Page 32 of Must Love Alligators

And no one seemed a bit surprised when they came back to the house dripping wet from the bayou and with huge, stupid grins on their faces.

Epilogue

One year later…

Chase sawBailey before she saw him.

She was rolling a big suitcase along the tiled floor of Dulles airport and looking around.For him.His heart thumped.

It had been two months since they’d seen each other in person.They talked every day, mostly via Face Time, but it wasn’t the same.He couldn’t wait to hug her.Kiss her.Hug her.Smell her hair.He could be touchy and creepy-ish now.She washis.And she seemed to like his handsy side and didn’t mind at all that he liked to smell her.All over.

Besides the suitcase, she had a huge tote bag over her shoulder that had a toothy, smiling alligator emblazoned on the side.He’d gotten her the bag in D.C.He’d seen it in a store window and thought of her.He’d sent it along with a note that said, “How do you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?”The day she’d gotten the package in the mail she’d texted him, “One will see you later and one will see you in a while.”

He’d bought a plane ticket online two minutes later and surprised her the following weekend.

It had been a very fun year.

And now he was going to have her with him in person for ten consecutive days.They hadn’t been together for that long at one stretch since she’d taken her week-long vacation to D.C.in July.Her usual trips to see him were longer than his to Louisiana, but were still only a few days at a time.They’d managed to see each other once a month and it would have to be like that for at least another year, but eventually he’d be able to get a residency closer to her.

For now, they just had to make the most of the few days they had each visit.

He drank in the sight of her as she made her way toward him.She was in blue jeans, red Converse tennis shoes, and under her red cardigan she was wearing a T-shirt that had a huge red crawfish in the middle and said,Well, it ain’t gonna suck itself.The shirt was only partially tucked in.The sweater was falling off one shoulder.Her hair was coming out of the ponytail she wore.She was a little bit of a mess.She also seemed oblivious to everything around her—except finding him.

He was madly freaking in love with her.

They were heading to Minneapolis together tomorrow after dinner with his parents tonight.They were then spending two days with her family before heading down to Autre for Christmas Day and to spend the following week.

He was still trying to decide which place would be the ideal setting for his proposal.

Yes, he was proposing.It had been a year.A long, but wonderful year.The long distance and length of time between their visits had made it so they reallytalked.They’d told each other everything.They talked about their pasts.They shared details of their daily life now.They talked about their plans for the future, their goals and dreams.

She was now his future.His dream.And it was time to get a ring on her finger.

The woman who had just walked right past him without even seeing him.

Okay, it was a busy airport and about seven people had walked between them.And she’d been looking the other way.Still.

Chase shook his head and turned to follow her, his chest filled with the mix of amusement and affection that she automatically brought up in him.

She was used to spending her days out on the bayou, mostly alone with nature.She dealt with people—locals with nuisance alligator reports, visitors camping where they weren’t supposed to—and shouldn’t—hell,localscamping where they weren’t supposed to.She received calls about injured animals and people trying to capture or keep animals they weren’t supposed to.She definitely dealt with people.

But she preferred the animals.

Except maybe when it came to Chase.And the Landry family who had essentially adopted her now.Even they got to be a little much for her, though.Bailey definitely preferred the sounds of bullfrogs and birds and crickets to the sounds of traffic and people.So D.C.was always a little overstimulating for her and Dulles made her a little crazy.

She suddenly stopped and he nearly plowed into her.She let go of her suitcase, blew out a breath and looked around.

“Bailey,” he said, putting a hand on her upper arm.

Clearly acting on instinct, she threw her elbow back, catching him in the ribs as she whipped around and away from his hold.Her eyes were wide.

Used to this stuff by now, Chase lifted his hands in surrender, giving her a chance to register it was him.

“Oh my God!”She put a hand to her chest.“You scared me!You know better than that!”

“I should,” he agreed with a grin.Then he braced himself for what was next.

On cue, she launched herself at him, her arms going around his neck, her legs around his waist.His hands went to her ass and he held her against him, breathing her in, absorbing the feel of her.

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