Sweet Home Louisiana: Boys of the Bayou Book 2

by Erin Nicholas

  He met her eyes.

  They just looked at each other for a moment. Then his hands moved up to cup her face.

  “I didn’t think about Tommy,” he said gruffly. “I’m so sorry. That was part of it, right?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. But I overreacted.”

  “No.” He blew out a breath. “Fuck. I’m so used to going out there and doing that, it didn’t even occur to me that you might think of Tommy. Damn, that was really stupid of me.”

  Maddie reached up and squeezed his wrists. “It’s okay. It really is. And yes, I did think of him, too, but that was really mostly about you.”

  He took a breath, then nodded. “Okay.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He gave her a half smile. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  “Not scared of me?”

  He glanced around. “If you left that Remington on board the boat, then I’m not worried.”

  She gave a small laugh, then groaned. “Oh my God, Owen, I’m so sorry.”

  He focused on her. “For?”

  Her eyebrows went up. “For almost shooting you!”

  “Oh, that.” He shrugged.

  “Oh, that?” she repeated.

  “Would have been an accident.”’

  She took a breath. “Okay, I’m sorry for not thinking about the fact that you know what you’re doing out there. And that you know a lot more than I do about everything. I just…”

  “You just what?”

  Maddie wet her lips. “I guess you still make me crazy.”

  Something flickered in his eyes. Then he gave her a slow grin. “Well, Mad, I hate to tell you but, it’s not me. It’s you.”

  Owen let her go as Maddie blinked, then frowned. “What do you mean?”

  He wouldn’t deny that his heart had been pounding hard out on the bayou. Not so much from looking at the wrong end of a rifle barrel, but because of the sheer panic he’d seen in Maddie. He should have let her in on everything from where they’d be pulling up to stop, to the fact that Wilma and Betty and even Fred were going to be around and were not a threat.

  Sure, they were wild animals. Alligators. It wasn’t like he was going to bring one home to curl up on the foot of his bed. But he knew as long as he treated them with care, and brought them chicken, he was okay.

  But he should have told her that. Honestly, he had not been expecting her reaction. He’d thought she’d remember how this all went. And no, he hadn’t thought about Tommy. What had happened to Tommy was an anomaly. An accident. He thought about Tommy every single day and missed him, but what had happened with the shark didn’t keep Owen off the water or out of the bayou.

  Maddie hated alligators, he knew. He also knew that she was a pretty damned good shot, but hated guns. She’d gone out hunting with them a few times as a young teen, but she hadn’t really enjoyed it. It hadn’t occurred to him for one second that she might pull a gun out to protect him. That was so not in character that he was still having a hard time believing she’d done it.

  But damn, she’d looked hot standing there, her hair blowing in the wind, her feet braced in the boat, that gun at her shoulder. Bayou girl indeed. Not because she could handle a gun, but because she was willing to do whatever she needed to do. Did she like guns? No. Was she willing to put her discomfort aside to confront a problem? Absolutely.

  That made her hot.

  She fit in here. She might not think so. She didn’t like being out in the heat and humidity and dealing with the critters. But she would do it if she had to. That made her one of them.

  And yes, he wanted her to be crazy about him.

  He did. He couldn’t deny it. Being a reason that Maddie would get tough and defensive and take a risk gave him a thrill.

  But over the past several days he was realizing that her “crazy” had matured.

  He crossed to the file cabinet and pulled the bottle of moonshine out of the bottom drawer. He looked around, realized that the cups hadn’t gotten returned after they’d been washed, and unscrewed the top.

  “What I mean,” he said, “is that it’s not me making you crazy.”

  “Oh, I think you’re wrong,” she said.

  He lifted the jar to his lips and took a swig. Then held it out to her. “Take the edge off.”

  “You don’t think what happened out there was crazy?”

  He wiggled the bottle, sloshing the moonshine around. “Sure. But it wasn’t because of me.”

