Page 30 of Must Love Alligators

“Sext.”

“Oh, no, I said it right.”He gave her a grin.“I want a relationship.I want to get to know you better.I want to see you more.I like you and I want you to like me.And I definitely want to sext with you.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“I bet you catch on pretty quick.”

“I do like you,” she said softly.

“Then date me.”

Her heart flipped in her chest.“We live far apart.”

“There are phones and Skype and airplanes.”

“You would want to do that?Really?”

“Really.”

“Long-distance relationships are hard.”

“Yeah.But I think maybe not being with you would be harder.”

She shook her head in wonder.“I had no idea that you could be so romantic and sweet.”

“Me either.”

She pulled him close.“Hey, look at this.We’re already horizontal, on a soft surface, with pillows and everything.This might be a safe zone for kissing.And more.”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

The kiss was sweet and hot and deep.His fingers tangled in her hair, she arched against his big, hard body.Their legs tangled.He rolled her to her back, but she gave a little hiss as her sore spot rubbed on the bedspread.So he rolled again, presumably to get her on top.

The next thing she knew they were falling.

When they hit the floor next to the bed, Chase was on the bottom, at least.

And Bailey was happy to kiss his bruises better.

For the next two days,Bailey spent her time enfolded into the Landry family and their Christmas preparations.She cooked with Ellie and Cora.She decorated with Kennedy and Maddie and Leo.

On Christmas Eve morning, she sat at breakfast at Ellie’s with the other girls, basking in it all.

“So, uh, I need someone to…” Tori glanced at Bailey, then at Maddie and Kennedy.“…watch some things for me.I need to go check on a dog in Trent City.”

“Oh, I can’t.I have a meeting in New Orleans,” Kennedy said.She glanced at Bailey too.“Can you go see the dog later?”

“Of course not,” Tori said.

“I can’t do it either,” Maddie said.“I’ve got three tours to do.Two new ones for the Grandma Got Run Over by a Gator murder mystery swamp boat tour.”She grinned.

Chase had told her about the idea yesterday and Maddie had loved it.She’d somehow managed to throw it together and, thanks to their email list and Facebook page, had scheduled two tours for today.Which meant Bailey and Chasehadto go back out and decorate the cabin where the “grandma and gator accident” had occurred.

Not that they’d minded.

Naked Christmas decorating was going to now be a yearly tradition.

Bailey sipped her cocoa—made from scratch by Cora just like her grandma always had—and waited.The girls didn’t know that she knew exactly what they were talking about.

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