Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
T his was the worst idea he’d ever had.
And that included the time when he and Zander were ten and had found two mountain lion cubs, taken them home, and kept them in Theo’s closet for four weeks.
A couple of wild cats had nothing on Savannah Lee.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Zander Landry, Theo’s best friend, asked with a laugh as he lounged against his police car, sipping from a cardboard cup from Bad Habit, the coffee shop in the next town.
They’d already covered this. This morning. And at lunch. Theo had no idea what he’d been thinking. He’d gone to that city council meeting completely planning, and expecting, to shoot Savannah Lee’s idea down, have the council agree, walk out, and be home in time to watch some baseball before heading to bed.
He’d had every argument on his side. The council members were on his side. He’d seen it in their eyes.
But fuck…
He’d turned around.
That’s all he could figure out.
He’d made the mistake of turning around, and that had allowed him to look at her long blonde hair and those eyes that reminded him of the sky on a cloudless summer day. And, worst of all, she’d been wearing that damned skirt and those heels.
He didn’t deal with women in skirts and heels in his usual, everyday life, so he always noticed them when he came across them. They were like funnel clouds. And black bears. Dangerous. But important to take note of.
The women he ran into on the bayou when he was working were there fishing, hunting, and camping. The women he worked with certainly didn’t wear skirts or heels. They needed boots and pants that covered their legs fully and didn’t rip easily to withstand tromping through high grass and weeds, climbing over rocks and logs, and during encounters with wildlife.
His mother didn’t wear skirts or heels.
Most of the women in Autre that he saw regularly—the women at Ellie’s bar, the ones who worked at the animal park, the ones who worked at the swamp boat tour company—didn’t wear skirts and heels. If they put on a dress once in a while, it sure as hell wasn’t a fitted pencil skirt with three-inch heels that would have been perfect for a corporate board room in a high rise in New York City, that was for damned sure.
None of the women on the city council had been wearing skirts or heels.
So, his only explanation was that Savannah’s skirt and heels had distracted him.
Or, more specifically, Savannah Lee’s trim hips and tight ass inside that black skirt, which hit above her knees and showed off her long smooth legs, and her dainty feet with the toenails painted bright look-at-me pink and wrapped in the straps of those black heels, had distracted him.
For a lot of guys, that all would have been a flashing neon sign that said City Girl, stay away! But for Theo, it was like a lit-up candy store sign that read: All your favorite things inside!
Thankfully, he’d been able to remember that finding Savannah’s skirt and heels on his bedroom floor the next morning was a horrible idea.
It helped that she’d spoken again.
Would a sleepover with her be fun? Oh yeah. For many sleepless hours.
And then it would be terrible.
Because Savannah Lee was everything he’d tried before, and that had blown up in his face.
And then some.
Savannah made Kelsey look like a sweet small-town girl who could identify four types of Louisiana native birds just by their calls.
Incidentally, Kelsey could not do that. And she’d laugh her city-girl ass off if he even suggested such a thing.
But Savannah Lee was… so much more his type than Kelsey had been.
Kelsey had been sweet and had liked him.
Savannah wasn’t and didn’t.
Kelsey had thought that maybe she could settle down in a small town. She’d thought she’d get used to everyone knowing everything about her and that there were no businesses in Autre open twenty-four hours a day.
She’d been wrong, but she’d at least thought it for a little while.
He was certain Savannah thought Autre was quaint and maybe charming for short periods of time. He knew Savannah found the quirkiness of small-town living entertaining, and the bayou interesting the same way she found going to stage plays entertaining and walking through a museum interesting.
Fine, even enjoyable for a few hours, but definitely not an all-day-every-day-of-her-life choice.
All of that made her an even bigger challenge and so much more fun to poke.
So, if he did get close enough to her to…um…poke her, he’d have to be sure he was ready for her to poke back.
And he would not make the mistake he’d made with Kelsey.
He would not try to keep Savannah Lee.
“You’re putting her in the cabin right next to yours? Overnight? Tell me you cut a hole in the window screens, or you planted a recording of spooky swamp noises somewhere that will play at midnight, or you left a book about the Rougarou right on her pillow,” Zander said.
“I…uh…” And that was when Theo realized he was fucked.
Because he hadn’t done any of those things.
He’d cleaned the cabin, put fresh towels in the bathroom, and bought French roast coffee pods for the single-serve coffee pot along with sugar-free hazelnut creamer.
