Page 24 of Beauty and the Bayou

Agreeable.

Someone who admitted he was right.

Someone who took safety seriously.

She was a rare gem around here for all of those reasons.

“They don’t know anything about building a dock,” he felt compelled to point out.To his business partners.Who’d had a meeting and set this all upwithout even telling him.

Maddie rolled her eyes.“It’s not like you’re building a rocket ship,” she said.“It’s a dock.”

Not that Maddie had ever built a dock, either.Sawyer lifted a brow.

“Basically, they’ll be cutting boards and nailing them together, right?”Maddie asked.“So, you just tell them where to cut and what to nail.”

Sawyer shifted again.It was juvenile as hell to think dirty thoughts whenever someone said “nail” or “nailed.”He wasn’t fourteen.But Juliet and Brandon had been talking about the same stupid thing.There reallywerea lot of construction terms that could sound sexual.It was going to be a long two weeks.

Was he seriously considering going along with this plan?

Yes.Because, other than the thing about these guys going behind his back, it wasn’t abadplan.

“So, you set this up to protect Skip and Tanner?”Sawyer asked.“They’re big boys.And they’re getting paid.They can handle me being picky.”

Maddie snorted.“They shouldn’t have to.They build docks for a living, for fuck’s sake.”She sighed.“Listen, Sawyer, you’re going to insist on overseeing everything happening with the new dock anyway.Now, instead of worrying about and snapping at the tourists or worrying about and snapping atusall day, you’ve got two people who signed up for it and kind of deserve it and can’t quit.”

“Juliet deserves it?”Sawyer asked mildly, feeling a little tightness in his chest.Yes, he did worry and snap.He’d been doing it for nine months now.

Maddie lifted a shoulder.“Well, Chase does.And Juliet’s here voluntarily.This was her idea.If she’s as willing to help her brother out as she seems, then she’ll put up with you for a couple of weeks.”Maddie gave him a little smile.“I’ll handle your portion of the tours and all will be well.Consider it a little two-week vacation.”

Sawyer gave her a little frown.“I’m not supposed toworryabout you out on the bayou on an airboat?”

She’d taken over a tour for him last week and it had ended with her pointing a gun at a gator she thought was going to make a snack out of Owen.All had ended well, but one of the tourists on the boat had been pissed as hell and had caused a huge ruckus about it.They’d smoothed things over eventually, but Sawyer couldn’t shake the truth that it had all beenhisfault.Maddie had taken the tour over for him because he’d growled at a boat load of tourists earlier in the day.In fact, that was a relatively regular occurrence.People didn’t take safety out on the airboats seriously enough.Maddie had taken the tour over to give him a break.And, okay, to ensure their customer reviews didn’t totally tank because he was unable to lighten up and make the tours fun anymore.

But truthfully, he knew that Maddie getting on that airboat—in spite of the fact that waswayout of her comfort zone and hadn’t turned out that well—had been because she was worried about him.She didn’t care as much about the customer reviews as she did abouthiswell-being.The fact that his emotional baggage was putting the people he loved in uncomfortable, and somewhat dangerous, situations was not okay.

He needed to get his shit together.

“Hey, the only person I almost shot was Owen,” Maddie said, giving her boyfriend a huge smile.“And if that does end up happening, he’ll forgive me.”

Owen grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.“You’d nurse me back to health?”

“I’d make you alligator gumbo out of the fucking lizard that tried to take a bite of you,” she said, with a little frown.

“Okay,” Josh said, interrupting their…whatever it was.“Anyway, Maddie can take your tours and you can oversee the dock building,” he said to Sawyer.

Maddie smiled.“Yeah, you might worry about me a little, but I think you’re going to be pretty distracted for the next couple of weeks.”

He’d called it.They’d taken one look at Juliet, heard her plan to come rebuild the dock, and had instantly thought “vacation from Sawyer’s bitching.”

Hanging out with Juliet Dawson in her hard hat and safety goggles?Distracted was one word for it.Turned on.Mixed up.Amused.Those were all definite possibilities as well.

But turned on and amused could be good things.They were certainly things he hadn’t felt much of over the past several months.

“Okay.”

Maddie blinked up at him, but now it was with clear confusion rather than sleepiness.“What?”

“I said, okay.Let’s have Juliet and Chase rebuild the dock.”

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