Must Love Alligators: A Boys of the Bayou Christmas

by Erin Nicholas

  “I told you that I didn’t want your money,” Bailey said.

  Chase nodded. “You did. But I’m not a very good listener.”

  She snorted. His grin grew.

  She was wearing a dress. Not her uniform. That meant she wasn’t here to check on the otters. Which not only meant that the Landrys were all running around for no reason—which was hilarious—but also meant she was here for something else.

  He hoped like hell that something else was the same reason he was so damned happy to see her.

  Stupidly happy.

  This woman was nothing like the women he usually dated, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy to see a girl he wasn’t related to.

  “Happy holidays,” he said.

  She inclined her head. “Same to you.”

  “How’s the swamp?” he asked.

  She gave him a little smile that said his small talk was ridiculous. “Warm and wet.”

  Nice. She was in a dress and flirting with him. Yeah, she wasn’t here about any otters. “Just how I like things.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  It was so very unfortunate that he had yet to kiss this woman.

  He was definitely going to fix that this time. If he couldn’t use mistletoe to his advantage, he didn’t deserve to kiss her.

  “I was wondering if you could help me with something,” he said.

  “Well, Maddie and I were just in the middle of a conversation here.”

  Of course she wouldn’t just say, Sure, Chase, whatever you want.

  “Oh, hey, it’s fine,” Maddie piped up. “It’s really cool. We can talk later. If Chase needs you, then you should go with him.”

  Her attention flickered to something over Chase’s shoulder, then back to him and Bailey. He could only imagine the scene outside the window. Some crazy Cajun was probably running after some kind-of-but-not-really-wild critter.

  Bailey started to look in that direction, but Chase moved in front of her, taking hold of her upper arms. Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him, clearly surprised—and now adequately distracted.

  He knew she wasn’t here for the otters. But would he use the otters as an excuse to take up her time and attention? Absolutely. Without a single question.

  “I like your dress,” he told her. It was white with purple and blue flowers and was a light, floaty material. She wore a white sweater over the top, but it was clearly a summery dress. Not Christmasy at all. In fact, it was nice and short, showing off the toned legs that she normally hid inside baggy khaki pants. But he didn’t mind that she was out of season. At all.

  She blushed. Bright pink. “Oh…thanks.”

  Yeah, she’d worn it for him. Somehow that reaction confirmed that to him.

  “Very pretty,” he added.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’d assumed that you had great legs, but I like knowing for sure.”

  She swallowed and her cheeks got even brighter. “Um…”

  Maddie’s phone rang. Chase glanced over to find Maddie watching him and Bailey with an amused and slightly confused expression. She reached for her phone, her eyes still on them. “Yeah?” she answered it a moment later. “They are.” She paused. “Yes, both of them.” Another pause and a frown. “Is that real thing?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course. Silly me.” A pause and she looked out the window behind her. “That’s perfect.”

  When she hung up, she gave Chase and Bailey a big grin. “Ellie and Leo need a favor. They’re out on dock two.”

  Chase grinned back. Ellie and Leo were Owen and Josh’s grandparents. The matriarch and patriarch of the Landry family. The people who had adopted Chase this past summer and showed him that people could love you, be exasperated by you, have high expectations of you, and support you right where you were all at the same time. He hadn’t really had that before. Except from his sister, Juliet. But definitely never from strangers. Of course, people were only strangers to Leo and Ellie Landry for about ten minutes.

  “We’re on it,” he told Maddie.

  “We?” Bailey asked.

  Chase looked at her, then on impulse grabbed her hand. “We.”

  He started to lift her hand to his lips for a kiss, unable to not touch her any longer.

  But they both stepped in at the same moment and he stepped on her foot. Again.

  This was how it had all gone down last time.

  That was the brief thought that flashed through his mind as she yelped, “Ow!” and he bit off a, “Dammit!”

