Page 65 of Beauty and the Bayou

That pulled the waistband of his jeans down a little and she couldn’t help but note that sexy-as-fuck V that dove into the waistband on either side of his abs.

She wet her lips and pulled her eyes away from his lower abs.“You actually think me sleeping with mosquito netting is no big deal?”

“I really do,” he said.“It’s totally harmless, and if it makes you feel better and keeps you from getting a mosquito bite—West Nile infected mosquito or not—then great.”

“It wasn’t exactlyharmless,” she said.“I did catch abatwith it.”

He lifted a shoulder.A big, naked shoulder.“Made it easier to get him out of there.And no one, including the bat, got hurt.”

Juliet couldn’t name the emotion that went through her with that.Relief?Maybe.Gratitude?That was maybe more accurate.Sawyer’s simple acceptance of the whole thing made her feel…good.Her safety tendencies usually brought exasperation, teasing, or worry.

“And,” he added.“I kind of got to bandage this situation up at the end.So I’m good.”He gave her an almost shy smile.

The emotion that coursed through Juliet’s chest at that was something she hadn’t expected at all.She felt a bond with Sawyer that was hard to explain.He got her.He understood her, even supported her overreactive tendencies, but she also felt almost proud of him and pleased to have helpedhim, too.She’d done the safety thing by hanging the net and he understood why that was important to her, even if it had resulted in an unexpected consequence.A consequence he’d calmly and capably fixed—bandaged—for her.

Maybe that meant that Sawyer wouldn’t worry about her or treat her as if she was fragile like so many men had before.She and her mom had come to some understanding about everything, but men—Ryan and Rhett, her father, her boyfriends—had a hard time not being careful with her once they knew about her stroke and how accident-prone she could be.It was exhausting.To the point she didn’t date much.

But with Sawyer, he seemed to appreciate her What-Ifs and Yeah, Buts, and just rolled with it all.If Sawyer could accept everything like he had the mosquito netting, then they could maybe…

Juliet frowned.She was leaving in just over a week.She hardly needed to worry about how he would react to her situation long-term.

“And,” Sawyer said, leaning closer and breaking into her thoughts.“I’m thinking that net will also keep out the black widows.”

Juliet stared up at him, her mouth open.“I can’t believe you just said that,” she told him.“I need tosleeptonight.”

He chuckled.“I’m kiddin’.Cora sprays around the house with her homemade repellent.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“Nah, it’s true.It’s amazing stuff.”

“But it’s homemade?Shouldn’t she buy some extra toxic chemical stuff?”

Sawyer grinned.“She and Ellie don’t do that stuff.They don’t want to kill them, just keep them out of the house.”

Juliet shuddered.“I think we should kill them.All of them.With fire.”

“They eat mosquitoes,” he said with a wink.

She groaned.“Not fair.”She sighed.“But the repellent works?”

“It does.How did her muscle cream work for ya?”His gaze tracked over her shoulders and then dropped to her breasts but bounced back up to her face after only a second.

Her muscles all felt hot and melty at the moment.As did the rest of her.“Um, good.”She rotated her neck.She hadn’t realized until now that she wasn’t sore at all.“Actually, great.”

He nodded.“All the stuff they make works.Don’t worry about the widows.”

“Okay.If you say so.”

“You trust me?”he asked, his voice a little softer.

“Of course I do,” she said with confidence.She knew that Sawyer would feel terrible if she got bitten by a black widow.Well, bitten by anything, really.

“Come on.”He grabbed her hand, as if it was the most natural thing, and started tugging her back toward the porch.

She was barefoot, which was never a good idea for her, and as they changed terrain from the grass onto Cora’s front path, Juliet’s right ankle wobbled and turned.Her knee buckled and she grabbed for Sawyer’s arm.But before she even got her hand on his biceps, he’d slipped his arm around her waist, holding her up.

“Whoa.”

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