He chuckled. “Why do you want this so badly?”
“I want to keep my home. Isn’t that enough? I want Jane to have this place to call home one day, hopefully.”
Standing, his thigh brushed hers, causing a raid of sensations to gallop through him. Staring down at her bright eyes surrounded by thick, dark lashes, he denied the urge to sweep her up in his arms and remind her of that one night so long ago. It would come, eventually. He needed to know if she still tasted like ripe strawberries.
“It’s more than a plot of land, sweetheart.”
“What do you mean?”
“What happened to that girl who was invested?”
She drew back slightly, several seconds drifted by, and she said on a wistful sigh, “How can I prove that I am when you and Daddy can’t even tell me the truth?”
He gave a jerky shrug and scratched his temple with his thumbnail. “How have I kept the truth?”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t know.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“What would you like me to do, Creedy?”
He tore a hand through his hair. “It’s not up to me.”
“Come on, let’s not kid ourselves. If I stay how much longer can we deny the tug that draws us together?”
“Who says I’m denying it? Maybe I’m just waiting for you to stop.”
“That almost sounds like a challenge, and you know me and challenges,” she said in a soft tone that dipped in and teased his desire.
“Take it however you want. I’m not making any promises that I’ll sell you a portion of the ranch. So if you’re trying to use that sexy body to get me to do what you want then you’re wasting your time.”
She gritted her teeth and he knew he’d struck a chord. It wasn’t his aspiration to piss her off, but he seemed good at it.
“You have a lot of gull, Creed James Hawke!”
“I have a lot of gull? Really? I think it’s interesting how you suddenly want to fit in here in Cooper’s Hawk like nineteen years haven’t passed.”
She crossed her arms and he could see the tremble in her bottom lip. “I’m about sick and tired of hearing you throw that up in my face! I might have moved away but it sure as hell didn’t take you long to move on. You and Melody married before the stain of our lovemaking was washed away from your truck bed.”
He could see the simmering anger in her irises, but that didn’t deter him. “Why would you care?” He leaned in a few inches. Her eyes widened slightly.
“Forget it! It’s no use.” She turned, but he grabbed her elbow and turned her back around.
“No, I won’t forget it! You don’t have the right to spew off words in anger then run away. If you plan on sticking around, we’re going to have to find some peace. You left, Mindy. What did you expect from me?”
“I didn’t expect you to screw the first girl that came along.”
“And I didn’t expect that you’d leave. If you cared why didn’t you come back?”
She squinted. “I did come back, Creed. Five months after I left, I came back.” Her voice faded as he saw tears fill her eyes.
“What? You’re lying.” He realized he still held her in his grasp, and he dropped his hand to his side.
“What would I gain by lying?” There was a seesawing of emotion in her voice.
“Why did you come back?” he practically growled the words.
“I left you a letter. In your truck.”
“What letter?”
“Stop, Creed! You know what letter I’m referring to.”
He rubbed his jaw. “This is like pulling teeth. I never received a letter from you. I want to know what it said and why you came back.”
She lowered her eyes and when she looked back up at him all emotion was gone. The strong Mindy had returned. “It doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“Don’t even try that. You’re not getting off so easy. Why. Did. You. Come back? Answer me,” he demanded.
Trails of moisture glistened on her cheeks. “I-I came back to see you. To speak to you. In the letter I wrote to you, I asked that you come see me. I waited in the parking lot of the ice rink for hours. Then Melody showed up. She was visibly upset that I was back. I knew then it was too late.”
His breath came out on a hiss. “What was too late?” he whispered.
Her gaze met his and a surge of energy passed between them. “Too late for us.”
He sucked in a tempered breath and it took him a long time to process what she had told him. “I had no clue you had come back. Melody didn’t tell me.”
“It doesn’t matter, Creed. She was your fiancée. I can’t blame her for being concerned.”
“We didn’t get married.”
She blinked. “You said that you two did.”
“Later, we did, but not that summer.” He rubbed his forehead, feeling a throbbing coming on. “I backed out. I couldn’t marry her then. I left for the Navy and when I came back, I joined the rodeo circuit. It wasn’t until later, when I came home that things started up again. She got pregnant with Livvy and I wanted to do the right thing, so I asked her to marry me. From the get-go I knew it wouldn’t last but I didn’t want to risk that she’d walk away with my child.”
She swiped her knuckles across her face to remove the tears. “I-I thought you two married. All this time—”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you got married too, Mindy. A year after you left. After that I asked Rusty to never mention your name