  He pulled his foot up as she stepped back, but he still had a hold of her hand. He let go quickly. Too quickly. She took another off-balance step backward into the table that held a small Christmas tree, decorated with alligator, turtle, and crawfish ornaments. The tree wobbled, the ornaments swung, and Chase grabbed for Bailey as she grabbed for the tree. He caught her arm—which prevented her from catching the tree, instead sending it to the floor.

  As a clay crawfish skidded over the wood floor and came to rest against the front counter, Maddie lifted round eyes.

  “And I was just going for her hand that time,” Chase quipped. “You should see what damage we cause when I go for her lips.”

  Bailey blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. “Maybe we should just…not.”

  That wasn’t okay. “Maybe we just need to be on a soft surface with nothing else around next time. A large, wide, soft surface. Already horizontal, so no one falls over. With pillows.” He grinned at her. “And maybe no clothes. Just to take away any risk of something getting caught or snagged.”

  Bailey’s cheeks were pink again, but she asked, “So naked on a bed before we even manage to kiss?”

  He shrugged, feeling stupidly good for a guy who couldn’t seem to pull off even a peck on the lips. “I’m willing to see you naked without knowing if you’re any good with your mouth ahead of time.”

  That mouth gasped and formed a perfect little “o,” sending his thoughts in some very delicious directions. He lifted a finger and pushed up on her chin, closing her mouth. For now.

  “Both of you. Out. Now.” Maddie finally said with a sigh. “Dock two.”

  4

  She was no expert, but it seemed that kissing someone should be a lot easier than this, Bailey thought, as she followed Chase out of the Boys of the Bayou office and onto the wooden platform that would lead them to the docks where the airboats they used for their swamp tours were tied.

  The outside air swirled around her bare legs and she smiled at the fact that she was wearing a dress in December. Mostly the dress was because she’d wanted Chase to see her in something other than her khakis…which was really stupid. She hadn’t even been certain he’d be here. But being out of uniform should have been a sign to the other Landrys that she wasn’t here in a work capacity. Still, she did enjoy wearing capris and skirts and sandals this time of year. It wasn’t uncommon for December temps in Minnesota to be in the single digits, especially with wind chills. The fifty-something temperatures here felt almost balmy and today, in the bright sunshine, it was in the low sixties. She might be alone, her family all way up north, but at least she wasn’t scraping ice off her windshield or wearing four layers of clothes to keep from freezing to death while she did her Christmas shopping. She’d find as many silver linings as she could.

  Like being here with Chase.

  Like just being here, period.

  She’d come here hoping Chase would be here for Christmas, but also with the hopes that the Landrys reputation of making all strangers into friends and all friends into family would maybe extend to her. Just for December twenty-third to the twenty-sixth. Give or take.

  So, while the Landrys scrambled to distract her from…whatever they were up to…she was going to let them. She hoped whatever they were all running around after totally eluded them for hours. Maybe all day. And night.

  She and Chase rounded the building that housed the front office of the Boys of the Bayou tours and stepped o
nto the dock. The wooden platform rocked under their weight as they headed toward the older couple that was currently loading boxes and bags into one of the airboats.

  “Chase!” An older woman, with salt and pepper hair in a braid that hung nearly to her butt, enfolded Chase in a huge hug as soon as he got close.

  Chase was easily eight inches taller than she was and his long arms wrapped around her thin frame. He was also grinning widely in a way that made Bailey’s heart flip. His affection for this woman was clear.

  “Hey, El.”

  She pulled back and reached for a large glass jar that was filled with a strange grayish green liquid. “Made this for you.”

  “Will this cure me of my hangover, my smart mouth, or just my general stupidity?” Chase asked, accepting it and unscrewing the lid. He took a sniff and winced.

  Ellie laughed. “Hangover. You’ve met my grandkids. You think I have a cure for stupidity or being a smartass?”

  He chuckled and took a taste. “Huh, not terrible.” He looked over at Bailey. “Ellie and Cora are well-known for their home remedies.”

  “And hangovers are a common affliction around here,” Ellie said. She shot a look at the man next to her. “Of course, that’s also a point of pride.”

  Her husband beamed.

