Remy held up the menus for Claire. “Make that three pies.”
“Great. If you need anything else, give a holler.”
Sasha watched her leave, gnawing on her lower lip. “Maybe I should’ve gotten a salad.”
Remy put a finger on her arm. “Don’t you trust me?”
About as far as she could throw him. She didn’t want to think he’d engineered for Ethan to be called away. But finding out after his death that her husband had a side she knew nothing about still had her questioning her judgment five years on. “Should I?”
“You’re not going to blame me for the appetizer, are you? Or is this about something else?” His gaze flicked over her.
His scrutiny was like a physical touch, a caress. She tried to tell herself it was because she’d been viewed as nothing but “that poor widow” for so many years. So now you’re into self-deception? “I’m just not taking any chances.”
He scowled. “I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe?” If she wasn’t careful she’d be following him like the Pied Piper, and then she’d be out of a job, a failure in the first month.
He glanced over to where Evie was still playing the game. “You are aware, cher, there’s two kinds of wrong. The good kind and the bad kind.”
That deep drawl sent shivers down her spine. “Are you telling me, Sheriff, that you do only the good kind of wrong?”
“Of course.” He raised his eyebrows and grinned. “And I think you and I could get into all kinds of wrong…in a good way, of course.”
“I didn’t realize there was a good way to do wrong.” Maybe if she were ten years younger she’d be interested in a fling, but sadly she wasn’t.
“Oh, pauvre bete, you poor thing.” He placed his hand over his chest in mock distress. “You can’t mean that.”
“I don’t exactly have a wild streak.” She knew when his eyes widened that honesty was overrated. She did not want Remy Fontenot to think she was some babe in the woods. Even if she was.
He studied her as if he couldn’t figure her out. “And yet you made a bet with your girlfriends to kiss me. I wonder why that is?”
“I told you it wasn’t a bet about you…just…just a guy.” Yeah, this was making it better. Not.
“Except I don’t believe that for one minute.” He gave a wry laugh.
“You’re rather full of yourself.” Great. Starchy Sasha was back. She fiddled with straightening her silverware.
His eyes contained a sensuous gleam. “Now, cher, who else would I be full of?”
She laughed in spite of herself. When was the last time she’d had a man flirt with her? Soon after Jimmy’s death, his police friends had strung caution tape around her. She knew they’d done it in part to honor their friendship with Jimmy, but also letting it be known that she wasn’t to be taken advantage of. She’d received her husband’s death benefits, so the poor in “poor widow” had nothing to do with finances. At first, she’d appreciated the help and concern, but after a while it had become stifling. And lonely. Maybe if she and Jimmy had had that baby she’d yearned for then— No. Tonight wasn’t the time for those thoughts, those regrets.
Remy reached out and touched her arm. “I like that laugh. And the smile that goes with it. The one that reaches your eyes.”
“Papá, look what I won. I did it. I did it.” Evie rushed back and dropped a small stuffed panda into Remy’s lap.
“Would you look at that.” He picked up the toy as if examining it. “You’ve been trying to win something for a long time now.”
“Uh-huh. I think Miz Honeycutt brought me luck.” Evie turned to Sasha with a calculating smile. “Maybe you should come with us all the time.”
“That’s sweet, but your dad says you’ve been trying to win for a long time, so I’ll bet all that practice helped more than my presence.”
Evie shook her head. “I just knew something good was gonna happen when I saw you here. And it did.”
Remy turned to Sasha and winked. “I gotta agree with my daughter.”
Before Sasha could answer, the waitress returned with a tray laden with plates balanced on her shoulder. She set a plate with a round baking dish in front of each of them.
Flaky piecrust covered the edges of the pie but left the middle uncovered to reveal a crawfish étouffée sprinkled with shredded cheese and diced red peppers. The pie looked delicious, but Sasha was careful to take only a small bite at first.
Remy chuckled at her caution. “Was I right?”
Sasha had never been a sore loser, so she told him the truth. “I think I’ve just found my new favorite food.”