  She stepped forward and took the jar. “It was completely because of you.”

  He leaned back against the desk behind him and watched her take a little swig from the bottle.

  “It’s you. You’re protective,” he said. “Of the people you care about. All of the people you care about.”

  She frowned and shook her head. “But I’m not crazy with anyone but you.”

  “You lied to that girl to get her away from Josh.” He grinned. “You got all worked up about Snickers bars for the business. You went out on that airboat in the first place because of Sawyer.”

  Maddie took another swing of moonshine, then handed it back. She took a breath and said, “Yes, I did all of that. And maybe my reaction was a little…much…in those cases. But,” she went on. “All of those things made sense. They were actually problems to solve.”

  Owen recapped the bottle and set it to the side. He braced his hands on either side of his hips. His heart was pounding and she hadn’t even said the rest of what she was thinking.

  “And?” he asked.

  “The alligator wasn’t an actual problem.”

  “You didn’t know that, though.”

  She shook her head. “I would have. If I’d thought about it. If I’d actually taken a breath and truly thought it through. Like I did with everyone else. The business decisions and Sawyer’s situation were based on facts. The girl with Josh…” She paused and grinned. “That was a little more spontaneous, but it was pretty minor overall. And I did weigh options and decided to do those things.” She sobered and met his gaze directly. “With you—the typhoid, snapping at Ellie, all of that today was pure emotion. Adrenaline. My heart pumping. I reacted because I saw you there in potential danger and…I couldn’t think. I just did it. All I could focus on was you.”

  Fuck yes. Owen curled his fingers into the edge of the desk.

  That was what he’d wanted. They’d been out of control as teens and it had been fun and wild and a thrill. That’s how they’d thought love was supposed to be.

  And it was.

  In a way, anyway. Guns were a lot. Burning down sheds was a lot. But the emotion behind it? That was spot-on. Did he want a girl who would shoot a gator for him? Damn right. Especially when it was way out of her comfort zone to do so.

  “When you were sixteen, you concentrated all of that protectiveness and love on me,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I loved it. Encouraged it. I liked being the center of your universe and the focus of all your emotions. But now…” He cleared his throat. “You’ve grown up. You have more self-control. But you still have all of that love and fierceness in you. You’re just spreading it around now. To all the people that matter. And that’s awesome.”

  It was also why she couldn’t paint here, though.

  He couldn’t avoid that thought. That realization. That’s what tore him up about it all. Seeing her willing to protect and defend the people she loved…the people they both loved…and seeing that bayou girl inside her coming out made him want her with an intensity he hadn’t even felt as a hormonal teenager. But now he knew that having that outlet for her emotions was taking away her drive to paint. He hadn’t even known she could draw, not to mention paint pieces that other people would buy and hang on their walls, and now he was faced with the truth that the things that made her happy were very different than they had been twelve years ago.

  If she wasn’t fully happy about being that girl—if she didn’t like being tough and protective and would prefer to paint out all her feelings inste
ad—he couldn’t be fully happy, either.

  And that was the moment when he knew he was falling in love with her again. Because Maddie being happy was more important than Maddie being happy in Autre.

  Or maybe he was still in love with her, but he’d finally grown up enough to realize what that really meant. Her happiness, whatever that looked like, was more important than what he wanted.

  She swallowed hard. “It’s Autre. It’s in the air or something. I’m not like this in California.”

  Yep, that’s exactly what he’d been afraid of.

  Owen pushed up off the desk. “No. It’s you. It’s who you are. All that amazing passion inside of you…” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You just don’t let yourself get close enough to anyone in California to feel that way about them. Here…you can’t help it. We’re a part of you.”

  That was going to make her turn around and storm out or—

  Maddie took a huge step forward, grabbed the front of his T-shirt, and pulled him close. And kissed him.

  She tipped her head immediately so that their mouths matched up fully, and she was the one to open first and lick along his lower lip.

