Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
T he nice thing about airboats was that the huge fans that propelled them were really loud, and it was hard to talk over them.
So Savannah just got to sit in front of Theo with big noise-canceling headphones over her ears and her own thoughts swirling in her head.
She was now officially on her way to spend the night in a cabin on the bayou. Where it was very dark. And very quiet. Where she would be very alone. Where she would be unable to leave if she wanted to.
That was the part that she was most worried about.
She hated feeling stuck. She got anxious when she didn’t have the means to take herself someplace else if she got bored or restless or uncomfortable or needed something.
Trees lined the water on either side, whipping past as the airboat coasted over the top of the water, grasses, and the floating green leafy plants of the bayou.
She saw various types of birds, and as the waterway narrowed and the trees and banks came closer, she could see logs with turtles on them.
But none of it distracted her from her thoughts.
And she had an entire night ahead of her. Alone. With no way to leave. What if she got sick? What if she got hungry? What if she did run into an alligator? This could be dangerous!
She put a hand to her chest and made herself breathe. She wasn’t going to get sick. And she wasn’t going to get hungry. Theo wouldn’t leave her out here with no food, and no matter what she could survive until tomorrow, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t like she was going to have to stay out here for a week.
The alligators… well, that was probably the most likely threat, actually, but she really didn’t think Theo would take her somewhere that she had a greater than two percent chance of losing a limb or getting eaten. She’d done some homework. She knew they built the cabins on the bayou up several feet because of varying water levels and because of wildlife. Her chances of having an alligator get into the cabin with her were very slim.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t stuck out here, though, with no way to get back to civilization by herself. She was totally dependent on Theo.
She did not fucking like that.
Not just because it was Theo. She didn’t like being dependent on anyone .
But yes, that it was Theo Taggart and that she was stuck out here because of him was not making her any happier.
She crossed her arms and glared at the trees that kept closing in on either side.
Crap. She was all up in her head now.
She’d planned to take a bath, go to bed early with a really sexy book and her vibrator, and not spend her time thinking about being stranded. She’d had a plan to distract herself from that.
And from what happened if she didn’t pull this project off.
But now, because of these stupid loud boats, she was unable to do anything but think.
If she didn’t show Mr. McDonald that she was creative and could think outside the box, and was enthusiastic about taking this job and making it even bigger and better, he was not going to send her around the country to find new properties and oversee projects for him, and she was going to have to find another way to travel the country, try new places, and keep challenging her comfort zone.
She could possibly go work for a hotel chain and travel to various properties. But she didn’t want big cities. At least not all the time. She loved the bed and breakfasts because they tended to be in smaller towns that gave her a real taste of the area she was in. When she went to the mountains or ranch country or wine country, she wanted to experience what that place was really like. Like she did when she was in Autre.
But Autre already had a bed and breakfast. A really great one that was run by Savannah ’s best friend’s future mother-in-law. So Autre wasn’t a realistic spot for Steve McDonald to develop a new property.
Unless they did something different. Not a typical bed and breakfast. Something that captured something else special about the area.
Like the bayou.
Savannah looked around. She noted that the water was narrowing even further and that the cypress trees draped with Spanish moss were so close she could almost reach out and touch them. Theo had also slowed the boat to maneuver through the thicker grasses and weeds, and around the trees and logs.
And…fuck.
Theo was right.
She didn’t know what she was doing out here. But her heart rate sped up slightly at the realization. This was new. Different. Exciting.
When she’d come out on swamp boat tours, the Landry boys kept to the wide waterways where they could really open the boats up, giving the tourists on board the thrill of practically flying over the water. They could show their passengers a variety of trees and plants, birds, and animals. They’d head down some smaller branches and kill the engine, coax alligators close to the boats, and tell stories that were part educational, part history lesson, and part tall tales. But they didn’t get too deep in the trees, and tried to stay out of the thicker grasses because it was easy to get stuck out here.
That had happened once when Savannah had been on board with just family and friends. Owen Landry, one of the tour company owners, had taken them down some less traveled paths. And they’d ended up all having to get into the waist-deep water to push the damn boat out.
Her heart started pounding harder as the boat slowed even more, and they bumped against a log on one side, then hit a huge patch of lily pad-like plants, and Theo had to turn up the fan to push them through.
Savannah grabbed the seat and squeezed.
She was actually on her way to spend the night in a cabin that could only be accessed by boat. She had no idea how to even start one of these boats, not to mention actually maneuvering it through the bayou. She did know that airboats didn’t have brakes. And even if she did figure all of that out, she didn’t know what direction to point it to get back to town.