He grinned broadly and dug into his.
They ate in companionable silence for several minutes.
Remy paused and took a sip of water. “So where are you living? There aren’t many apartments available, and I hadn’t noticed or heard about any moving trucks around town. Word tends to travel quickly around here.”
Sasha swallowed and dabbed her mouth with the napkin. “I haven’t found a place yet. I’m still at the extended stay hotel on the edge of town.”
“Are you planning to buy or rent?” he asked before taking another bite.
“I think renting first is the smartest option. I checked out a few apartment complexes in neighboring towns, but it’s hard to find one that doesn’t want me to sign a year’s lease. Plus I’ll need pet friendly. Once I get a contract for the next school year, I’d like to start looking at homes or condos for sale. ”
Evie set her fork down. “But Miz Honeycutt, we got lots of room. Why don’t you come live with us? You could bring Henry, too. Charlotte was ’lergic, but she doesn’t live with us no more.”
“You’re very generous, Evie, but I think Henry and I need to find our own place,” Sasha explained gently, not wanting to spoil Evie’s guileless offer. Even if he had ten empty bedrooms, there was no way on God’s green earth that she’d move in with Remy.
Remy held up an index finger. “I may have a solution.”
“Is Miz Honeycutt moving in with us?” Evie’s eyes widened.
Remy chuckled softly. “I’m sure you’d love nothing better, Evie. But I think Miss Honeycutt is right about needing her own space.”
“Do you know of a place that’s available?” Could Remy work some sort of magic? Sasha had asked fellow teachers and scoured the classifieds only to come up empty. Although she preferred not to, she might have to cast her net wider, beyond Rose Creek.
“Are you free tomorrow? I’ll take you to the rental I have in mind.”
“Well…I…” Sasha hesitated, torn between wanting to move out of the hotel and feeling indebted to Remy. But she was starting to feel settled in her new job and longed for a home of her own. Not to mention a monthly rental would be more budget friendly. “Okay. Thank you. Is it a house or apartment?”
“Does around ten work for you?” Remy asked, ignoring her question. “Evie has a birthday party, so I’ll drop her off and pick you up.”
Evie frowned. “But I want to go with you and Miz Honeycutt.”
He shook his head. “You’ve already accepted the invitation to the party, and you’ve been excited about going to that indoor bounce house for weeks.”
She looked torn. “But when do I get to meet Henry?”
“You can come in tonight and meet him when you take me home…if it’s okay with your dad.” Sasha wasn’t sure she wanted Remy in her space, even if it was just an extended stay hotel room, but Evie’s disappointment clutched at her heart. The little girl had been dropping hints from the moment she’d set eyes on Henry’s picture.
“Please, please, can I?” Evie bounced up and down.
“I have to admit, I’m curious, too. I’ve heard so much about him,” Remy said.
“You have?”
Remy’s dark eyes twinkled. “You and your cat are a prominent topic during mealtimes.”
“I told Papá all about Henry,” Evie said.
Aha, that explained the cat lady remark. “I hope neither one of you will be disappointed by the real thing. Really, he’s just a cat not imbued with any special powers.”
His smile widened. “I haven’t been disappointed by you yet, Sasha Honeycutt.”
Yep, he was trouble with a capital T, all right.
Chapter Five
Remy stuffed his wallet into his back pocket after paying the restaurant bill and winning an argument with Sasha when she tried to chip in for her portion. He would have paid if she’d accepted his invitation to dinner in the first place. Of course, if she’d accepted, he would have found a babysitter for Evie. And he would’ve danced more with Sasha, held her closer, whispered sinful things in her ear, and—
Bon Dieu, Fontenot, remember where you are and who you’re with and think about something else.
He held the restaurant door open for Sasha and Evie, then waited while another couple scooted past him and entered, using those seconds to compose himself.
Evie grabbed Sasha’s hand and pulled her. “C’mon, Miz Honeycutt, I know where the car is parked.”
“Evie, careful. What have I told you when we’re in a parking lot?” he called out.
