Page 39 of Beauty and the Bayou

Kind of.

He’d taken his crazy, steel-toed-boots-are-hot, can-I-play-with-your-hair self away from Juliet, at least.

Which had turned out fine.The dock building itself was going great.He’d swung by every day after hours and checked things over.Not because he’d been concerned about how things were going, but just because the stacks of wood were on his way home.

Okay, maybe he’d been a littlecuriousabout how things were going.

Juliet really did seem to have it all covered though.The boards were cut and treated.There weren’t as many boards ready to go as he would have expected after three days of all-day work, and they didn’t seem to be preparing to frame it up any time soon, but Juliet and Chase were amateurs.Sawyer, Owen, and Josh could have had it half done by now.Skip and Tanner definitely would have been framing it by now.But what was done, had been done well.

Bottom line, him hanging out around Juliet’s work site would have been a complete overreaction and he was done doing that.

It really was nice to walk away from it knowing that Juliet was being cautious, keeping an eye on Chase, and doing a good job even without Sawyer being on top of her.Things.On top ofthings.

Because being on top ofherwas a whole other thing.

It was also something he’d been thinking about more and more, even without having so much as a conversation with her over the past two days.

He seemed to be thinking about her almost constantly.

Talk about getting back to old Sawyer.

As he tossed the wrench into the toolbox, Sawyer thought about his “normal” state.In particular, how women had figured into that.

He loved women.He’d had his share of dates and overnight guests—maybe more than his share.He’d never been the playboy Josh and Owen had been before Tori and Maddie, but he enjoyed flirting with the tourists and entertaining the ones that decided to hang out in Autre for the weekend crawfish boil that happened at Ellie’s every Friday and Saturday.

But he hadn’t been to a crawfish boil, not to mention making nice with the out-of-towners there, in months.He just hadn’t been able to pull up a sense of fun or a desire to drink and dance.Both of which was required at Ellie’s crawfish boils.He hadn’t wanted to pull anyone else’s mood down, so he’d just stayed away.Of course, he’d been able to hear the zydeco music and laughter from his house just a couple of blocks over from Ellie’s.It had made him miss Tommy even more at first.Then, slowly, he’d started opening his windows on purpose to hear it.That sound was as much a part of his life as the sound of his mother’s voice or the crickets and frogs out on the bayou.It was home.It was part of him.

It was time to get back to it.

He still needed a part for the motor and he’d have to head over to Mountville in the morning to get it, but his stomach was growling and, honestly, he wanted to see what Juliet was up to.Maybe even flirt with her a little.Not enough to find out anything too personal, but just enough to get a blush and a smile.Harmless fun.

Just like old Sawyer would have.

When he stepped out of the workshop, however, there was no one around.It was nearing dusk, and they didn’t have any bayou tours booked tonight.He looked around.Huh.He’d been inside working longer than he’d thought.He never lost track of time like that.

The light in the front office was on though.

“Oh, of course, Mr.Baxter, I’ll get those right over to you.”

As he stepped through the door, Sawyer saw Kennedy nearly roll her eyes right out of their sockets as she listened to Bennett Baxter’s response.

“Would you like those color-coded?”Kennedy asked Bennett with feigned sweetness.Very feigned.“Or should I just put them in the same folders from last week.You know, the ones labeledYou’re A Grown Man and Can Do This Yourself for Fuck’s SakeandFishing, Frogs, and other F wordsandI’m Not Your Secretary But My Ass Does Look Amazing in a Pencil Skirt.”

Sawyer rolledhiseyes.Those were actually the file folder names she’d sent Bennett.Sawyer had seen them.

Bennett Baxter was the fourth partner in Boys of the Bayou.The verynewfourth partner.He’d just bought in a little over a week ago.Apparently, Kennedy had decided to be offended that she was attracted to a guy who wore a tie and had manners.According to Maddie, it irked Kennedy immensely that she had chemistry with a stuck-up suit.It amused everyone else.Sawyer tried very hard to ignore it.

Bennett was a good guy, and it was always kind of fun to see Kennedynothave the upper hand, but shewashis little sister.

“Be nice, Ken,” Sawyer told her.For all the good it would do.

“It’s amazing to me,” she said to Sawyer, though clearly Bennett could hear every word, “that a man with a law degree and a master’s degree in conservation and biodiversity, can’t figure out how to put things into an Excel spreadsheet.”

So, Kennedy had kept track of Bennett’s specific advanced degrees.Sawyer wasn’t sure Kennedy even knew thathehad a biology degree.

“You agreed to send him whatever reports he needs,” Sawyer reminded her.“He’s just trying to get caught up on things.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Kennedy told him.

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