Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
By the time Gisele caught her breath and rolled to her feet, the man was gone.
She staggered several steps and then ran into her shop. Once through the door, she slapped the light switch on the wall and stood for a moment, staring at the mess.
Candles and jars of lotions and tinctures littered the floor. The display shelf that had housed them had been toppled and lay in a splintered heap.
“Johnny?” Gisele held her breath.
Cheeky bastard.
Gisele released the breath she’d held in a rush of relief. She picked her way through the broken glass and slippery lotions to the giant cage lying on its side and the bright blue Macaw pacing back and forth inside.
You break it, you buy it, asshole, the bird repeated .
“Oh, Johnny.” Gisele knelt beside the heavy cage, alarmed at the feathers splayed across the floor. “Are you all right?”
Get me a beer, woman , he demanded.
Gisele chuckled and shook her head. “No beer for you, big guy.” She stood and tried to lift the cage off the ground, only managing to scoot it several inches.
Johnny flapped excitedly.
“I’m going to need some help.” Gisele pulled her cell phone from her purse and called 911, her gaze on the back door she’d left open when she’d hurried in to rescue her parrot. She grabbed the broom she’d left leaning against the wall earlier and held it poised to strike if the man returned.
The dispatcher answered on the first ring. “Gisele? Is that you?”
Gisele recognized Minnie Hayes’s voice immediately. Her south Louisiana drawl was warm and comforting after her nightmare encounter with an intruder.
“Minnie, someone just broke into my shop,” she blurted.
“Oh, honey, is he still inside?” Minnie asked. “Are you somewhere safe?”
“I’m in the shop now. He’s gone, but I need to report the break-in.” Gisele stared down at the heavy cage and the macaw pacing inside. “And could you send someone over to help me? Someone strong? ”
“A unit’s already on its way,” Minnie said. “Are you okay? Do I need to send an ambulance?”
“I’m fine, but the burglar knocked over Johnny’s cage, and it’s too heavy for me to lift.”
“Poor Johnny,” Minnie exclaimed. “Is he okay?”
Cheeky bastard , Johnny said.
Gisele’s lips twisted. “As far as I can tell, he seems all right. I think he scared the burglar.”
“Good for him,” Minnie said. “Finally, his dislike of men came in handy.”
“Right?” Gisele stared at the disgruntled bird, feeling sorry for the guy. His last owner had been a man who’d owned an antique store. Johnny had been orphaned when the man had a massive heart attack and died one morning before he’d unlocked the store for business. No one knew he’d died until three days later when a dealer came to deliver furniture the man had purchased.
Poor Johnny hadn’t eaten since his owner had fed him the morning he’d died. Sheriff’s deputies called the local veterinarian, Dr. Saulnier, to collect the bird to rehome him.
No one had wanted Johnny. His foul language and propensity to bite men had the veterinarian contemplating euthanasia for the feathered fowl.
Thankfully, Gisele had come to the vet’s office to deliver a tincture she’d concocted for Linda, the receptionist, to help her have the confidence she needed to ask for a raise .
Johnny’s cage was front and center with a sign posted next to it that read, Adopt Me .
As Gisele delivered her potion, the receptionist told her about Johnny’s plight and the fact he’d be euthanized if he couldn’t be rehomed.
When Gisele approached Johnny, he cursed but didn’t bite.
She told the receptionist she’d take him if they could deliver him with the cage to her shop. She ran a few more errands that day. By the time she got back to her shop, a van was waiting to unload Johnny and his cage. He’d found a home, and Linda had gotten her raise.
Gisele had no problem adjusting to sharing her shop with the bird, but the customers proved more of a challenge. Tourists loved him, churchy women hated his potty mouth, and people became believers in the sign she’d posted that read, I bite .
So, he’d chased away a few customers.
Gisele couldn’t have lived with herself if she’d walked away and learned he hadn’t found a home and had to be put down.
Cheeky bastard, Johnny said.
“That’s right. But he’s a keeper,” she said.
He’s a keeper, Johnny echoed.
Gisele’s eyes widened. She’d tried to introduce less colorful words for him to mimic. This was the first time he’d repeated anything she’d said. Up to that point, his vocabulary had been what he’d learned from his previous owner—all colorful and offensive to most people.
“He’s a keeper,” she said, hoping he’d repeat the words.
Johnny walked away. Cheeky bastard .
The sound of a siren made Gisele hurry to the front entrance. A sheriff’s vehicle pulled up in front of her store, lights flashing.
The sheriff himself, Jimmy Bergeron, stepped out of the SUV and lifted his chin toward Gisele. “Ms. Gautier, I hear you ran into a little trouble.”
“Yes, sir. Someone broke into the shop and made a mess.”
