“Yeah, yeah. It’s like looking in the mirror, right bro? Just a better version.”
“You both are ugly. I bet when I was born mama was celebrating that she finally popped one out that couldn’t scare away the vermin,” Boone tossed his two cents into the mix.
“Yeah she celebrated but much later when she praised God that you were born with good looks because you wouldn’t get very far with half a brain.” Hank and Creed fist bumped.
“That’s why you always loved the Wizard of Oz. You wanted the brains like the tin man,” Hank teased.
“It’s the lion, dumbass.” Boone snorted.
“You’re both stupid. It’s the scarecrow,” Creed said with a sniff. When the sitter came over she turned on the Wizard of Oz and made them watch. The brothers had been happy when she moved and Abby decided her boys no longer needed a sitter.
“Oh shit!” Boone muttered, his eyes as wide as silver dollars.
Following his brother’s glare, Creed found Mindy and the cowboy dancing to a slow song.
Creed gritted his teeth.
“Creed?” Hank tapped his shoulder.
“What?”
“Don’t bust up anything in my place. You got it? The last time you got pissed over her you rammed your fist into a wall and broke a few fingers.”
“I’m fine. I’m not jealous.” Creed denied the charge of anger that coursed through him.
“Oh? Did I use that word?” Hank laughed.
“So you always look like you’re constipated?” Boone dared.
“Don’t worry. I won’t break anything unless it happens to be a man’s jaw. But that won’t happen. She’d never forgive me if I acted like a jerk.”
“Damn, bro. Why the hell are you still sitting here? If I felt this much jealousy over a woman, I wouldn’t be sitting back watching her dance with another man. I’d make her mine. Isn’t it about time you took the initiative?” Boone patted his shoulder. “That’s not being a jerk. That’s stepping out of your bubble.”
Hell, maybe his brothers were right.
Pushing off the edge of the bar, Creed weaved his way through the crowd, hearing a few greetings from patrons and shaking a couple of hands until he finally made his way to the unsuspecting couple. The cowboy dancing with Mindy was the first one to see Creed.
“I didn’t know she had a husband,” the man blurted, dropping his hands to his sides.
Creed had his eyes on wide-eyed Mindy. Her bottom lip trembled. Her cheeks were rosy and flushed from dancing. He’d never seen her more beautiful. “I’m not her husband,” he finally said to the man, but Creed kept his eyes glued on her. She seemed a bit uncomfortable.
“We’re dancing, Creed.” Her smile was forced.
“You don’t mind if I cut in, do you, Cowboy?”
Without hesitation, the man booked it.
“What are you doing?” she said in a lowered voice so the other couples on the dance floor couldn’t hear.
“Just wanted to dance.” He grinned. “If we stand here much longer, we’re going to have a lot of explaining to do when the rumors start blasting around town.”
“And whose fault is that?” There was slight slur in her tone. He’d seen her drunker, but the glossiness in her eyes told him she’d had a few too many.
Because they were quickly becoming the center of attention, he wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her against him. A little squeal fell off her lips. He bent his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “Pretend you like being in my arms. We don’t want to give people too much to talk about, do we?”
“You should have thought about that before you stormed up here like a general at Invasion of Normandy.” She placed both of her hands against his chest. Was this her way of keeping him at a safe distance?
“I told you. I wanted to dance.”
“You? Dance? Since when?” she whispered.
“Since the last two minutes ago. You should feel special.” He grinned. “You know I have two left feet.”
“Oh, was this a ploy to make me feel special or make me feel like we’re back in high school and you’re scaring away all the competition?” She lifted her gaze and he felt her spine stiffen.
“Are you kidding?”
“So you’re going to deny that you scared them away?”
“No. I’m denying that they were ever any competition,” he said without humiliation.
“What if I wanted to dance with Hamil again? He’s a great dancer.” The corners of her mouth played with a smile.
“Hamil? That was his name?” He snorted.
“Yes. He owns a ranch outside of Cooper’s Hawk. He rode on the rodeo circuit too. Won lots of rewards.”
“Hamil looked as uptight as his name sounds.”
“Did you come here to pester me?”
The growl gurgled up from deep in his chest and rumbled in his throat. He wrapped his arm tighter around her waist, not caring that others were still looking. “Behave yourself.”
“Or?” Her eyes were challenging.
“Let’s not play games, Minnow.”
“Trust me, I’d be the last one who’d play games.”
“Are you suggesting that I do?”
“If that’s how you’d like to take it.”
“I never did like it when you drank tequila,” he rasped.
“So let me guess. Was it Boone or Hank who called to tell on me? Just like old times,” she huffed. “Can’t those fellows mind their own damn business? I thought we were having a good time talking about the past. Bonding over making fun of you.”
“Neither told on you.”
“Really? Then why are you here looking like a bear?”
“Damn, Mindy. You know why I’m here.”
She pulled back an inch to look up at him. “No, I don’t.”
He sucked in a breath. “I can’t let