She was excited to be going somewhere new, but holy shit, she hated the idea of being someplace she couldn’t leave.
Her stomach knotted, and she worked on evening out her breathing. If she puked over the side of this boat, she’d never hear the end of it from Theo.
A minute later, Theo killed the engine, and the boat drifted for a few feet before it gently bumped against the legs of a tall, wooden dock.
Savannah let out a long breath and ripped her headphones off. She looked around. The trees were definitely close here, but she could see several yards downstream—was it called downstream on the bayou?—before there was a bend. There were trees all around, and when she looked up, there was a canopy of sorts, but she could see through it. When she looked over at the cabin, there was a clearing, and she knew she’d have an unobstructed view of the sky from the porch.
That made her feel less claustrophobic.
If she ignored the there’s no way you can leave this cabin without Theo and his boat. You’re totally stuck and at his mercy.
Because she knew she could call him and beg him to come get her.
And then lose this project, maybe even her job, along with her dignity and ability to ever set foot in Autre ever again.
She took a deep breath and studied the cabin. It was actually cute. The cabin was a wooden structure, and the brown of the sides and roof blended into the trees and brush, but it looked well-maintained. It had a stone chimney, which she assumed meant there was a fireplace inside. There were large windows on either side of the front door, five steps up onto the porch—could alligators climb steps?—and a railing around the porch. There were two rocking chairs to one side, and she smiled. A porch like that needed rocking chairs.
Now that she was focusing, she could hear insects, bird calls, the faint gurgle of the water, leaves rustling in the slight breeze, and…nothing else.
It was freaking quiet here.
Then she heard heavy footsteps on the bottom of the boat as Theo moved toward the side by the dock. He reached out and grabbed one of the posts, grasped the rope that was looped on the floor of the boat, and tied them to the dock.
Okay, the cabin was cute, but watching Theo’s shoulder, back, and arm muscles bunch, and his ass as he bent and worked tying up the boat was not cute. It was hot. And she hoped it would take him an hour to get the boat secured.
It didn’t. It took about another minute.
“Let’s go, New York.” With one booted foot still on the boat and the other on the first rung of the short ladder that led up to the dock, Theo held his hand out as he straddled the space.
She grabbed her suitcase and handed it to him.
He shook his head, but he took the bag and swung it up onto the dock. Then he extended his hand again. “You know those shoes are ridiculous, right?”
“These shoes are amazing,” she corrected.
“Maybe for traipsing around in New York, but not for Autre.”
In her opinion, they were not amazing for traipsing around in New York. Her feet would have been killing her after an hour on city sidewalks in these. But she just smiled at him. “It’s not like I’m going hiking here.” She looked around. “These will be just fine for porch sittin’.” She gave porch sittin’ a little southern drawl of her own.
The corner of his mouth twitched. But he just curled his fingers. “Come on.”
She knew touching him was a bad idea, but she didn’t really have a choice. He was very firmly in her way. And her damned shoes were not going to be great on the ladder that was basically six slats of wood that went straight up.
She put her hand in his, immediately registering three things—how hot his skin was, how big his hand was, and how rough his palm was against hers.
Okay, four things.
She also definitely registered the sharp shaft of need that arrowed through her belly to her pussy.
She wanted his hand there . There was no denying it.
Dammit.
He pulled her up, and she stepped to the side of the boat. He shifted, letting her move in front of him.
“Up you go.” He turned, still balancing with one foot on the boat, one on the ladder, and put his hands on her hips.
Savannah worked very hard to not gasp or moan. She grasped the ladder with both hands and put a foot up on the first rung.
Theo lifted her, his hands steady and strong and she climbed up, very aware the entire time that her butt and then the back of her thighs were right in his face. If he’d puckered his lips, he could have kissed her ass, literally, without even having to lean in.
The climb up six rungs seemed to take twenty minutes. She finally stepped up onto the dock and let out a long breath.
Theo climbed up behind her, and Savannah took a quick step forward to avoid him bumping into her and sending her over the other side.
“Right this way, madam,” he said, mockingly, starting up the dock that was only slightly less rickety than the one back where they’d gotten into the boat.
He walked right past her suitcase.
Savannah rolled her eyes and grabbed the huge hard-sided suitcase, but because everything inside took up only about one-sixth of the space, it all shifted with a soft thunk as she put the bag upright on its wheels to follow him.
It was a very good thing it wasn’t heavy because about five steps later, she had to pick it up and carry it. There was no way wheels were going to work over the uneven stones that lined a twenty-foot, barely-there path from the dock to the porch of the cabin.
Theo stood by the open door of the cabin, waiting for her.
