Sweet Texas Fire (3 page)

This time she gasped and pulled away from his hold, cringing as her hair caught between his fingers. “Get out of my office, Gage Cooper, and don’t come back.”

He didn’t move. He just studied her.

Redheads had a reputation for having a temper, but usually Charlotte never had a problem with controlling her anger. However, Gage’s suggestion blew her control out the window. If he didn’t move in the next five seconds, she was going to pick up her stapler and throw it at him. Damn the consequences of her actions. She wanted him out.

As if he could see the intent in her eyes, Gage headed toward the door, turning to face her again. “This isn’t over, Charlotte. Make a note—I will be back.”

Gage walked into the Silver Spurs, Sweet Ridge’s honky-tonk bar, and looked around for his brothers. A country ballad blared out from the jukebox in the corner. The main room was surprisingly crowded for a Thursday night. He’d told Grayson he’d be able to make it down late in the afternoon, so he had plans to spend Friday in town, as well. He needed to connect more with his brothers. Before he’d left for college and fucked up his potential football career, they’d all been close.

He also wanted to take the time to look over the land that Charlotte now owned. Oh, he wouldn’t trespass on the property. He’d walk the perimeter. He knew from an old survey report there was oil on the land. He didn’t know the size of the pocket, but he was hopeful it was a decent one.

If Charlotte knew about the oil pocket, she’d make sure she’d do everything in her power to put a caveat over the land so the oil could never be drilled.

“Gage, over here!”

He looked to the left and spotted the table where Grayson sat, still dressed for the office sans tie. Ties weren’t allowed in the Silver Spurs; if someone walked in with a tie on and a waitress spied him, she’d whip out her scissors and cut it off before they had time to say it was made from Italian silk. They didn’t care if it was silk or paper. Rules were rules. The array of cut-off ties hanging from the roof and around the walls showed how ruthless the waitresses in the bar could be. Gage rarely wore a tie, so he never had to worry about being made the center of attention.

Gage weaved through the tables, smiling at people he knew as he passed.

“Hey, man.” He sat down and picked up the bottle of beer the waitress just placed on the table. Grayson was nothing if not organized.

“Hey, glad you could make it.” Grayson raised his gin and tonic in a salute.

“It’s good to see you. How’s business?”

“Don’t ask. It hasn’t changed much.”

“And the new owner?”

Grayson’s face tightened. Gage had a feeling his older brother wouldn’t have many nice things to say about the new fifty percent owner of Guac Olé. “She’s around somewhere. I haven’t tried to have too much to do with her.”

“Isn’t that a bit difficult? Doesn’t she want to take up her place on the executive floor?”

“Nah, she’s happy down on the floor working the conveyor lines. Why she does is beyond me. She could be sitting pretty in a corner office, painting her nails.”

Gage busted out laughing. “Stop being an arrogant stuffed suit. No wonder she doesn’t want anything to do with you if you think she’s got nothing but avocado skin for brains.”

Grayson rolled his eyes at the weak attempt at humor. “Stick to the oil fields and stop making lame avocado jokes.”

“So, where’s Gavin?”

“He said he would be here. He’s got news for you.”

A glint entered Grayson’s eyes, and it immediately put Gage on high alert. “Has he found out what the glasses mean?”

Grayson made a zip-closing motion across his lips.

“Fine, I’ll wait.”

He didn’t have to wait long. Seconds later Gage heard the gentle metallic
clang
of Merle’s collar. He turned in his chair to greet his other brother and his dog.

“Hey, Gavin, how’s it going?”

Gavin clapped Gage on the back. “I’m fantastic, man.”

As Gavin took his seat, he, too, picked up his bottle of beer the waitress had placed on the table during their greeting.

There was definitely something different about his oldest brother, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly. The hair was the same. He hadn’t grown a moustache. There were no lines of tension around his mouth or eyes that Gage knew showed on his own face and he could see on Grayson’s. In fact, Gavin looked happy. Very happy.