“To look both ways.” Evie stopped. “But Miz Honeycutt is with me, and she can see over the cars.”
He caught up to them. “But maybe Miss Honeycutt doesn’t appreciate being dragged to our car.”
“But I want to see Henry.”
Sasha laughed. “Don’t worry, Henry’s not going anywhere. You’ll get to meet him.”
Sasha was still smiling when her gaze found his, and he sucked in his breath as that smile zipped through him all the way down to his toes. So much for thinking about something else, because that smile was going to be his undoing. And he needed to handle this situation with caution. He liked to keep the various parts of his life separate, his job was one, his daughter another, and his dates were another. Only this time Evie was smack in the middle.
Evie giggling over something Sasha had said snapped him out of his thoughts, and he frowned. Yeah, no keeping Evie and Sasha separate. They were intertwined, which meant he needed to be careful. Evie had already had too much heartbreak in her short life. He’d die before he caused her more. He sighed and used his key fob to unlock the car.
On the drive to the hotel, he thought about ways to handle the situation. He wanted to give Evie a mom, and Sasha ticked a lot of the boxes he was looking for in a wife. She’d be a great mother and then there was that chemistry between them. Except he needed to get a handle on the way she made him forget everything but her. He needed to maintain control.
He drove across town with Evie and Sasha’s lively chatter as background noise.
Evie’s excitement increased as he turned into the hotel parking lot. “Wow, you live in a hotel just like Eloise.”
“I guess I do. I hadn’t thought about it like that. Only this hotel isn’t anywhere near as fancy,” Sasha said with a smile in her voice.
He eased his foot off the gas to glance over at Sasha’s smile in the glow from the dashboard lights. Yeah, what was that about distractions?
“Do you get to have lots of adventures just like Eloise?” Evie asked.
Sasha shook her head. “No, living in a hotel hasn’t been that much fun.”
“Am I missing something here? Who is Eloise? Is she another student?” Remy asked as he pulled into an empty parking space and switched off the engine. Obviously this was something he was expected to know. Sasha seemed to know all about this Eloise person. When had he gone from being the main focus of Evie’s world to sitting on the sidelines?
“Papá,” Evie said in a tone that projected her utter disappointment. She unbuckled her seatbelt and scooted forward, popping her head between the front seats. “How could you forget Eloise?”
He threw Sasha a helpless glance, but she appeared to be fighting a smile. She took all this in stride. Of course she did, she was accustomed to dealing with seven-year-olds. Widening his eyes, he telegraphed a message for help.
“Did your dad read the Eloise books to you?” Sasha asked as she opened the passenger door and Evie scrambled between the seats into the front.
“Yup. Auntie Charlotte bought them for me, because she said she liked Eloise when she was my age.” Evie jumped out of the car and landed next to Sasha. “Charlotte said Papá and Uncle Ethan didn’t read them because they were boys, but Papá reads them to me when I ask. So does Uncle Ethan.”
Remy got out, shut his door, and quietly exhaled. He’d be sure to thank Sasha later…in private. “Let me guess. Eloise is the girl who lived at the Plaza?”
“You remember.” Evie ran around the car and threw her arms around his legs.
Evie chattered about Eloise while they crossed the parking lot and stepped into the cooled air of the lobby.
He gave Sasha a sidelong glance. Sexy and good with kids. Had he hit the jackpot?
“Welcome back,” the young woman at the front desk greeted Sasha as they entered. “Oh, hello, Sheriff. Good to see you again.”
Remy approached the desk. “How are things going? Is the schedule with my deputies working out?”
The woman nodded. “Yes, thank you. I know it was silly, but I feel so much better.”
“Good.” He tapped his knuckles on the counter. “Let me know if we can be of any more assistance.”
“They haven’t had any trouble here, have they?” Sasha looked concerned.
“Can I press the up button?” Evie danced in front of the elevator.
