Page 86 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“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 lether 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.Thatmade 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 notmemaking 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.Allof the people you care about.”

She frowned and shook her head.“But I’m notcrazywith 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 wereactuallyproblems 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.

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