And he’d fucking done that because he knew how she liked her coffee. Because he’d been paying attention.
He sighed. Dammit. He was pampering the city girl that he needed to not poke. But he also needed to not pamper her. He didn’t want her to like it here. He needed to run her off quickly before he started liking her too much.
But he couldn’t bring himself to be an outright ass to her.
He was in trouble.
“Do you need to be here?” Theo asked as he leaned back against his truck, facing Zander. He was trying for nonchalance.
He wasn’t sure he was pulling it off.
Zander knew him well. Too well sometimes. Zander had a twin brother and a number of cousins he was very close to, but for some reason, Zander had decided a long time ago that he needed another friend, and that Theo would be that friend.
The first day of kindergarten, Zander had asked Theo if he wanted to play tag at recess, then asked if he wanted to go swimming after school and then if Theo could stay for cookies at his grandma’s place.
Theo had, of course, said yes. Who turned down swimming and cookies? Even if the swimming was in the bayou and they’d eaten the cookies on stools at a bar.
He hadn’t realized at the time that Zander’s “grandma’s place” was her bar and restaurant across the street from her house. But he’d now, at age 28, eaten more cookies—and other things—at Ellie’s than he had at his own grandmother’s place.
After swimming and cookies, Theo had helped Zander and his older brother Fletcher, beat Zander’s twin Zeke, his cousins Mitch and Owen in a game of football.
They’d been friends ever since.
The entire Landry family had welcomed Theo into their midst. He’d quickly learned that the Landrys did that with nearly everyone they met, but after his brother had died in the explosion at the community center when they were all teens, the Landrys had rallied around him and his parents like family. Real, always-be-there-no-matter-what family.
So he didn’t actually want to get rid of Zander.
At least not permanently.
Just for right now. As in right now . Before Savannah showed up.
Theo studied his friend.
Or maybe, he wanted Zander’s advice.
Zander had met, fallen in love with, and married a city girl from money. Caroline was awesome. She was particularly awesome for Zander. But she was definitely not a small-town girl.
“I think I do actually need to be here,” Zander said.
Theo worked to give him what he hoped was a bored look. “Yeah, why’s that?”
“Because you made the cabin nice for her, didn’t you?”
Theo didn’t make eye contact. “Did Kennedy tell you that?” Kennedy was not just the mayor and the one who had to approve the cabin for Savannah, she was also Zander’s cousin.
“She only confirmed it,” Zander said with a smirk. “I knew you’d make the cabin nice. You even repaired a hole in the screen on the bedroom window, didn’t you?”
Theo scowled at his friend. “I had to. My bet is that she can’t last a night out there straight up. I can’t drive her out. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Come on, you and I both know Savannah isn’t cut out for the bayou. I don’t need to do anything to make it more miserable for her. She’s gonna hate it just as it is.”
Which was seventy-five percent of the problem with Theo wanting her in the first place. The other twenty-five percent was that he would hate New York City just as it is.
“I do know that,” Zander agreed. “And I’m glad to hear you say it. Though I’m not sure it’s gonna matter once you get her out there.”
“What’s that mean?” Theo asked, his annoyance growing.
“It means you are a sucker for blue eyes, and a nice ass in a prissy skirt, and a damsel in distress. Even if you put that damsel in distress,” Zander told him. “And I’m guessing Savannah is going to be in distress tonight in that cabin. This is a really bad idea, bro.”
Theo scowled at him. Because Zander was right. “Fuck off.”
“I’m just here to remind you that you’re always gonna be a bayou boy, and I think there is only one way tonight goes well.”
Theo opened his mouth, but Zander kept going.
“ If you actually give her a taste of the bayou like you said you would. Don’t be nice. Don’t pamper her. Don’t be her hero. Make her actually experience it.”
Again, Theo started to respond, but Zander shook his head. “But you’re not gonna do that.” He sipped from his coffee cup. “Unless you wanna take her out there, drop her off, then come back to town and crash on my couch. Otherwise, I’m not believing for one second that you’re gonna leave her alone.”
Sometimes Theo really loved having a lifelong friend. Someone who’d been there for him through everything and knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. His history with Zander was twenty-three years long. Sometimes he thought that was really damned nice.
This was not one of those times.
“You’re one to talk about pampering,” Theo scoffed. “Caroline is a princess with a capital P, and you enable every bit of it.”
