Page 93 of Sweet Home Louisiana

13

Owen heard the knock on his back screen door.He’d just pulled some leftovers from the oven.He tossed the hot pad on the counter and headed to see who it was.Sawyer, Josh, Tori and Kennedy just let themselves in.As did his mom, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles.So who the hell was this?

The second he saw Maddie standing on his back step, his heart rate went into overdrive.

He hadn’t seen her since George had taken her downtown.He’d had two more tours, and she hadn’t come back to the office after her coffee date with the sheriff.He’d come home restless, determined to give her a little space and time.But equally determined to find her tonight.

In the meantime, he’d looked up her art.He’d gone to the gallery’s website and sure enough, a couple of her paintings were on the first page.They were good.Damned good.And they were so familiar—the bayou, the town, the storm clouds—that his heart had twisted.Seeing his beloved bayou, that he knew like he knew the back of his hand, on a canvas in a gallery in San Francisco was surreal.It was also obvious Maddie loved the places she painted, even if she was emotionally conflicted about it.

Owen swallowed hard as he pushed the door open.“Hey.”

“Hey.”

She looked fucking gorgeous.She’d showered and her hair was down and smooth, in contrast to the curls she’d had earlier from the humidity and wind.She was wearing another little sundress, this one white, with spaghetti straps, and simple white flip-flops.

“You okay?”he asked when she didn’t step across his threshold.

“I need something,” she said.

“Anything.”

“You.”

The oxygen he’d just pulled in jammed in his lungs and he just stared at her for a long moment.

“And when I say ‘you’, I don’t mean that I want a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.I don’t want to go for a walk.I don’t want to talk.I don’t want, or need, a hug.I don’t need you to ask me if I’m okay or if I’m sure.I just want to get naked and kiss you and lick you from head to toe and then I wantyouto lickmefrom head to—”

He reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her inside.He backed her up against the wall of the porch right next to the door.He braced his hands on either side of her face.

“Fuck yes.”

A little smile teased her lips.“Really?”

“I’m all yours.”For anything and everything for as long as she wanted him.He didn’t have to say the rest.She knew.

She cupped his face between her hands, rubbing her palms over his short beard.“I want to feel this…in lots of places.”

She heard the little growl that came from the back of his throat.

“You’re going to, girl.Lotsof places.Over and over again.”

A little shiver went through her and he dropped his gaze to see her nipples pressing against the front of her dress.“I’m gonna need this,” he said, reaching up to slip one strap off her shoulder.

“My dress?”

He nodded.

She reached for the zipper that ran up the side of the dress.She dragged it down, her eyes locked on his.Just like that.Not another question, not a single hesitation, not even a blush.She just unzipped.

Maddie shrugged her shoulders and the other strap fell as the bodice gaped.She pushed on his chest and he stepped back.She dropped her hands and the dress fell to a pool at her feet.

She stood in front of him in only a tiny pair of white silk panties and her sandals.

Owen’s mouth went dry as he ran his gaze over her.Where to start?He wanted every inch of her skin against his mouth right now.

He bent and snagged the hem of the dress.She stepped out of it and he moved to the door.He pushed it open and tucked the dress through the loop of metal that made up the handle, hanging the dress from his back door.

Maddie laughed.“What’s that?”

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