Page 92 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“You think she needs the cuffs?”George asked Leo.Clearly joking.

But Owen heard himself growl.“You cuff her for this and I’ll—”

Maddie herself slapped her hand over his mouth.“How about we don’t add threatening a police officer to the list here?”

Owen wrapped his hand around her wrist, pulling her hand back and pressing a kiss to the palm.He saw the little hitch in her breathing.“I hate this.”

“It’s really nothing.”

“Still bugs me.”

Her smile was soft.“It still turns me on that it bugs you.”

Now his breath hitched a little.

“Okay, let’s go,” George repeated.“Good lord.”

Owen gave her another quick kiss, this time on the lips, and then let her go.

George grasped her upper arm and they headed out the door.

Fuck, he hated this.Owen shoved a hand through his hair.He really should do something so he could sit in the cell with her.At least keep her company.This was on him, too.But she wasn’t actually going to be sitting in a cell.He supposed he could go eat Oreos with her.But that wasn’t even the point.

It was all so stupid.But it was equally stupid to be this bothered by it.It was nothing.She wasn’t getting arrested.She was going to spend an hour chatting with George downtown.But he hated that the tourist thought he’d gotten her into trouble.

“Hey, Leo?”he said to his grandfather.

“Yeah?”Leo was watching George take Maddie to his car.Past the group of tourists waiting for the bus to take them back to New Orleans.

The guy who’d started all of this mess said something as they passed and George paused for a moment to address him.

“You better get that guy back to NOLA quick.I’m still in the mood to hit somebody.”

Leo nodded.“Me, too, boy.Me, too.”

Owen looked at his grandfather.“But…you wouldn’t, right?”

“I’d say it’s about fifty-fifty,” Leo admitted.

“Well,” Owen said, clapping his grandfather on the shoulder.“I’m good for bail money.”

Leo chuckled.“I don’t think it would take more than what we’ve got in the jar.”

Yes, the Landry family had a jar that sat on the back of Ellie’s bar where they all deposited spare change on a regular basis.The jar saidBAIL MONEYon the side, and the tourists, and maybe a few locals, thought it was a joke.

It wasn’t.

They dumped it out regularly into a bigger bucket in back and with all of them contributing, the spare change actually added up.They’d only used it once and that was a few years ago so yeah, there was probably a pretty good amount in there.

“Well, then, I’ll be the one to haul the bucket to the bank and turn it into cash.”

Leo nodded.“Just promise that you’ll leave me there for one night before you bring it down.”

“Yeah?”

“George keeps that station like an ice box and the AC in my trailer is shit.It’d be nice to have a good night’s sleep.”

“You got it, Grandpa.”

---