He nodded to Evie and turned his attention back to Sasha. “Not here. She makes a night deposit during her shift and thought she’d been followed one night and drove to the station instead of the bank. After that, I arranged for someone in the department to accompany her. There’s not as much cash these days, but someone needing a fix might not be thinking straight.”
Sasha didn’t say anything, but the look she gave him had his heart thumping against his chest. He’d love to know what she was thinking.
“Can I press the button again?” Evie stood in front of the small bank of buttons inside the elevator.
Sasha nodded as she stepped in. “Sure. Press two.”
Evie stood on her toes to press the button. “I’m glad you’re not way up on the tippy top floor like Eloise.”
The hotel had three floors. He and Sasha exchanged amused glances, and he got an adrenaline rush. “You’d have to wait to grow some more before you could come to visit Miss Honeycutt,” he teased Evie.
“Gosh, Miz Honeycutt, are you gonna live in a hotel all the time just like Eloise?”
“No, sweetie, just until I find a place of my own.”
There was that irresistible smile he enjoyed. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open and Evie was too eager to get to the room to continue the conversation. She rushed into the hall and stopped, looking both ways, then back to them.
“That way.” Sasha pointed left.
They walked down the hall behind Evie, who skipped all the way. Remy enjoyed seeing Evie happy.
Sasha pulled out her key when she got to the door and slipped it into the slot.
Evie danced on her toes. “I hope he likes me.”
“How could he not?” Sasha touched Evie’s shoulder. “Walk, don’t run, so you don’t startle him.”
A large orange cat looked up from his spot on the bed when they entered. He yawned and rose, stretching his front legs, then arching his back.
Remy gave a low whistle. “Wow, he is impressive.”
Sasha laughed. “He’s mostly fur. How did you know he was a Maine coon?”
Remy shrugged and glanced away. Yeah right, he wasn’t about to confess how he’d looked up “big orange cats” after he’d seen the photo on her desk until he found one that looked like the picture. Yeah, he hated admitting that even to himself. Almost as bad as flashing his badge in French Quarter hotels searching for a mysterious and sexy blonde in a backless dress and heels.
“He’s very fluffy, Miz Honeycutt.” Evie stroked his head, and he rubbed his face against her hand, obviously enjoying the attention.
“Yes, he definitely has lots of fur. I sometimes feel bad for bringing him to such a hot climate, but that’s silly because he never goes outside anyway.” Sasha shook her head and flashed Remy a self-deprecating grin.
Evie continued to stroke the cat. “Is he hot all summer?”
“He hasn’t been here for the summer yet.” Sasha glanced at Remy. “This place you have in mind is air conditioned, right?”
Remy laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that to you, cher.”
“Miz Honeycutt?” Evie tugged on her sleeve. “If you and Henry moved in with Papá and me, we’d leave the air conditioning on like…all the time so he wouldn’t get hot in all that fur.”
Sasha curved her hand around Evie’s shoulders and bent down. “And I’m sure Henry would appreciate your generosity, but we really need our own place for just the two of us.”
Evie ran the toe of her sneaker over the carpet. “Is it cuz you like Uncle Ethan better than us?”
“Evie,” Remy scolded, though secretly, he had to admit he hoped Sasha’s answer was no.
Sasha gave Evie a hug. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not moving in with Ethan, either. Henry and I are going to find our own home.”
“But you went on a date with Uncle Ethan.” Evie gave her an accusing look.
“I did, but that’s because he asked me, sweetie.”
Remy wanted to know when and where Ethan had met Sasha. His little brother had a lot to answer for the next time he saw him. Why? his inner voice demanded. Because Ethan had met an attractive woman and asked her out? Jerk much, Fontenot?
“Papá, why don’t you ask Miz Honeycutt on a date? Maybe she’ll go out with you if you asked.”
He ruffled his daughter’s hair. “Now why didn’t I think of that? Good thing I have you looking out for me.”
“I know.” Evie nodded her head. “So you’ll ask her?”
Remy winked at his daughter. “When the time is right.”
The Sheriff's Little Matchmaker Page 5