“What’s got into you, Gavin?”

Grayson spat out his drink on a laugh. “More like what
he’s
got into.”

Gavin punched Grayson on the arm. There was no malice in the action, just a typical brother-versus-brother play fight. He watched the byplay and felt left out again. The way he’d been feeling the last few years.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m missing something really big and important here?” he asked. “And why are you so damn happy, Gavin? When I left a month ago, you were as pissed off with Dad and the world as I was. What happened?”

“Love happened,” Gavin responded, a goofy grin breaking out over his face.

“What the fuck?” Gage shook his head, sure he’d misheard what Gavin had said. “Love?”

“Yep, I’m in love, man, and it feels so good. You oughta try it.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that in the month since we were last together, you’ve fallen in love?”

“That’s a fact, Jack!” Gavin quoted an iconic line from the movie
Stripes
. Dad used to make all his sons quote it back to him when Dad was giving them what he called a Jack Cooper Life Rule.

“So, who is this lucky lady? Do I know her?”

For the first time since he’d walked into the bar, Gavin looked a little uncomfortable. “Yeah, you know her. In fact, you could say we all know her.”

Gage ran through the names of the girls they all knew. None of them seemed the type to suit Gavin. But hell, after this last month, anything could happen.

“I’m drawing a blank. How about you put me out of my misery and just tell me who this
love of your life
is.”

“Macy Young.”

Gage slammed his beer bottle on the table. “The same Macy Young who inherited the house from Dad? The Macy who freaked out when you kissed her not that long ago?”

Gavin laughed. “One and the same.”

“You’re shitting me, aren’t you? You took my advice, didn’t you? This is all a game to get your hands on the house.”

It was the only thing that made sense. Macy and Gavin had always been rivals. But Gavin had apparently forgiven and forgotten everything Macy had done, and now everything was wonderful between them.

“Nope, I’m not wired that way,” Gavin replied. “I’m one hundred percent in love with her and she’s in love with me. The house is an added bonus.”

Gage raised his eyebrow in a silent question at Grayson, who nodded. So, it was the truth.

For a moment he didn’t know what to say. He studied Gavin again. He really did look happy, and well, if his brother was happy, who was he to burst his love bubble?

Gage leaned over the table and slapped Gavin on the back. “Congratulations, man.”

“Thanks, Gage, and I am. We’ve all grown up and changed. Even you.”

Instead of answering Gavin, he nodded and gulped down some more beer.

“Now that we’ve got this out of the way, can we talk about why I wanted to meet with you both?” Grayson asked.

“Absolutely. I’m guessing this has to do with Guac Olé and our shares in the company?” Gavin replied.

“Yep, it does.”

Gage sat back and took a long swallow of his beer. He didn’t want anything to do with the family business. He had his own business he needed to worry about. Not to mention Charlotte Wilkinson.

Damn, but she wasn’t what he expected her to look like. She was no middle-aged divorcée. She was probably a couple of years younger than him, her hair a gorgeous shade of auburn, her eyes a clear green that misted over when she got angry. Her body filled her out her smart business suit nicely. He wouldn’t mind getting a look at what was underneath that suit. Was she a cotton or lace type of girl?

Whoa. No way.

He couldn’t believe the trail his thoughts had meandered onto. She might have cast a spell over Dad, but she wasn’t going to cast one over him.

A slap to the back of the head brought his attention back to the Silver Spurs. The sound of the country music blaring from the jukebox, people laughing and talking permeated his consciousness.

“What the f—”

“Language, little brother,” Grayson mocked him.

Gage flipped him the bird and took another swallow from his beer. As he set the bottle down he became aware of the silence from the two men sitting in front of him.

“What?” he asked

“Did you hear a word of what I was talking about?” Grayson asked.

Gage scraped a hand down his face. “Sorry, man, I didn’t. My mind drifted to a meeting I had yesterday. What did you say?”

