Page 18 of Beauty and the Bayou

Juliet frowned.And unbuckled the front of her life jacket.She shrugged out of it, tossed it on top of her boots, and then reached for her hard hat.She took it off and placed it on top of the bar.She ran a hand through her hair and watched Sawyer take in her whole outfit under the safety gear.

His gaze raked over her and she completely lost track of the fact that there was anyone else in the room with them.She stood in front of him, barefoot, in short denim shorts, a fitted black tank top with spaghetti straps, and…that was it.She had more clothes in the car, of course, but she’d dressed for potentially falling into alligator-infested waters rather than sitting in a bar having breakfast that morning.

She felt her cheeks get a little warm, her nipples get hard, and her skin tingle everywhere Sawyer’s gaze touched.And his gaze touched a lot of places.Seemed she did have a lot of skin showing.

It was hot in Louisiana at the end of July.Everyone knew that.Even people who hadn’t done research into what the average temps and weather was like this time of year knew that.She knew that the average temperature was ninety-two degrees, rarely dipping below eighty-seven degrees, and that the humidity was around seventy-nine percent.

So, she’d dressed accordingly.She’d thought.

But it was becoming very clear, very quickly, that shehadn’tprepared fully for coming to Autre.

Because she hadn’t expected Sawyer Landry.

Then again, she wasn’t sure shecouldhave prepared for Sawyer Landry.

“Okay, partner meeting.”Josh suddenly appeared at Sawyer’s side and clapped him on his shoulder.

“Maddie’s not here though,” Owen said, joining them.“We’ll have to go get her.”

“Yeah, you go on,” Ellie told him.“Juliet is just fine here with us.”

Sawyer just grunted at that, but he did let Josh turn him away.

“Be careful you don’t slip in that puddle of drool there by your feet,” Owen said to Sawyer, shooting Juliet a grin and a wink, just before Sawyer put his elbow into Owen’s side, hard.

Owen grunted then and the men headed for the door.

“So, you’re a lawyer here to build us a new dock,” Ellie said, pouring a cup of coffee and setting it and a small glass of orange juice on the bar in front of the empty bar stool.

Clearly she expected Juliet to take the seat.

Without any better—or really anyother—option, Juliet started to climb onto the stool.She felt her left foot stick to the floor for just a second as she lifted it, and she grimaced slightly.

“There’s a ninety-eight percent chance that’s beer or coffee creamer you just stepped in,” Leo told her, swiveling on his stool to face her, his coffee cup in hand.

Juliet settled on the stool beside him.“Do I want to know what substances might fall into that other two percent?”she asked.

“Maybe not,” he said, with a nod.“But I can promise it’s not urine.Or floor polish, for that matter.”

“Fuck off,” Ellie told him.

Juliet gave a surprised laugh.

“Hey, I said it definitely wasn’t urine,” Leo said.“I know you cleaned that up.”

Juliet’s eyes widened.“Therewasurine?”

“He’s just a piglet!”the brunette who was sitting with Kennedy called.“And he’d never been in a bar before.He got excited.”

“Apiglet?”Juliet asked.“A real piglet?”

“He’ll only eat if Tori is holding him,” Ellie said.She beamed down the bar at Tori with clear affection.“She’s a vet.All of the animals love her.He’s still getting used to being without his mama, so Tori keeps him with her a lot.”

“Is he here now?”Juliet looked around.She didn’t know much about animals, but the pictures of piglets she’d seen were cute.

“I have a sitter for him today,” Tori said.

“A…sitter.For your piglet?”Juliet asked.

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