Owen was surprised by Sawyer’s defense. He’d been concerned just a few minutes ago. Then again, his concern had been about Maddie and Owen’s safety, not the fact that some tourists had been spooked.
George gave him a nod. “Also a fair point.”
“I was just trying to scare it off,” Maddie said. “I know that it’s hard to kill a gator from twenty feet.”
George shook his head. “You still discharged a weapon in public.”
“How is that public?” Owen demanded. “There were less than twenty people and we were out on the water.”
“Public waters,” George said. “And those weren’t family and friends. They paid you to be out there. That’s public as far as this is concerned.”
His tone was a little firmer now and Owen knew he wouldn’t be able to push too much harder. Just because George was a family friend, didn’t meant he wouldn’t follow the law.
“So what’s the guy want?” Maddie said with a sigh.
“He doesn’t need anything,” Owen said with a frown. “You apologized. He didn’t get hurt. What the hell is the problem?”
“He wants his money back,” George said.
“I already processed the refund for him and his family,” Kennedy said. “Sawyer said to do it. Sorry.”
Everyone knew how Maddie felt about refunds. They had to be really deserved.
Maddie shook her head. “No, it’s fine. It’s my fault. I’ll reimburse the business.”
Owen shook his head. “No way. You’re not doing that. This is your business, too. And that guy’s a dick.”
“Still,” Maddie said.
“And he wants this on your record,” George added.
Maddie swung to face him. “He wants me arrested?”
“He does,” George said.
Owen felt anger tightening his gut. This guy was a piece of work. Most exciting tour he’d ever be on and this is how he was reacting?
“Where is he?” Owen asked, starting for the door.
“No,” George said. “Unless you want to sit in the cell next to her for assault.”
“You’re gonna have to give me a better reason than that not to hit this guy,” Owen said, yanking the door open.
“Owen, stop,” George told him firmly. “The guy is pressing charges. Whether or not they stick is up to—”
“That’s bullshit,” Leo announced as he came through the door.
“Hey, Leo,” George greeted.
“George.” Leo gave him a nod. “Saw you pull up and I’ve been sittin’ in Ellie’s wonderin’ when you were gonna come inside. Decided to come lookin’ for ya.”
“Your girl here is causing trouble,” George said with a smile.
“Tell me somethin’ I don’t know.” Leo gave Maddie a wink. “Got an earful about it outside from the poor guy who almost shit his pants because Maddie pulled a gun.”
“That ‘poor guy’ is going to—” Owen started.
“Calm down. I was bein’ sarcastic,” Leo told his grandson. “So why are you so ticked off?” he asked George. “Maddie’s shenanigans pull you away from a thrilling game of Fortnite?” he asked George.
Owen snorted. Everyone knew their town cop was addicted to the video game.
George laughed. “I was doing well,” he admitted. “But, she’s definitely making my day a little more interesting.”
“This is the first thing since I’ve been home,” Maddie protested.
Owen smiled along with everyone else, but he didn’t miss her use of the word home. God, he fucking loved that. But he needed to keep his grip on reality. Her finally acknowledging that this was home didn’t mean she was staying.
“You’re not arresting her for what went on out there,” Owen said. “It’s her word against that guy.”
“And everyone else on the boats,” George said.
“You talked to everyone else?” Owen asked, knowing he hadn’t.
“Not yet. But I could.”
“Sure, I’ll get you some names and numbers,” Owen said agreeably. “And I’ll give a statement. I’m a witness, too.”
“Let me guess,” George said mildly. “Your statement is that nothing even happened and you’ll get me names and numbers of people who will say what a fabulous tour it was and that they had a great time, felt totally safe, and don’t even remember a pretty blonde with a gun.”
“Well if you already know what they’re going to say, you don’t need to talk to them, do you?” Owen asked.
“Lying to law enforcement is a misdemeanor,” George told him.
“Huh,” Owen replied noncommittally.
“That could put you in that cell next to her, too.”
“Huh,” Owen said again.
George sighed. “It really diminishes my authority that the threat of jail does nothing to you.”
“You mean your feelings of authority,” Leo said. “Let’s be honest about how much power you really have with people who know you’re addicted to jelly beans and who saw you shit-faced on your birthday. Three years in a row.”
George rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue.
Owen felt a little better. Basically, the local cop had just acknowledged that Owen would go to jail for Maddie. That was good. He could say that these people had no idea what all he would do for Maddie, but he thought that they really just might.
“Listen,” George finally said. “No one was hurt and I know Maddie won’t do it again. But the guy was making a huge stink and he’s outside waiting to see what happens.”
Owen pivoted toward the door again, but Leo stepped in front of him and George grabbed his arm.
“Whoa,” George told him. “No fuckin’ way are you going out there to talk to him.”
“I wasn’t really intending to do much talking,” Owen said.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t totally over the urge to take a swing once in a while. At least not when Maddie was involved.
“No,” Leo said to Owen firmly. “You’ll make it worse.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Owen told him.