Gage withstood the scrutiny from his brothers. Neither one had any idea of the pressure he was currently under with the way the market had dropped out of the oil industry. Over the last month he’d had to lay off people. He hated letting good, hardworking people go. He had also slowed production on some of his rigs. He didn’t want to close any down outright, but that could be the next step if the price didn’t pick up. He had a decent cash reserve to ride out the slow times, but he wasn’t going to throw that away just to keep production happening. The more he produced, the more glut in the market.

“Sheesh, Gage, what is with you tonight? You just zoned out again.” Gavin commented.

Something nudged his leg. Merle. He reached out and scratched the dog behind the ear. At least someone was trying to make him feel better. “I’ve been traveling for a month straight. I’m tired, okay? And if you hadn’t noticed, the price of oil is at an all-time fucking low.”

“Shit, man, sorry. I appreciate you coming down here,” Grayson said. “I know how much you really don’t like Sweet Ridge.”

Holy hell, why did everyone think he hated Sweet Ridge? He’d simply made a life for himself in Houston. And sure, he and Dad had fallen out when he’d lost his scholarship and his potential career as an NFL player. But he had good memories of Sweet Ridge. If he’d been given the land like he thought he was, he’d have even started spending weekends down at the house before he started drilling. There was a lot of preparation to be done to set up a drill site.

“I don’t hate Sweet Ridge. But if you don’t start talking about something other than me, I will be leaving.”

Grayson held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. I wanted to know if you had any idea what direction you want Guac Olé to go in, now that you and Gavin have a controlling interest between the two of you.”

“We don’t have controlling interest. We have half, and quite frankly I’ve got my own business to worry about. I can’t really spend time worrying about what Guac Olé is doing,” Gage said. “I trust you, Gray, to keep the company going the way Dad would’ve wanted it. I don’t get why he didn’t give you the company.”

“Well, I ended up getting what I wanted,” Gavin replied. “In a most unexpected way. But you know what I found out?”

“What?” Gage and Grayson said in unison.

“That at the end of the day what I thought I coveted wasn’t what I really wanted at all. Maybe the old man knew what he was doing after all.”

Gage snorted. “Please, you’re in love. Everything looks rosy at the moment. I could do with that piece of land right now. Once the price of oil picks up, I could jump right in and employ back some of those people I’ve had to lay off over the last month.”

Before his brothers could say anything more, Gage’s phone beeped with an incoming e-mail. He would’ve ignored it, but Charlotte’s name popped up with the subject heading “Inherited Land.” He unlocked his phone and opened the email.

He had to read the e-mail twice. Was she kidding him? He hoped not.

“I take it from the smile on your face that price of oil has doubled today?” Grayson asked.

Gage looked up. “I wish, but it’s something even better. Charlotte Wilkinson said she’d sell me the land. Looks like I don’t need to fall in love to get everything I want.”

“I’m really sorry, Ms. Wilkinson, but Mr. Cooper’s will was very explicit. You cannot sell the land for twelve months.”

This wasn’t the news she wanted to hear. “Is that even legal to put a stipulation like that in a will? I mean, Jack knew I wasn’t staying in Texas for much longer. I still don’t get why he did this.”

“I can assure you, Ms. Wilkinson, everything within Jack Cooper’s will is legal.”

Charlotte cringed when she heard the indignation in the lawyer’s voice. Way to go. Get the one person who could help you offside with a single sentence.

“Look, Mr. Rodgers, I didn’t mean to imply you would do anything unethical. It’s just that I’m still in shock about receiving this bequest at all. As I said to you after you initially informed me of my inheritance, I’d only met Jack a few times. It really doesn’t make sense why he would leave me something so tangible and valuable. Especially when it seems his son Gage was expecting to receive the land.”

“I understand how much of a shock this was for you, but I’ve known Jack Cooper for a very long time. He knew what he was doing with his will. His sons will soon come to see that. Now, I have a meeting I need to get to. Call if you need anything further, but I will repeat: You can’t sell the land.”

“Like I need reminding,” she muttered as the lawyer disconnected the call.