As the sheriff started toward her, headlights flashed. Four vehicles raced along Main Street straight for the Mamba Wamba Gift Shop. The lead SUV had a rotating red light attached to the roof.
“What the hell?” The sheriff frowned, pushed his hat to the back of his head and stood fast while each vehicle came to a skidding stop around the sheriff and his ride.
The older man shook his head as the occupants leaped out. “I should write speeding tickets for every one of you.” He lifted his chin toward Shelby Taylor. “Especially you, Deputy Taylor.”
“I used my light,” she protested. “Besides, when I heard my friend, a pillar of the community, was in trouble, I had to get here.” She hurried forward and took Gisele’s hands. “Are you okay? ”
Gisele nodded, her gaze going to the man standing beside Remy, Shelby’s fiancé.
Rafael.
Her pulse sped up for no reason. So, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. He was still a womanizer, breaking young girls’ hearts. What was he doing there?
“Gisele?” Shelby’s face moved in front of hers, blocking her view of the man whore.
Gisele forced a hint of a smile. “I’m fine. But the shop’s a disaster, and I need help with Johnny.”
“What’s wrong with Johnny?” Shelby looked over Gisele’s shoulder. “Did the perp hurt him?”
“Not that I can tell.” Gisele stepped to the side, allowing Shelby to enter the shop. “He tipped the cage over, and I can’t lift it on my own.”
Shelby paused halfway through the door, turned and met Remy’s gaze. “You hear that? A damsel in distress needs muscle power.”
“On it,” Remy said.
Gerard, the big guy on his left, cracked his knuckles. “Just show us where.”
Before either man could move, Rafael was at the door, his big form sucking the air out of Gisele’s lungs.
“The cage?” he asked, his voice deep and rich enough to make Gisele’s mouth water.
Unable to form words, she nodded and moved into the shop, hoping to put a little distance between her and the air-stealer.
As soon as he set foot in the shop, the space seemed to shrink tenfold, giving her no relief in breathable air.
When his teammates filed in behind him, Gisele stood with her back against a rack of voodoo dolls, trying not to get in the way.
As big as the men were, they gently lifted Johnny’s cage and stood it upright. They’d just got it straight and in the spot it belonged when Remy jerked his hand back and cursed. He held up his bleeding thumb. “He bit me.”
Cheeky bastard , Johnny said and flew up to his favorite perch.
The guys laughed.
“Might need this.” Rafael scooped the I bite sign from the floor and handed it to Gisele.
She took it and grimaced. “Sorry, Remy. I have a first-aid kit beneath the counter.” She started to step around Rafael to get it.
“No, don’t bother,” Remy said. “I’ll take care of it at the house.”
Shelby grinned. “I’ll fix his boo-boo unless you’d rather I stay and help clean up.”
“That’s not necessary,” Gisele said. “I can do it in the morning. I just needed help with Johnny’s cage.”
Shelby turned to the sheriff. “Do you want me to take her statement before I go? ”
Sheriff Bergeron shook his head. “I’ll take it. I have Jones on his way over to dust for prints.”
Gisele shook her head. “The burglar was wearing gloves when he pushed me. I doubt he took them off while he was chucking things and nearly killing Johnny.”
“If you’re certain he was wearing gloves, I’ll cancel Jones,” the sheriff said.
Gisele touched a hand to her chest where her attacker had planted both hands and shoved her hard. “I’m certain.”
Standing beside the sheriff, Rafael frowned. “Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”
Gisele rubbed her backside. “More my pride than anything. I should’ve doused him with mace, only he hit me so hard and fast I didn’t have time to think.”
Rafael’s brow dipped lower.
“Do you have somewhere else to stay tonight?” the sheriff asked.
Gisele shook her head. “I live over my shop. He didn’t break in there.”
“But he could,” the sheriff said.
“I think Johnny scared him off,” Gisele said. “I doubt he’ll be back.”
“Are you willing to bet your life on that?” Rafael asked.
Gisele lifted her chin. “I have my mace and a can of wasp spray. I won’t miss next time. ”
Felina Faivre pushed through the men. “Oh, Gisele, you can’t stay here. Come stay with me.”
Gisele’s heart squeezed in her chest. Felina was her friend, and they’d been roommates on several trips to New Orleans, but she was in a new relationship with her guy, Lucas. Gisele didn’t want to be a third wheel. “Thanks, Felina, but I’d rather stay here. I’ll be all right.”
“You could stay with us.” Bernie Bellamy, another one of her friends, hooked her arm through her man’s elbow. “We have a spare bedroom. Gerard and I would feel better if you weren’t alone tonight.”
Gisele smiled at the tall couple. Gerard the tallest of the team of men who called themselves the Bayou Brotherhood Protectors, stood several inches over six feet. Bernie was almost as tall at five feet ten.
“You’re too kind,” Gisele said. “But I need to be up early and ready for a shipment tomorrow morning. I’d rather be here.”