  Owen groaned, gripping her hips and bringing her up against him fully, happily returning every stroke of her tongue. Her little moan made sparks of need trip along his nerve endings and he needed more.

  He turned her and backed her up, then lifted her up to sit on the edge of the desk. Papers went fluttering to the floor, but neither of them paused for even an instant.

  Her hands slipped under the bottom of his shirt and slid up over his abs to his chest, sucking his breath from his lungs. She’d run her hands over him like this on the boat, too. As if she needed to convince herself that he was real and fine.

  Well, he was very fine right now. He slid his hands under the back of her shirt and glided up over her smooth, hot skin to her shoulder blades, pressing her close.

  She was wearing a bra but he felt her nipples hard against his chest, and his cock ached feeling how much she wanted this.

  Maddie’s fingers curled into his sides as if holding on and she wiggled her hips, pressing her fly against his. The pressure was relief and torture at the same time. They couldn’t do this. Not this time. Someone—or more than one someone—was going to come looking for them soon. At least one of whom was going to be pissed.

  But he didn’t want to let her go. Not just right now, but…ever.

  She’d been hot and fun and sexy as a teenager. She’d been more than happy to drop her panties on the floor of his truck. She’d thought he was amazing and she’d liked the crazy passion and the adrenaline rush between them. That had all been more than tempting. He’d been in love with all of that.

  Now he was in love with her. The woman she’d become. The things she’d been through. The way she could still smile and laugh and had a sense of humor. Her protectiveness of the people he loved. The way she just took care of things that needed taken care of. The way she didn’t let Sawyer’s surliness keep her from seeing what he needed and the way she accepted Ellie’s gruff form of love and the way she saw how special Tori was without needing to know her well. The way she was trying to make the business better even knowing she was leaving it because it was good for all of them.

  She’d grown up. They both had. All of the stuff he’d been attracted to twelve years ago—her smile, her quick wit, her spontaneity, the sense of mischief, and yeah, her legs and tits—were all still there. But it was all…more now.

  Maddie was the only woman he’d ever wanted all of. Not just sex, not just a good time, not just a few nights of partying. He wanted to make her laugh and he definitely wanted to strip her bare and bury himself deep. But he also wanted her in his arms when she was scared or sad or angry. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to be the one talking her down when she was riled up. And yes, he wanted her to paint. If that was what she wanted and needed, that’s what he wanted and needed for her. If she needed to put all of this emotion inside a frame and put it up on a wall, someone else’s wall, where she didn’t even have to see it again after she’d poured it out, then he’d have to be okay with that. Because he wanted to be with her. Where didn’t matter. He wanted to be the one that knew her, better than anyone did, and yeah, he wanted her to protect him, too. Even when she didn’t really need to.

  That had never occurred with another woman. He’d never felt particularly protective of them, and he’d definitely never cared if they were willing to fight a battle for him.

  With Maddie he did.

  He pulled back. He needed to tell her all of this.

  He stared at her. She looked so fucking gorgeous. She was riled up right now, too, but this was a whole different kind. And this was definitely because of him.

  “Mad—”

  They were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. “Owen, Maddie…we need to talk. Now.”

  It was Sawyer.

  Fuck.

  Maddie ran a hand through her hair. Her cheeks were flushed and her mouth pink from his.

  “Wow,” she said.

  He couldn’t disagree. “We’re not done.”

  She wet her lips and nodded.

  “Maddie! Owen! Right now!”

  Owen stalked to the door and pulled it open. “What?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” His angry gaze flickered to Maddie. “A gun? You pulled a gun while out on a tour?”

  “It was…complicated,” Owen said.

  “It was a gun,” Sawyer said.

  His expression was hard and he looked ready to strangle someone. He was nearly vibrating with what seemed like anger, but Owen knew that it was mostly fear. The idea that one of them could have been seriously hurt had him rattled.

