Page 34 of Beauty and the Bayou

“Why did she stop at thirteen?”

“She read a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and decided to become a feminist outspoken against the superficial and unfair standards we put on women and their bodies.”

Juliet stared at him, taking all of that in.“That’s…”

He nodded.“I know.”He looked over her pile of boards.“You ready to take a break, too?”he asked.

Juliet shrugged.“I’m okay.”

“You need to stay hydrated and take time to cool off once in a while.”

Yeah, cooling off was probably a good idea, but it had nothing to do with the Louisiana sun.If Sawyer would just move his big, hot body away from her, she’d be fine.

“I’m good for right now.”She gestured toward the water jug she had sitting on the dirt a few feet away.She squinted up at the sky.“I was thinking about putting a tent thing up though.What do you think?”

“A tent thing?”

“You know, one of those portable canopy things that people take to ball games and picnics for shade?”

He also looked up at the sky, then ran his gaze over her from head to toe.“You’re pretty well covered.”

She looked down.She wasverywell covered.“No fear of flying debris, bug bites, or sunburn,” she said with a nod.

“Guess that’s true.”

“But the shade?”she asked.“For some relief from the heat?”

He shrugged.“I guess when we need relief from the heat, we go, you know, into the actual shade.”He looked amused.“Among other things.”

“Other things?”

It wasn’t so much that she needed to know other ways to keep cool.But she really liked the way he looked when he was mildly amused.It was a very good look on him.

“Lots of water and sweet tea,” he said.

She gave an involuntary shudder.

His amused smile grew.“No to sweet tea?”

“Not my favorite,” she admitted.“But don’t tell Ellie,” she added quickly.

He chuckled at that.“I would never.”

Yeah, the chuckling was nice, too.“I’ve got the water covered though,” she said.

“Good.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, when we get hot therearea couple of other things we do,” he said.

Had he moved closer?

Juliet swallowed.“Like what?”

“We take clothes off,” he said.

Yeah, his voice was definitely deeper now.

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