Zander nodded. “You are absolutely right. But fuck man, the higher the thread count, the better I sleep. And there is a difference between cheap champagne and the good stuff.” He held up his hands as Theo smirked at him. “Make fun if you want. I know how it sounds, but I’m worth it.”
Theo outright laughed at that. “Jesus. What have you done with my best friend? I used to really love hanging out with this guy who was down-to-earth, who could swig homemade moonshine, and who thought caviar was a town in Europe.”
Zander laughed. “I can still swig homemade moonshine, and I kick your ass at beer pong every time, so don’t be thinkin’ I’ve changed all that much. I just don’t mind putting on a tie for my girl once in a while, and I don’t break out in hives when presented with more than one fork at a meal.”
More than one fork for a single meal was stupid, but Theo just rolled his eyes rather than say that out loud. Again.
His lack of enthusiasm for things like ties and champagne hadn’t been his problem with Kelsey. It had seemed like it on the surface. It was what they argued about the most. But really, it had simply been that they’d both just been going through the motions. He put on a tie, she put on hip waders. He’d gone to touring Broadway shows, she’d gone fishing. He’d drunk champagne, she’d drunk moonshine. But neither of them had enjoyed the “other side”, or truly understood the appeal. It had been window-dressing on a relationship that was really just great sex.
Thank God they’d figured that out before they’d done something stupid like getting married. Or getting pregnant.
He blew out a breath. That pregnancy scare had been Kelsey’s final straw. She’d seen a future with him flash before her eyes, and she’d realized that was definitely not what she wanted. So she’d gotten out before she’d gotten deeper.
He knew it was a good thing that she’d realized what she didn’t want, but he still felt a pang of loss when he thought back and realized that moment had been when he’d realized he did want a family of his own and roots here on this bayou with a woman who wanted the same. Someday.
“Yeah, yeah, Savannah is not my type. I get it,” Theo said.
“Oh no, she is your type. That’s what I’m worried about,” Zander said. “Why can’t you fall for a small-town girl that already likes to fish, can make gumbo in her sleep, and cusses like…a Landry?”
Theo grinned. “Why would I ever have another woman make my gumbo when I have your grandma?”
Ellie Landry made the best gumbo in Louisiana. Probably in the south. He wasn’t kidding about not looking for a replacement.
Theo knew Zander was giving him a hard time. But Zander knew exactly why Theo didn’t fall for those girls.
Theo had grown up here and knew those girls very well. Loved them, trusted them, respected them, understood them, and had a ton in common with them. Which meant, those girls made fantastic friends. They were easy and fun to be around, and he loved to hang out with them.
Just hang out with them.
The girls that got his blood pumping were the ones that started out buttoned up, prim and proper, all tucked in and twisted up. Even though he knew it wouldn’t last, he loved the thought of teaching them a few new things, getting them a little dirty, and making them a little wild.
Those fun, laid-back bayou girls were great, but he wanted the don’t-you-dare-wrinkle-my-white-silk-button-down-blouse types. For whatever reason. Some reason he probably needed to delve into in therapy. Or something he should ramble about while getting rip-roaring drunk on an airboat with his buddies.
Or something he should not overthink and worry about, and just enjoy.
That last one was what had been working so far.
Which was why he’d accepted the fact that he was going to have to fuck around with those prim and proper city girls…and then let them go. Catch and release.
Because he wasn’t leaving the bayou, and he wasn’t getting anyone stuck here who didn’t want to be.
As if on cue, Savannah Lee pulled onto the packed dirt area by the dock just then in her white Audi S5 convertible.
Theo felt his gut tighten, but he worked on not reacting, lest Zander think he was right about everything.
When she stepped out, she wasn’t in a white silk button-down blouse.
Nope. It was much, much worse.
She was wearing a white silk tank top.
And red shorts. That were very short.
And white wedge heels.
“Jesus Christ,” Theo muttered.
Zander just laughed.
What the hell did she think she was dressed for? A cruise on a yacht? Brunch and shopping with the girls? It was October, for shit’s sake. Of course, it was Louisiana, so October was still warm. Far warmer than her native New York. So yeah, this probably felt like shorts-and-sandal weather to this gorgeous, long-legged, blond bombshell Yankee.
But still, that outfit wasn’t practical for… anything in Autre. And definitely not for a boat ride down the bayou to a remote cabin where she was going to be spending the night by herself .
Fuck. Zander was right about everything.