Page 5 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“I had a great salad at the airport.”She swirled the liquor around in the coffee mug.

“Oh.”He honestly didn’t care about her salad.Hewantedto ask if she had a boyfriend.That was stupid.“Glad to hear it.”

“And the woman next to me on the plane was very nice.She’s visiting her daughter and her new grandbaby.”

Uh-huh.He also didn’t care about the woman next to her on the plane at all.How long had she and the California douchebag been dating?Was it serious?“How nice.”

Maddie nodded.“They didn’t have any hazelnut coffee creamer, though, so I had to drink it with plain cream.”

“Huh.”Yeah, he really hated small talk.At least with the tourists he could tell them something weird about alligators.Maddie knew all about gators.Which actually made him smile when he thought about it.“I got a new thermos.”

She lifted a brow.He lifted one back at her.

“So how long are we going to do this?”she asked.

“Do what?”

“Talk about stupid crap that doesn’t matter.”

He huffed out a laugh.“Just makin’ conversation.”

Both of her brows went up now.“Andthisis what comes up when you try to talk to me?”

“When I’m tryin’ to be…cordial,” he told her.

“You wouldn’t be cordial without trying?”

“Well…” Should he just be honest with her?She’d known him all his life, too.“To be honest, I’d probably be inappropriate.At some point.Not very far in.”

She looked startled for a moment.Then, if he wasn’t mistaken, she seemed relieved.She grinned.“Oh yeah?”

He laughed again.“That surprises you?”

Maddie shook her head.“No, not really.”

He appreciated that.He took another swallow of liquor.

“So what kind of inappropriate thing would you have said?”

He swallowed with a little difficulty, his eyes drawn to her heels and her legs before he could stop them.

She noticed and stretched her legs out, crossing her ankles, her shoes on full display.

She knew he loved heels.

Had she worn these just for him?Because she knew better than to wear those things on a boat dock.Or a dirt road.Or an uneven sidewalk and rickety front porch steps.They had a lot of all of those things down here and a distinct lack of smooth stone paths and meticulously manicured green spaces.It was wild and natural down here.Maybe even more so than it had been twelve years ago.

He looked up, meeting her gaze.“I would have said somethin’ like, damn girl, if you’re here, that means California just got a lot less hot.’”

She gave a soft snort.“Wow.”

He grinned.

“I think you’re mistaking cheesy for inappropriate.”

“Okay, how about, ‘thank you?’”

“Thank you?”she repeated.“For what?”

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