Not this time. By damned, he was going to make things right.
Gavin paced as he waited for Slade, a plan already forming.
* * * *
Hannah Craig stopped and stared as Dex Townsend walked out of Gavin’s office and into the grand reception area she liked to consider her turf. Walked? Dex never walked. He strode. He swaggered. And now he charged out of the office like an angry bull.
She inched back into the hallway to observe him. She’d discovered that all of her men tended to put on a front when they realized she was in the room.
Her men. It was all she could do not to laugh at herself, but that was the way she thought of the James Gang—Gavin, Slade, and Dex. In her fantasies, they were her men, though she would never, ever tell them. But she’d fallen madly in love with them, and all three were way out of her league.
Now one of her men walked straight up to the wall across from her desk and scrubbed an angry hand across his head. He looked back at the door to Gavin’s office as though he wanted to march back in and give his oldest brother a piece of his mind. Something definitely had Dex in a state. His handsome face was a mottled red and yet…she swore she saw a slight sheen of tears in his eyes. With a little huff, he pulled back his fist and put it straight through the wall. The drywall gave without a fuss, merely cracking and sending up a little cloud of dust. Dex yanked on his hand to pull it free.
It was time to bring that man down from whatever had him so mad or he’d start in on the furniture.
“I never did like that wall,” Hannah said softly.
Dex turned, shock obvious on his face. His angry, red flush muted to an embarrassed pink.
“Hannah. I didn’t know you were here.”
She smiled at him and walked in as though nothing at all was wrong. Life was what a person made it, her Gran had always said. It was time to make Dex’s life a bit calmer. “I mean it. I’m glad someone finally put that arrogant wall in its place. I’ve slapped at it a couple of times, but it always just stands there.”
He huffed a little laugh. “You’re crazy, girl. You know that, right?” The tension in Dex dialed down several notches.
“I have no idea what you mean. And you’re one to talk. I’m not the one taking out my frustrations on a wall.”
She set her purse down and looked around for the mail. Nothing. Gavin probably had it. She was going to have to have a discussion with the man about his priorities. A CEO looking at the mail. Hannah sighed. If she let him, he would make the coffee, too. Gavin James was a micromanager. She opened her calendar to get ready for the day ahead.
“Hannah, I’m sorry.”
When she looked up, Dex was in front of her desk, six foot five inches of the hottest cowboy she’d ever seen forced into a business suit. Dex had the broadest shoulders and the deepest chest, but what got her every time was how often he showed off his big heart. He tried to hide it, but she knew he’d helped out more than one employee with money troubles or medical bills.
If she told him what was happening to her, he would move heaven and earth to fix the problem. More than once, the information had been right there on the tip of her tongue, but she held back. Dex had his own troubles, and she could handle hers. She was an independent, strong woman who wasn’t going to panic because some idiot sent her a few letters. And called a couple of times. And had potentially killed her cat.
She forced a smile on her face. “You didn’t hit me, big guy, so no apologies. Do you want to tell me what’s going on with Gavin that has you feeling violent?” She didn’t want to bring him into her trouble, but she couldn’t stay out of his. Dex and Gavin had a difficult relationship, to say the least. Slade was the bridge between the two, but he wasn’t here, so it was up to her.
Dex took a long breath and then that “aw shucks” smile was back on his handsome face. “It’s nothing, darlin’. Just a small difference of opinion. Put it out of your mind.” She looked over at the hole in the wall.
He flushed again. “I’ll have that fixed.”
The outer doors crashed open, and Slade rushed in. He was one disheveled hunk of male hotness. His dress shirt hung together by one small button at the hips. The rest fell open, exposing his hard pectorals and giving her a breathtaking glimpse of his ridged abdomen. She damn near swallowed her tongue. His inky hair sat slightly askew. And he looked rattled.
Hannah managed to smile without panting. “You are going to be a big hit in the board meeting.”
He looked down at his clothes as though it was the first time he’d given it a thought. “I was in a hurry. Hannah, are you all right?”