Leo shook his head. “All he needs is to think that she’s in trouble for it,” Leo said. He turned back to George. “He’s not from here. He’ll never know what you really do about it. Take Maddie down to the station. Let the guy see her sitting in the back of your car. Then get her a cup of coffee, pull the Oreos out of your bottom drawer, and spend a little time catching up. I’ll haul this guy back to N’Awlins and drop him at the Hilton and everyone will be happy.”
Owen sighed. Fuck. He’d rather punch the guy in the face. What was his problem? But he glanced over at Maddie. “You okay with that?”
She shrugged. “Better than an arrest.”
“Okay then.” George let go of Owen and gestured toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Maddie started forward.
“You think she needs the cuffs?” George asked Leo. Clearly joking.
But Owen heard himself growl. “You cuff her for this and I’ll—”
Maddie herself slapped her hand over his mouth. “How about we don’t add threatening a police officer to the list here?”
Owen wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her hand back and pressing a kiss to the palm. He saw the little hitch in her breathing. “I hate this.”
“It’s really nothing.”
“Still bugs me.”
Her smile was soft. “It still turns me on that it bugs you.”
Now his breath hitched a little.
“Okay, let’s go,” George repeated. “Good lord.”
Owen gave her another quick kiss, this time on the lips, and then let her go.
George grasped her upper arm and they headed out the door.
Fuck, he hated this. Owen shoved a hand through his hair. He really should do something so he could sit in the cell with her. At least keep her company. This was on him, too. But she wasn’t actually going to be sitting in a cell. He supposed he could go eat Oreos with her. But that wasn’t even the point.
It was all so stupid. But it was equally stupid to be this bothered by it. It was nothing. She wasn’t getting arrested. She was going to spend an hour chatting with George downtown. But he hated that the tourist thought he’d gotten her into trouble.
“Hey, Leo?” he said to his grandfather.
“Yeah?” Leo was watching George take Maddie to his car. Past the group of tourists waiting for the bus to take them back to New Orleans.
The guy who’d started all of this mess said something as they passed and George paused for a moment to address him.
“You better get that guy back to NOLA quick. I’m still in the mood to hit somebody.”
Leo nodded. “Me, too, boy. Me, too.”
Owen looked at his grandfather. “But…you wouldn’t, right?”
“I’d say it’s about fifty-fifty,” Leo admitted.
“Well,” Owen said, clapping his grandfather on the shoulder. “I’m good for bail money.”
Leo chuckled. “I don’t think it would take more than what we’ve got in the jar.”
Yes, the Landry family had a jar that sat on the back of Ellie’s bar where they all deposited spare change on a regular basis. The jar said BAIL MONEY on the side, and the tourists, and maybe a few locals, thought it was a joke.
It wasn’t.
They dumped it out regularly into a bigger bucket in back and with all of them contributing, the spare change actually added up. They’d only used it once and that was a few years ago so yeah, there was probably a pretty good amount in there.
“Well, then, I’ll be the one to haul the bucket to the bank and turn it into cash.”
Leo nodded. “Just promise that you’ll leave me there for one night before you bring it down.”
“Yeah?”
“George keeps that station like an ice box and the AC in my trailer is shit. It’d be nice to have a good night’s sleep.”
“You got it, Grandpa.”
13
Owen heard the knock on his back screen door. He’d just pulled some leftovers from the oven. He tossed the hot pad on the counter and headed to see who it was. Sawyer, Josh, Tori and Kennedy just let themselves in. As did his mom, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles. So who the hell was this?
The second he saw Maddie standing on his back step, his heart rate went into overdrive.
He hadn’t seen her since George had taken her downtown. He’d had two more tours, and she hadn’t come back to the office after her coffee date with the sheriff. He’d come home restless, determined to give her a little space and time. But equally determined to find her tonight.
In the meantime, he’d looked up her art. He’d gone to the gallery’s website and sure enough, a couple of her paintings were on the first page. They were good. Damned good. And they were so familiar—the bayou, the town, the storm clouds—that his heart had twisted. Seeing his beloved bayou, that he knew like he knew the back of his hand, on a canvas in a gallery in San Francisco was surreal. It was also obvious Maddie loved the places she painted, even if she was emotionally conflicted about it.
Owen swallowed hard as he pushed the door open. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
She looked fucking gorgeous. She’d showered and her hair was down and smooth, in contrast to the curls she’d had earlier from the humidity and wind. She was wearing another little sundress, this one white, with spaghetti straps, and simple white flip-flops.
“You okay?” he asked when she didn’t step across his threshold.
“I need something,” she said.
“Anything.”
“You.”
The oxygen he’d just pulled in jammed in his lungs and he just stared at her for a long moment.
“And when I say ‘you’, I don’t mean that I want a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. I don’t want to go for a walk. I don’t want to talk. I don’t want, or need, a hug. I don’t need you to ask me if I’m okay or if I’m sure. I just want to get naked and kiss you and lick you from head to toe and then I want you to lick me from head to—”
He reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her inside. He backed her up against the wall of the porch right next to the door. He braced his hands on either side of her face.
“Fuck yes.”
A little smile teased her lips. “Really?”
