Page 69 of Beauty and the Bayou

He didn’t say it lightly.It seemed very serious to him.She also now knew him well enough to know that being something he could fix was really important.

“And you let me fix it when that happens,” he added.

Right.That was really important to him.

She was a patient advocate, fighting to help others have fewer roadblocks and challenges when it came to getting the care they needed.She encouraged them toaskfor what they needed and to flat-out demand it when asking didn’t work.She saw a lot of people who needed a lot more help than she did and she was drawn to them because she knew how it felt to have people try to protect rather than help.Those were not always the same thing.

But she liked it when Sawyer took care of her.

Maybe it was because he did actuallyhelp.He French braided her hair when she couldn’t, keeping it back and out of her way.But he hadn’t told her she should put the power tools down.He got the bat out of her room—something she never would have been able to do on her own—and hung her mosquito netting back up.But he hadn’t told her that was ridiculous, and he hadn’t gotten frustrated that the netting had essentially ruined his plans for getting laid tonight.He’d kissed the hell out of her and then sprayed bug repellent around her bedroom.

That made her want to reach out for him and hug him.

Of course, she’d probably end up licking him again.

Not that that would beterrible.Because she would be very accurate aboutwhereher lips landed next time.

She liked him.She wanted him to be happy, to smile, to realize, the way her mom had, that worrying about the people he loved was different from being scared for them.

She was here for another week and a few days.As long asshestayed easy to take care of, maybe she could help Sawyer figure out how to let his family go out on those metaphorical bike rides they needed to go on.She could show him the difference between wrapping them up in bubble wrap and wrapping bandages around their bloody knees.

And she could, of course, get her mouth on more than his armpit.

Juliet laid back on the pillows behind her, totally relaxed, the epitome of comfort and ease, clearly not giving a single thought to mosquitoes or black widows or bats or—she suppressed a shudder before Sawyer could see it—and gave a contented sigh, then smiled.“I’m really glad you came over tonight,” she said.

Sawyer cleared his throat and though his eyes didn’t dip below the level of her chin, Juliet thought maybe he was suppressing something, too.Though hopefully not a shudder.

“Me, too.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You will.”

He said it with promise and hesitated in the doorway just long enough to make Juliet sure that he did not want to leave.And that the next time she saw him, it would be…fun.

The sun was shiningwhen Sawyer stepped out onto his front porch the next morning.The air was fresh and clean and he took a big breath.The coffee was already brewing when he stepped into the front office of Boys of the Bayou—God bless the inventor of the coffeepot with a timer—and no one else was in yet.He’d always loved being the first one into the office in the morning.He loved just standing in the middle of it all and absorbing the feel of “mine” that came over him.

All in all, it was the perfect start to the day.

But his mood had nothing to do with the sun, the coffee, or the relative solitude.It had everything to do with the woman he was going to see in about twenty minutes.The gorgeous, sweet woman who had a little bit of a dirty streak in her, even as she was hanging mosquito netting over her bed.He should have kept her in the kitchen.That fucking bat wouldn’t have been a problem then.But there was no way Cora’s table would have been sturdy enough for what he wanted to do to Juliet Dawson.

He moved to the window, cup in one hand, the other tucked in his back pocket.He hadn’t gotten laid last night.He’d had to go home and take care of things himself.But he was still in an amazingly good mood.

Juliet made him feel like wrapping her up in a big bear hug a lot of the time.At the same time, he wanted to bend her over the nearest sturdy surface.He hadn’t felt that mix of things for a woman in…ever.She was funny yet earnest.Smart, yet easily intrigued.Most of all, she was good for him.He could feel it.He would have been physically attracted to her no matter when he’d met her, but knowing hernow, knowing her story, too, made himwanther in a way he’d never experienced before.

“Madison Evangeline Allain!”

Just like that, his peaceful start was shattered.

He turned as Tori came stomping into the office.

Sawyer took another sip, but noted the way his future sister-in-law swung around, as if Maddie might be hiding from her.Tori wasn’t the bellowing, stomping type usually.In this family, the quieter ones were definitely noteworthy.

“Where is she?”Tori demanded.

Josh came through the door.“I told you she wouldn’t be down here yet.”

“She wasn’t at Owen’s,” Tori said.“Is she at Cora’s?”she asked, focusing on Sawyer.

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