Page 76 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“Tell him that I bet Maddie that she’ll come back from a tour with me wetter than I do,” Owen said.

Maddie’s eyes widened.That had definitely sounded intentionally dirty.

Josh coughed and when she glanced at him, she realized that he thought so, too.

“Okay, then,” Josh said.He backed up to the door.“I’m gonna go make sure your boat’s all ready to go.”

“Thanks.”Maddie watched him leave, then focused on Owen again.“I’ll be back in a little bit.”

He nodded and she started to step past him, but he caught her arm in his big hand.

Confused, she looked up at him.Her breath caught at the hot look in his eyes.

He didn’t say anything.He just pulled her close and lowered his head.

The kiss took her completely by surprise.That it happened at all, but also how sweet it was.It was just his lips touching hers, lingering there as if he was just absorbing the feel of it.He took a deep breath through his nose and then straightened.

“Wha—what was that for?”She hated that she sounded discombobulated.But she was.

He just looked at her for a long moment, then let go of her arm.“You protecting Sawyer is awesome.”

Maddie felt a flutter in her belly and recognized that it was even more dangerous than the heat he caused by setting the drunk customer straight.“I hate that he’s having trouble,” she said.

He nodded.“Me, too.And we’ve all been really trying to help him cope.But you’re really stepping outside your comfort zone to help.That’s…I don’t know.Awesome.Very kissable.”

“What do you do when Josh or Sawyer does something amazing?”she asked, trying to be glib.

He grinned.“Buy ’em a beer or a shot.”His voice dropped a little lower.“Would you rather have a beer, Mad?”

She swallowed.“No.This works for me,” she said softly.

Heat flared in his eyes, and for just a second she was sure he was going to pull her in for another kiss.And she was equally sure that she was going to plaster herself against him and kiss him back.Kissing him on his front porch in the dark was one thing.Especially after sharing and getting emotional and everything.But here?In the light of day?Where anyone could see them?As if this was perfectly natural?This was a problem.Because it felt too damned good.And yeah, natural.

But instead of kissing her, he said, “I’ve got you out there, you know.”

She did know that and it made all of the heat swirl even faster.Thiswasout of her comfort zone.She didn’t like anything about this planexceptthat it might give Sawyer a break.But she was also starting to like how much Owen seemed to like that she was doing this.That was trouble.But she realized that Owen was a big part of why all of this had come to her as a solution.She didn’t worry when Owen was around.

She probably should, of course.They were a dangerous combination.She made him do stuff he wouldn’t normally do, take risks that he shouldn’t take.

She nodded.“I know.I’ll be fine with you there.”

He looked like he was going to say something more but he finally just nodded.“See you on the dock in a bit.”

11

Maddie escaped, taking deep shaky breaths all the way up to her grandmother’s house.

It didn’t help.She was still jumpy and hot by the time she got back to the dock in tan shorts and a green tank top.Maybe more so.She was going out on the bayou.She hadn’t been out there in over a decade.And there was nothing out there that she wanted.

She detoured through the office to grab an overpriced Boys of the Bayou cap from Shirts and Slabs —seriously the worst business name ever—grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, and then headed out the back door.

Owen was loading his boat with a big cooler as she came around the side of the building.He was bent over, his fine ass in the khaki shorts he wore, tight and hard, his back and arm muscles bunching as he worked.

And she realized it was going to get a lot hotter.

This wasn’t about the sun.This was about this man.This rugged, charming, protective man that she’d never gotten out of her system.It was one thing to climb into his lap spontaneously last night.Now they were partnering up because they were concerned about their friend and their business, and the idea that Owen was pleased by that, hadkissedher because of that, made her hot.

Worst decision ever.Owen and gators.Terrible combination of things she should be staying the hell away from.

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