed Hawke. I see you haven’t changed one bit.” Her pert nose wrinkled. “Still thinking the world evolves around you I see.”
She was the spitfire he knew back when. That certainly hadn’t changed.
Several thoughts slip-slided around inside his whirling head. Her ranch? So, Rusty didn’t tell her that he’d sold most of the ranch to Creed three months ago. Sum’bitch. He knew better than to keep something as serious as the possession of a homestead under wraps. Mindy could explode and he didn’t want to be the target. Creed had figured her father would tell her.
“Mindy—"
“Creed? What are you doing here?” There was a squeak to her voice. “Why are you hanging out at Sage Ranch? Don’t you have anything better to do, or at least stay on your own territory?”
Now wasn’t the time to burst her bubble.
He angled his head toward the burn pit. “The fire. There’s a no-burn order in place.” There was also a tightness in his throat. Pulling himself out of his reverie, he marched over to grab the garden hose off the hook and squeezed the nozzle, extinguishing the now raging flames, splattering her with water in the process.
“Hey! Wait! It’s a contained fire.”
“Doesn’t matter. You know how fast a fire can get out of control around these parts.” He dropped the hose. “You could be fined for this,” he growled.
“Oh really?” She drew the words out through those plush, kissable lips. Her dark eyes glowered. “By whom?” She tilted her shapely hip. “You always did have a bigger bark than bite.”
“Not me, sweetheart. Sheriff Conley.”
“That old hoot?”
“No, his son.”
“Same difference. Just because you have pounded a couple fence posts on the property doesn’t give you the right to boss me around.”
“Are you testing me?”
“Now why would I want to do