She stepped past him with an eye roll, but once she was past the threshold, her attention was completely on the cabin.
It was adorable.
It was small, but it was cozy and clean. It smelled like fresh air and flowers. She couldn’t place the scent any more specifically than that, but hey, she was a City Girl. She wasn’t an expert on Louisiana flora. Or any flora, really. Though she did really like roses and lilies. Which she knew was very stereotypical and so she was not going to say that out loud to Theo Taggart. Ever.
There were windows on both the front and back of the cabin that let in lots of natural light. It wasn’t direct sunlight because of all the trees outside, but the room was bright and, dare she say, cheerful?
Part of the ambiance came from the long, overstuffed sofa and chair that sat perpendicular to one another facing the stone fireplace to her right. They were a bright coral color. The back of the sofa was draped in a multi-colored woven throw blanket, and there was an equally colorful braided rug on the floor under the coffee table that sat in front of the furniture. There were even throw pillows in a dusky blue and a bright yellow sitting in the corners of the sofa and on the chair.
The ceiling of the cabin arched above them about ten feet with exposed wooden beams. A fan circulated lazily in the center.
Behind the sitting area was a wooden table pushed up against the wall with three wooden chairs. Above the table hung a painting of the bayou. It looked to be a view from the front porch of this very cabin.
To her left was the kitchen area. It consisted of a refrigerator, a short countertop, a sink, and a stove, with a few cupboards hung over all of it.
Everything was in one big room, but the bedroom and the bathroom. She assumed those were down the hallway she could see through the doorway to the right of where the table sat. Theo had promised there was a claw foot bathtub.
She turned to face him. “This is actually really charming.”
He’d been watching her from the porch, barely leaning in the main doorway. He had a hand braced on either side of the doorjamb and was standing just on the other side as if not willing to actually come inside. “Good. Okay, then. There’s some food in the fridge. Gumbo for reheating. Stuff like that. Towels and such are in the bathroom. There’re no mints on the pillows or robes and slippers or anything.”
Savannah put a hand on her hip. “That’s fine. I don’t need a robe. I much prefer walking around naked.”
His jaw tightened just slightly, and she noticed only because she was watching for it. She hid her grin. But hell, she really might walk around naked. Who was going to see her through the windows here?
“Wouldn’t sleep naked here—or sunbathe for that matter— City Girl. You never know what might be lurking around wanting to take a bite.”
Yeah, okay so her jaw might have tightened a little too. Another, lower, part of her sure did. He’d remembered what she’d said the other night about sunbathing naked, though. Ha. “Thanks for the advice. Guess I’ll just walk around inside naked, then. Then I can see all the potential threats coming.”
His gaze tracked over her from head to toe. He met her eyes again and said, “Good idea. You always want to be prepared for things that can show up suddenly and mess with you.”
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. God, messing with him was so damned fun. She nodded, trying to look solemn. “So true.”
“So stay the fuck inside this cabin, New York,” he said. Then he turned and left, pulling the door shut behind him.
She listened to his boots stomp across the porch and down the steps.
But she didn’t have to hide her smile anymore with that door shut.
In fact, she laughed out loud.
Then she quickly fished her earbuds out and put them in, turning up her music and taking her bag into the back bedroom—which was also fucking charming with the brass headboard, and fluffy pillows, and bright, multicolored quilt.
If she didn’t see or hear him leave on the airboat that was her only way to get from this cabin to, well, anywhere else, then maybe she could stave off the panic and feelings of being stranded.
He’d told her to stay inside, and she fully intended to do just that. Not because of the wildlife and insects and God-knew-what-else threats outside—okay, not just because of those—but because she was going to pretend that she was in a cute bed and breakfast in Anywhere, USA with a main street teeming with quaint businesses and friendly people right outside her door. And that she had a car parked right next to the cabin. And that she was a thirty-minute drive from an airport.
And she was going to keep that delusional thinking going until tomorrow when Theo showed back up.
She frowned.
He hadn’t said what time he’d be back tomorrow.
But he would be back tomorrow.
She was sure of it.
She was pretty sure of it.
Okay, she was about fifty-percent sure of it.
He would mess with her by being late to show up or even not showing up until the next day. But she had her cell phone and…she grabbed it and then let out a breath when she saw that she had three bars. It wasn’t five, but three was much better than the zero she’d been expecting.
She could call someone. Becca and Beau would come get her. Kennedy would come get her. Lots of people would. She only had to make it through one night and Theo would have to admit that she’d held up her side of the bargain.
Savannah pressed a hand to her belly and took a deep breath.
It was going to be fine.
Absolutely totally fine .