Shelby shook her head. “If you insist on staying in your own apartment, you need someone to stay with you.”
Rafael stepped forward. “I’ll stay.” His dark hair, dark eyes and incredibly handsome face were almost too much to resist.
Gisele’s breath caught and held for a moment. She could understand why Bianca had fallen for him so quickly. Her eyes narrowed. He had to know the effect he had on women and probably used it to his advantage to lure them into a giddy state, and then bam! One more notch to add to his bedpost.
Absolutely not.
“No, thank you,” she said, a little more forcefully than she’d intended, especially if she followed through on her promise to Bianca to serve hima little taste of his own medicine. She might still do it. How satisfying would it be to make him fall for her and then ditch him like he had ditched Bianca? She had to do it.
Just not that night. After being knocked on her backside, her tailbone hurt, and she was sure she’d be stiff and achy the following day.
“I’ll stay,” another man stepped forward and held out his hand. “We’ve not formally met. I’m Valentin Vachon.”
Out of habit, Gisele took his hand and gave it a brief shake before releasing it. “Nice to meet you.”
Valentin gave her a half-bow. “I’d happily stay down here in the shop overnight to make sure your intruder doesn’t return.”
Reach for the sky , Johnny squawked behind Valentin
Valentin’s hands shot into the air.
Laughter erupted from the other members of his team.
Valentin’s cheeks flushed a ruddy red as he lowered his hands and turned to face the macaw. “Quite a bird you have there. ”
Gisele’s lips twitched. “He speaks his mind.”
“And bites,” Remy said with a grin. “I advise maintaining your distance.”
“Come on, big guy.” Shelby hooked Remy’s arm. “Let’s get you home to some antiseptic and a bandage.” She nodded toward Gisele. “Let one of the guys stay here tonight. They’re protectors. That’s what they do.”
Gisele’s brow dipped. “I can take care of myself.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Shelby said. “Until I couldn’t. Remy helped me out of a tight spot. I might not have survived without him. If you don’t let someone stay the night for yourself, do it for me. I’ll sleep better knowing someone has your back.” She paused at the door to the shop. “Please.”
Gisele sighed. “Fine.” She pointed to Valentin. “He can stay down here. Johnny needs more protection than I do.”
“Just don’t stick your finger in his cage,” Remy said as Shelby shoved him through the door.
Rafael crossed his arms over his chest and stared down his nose at Valentin. “Aren’t you supposed to be out before dawn to help Shelby’s brother-in-law bring a new refrigerator unit up from New Orleans?”
Valentin grimaced. “Right. Maybe you could go with him instead of me?”
Rafael shook his head. “It’s your friend he’s buying that unit from, not mine. ”
“I could arrange to do it another day,” Valentin suggested.
Alan Broussard’s Country Store was the closest grocery store in a thirty-mile radius of Bayou Mambaloa.
“If my memory serves me right, Alan has a refrigerator unit that’s been giving him fits. He needs a new one desperately.” Gisele shook her head. “You need to help get that unit installed sooner rather than later.”
Valentin sighed. “You’re right.” He clapped a hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “Which leaves my man Romero as your second-best choice for protection through the night. Still, better than no one.”
Rafael’s lips twisted. “Thanks.”
Outnumbered by well-intentioned friends and outmaneuvered by a handsome Lothario, Gisele gave up. “Okay. He can stay. For Johnny.”
“Good. I’m glad that’s settled.” Bernie pushed her sleeves up her arms. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t just walk away when there’s this big a mess to clean up. Where’s your broom and mop?”
While the sheriff questioned Gisele and had her check her safe and jewelry cabinet, the men and women still there went to work cleaning.
Bernie and Felina swept the glass and damaged candles into piles.
Gerard and Lucas scooped the piles into a trash bag and carried it out to the bin behind the shop. Valentin followed the sweeping crew with a mop, cleaning up the potions and lotions.
Rafael repaired the broken doorframe and tested the deadbolt. “This will have to do for tonight. You’ll need a new lock. I’ll stop by the hardware store and drop by to install the lock tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Gisele said grudgingly. She didn’t like being beholden to anyone—especially the man she had targeted for a lesson in humility.
After he fixed the back door, he gathered the broken pieces of the shelf unit. With a hammer and nails, he was able to put it back together almost as good as new.
Not only was he incredibly easy to look at, but he was also a talented handyman.
Double the trouble.
Gisele placed the items they’d salvaged on the shelf and stood back, overwhelmed by the outpouring of help from her friends. Tears pooled in her eyes. Other than the empty spots on the shelf, no one would guess the place had been broken into.
She turned to the men and women who’d come to her rescue and gave them a watery smile. “Thank you. That would’ve taken me half the morning to do all by myself.”