  Owen used a calm, firm voice. “Everything is fine. We’re fine.”

  “I should have never let you take that tour,” Sawyer said to Maddie. “That’s my fault. If I had my shit together you wouldn’t have had to.” He shoved a hand through his hair.

  Awesome. Now Sawyer was blaming himself for this, too.

  “There’s a reason we have guns on board the boats,” Owen said. “It’s for situations just like that. If someone’s in danger, we have ways to protect them. That’s all that was. Maddie was doing her job.”

  “You weren’t in danger,” Sawyer snapped.

  “She didn’t know that. And if we’d been out there and I’d been in danger in your eyes, you would have done the same thing she did.”

  Sawyer scowled at him.

  Owen stepped forward and put a hand on his cousin’s shoulder. Man, he would do anything to take some of this anxiety and anger out of Sawyer. “Everyone is fine,” he said, his voice again firm and calm.

  Sawyer sucked in a breath. “Yeah, well maybe not fine.”

  Owen frowned. “What’s up?”

  “George Williams is here.”

  Owen felt his eyebrows rise. “What the hell is the sherriff doing here?”

  “Apparently one of our guests didn’t take kindly to the whole gun thing, even with free soda.”

  Owen blew out a breath and turned back to Maddie.

  She was off the desk and coming toward them. “Well, of course,” she said.

  “He needs to follow up on the complaint. I’m not sure anything’s really gonna happen,” Sawyer said. “And if it does, we’ll handle it.”

  Owen felt a crazy sense of satisfaction at that. Not only was Maddie here, loving and protecting his family, but they were doing the same. He put his arm around her and squeezed. “We’ve got your back.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  Yeah, he liked that, too.

  The three of them headed for the front office together. George was sipping a root beer and chatting with Kennedy as if he was out here for a fishing trip instead of following up on a complaint.

  But he was in uniform.

  “Hey, George,” Maddie greeted as she stepped into the building. “It’s been a while.”

  George chuck
led and straightened from where he’d been leaning on the countertop. “I heard you were back in town and was wondering if we were gonna run into each other.”

  “You mean you were wondering when I was going to do something that you’d have to cuff me for,” Maddie said.

  “I never cuffed you,” George said with a smile.

  No, but after she’d burned the shed down, he had put her in the back of his squad car.

  “So I guess you heard about my alligator encounter,” Maddie said.

  “Alligator encounter.” George nodded. “Yeah, he mentioned a gator. But since you didn’t hit it, I’m not so worried about you hunting without a tag and more interested in the complaint against you.”

  “What was the specific complaint?” she asked.

  “Reckless endangerment.”

  “Now hang on,” Owen said, stepping forward. “There was no endangerment. She shot exactly where she’d intended to shoot. No one was at risk. She shot at a gator that she considered to be a threat, which would mean she was protecting everyone.”

  “Guy said—” George pulled his notebook out of his pocket and flipped the cover open. “She was clearly unprepared for the encounter. She brandished the gun over the heads of several passengers and her hands were shaking so bad he thought for sure someone was going to accidentally get shot.”

  “That guy is a dick,” Owen said. “He was never in danger, of any kind.”

  “How about you?” George asked Owen. “Guy said the shot came really close to you.”

  “Because the gator was close to me and she was trying to keep me safe. We carry guns on the boats for a reason,” he pointed out to George as he had Sawyer. All the boats had guns and all of the captains knew how to safely handle them. Including Maddie.

  George looked up at Owen. “Was it Wilma or Fred?”

  Fuck. George had been out on their tour and he’d fished with Owen in that part of the bayou. “Betty,” Owen admitted.

  George nodded. “Uh-huh.” He flipped his notebook shut. “So the gator wasn’t a threat at all.”

  “No,” Owen admitted. “But Maddie didn’t know that.”

  “Fair enough,” George acknowledged. “But she pulled a gun out and people perceived they were in danger.”