  “Don’t suppose you have a love potion, do you?” Chase asked, shooting Bailey a sly look.

  Ellie lifted a brow. “A love potion? What for?”

  “Bailey thinks we should just give up on the whole idea. I was hoping for a little help convincing her otherwise,” he told her.

  Bailey rolled her eyes. The guy was incorrigible. They weren’t falling in love. They weren’t not falling in love either. This wasn’t about love. This was an awkward flirtation between people who were obviously terribly mismatched.

  He was just too cute to completely shut down.

  “I will have you know,” Leo said, drawing himself up tall. “The Landrys have never needed a love potion. When we fall in love, we know it immediately and so does everybody else. We don’t need any hocus pocus.”

  Ellie laughed and waved her hand at her husband. “Yeah, yeah.” She focused on Bailey. “The Landry family really does have some of the very best love stories. Big and bold and crazy. But—” She glanced at Chase. “Chase isn’t a Landry and he hasn’t hung out with us enough for it to completely rub off. Yet.”

  “Big, bold, crazy love stories are contagious?” Bailey asked. It didn’t take long to figure out that the Landrys were a…unique bunch.

  Ellie shrugged. “Not contagious, exactly, but hanging out with the Landrys makes people realize that being bold and loud and boisterous about what you want in life is an okay way to be. I think the Landrys help people discover their…audaciousness.”

  Bailey shot a look at Chase. She wasn’t sure Chase Dawson needed any more audaciousness. He gave her a grin that said he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “So you’re not really the one to come to in hopes of someone imparting words of wisdom?” Bailey asked dryly.

  Ellie barked out a laugh. “Well, I certainly hope you’re not mistaking old age for wisdom. I know a lot of stupid old people.”

  Bailey couldn’t help but smile. “But wisdom comes with experience, right?”

  “Oh, absolutely,” Ellie agreed. “But there are a lot of old people who haven’t had any meaningful experiences and plenty of young people who have.”

  Bailey was struck by those words.

  Leo nodded. “And don’t mistake just doin’ stuff with having experiences,” he said. “Everyone does stuff. Experiences are things that make you think and maybe change you a little bit.”

  “A lot of time the difference between just doin’ something and having an experience is the person doin’ it, not the thing bein’ done,” Ellie added. “I know a ton of people who could meet a homeless man and walk away a better person. And I know a ton of people who could have met Mother Teresa and walked away thinking they’d just talked to a kooky old lady.”

  Bailey gave a surprised little laugh. That was incredibly insightful.

  “So, what kind of wisdom were you hoping for, anyway?” Leo asked.

  “Oh, um—” Bailey gave Chase a look. He was just watching the whole exchange with a bemused smile. “Maybe someone to convince him that if we were really meant to be, all of this would go a little easier?” Baily suggested.

  All of this falling in love talk had her heart pounding a little harder. That was ridiculous. She was here because she was intrigued by Chase, wanted to see if they could possibly manage to kiss without someone ending up bleeding, and because she didn’t want to be home alone for Christmas. It was that simple.

  But this didn’t feel simple.

  Suddenly she wanted to have an experience. With Chase. Something that would make her think and maybe change her a little. Leo laughed and tucked his hands into his back pockets. “See now, I’d probably be tellin’ him that it’s about time somethin’ was a little challenging for him and that he was goin’ to learn a lot about bein’ patient and puttin’ in the work and figurin’ out when somethin’ is really worth it.”

  Bailey looked at him with interest. “Really?”

  Leo nodded. “This boy has had a damned easy life. His parents have money. He’s the baby. He’s got two older brothers paving the way and an older sister making sure he doesn’t turn into an asshole.” He gave Chase an affectionate grin. “Then he found us and found out how great it is to get your hands dirty and what it means to really work for a livin’. He’s had it all handed to him, including life lessons and advice. It’s probably time for something in his life not to fall magically into place.”

  Bailey blinked at Leo. Then looked at Chase.

  Chase was just standing there, sipping his homemade hangover cure out of a mason jar, and listening to them all psychoanalyze him, clearly unbothered.

