Page 12 of Must Love Alligators

“Ihatealligators,” Maddie said.“I can’t even express to you how much I hate alligators.”

“They’re a very important part of the eco—”

“Yeah, yeah.”Maddie waved that away.“Big, stupid, ugly dinosaur leftovers.”

Bailey smiled.Actually, they were all of that.Except maybe stupid.You didn’t get to be eight million years old by not being at least adaptable.“So, since no one’s really around right now, maybe I’ll head up to Ellie’s for some lunch.”

Maddie’s eyes got wide and she straightened.“Oh, um, I was going to ask you about…turtles.”

Bailey lifted an eyebrow.This was entertaining.As it had been for about a half hour now.Clearly the Landrys were hiding something and Maddie was in charge of stalling Bailey so she wouldn’t find out what.Kennedy had been in charge of the first fifteen minutes of distracting Bailey, but when whatever was going on dragged on past the quarter hour mark, she’d headed out to check on “something” and Maddie had come in to take over.

Bailey had been down here a few months ago, looking into a report of a rabid river otter.It had been a random report from someone who’d been a tourist down here and had overheard Maddie tell someone that the river otter that lived under the dock was rabid.Bailey had volunteered to follow up on it, not because she was that concerned—it was uncommon for otters to be rabid and she knew the Landrys’ reputation and knew they’d never put any of their guests at risk—but because she’d hoped to bump into Chase Dawson.

Which had been completely stupid.The first time she’d spoken to the guy, he’d followed her on her way out to her car and she’d been completely prepared to gouge his eyes out with her car keys if that had become necessary.The second time she’d practically head-butted him when trying to kiss him.That had been mortifying.He’d also been…clumsy.Not just physically, stomping on her foot twice, but also verbally.He’d insinuated that she was a nerd.He’d clearly thought her work with alligators and interest in frogs was weird.He’d offered her money randomly out of the blue.She had no idea what to think of him.But she hadn’t been able to forget him.

So she’d come down to Autre to… she wasn’t sure.To see if he wasalwaysthat strange?To see if daylight made either of them less awkward?To show him that she might be nerdy but she was also serious about her job?She wasn’t sure.And it hadn’t mattered because he’d been gone.He’d left to go to medical school at Georgetown.

Yeah, she hadn’t been expecting that.

She’d then been unable to help but do some Googling.It turned out that Chase Dawson really was rich.Or his father was, anyway.He was from a very prominent Virginia family.Now she wanted to know all about what had brought him to Louisiana, even though it had been, obviously, short term.

It made no sense to her, but Bailey was fascinated by Chase and was hoping to see him again.

After their awkward encounter in the bar in August, she’d had every intention of forgetting about him.He was clearly a playboy, they obviously had nothing in common, and it wasn’t like she could claim that she couldn’t get over his kissing or something.They hadn’t even actually kissed.So why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?

But she couldn’t.

Maybe she was here to figure out what that was really about.That made some sense.She was a scientist.She liked figuring things out.Especially anomalies.And Chase Dawson was definitely an anomaly in her life.

That had to be it.That’s why she was here hoping to see him again.

Georgetown was out for Christmas break and since Juliet was now living here in Autre, Bailey had taken a chance that Chase would be here for at least part of his break.

She hadn’t realized that the Landrys considered her a bit of a threat.

She should have.The last time she’d been here looking into the rabid otter thing, she’d found out that Tori Kramer, Josh Landry’s girlfriend and a veterinarian, was rehabilitating a bald eagleanda gray wolf.Who had pups.Both were endangered animals and were not to be kept domestically.Of course.It was complicated because both were injured and Tori had actually been doing a fabulous job of caring for them and had insisted that she intended to re-release them when they were ready.

Bailey had given her the benefit of the doubt.But she’d also had to issue a warning.She couldn’t shirkallher responsibilities just because she’d actually shown up hoping to see Chase.

And now they all thought she was keeping tabs on them and showing up just to monitor things.

It was a good cover, if she didn’t want them to know about her stupid crush on Chase, but she didn’t love that they were wary of her.

It was obvious that they were now up to something—likely hiding some animal that they didn’t want Bailey to know they were taking care of—but Maddie was running out of excuses.

“What about turtles?”Bailey asked.

Maddie cleared her throat, her wheels clearly spinning.“Um, are there any endangered turtles in Louisiana?”

Baily fought a smile.“There are,” she said seriously.And it was serious.The turtles were actually endangered.But she didn’t think that Maddie was really dying to know all about them.“A few, actually.”

Maddie frowned.“Really?That’s too bad.”

Okay, maybe she could convert Maddie into a turtle ally.“Sea turtles are—”

“”I thought donating to thealligatorswas the way to your heart.You mean it was sea turtles all along?”

Bailey felt a shiver dance down her spine at the sound of the male voice behind her.

---