Page 73 of Beauty and the Bayou

“Is she a threat?”Sawyer asked.

“Um…” Tori looked like she was trying to come up with a good answer.

“Tori,” he said firmly.

She sighed.“I mean, she’s awolf.It’s not impossible to think that pets or chickens or stuff like that could be at risk.But I’m keeping her fed and safe so she won’t feel threatened so she won’t act out in self-defense or hunger.I think if we can keep things stable until the pups are a little older thenwecan rehome her just fine.”

Sawyer went back to braiding, finally finishing it and tying it with the elastic band that Juliet handed to him over her shoulder wordlessly.

He let her hair go, but he didn’t step back.He liked being close to her.The lilac scent that surrounded her fit now.She was sweet and comforting and fresh and made him feel lighter.He liked how he felt when she was close.She also didn’t move away from him.He was still in arm’s reach if she needed to reach back and squeeze him.

Sawyer actually smiled thinking about that.He liked that she could read him.

“So you don’t want Bailey what’s-her-name down here poking around about Gus because she might find out about your other animal projects.”

Tori nodded.“I know you probably don’t approve of all of that.”

“Messing with endangered species that could get you into trouble with wildlife protection agencies…or that could take one of your fingers off.Or worse,” Sawyer said.“No.But I trust that you’re doing it for a good reason and that you’re being as careful as you can.”It struck him as he said it that this was probably a little like how Juliet’s mom must have felt.He’d have to figure out what to do to be ready to help Tori with this.

Tori looked at him with surprise but gratitude and obvious affection that punched him in the gut.“Thanks, Sawyer.”

“I’ll always have your back,” he told her.“All of your backs.”

“So you’ll be okay with whatever plan I come up with for Gus?”Tori asked.

Sawyer felt trepidation slide down his spine, but then he caught a whiff of lilacs and he heard himself say, “Yes.Whatever you think will work.”

“I’ll need to capture him,” Tori said, almost sadly.“I don’t want to do that.I don’t want to scare him and I don’t want to keep him in a cage, but hopefully it will just be temporary.”

“If Bailey can’t find him, she can’t confirm he doesn’t have rabies,” Maddie pointed out.

“But if she does find him, I don’t even know if she’ll bother to confirm it,” Tori said.“He’s a river otter.Not endangered.She might just want to get rid of any potential risk.”

“Oh.”Maddie looked downright horrified at that.“My God, I’m so sorry.”

Owen wrapped an arm around her and pulled her up against his side.“We’ll fix it,” he told her.“It might not be perfect, but we’ll figure it out.”

And that was the bottom line, Sawyer realized.It didn’thaveto be perfect to work and to fix it.

“How will you capture Gus?”Sawyer asked.

“I haven’t thought it all out,” Tori said.“But he trusts me, so I can get him to come up to me, I’m sure.”She looked sad.“I hate using the fact that he likes me to get him into a cage.”

“It’s to save him, Tor,” Josh told her, running a hand up and down her back, comforting her.

“He won’t understand that,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Josh insisted.“You’re doing it for the right reasons, that’s what matters.”

Sawyer felt his gut tighten again.He realized listening to them, and watching them, that Juliet had been right.None of them blamed him for how he reacted to the dangers that confronted them.Even the perceived ones that weren’t all that dangerous at all.They understood and they tolerated it.They even protected him in their own way.

Almost as if she could sense his emotions, Juliet reached back again, but instead of squeezing his thigh, she hooked her pinky finger around his.

Desire that was so much more than just physical swept through him, and it took everything in him to not wrap his arms around her and pull her in against his body.

“I’ll have to do it tonight,” Tori was saying as Sawyer tuned back in to something other than his fierce craving for the woman in front of him.

“After dark,” Tori went on.“I can’t risk someone seeing me.”She chewed on her bottom lip, clearly lost in thought.

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