Page 93 of Beauty and the Bayou

The next moment, he shouted her name and came as well, hot white ribbons hitting her breasts and stomach.

He milked it until he was spent, then lay staring at her, his breathing ragged.

After a long moment, he gave a deep groan and reached for her, pulling her against his chest and rolling them, until they lay facing one another.Then he kissed her, hot and deep.

She’d never done anything like that and it felt like the most intimate moment she’d ever had.

And hot.He wasn’t the only one who was going to be getting off to that memory.

When he pulled back, he held her face and stared at her.“Holy shit, woman.”

She grinned.“Sorry.I know that wasn’t the plan.”

“Don’t you ever fucking apologize for blowing my mind.”He grinned.“Of course, we do have a lot of things to still get to.Guess we’re stayin’ up late tonight.”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip.“Yeah, we’ve only a few more days to get to everything.”

Why had she said that?Did she want an invitation to spend the rest of her time in Autre here with him?Well, yeah, she did.But was she reminding him about her inevitable departure…or herself?

His grin disappeared and he swallowed hard.“Yeah.”He stroked a hand up and down over her hip.“My list of dirty stuff is long.”He paused.“You might just need to stay a little longer.”

Stay a little longer.

She hadn’t realized until that moment thatthatwas the invitation she’d been hoping for.

“Yeah, maybe I will.”

As she snuggled in next to him, she couldn’t help one final thought—What if she stayed forever?

9

Iced tea wasn’t cuttingit.She needed more caffeine this morning.Desperately.

So desperately that she was walking across the grass toward the Boys of the Bayou office in only flip-flops rather than her work boots.Honestly, if she encountered a snake this morning, she wasn’t sure she’d care.

Well, she’d care, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to work up even enough adrenaline to shriek.

She’d spent the past week with Sawyer finishing the dock, hanging out with his family, dancing to zydeco music, learning to eat crawfish—no, she didnotsuck the heads—

and making love all night long.Simply put, they hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep.In the hottest, most delicious ways possible.

Then last night had been Chase’s final night in Autre.They’d thrown him a huge party, complete with a live band and even more crawfish and beer.Along with moonshine.Lots of moonshine.Or—as Juliet had decided to refer to it—the vile potion of the Landry descendants.The party had gone on until nearly two a.m.Then everyone had gathered by Chase’s rental car five hours later to send him off with hugs, advice, and invitations for him to come back anytime.

Juliet headed into the main office.It was either going to be coffee or soda, whichever she could get her hands on first, but she wasn’t going to be able to handle the noise and crowd at Ellie’s this morning.

Technically, it was nearing noon.Boys of the Bayou had shut down for the morning, clearly knowing how these parties went, and everyone had slept in.She still felt like she had cement in her head, and while the lunch crowd was smaller and quieter since a lot of people were working, Juliet didn’t think she could handle anything spicier than toast for another few hours.

Sawyer had warned her about the potency of the moonshine she’d drunk last night.

Kennedy had, too.

Maddie had, too.

She hadn’t listened.

She let herself in, instantly smelling the coffee, and sighed.Coffee it was.She honestly didn’t care how she got the needed caffeine at this point and hey, the crazy Cajuns had been right about almost everything else so far.She should give their coffee a try.She glanced over to where Kennedy was slumped at the front counter.She lifted a hand, but Juliet wasn’t sure if it was a wave or a don’t-talk-to-me gesture.

Juliet headed for the coffeepot, filled a cup, and took a sip.She grimaced.That was nasty.But she was desperate.She doctored it with cream and sugar and tried again.Better.Doable.

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