  “So now that we’re clear that no one is going to talk me out of trying to kiss you some more,” Chase said, “how about we find out what Ellie and Leo need our help with?”

  He was going to try to kiss her some more.

  Thank God.

  “Yes, okay, how can we help?”

  “Oh, we need you to take this stuff out to our cabin and start decorating,” Ellie said.

  She gestured to the boxes in the boat and Bailey leaned in. Yep, they were full of Christmas decorations.

  “The cabin?” Chase asked. “Really? You decorate that?”

  “Well, it’s for the Gator Bells bayou tour,” Ellie said.

  Bailey looked at Chase. He was staring at Ellie. “Gator balls?”

  “Gator Bells.” Ellie shook her head. “Like Jingle Bells. But with gators. Because it’s the bayou.”

  “Gators don’t…jingle…though,” Chase said.

  Bailey bit her bottom lip. Dammit. These people were addictive. Nuts. But addictive. Fun. Irreverent. Goofy. Clearly loving. She wanted some of all of that.

  “It’s just a gimmick,” Ellie said with a shrug.

  “But, I mean, at least make it Rudolph the Red-Nosed Gator, or something,” Chase said. “Then at least it’s an animal and kind of makes some sense to substitute the gator in there.”

  Ellie narrowed her eyes.

  “Or Grandma Got Run Over By a Gator,” Chase said, as if suddenly inspired. “Now that would totally work.”

  Ellie propped her hand on her hip. “I have a shot gun and very good aim that says that would never happen.”

  “And a really good gator gumbo recipe,” Leo added.

  Ellie nodded.

  Chase laughed and pulled Ellie in for a hug. “What was I thinking?”

  “But it would be funny if it was run like a murder mystery dinner theater thing. Where the tourists start here and get their first clue, then go out on a bayou tour and gather other clues trying to find where the guilty gator is hiding out. Then when they get to the final destination, there are gator Christmas cookies and green hot chocolate.” Bailey frown
ed. “I don’t know how you’d make hot chocolate green, though. Maybe just green marshmallows?”

  Chase, Ellie, and Leo all turned to face Bailey at once. As they stared at her, she felt her own eyes getting wide, realizing she’d just blurted that idea out. And no one was saying anything.

  She felt her cheeks heat. “Sorry. That was silly.”

  But Chase gave her a huge grin and then laughed. “That’s amazing.”

  “If we make white hot chocolate, we could turn it green with food coloring,” Ellie said.

  “I’m totally telling Maddie,” Chase said with a nod.

  “Not if I get there first,” Leo said, starting up the ramp.

  “And you’re going to take full credit?” Chase called after him.

  “Unless she hates it,” Leo said. “Then I’ll tell her it was Bailey.” He gave Bailey a wink and disappeared around the corner of the building.

  Ellie shook her head watching him go. “He won’t really,” she told Bailey. “He’ll tell Maddie it’s your idea. That’s a lot of fun.”

  “You think so?” Bailey wasn’t sure where the idea had come from. She’d just been picturing an alligator wearing a red Santa hat and the idea had popped into her head.

  “So you all head out and decorate the cabin for the general tour,” Ellie said, handing Chase a box and Bailey a bag.

  A strand of lights hung out of the top of the surprisingly heavy bag.

  “It’s like a sleigh ride up north,” Ellie went on. “Except with an airboat rather than a sleigh. And without the snow. And…okay, it’s really like a swamp boat tour but with Christmas lights.”

  Bailey laughed at that.

  “That’s really a thing?” Chase asked.

  “Of course it’s a thing. It’s great,” Ellie said. “All the cabins out there decorate and we string lights from the cypress trees and every dock plays a different Christmas song and has different treats to hand out.”

  “Sounds like trick-or-treating, but with a Christmas theme,” Chase said.

  “Except that we do the trick-or-treating at Halloween,” Ellie said.

  “You do?” he asked. “Really? People go cabin to cabin trick-or-treating in boats?”