Page 2 of Beauty and the Bayou

He pulled her up, sliding her until she was completely on the dock.There was a moment where they both just paused.Then suddenly she rolled to her side and pushed up onto her knees.The move, with his hand still tucked in the back of her shorts, brought Sawyer down onto one knee.The perfect level for her to throw her arms around his neck.Apparently.

She squeezed him tightly as she gushed in his ear, “Oh my God, thank you!”

Sawyer simply couldn’t move.He hadn’t been expecting anything about her reaction.Hell, he hadn’t been expecting anything abouther.He found himself frozen with her pressed against him, gripping his neck tightly.And his fingers against the bare skin of her lower back below her life jacket.Her silky, warm bare skin.

“Juliet!”the male voice called from down below them.“Are you all right?What the hell happened?”

The woman pulled back and looked up at Sawyer for a moment.Then she blew out a breath and gave him a half smile.“Thank you for saving me.”She unwound her arms from around his neck and started to sit back on her heels.

But his hand wasstilltucked into the back of her shorts and that kept her pressed against him.Surprise and awareness flickered in her huge, brown eyes and Sawyer realized he hadn’t been hugged by a woman other than his mother and grandmother in months.It had a lot to do with the fact that he bit the heads off of most of the women—okay, most of thepeople—around him on a regular basis.

Suddenly he pulled his hand from the shorts and sat back.The woman did the same, taking a deep breath.

Was her heart pounding because she’d nearly pitched over the edge of the dock and gone headfirst into the mud below?Or was it because being pressed up against him had done something to her libido like it had his?

Did it matter?

He didn’t even know who the hell she was, and she was trespassing.

“You shouldn’t just go around hugging strange men.”He pushed to his feet.

She scrambled to stand as well and took a big step back.“Oh, wow, you’re totally right.I just…reacted.Sorry about that.”

For a second, Sawyer lost track of what they’d been talking about.

This woman had more than a gorgeous ass.She was stunningly beautiful from the front, too.Even in a bright orange life jacket.

She also smelled like lilacs.

He realized that he’d gotten a huge whiff of her scent when she’d been in his arms.It had to have only been a few seconds, and he’d been a lot more focused on the skin against his fingers.But yeah, she smelled like lilacs.

That didn’t seem to fit now that he took her all in.She had long dark hair streaked with red and gold, skin that was a warm beige, and the biggest brown eyes he’d ever seen.She also had curves.Really, really nice curves.Even in her goofy outfit, it was impossible to miss the generous breasts, flared hips, and gorgeous ass.Okay, he couldn’t see that ass now, but he remembered it.Well.

The hip waders didn’t fit her.She was short and the tall boots were loose on her, causing a gap at the top that gave him more than a glimpse of the smooth, fawn-colored skin of her thighs.

Cinnamon.If she smelled like cinnamon, that would fit.No, cardamom.And yes, he knew what cardamom smelled like.His grandmother and her best friend cooked and baked constantly, for family and for a living.This girl definitely should have smelled spicy rather than flowery.

And that might have been the stupidest thing he’d ever thought in his life.

But she was checking him out, too.Her eyes ran over him from head to toe.There was six feet and four inches of him to go over, and it took her a little longer than it had taken him to scan her five-foot-five or so.Or maybe she was just taking her time.

He let her.He was a stranger.They were alone.In a new-to-her place.Sheshould besizing him up.

Or maybe he just liked her eyes on him.

He noted that she didn’t study the scar that ran from the corner of his mouth, up over his cheek, to his hairline.She didn’t avoid looking at it, either.She’d taken it in like she’d looked over his shoulders and hair and boots.Like it was just a detail to catalog.

He hadn’t even thought of being with a woman since the accident that had caused that scar, and he was shocked by the urge to flirt—or step close and catch this woman’s mouth in a kiss—that shot through him now.Hell, did he even rememberhowto flirt?

Finally, after the silent perusal had stretched a little beyond two people just meeting for the first time and nothing more, he pushed all of those thoughts away and propped his hands on his hips.“I was talking aboutyou,” he told her.

Yeah, he wasn’t upset about the way she threw herself into his arms after he’d saved her.He could use a little more appreciation for the things he did to keep people safe around here, as a matter of fact.Sawyer shook his head.That was a whole other, ongoing issue that had nothing to do with this here and now.

“Getting up close and personal with a guy who just walks up on you suddenly when no one else is around could be damned dangerous.”As he spelled it out for her, he realized just what a great point that really was.He frowned.“Seriously, you shouldn’t be down here alone.What the hell are you doing?What if you’d fallen off the dock and no one was here?”

She glanced at the railing.“I knew I should have tied myself to the post.”

Sawyer blinked at her.“What?”

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