“I’m all yours.” For anything and everything for as long as she wanted him. He didn’t have to say the rest. She knew.
She cupped his face between her hands, rubbing her palms over his short beard. “I want to feel this…in lots of places.”
She heard the little growl that came from the back of his throat.
“You’re going to, girl. Lots of places. Over and over again.”
A little shiver went through her and he dropped his gaze to see her nipples pressing against the front of her dress. “I’m gonna need this,” he said, reaching up to slip one strap off her shoulder.
“My dress?”
He nodded.
She reached for the zipper that ran up the side of the dress. She dragged it down, her eyes locked on his. Just like that. Not another question, not a single hesitation, not even a blush. She just unzipped.
Maddie shrugged her shoulders and the other strap fell as the bodice gaped. She pushed on his chest and he stepped back. She dropped her hands and the dress fell to a pool at her feet.
She stood in front of him in only a tiny pair of white silk panties and her sandals.
Owen’s mouth went dry as he ran his gaze over her. Where to start? He wanted every inch of her skin against his mouth right now.
He bent and snagged the hem of the dress. She stepped out of it and he moved to the door. He pushed it open and tucked the dress through the loop of metal that made up the handle, hanging the dress from his back door.
Maddie laughed. “What’s that?”
“You know how people put socks on their doors to show everyone they’ve got a girl inside and don’t want to be interrupted?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Thought this might be even more obvious.”
“Is that what you usually do?”
He shook his head and stepped right in front of her. “I never have women over here.” He dated exclusively in New Orleans and always went back to the girl’s place, be it an apartment or a hotel room for the weekend.
Maddie gave him a smile. “You could just lock the door.”
“With our family?” he asked. “If they didn’t know what was going on in here, they’d either just beat on it until we can’t stand it or one of them would pick the lock.”
She didn’t even correct him about the our family thing. They were her family as much as they were his and they both knew it.
“Someone can pick locks?” she asked.
“Three someones, actually.” He gave her a look. “Are you really surprised?”
She thought about it for about one second and then said, “Not even a little.”
He bent and lifted her into his arms. “And now, that’s enough talking.”
“Good afternoon, ladies.”
The deep voice brought Maddie’s head up from the spreadsheet she was reviewing. And she nearly slipped off her stool. She pulled her glasses from her face and stood quickly. “Oh my God. Hi. What are you doing here?”
The tall man pulled his sunglasses from his face in a much smoother motion, tucking them into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “I wanted to come down after hearing about the typhoid outbreak, but staying away from that seemed wiser. But the near-death experience of a paying customer did catch my attention and I thought maybe it was time for an in-person visit.”
Shit. That asshole who’d wanted to have her arrested had also posted about it? “You Travel?” she asked dryly.
“And Travel Time,” he confirmed. Then he gave her a slow smile. “I’ve been trying to picture this but I just can’t. I’m guessing you don’t have need to be armed in the art gallery?” His eyes scanned her from head to toe. “Then again
, seeing you dressed like this, makes it a little easier to imagine. I assume this isn’t Armani?”
She was wearing cutoff denim shorts and a Boys of the Bayou T-shirt today, actually. She’d taken three shirts home the morning after she and Owen had first slept together. Slowly her style here was changing. The heat and humidity had driven her out of her regular work clothes within two days, but she’d stuck to sundresses after that, feeling those were close to her style, while still keeping her from heat stroke. But she felt very comfortable in denim and a shirt with a cartoon alligator on the front. It was something else she was choosing not to overthink. She was sure it was something about feeling a part of things and like she belonged. It could also be about wanting souvenirs once her time was up. But yeah, she wasn’t analyzing it.
“Easier to wash bayou out of these,” she said.
“Yeah, gator blood might be tough to get out of silk.”
“Very true.”
Maddie heard Kennedy clear her throat next to her. She glanced over. Kennedy was sitting up straighter, eyeing the man with interest.
Right. They hadn’t met. Or at least, Kennedy didn’t know they had.
“Sorry. Kennedy Landry, this is Bennett Baxter. Bennett, Kennedy.”
Kennedy spit out her mouthful of sweet tea. All over Bennett’s silk tie. That probably was Armani.
Bennett did nothing more than look down at his tie and then brush a hand over the spray of iced tea. “Hello, Kennedy.”
Kennedy was staring at him. “Shit,” she muttered. Then she shook her head. “Fuck.”
Maddie smirked at the very Kennedy-like greeting. Which was probably not how Bennett Baxter was used to being greeted. Especially by women.
He was very handsome. He had that classic chiseled jawline, dark eyes and hair, broad shoulders, and, even more than how he filled out his suit, he had a confident, I’m-in-charge air that made people pay attention. It was clear he was used to commanding whatever room he was in.
Which was exactly why Maddie got such a kick out of his little-boy-excitement about the bayou and the airboats.
Kennedy reached under the counter and pulled out a roll of paper towels. She started to tear one off but fumbled the roll and dropped it. The towels unwound and Kennedy just watched them go, her lips pressed together.
Sweet Home Louisiana Page 22