Page 5 of Sweet Cinnamon and the Mountain Man
“You’re just going to have to deal with the space you have, Mr. Hawks. I’m not giving up my booth for you or anybody. I’ve got plans and I’m not gonna let you mess this up for me.”
“Maybe if you could just spare a little bit of the booth?”
“No,” I huff. “I’m not letting you put your stuff here. It will just confuse people.”
“Dang it, Cinnamon Walker! You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
I whip around and poke him in his flannel-clad chest, feeling his corded muscles shift under my fingers. I pull them back like I’m on fire, cradling them in my other hand. “I’m not being stubborn by standing up for myself. I have plans and I need this space to get some traffic going on my website.”
I pull more boards out of my totes and set them up, including a large easel with a huge photo of my brother’s bedroom. Both ofthem let me make over their spaces and I’m genuinely proud of that work.
So are they and that’s one of the many reasons I love my brothers.
“That’s all you have? Boards of photos? You’ve got to be kidding me! You don’t need a whole booth for that.”
Huffing, I turn to face him. “That may be true. But I just don’t want to share a booth with you. And I paid for a whole booth anyway.”
“Just let me put some of my stuff on the floor. I’ve got a dining set that you could use to put some more of your boards up. It will help you as well as me,” he pleads and there’s something about his steely eyes that makes my will bend just a little.
Until he opens his mouth again.
“You don’t need all this space, Cinnamon. Don’t be so mean. I mean, I know you’re a stubborn woman but this is just petty.”
“Exactly the wrong thing to say, buddy.”
I open my mouth to blast him but before I can say one word Agatha pops up in front of us, her blue eyes sparkling.
“Well, isn ’t this cozy? Fate just really wants to give you two a chance to get to know each other, huh?”
My eyes narrow and I glare at my favorite relative. “Agatha? I know you didn’t have anything to do with this horrible decision…”
Her smile turns into a huge one that reminds me of that picture of Joker from the movie. “I would never. But since you’re both here…I hope that you kids get a chance to spend a little time together.” And with a blown kiss and a grin that would terrify a serial killer she walks off, whistling.
“I do not believe this…” I whip around and glare at him. “Why does my grandmother insist on throwing you at my head.”I run my eyes down his flannel-clad chest and down to his blue jeans.
Jerking my head up, I blush and glare at him. “Are you paying her?”
His brows jerk down and his mouth tightens. “You’ve got quite the opinion of your grandmother and me, don’t you? Honestly, I don’t know why she wants me to go out with you.” His cool blue eyes run down my body and I shiver. “You’re not my type at all.”
“Good.”
“Good,” he growls and then stomps off. I see him walking back to his truck and pulling out a gorgeous wood end table that glows with polish and looks like it should be sitting in a showroom somewhere not at a fairground at seven in the morning.
He settles it in a corner of the booth and then he unloads even more. He’s got a ton of beautiful wood projects and my mouth hangs open when he pulls out a gorgeous, cherry wood round dining table. Everything that he has is well-finished, clean-lined and just about perfect.
He’s obviously talented.
I’d take half his stuff in my little apartment.
If they weren’t his. And if I had enough money for them.
But I can also see that he’s not going to have enough room for all his stuff.
Of course, he could wait and put some of it out as he sells stuff. It’s not like he has to have it all out at once.
But guilt tugs at my belly and settles in like a bad night after binge drinking.
Sighing, I close my eyes and then groan under my breath.
