Page 71 of Beauty and the Bayou

She wasn’t trying to haul him out of here, wasn’t trying to keep him from this like his family might prefer.But she was offering a nice bandage for after.Something that would make him feel good later.Because getting his hands on her would, absolutely, no matter what, make him feel better, no matter what this news was.

That was something huge Juliet had showed him—there could be good even after the bad.In spite of the scraped knees, strokes, splinters, and sharks… there could still be things to be happy about.

“I sure can.”He reached for her, moving her in front of him and gathering her long silky hair in both hands, combing his fingers through it.“I’ll do it while Tori talks.”

Having her here, her hair trailing between his fingers, imagining how it would feel spread over his chest—and look spread over his pillow—would certainly not make whatever this “situation” was with Tori and Maddieworse.

He tugged gently on her hair, wondering if it reminded her of the way he’d done the night before when she’d been kneeling on the bed in front of him, her mouth hovering over his fly and then her lips against his lower abs.

He didn’t hear a moan, which could be because she was in front of an audience, but he did notice her cross her arms.He grinned.She’d done that last night, too.But not before he saw her nipples responding.He could only assume—hope—that’s what was going on now.Hisbody was definitely responding to this.

It took him a few moments to look up from the brown, red, and gold strands running through his fingers.When he did, he realized that his family members were all staring at him and Juliet.

Sawyer grinned.And kept combing her hair.Did it look like she was standing in front of him, protecting him?Maybe she was a little.But little did they know she was probably instinctively standing there to remind him to listen and let them tell him about their bloody knees without worrying about his reaction.

Or maybe she just wanted to be close to him after last night, the way he wanted to be close to her.That was fine with him.He didn’t know if she felt comfortable here in this conversation exactly, but he liked that she’d come in.

“So why is Baxter calling Kennedy at the crack of dawn?”he asked.

He started braiding Juliet’s hair, slowly, letting his knuckles brush over her neck and shoulders.He noticed the goose bumps and made himself focus on Tori’s answer instead of how much he wanted to taste Juliet’s skin.

“Um…”

Sawyer looked up and saw Josh nudge Tori.She jumped.

“Oh.Um…” Then she frowned as she remembered what they were talking about.She looked at Maddie.“You told someone that Gus hasrabies?”

“What?”Maddie looked away from Sawyer and Juliet.

“Bailey Wilcox is with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,” Tori said.“She called to check on a report that we have a river otter interacting with guests and that he might be rabid.”

Sawyer’s fingers paused in Juliet’s hair.Tori looked on the verge of tears.Josh moved in and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“I told her you were just kidding,” Josh said to Maddie.

“It doesn’t matter!”Tori said.“She’s coming to check.”

“You said that?”Sawyer asked Maddie.“Why?”

Was it his imagination or did Juliet move back slightly, closer to him?

He took a breath.He wanted them to talk to him.He couldn’t overreact here.

Maddie looked dismayed.“It was a couple of days ago.Gus was showing off by the dock.Josh was telling some of the kids about him and this woman was hanging out and got in really close to him.To Josh,” she clarified, looking around.“She’d been checking him out from the second she got there.She said she was thinking about skipping her tour with Owen to stay and learn more about otters from Josh.”Maddie rolled her eyes.

Tori groaned.“You told her Gus was rabid to keep her away from Josh?”

Maddie shrugged.“Yeah.She sure didn’t look like a wildlife expert.”

“Isn’t rabies really uncommon in otters?”Juliet asked.

Everyone looked over in surprise.Sawyer chuckled.

“You looked up mosquitos and ottersg but not black widows?”

She shuddered.“I lookedeverythingup after you mentioned the black widows.”

“Yes, rabies isreallyuncommon in river otters,” Tori broke in.She scowled at Maddie.“It’s ridiculous.”

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