“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 over 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