Felina hugged her. “You’d do the same for me.”
Bernie hugged Gisele next. “I’m just sorry this happened to you. Hopefully, the sheriff will find the guy and lock him up.”
“Hard to find a man without fingerprints or video surveillance footage,” the sheriff said. “But we’ll do our best.” He tipped his hat. “I’ll have Jones drive by several times through the night and keep an eye out for you.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Gisele said.
After the sheriff drove away, Gisele walked out the front door with the others.
“We’ll be heading out as well,” Bernie said. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. We’re here for you.”
“That’s right,” Felina said. “Just a phone call away.” She turned to Valentin. “Since Rafael is staying, we can give you a ride back to the boarding house.”
Valentin nodded. “Thanks.” As he passed Rafael, he bumped his shoulder into Rafael’s and murmured something that sounded like, “You can thank me later.” Over his shoulder, and a little louder, he called out, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
As taillights disappeared down Main Street, Gisele stood in the doorway of the Mamba Wamba Gift Shop, along with Rafael Romero, the last person in the world she wanted to be alone with after the night she’d had.
“Well, I’m going to call it a night,” she announced and turned to reenter her shop .
“Hang on,” the man said. “I want to get some things out of my truck.”
She waited while he opened the back door of his pickup and dragged out a rolled-up sleeping bag and a gym bag.
Gisele frowned as he carried the items into the shop, imagining him using that sleeping bag with one of the victims of his charm. “Are you always this prepared?” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
He nodded. “I keep a go bag in my truck at all times. It’s a habit I picked up in my days as a Navy SEAL. We deployed often and with little notice. We never knew where we were going or how long we’d be there.”
His response took some of the wind out of her self-righteous sails. That had to be hard on family life, which led to the next question that popped into her mind. “How does that work with married life?” She congratulated herself for the roundabout way of asking if he was or had been married.
His lips pressed into a thin line. “It doesn’t.” He marched past her into the shop, carrying the sleeping bag and gym bag.
So much for a straight answer to an indirect question.
“Well, I’ll leave you to get comfortable with Johnny,” Gisele said from her position at the front entrance. “Just lock the door behind me. I’ll be upstairs if you need anything. ”
He dropped his belongings and hurried toward her.
Gisele stepped out, expecting him to lock the door behind her.
When he followed her outside, she turned a frown on him. “You need to lock the door from the inside.”
“Are you going up to your apartment?” he asked, ignoring her comment.
Her frown deepened. “I am. Alone.”
“I’ll go first,” he said and stepped past her.
He was halfway around the side of the building when she caught up with him.
Gisele hurried to beat him to the base of the steps, where she ducked in front of him and stared him down. “Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded.
He cocked an eyebrow. “To clear your apartment before you go inside,” he said as if that was the most logical thing to any moron.
“I don’t need anyone to clear my apartment, whatever that means.” She tipped her chin upward. “You’re staying in the shop, not my apartment.”
“I know. But a protector makes sure the space the protected is going into is free of danger, which means I need to go in first.”
She didn’t like the idea of Rafael entering her apartment. It seemed too...personal. Like he was invading her space and would leave a little of himself behind when he left—which was complete nonsense .
“I’ll only be a moment. I mean, how long could it take to clear your apartment? I can’t allow you to occupy the space until I know for sure your attacker is not inside, waiting for a second chance to harm you. Either I clear your apartment, or you can stay in the shop with me tonight.”
She silently debated with herself. If she argued that she didn’t need someone to “clear” her apartment, it would only delay the inevitable. He was pretty adamant that he wouldn’t let her enter until he did the deed.
She let out a huff of a breath and stepped aside. “Fine. Clear my apartment.”
As he darted past her and took the steps two at a time, she called out. “But don’t touch anything.”
He paused halfway up the steps. “You should go back into the shop and lock the door.”
“The hell I will.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Then at least stay close enough I can see you at all times.” He came back down the stairs, grabbed her hand and led her to the top. “Stay.”
“I’m not a dog.”
“Stay, please?” he amended.
She frowned. “Better, but I’m still not a dog for you to train.”
“Fair enough.” He held out his hand. “Key?”
She dug in the crossbody purse looped over her shoulder and handed him the key to her place .
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said as he unlocked the door. Then he disappeared inside, switching on the lights as he moved through the few rooms.
Gisele tried to remember how she’d left her apartment that morning. Had she made the bed? What had she done with her sheer baby-blue nightie she’d slept in the night before? Had she left it on the bed, put it in the hamper or dropped it on the floor as she’d staggered into the bathroom for her shower that morning?
She was still worrying about the location of her nightgown when Rafael appeared.
“Find anything?” she asked.
“Just this.” He held out his hand, the object of her concern dangling from his index finger.
She snatched it away. “I told you not to touch anything.”
“I couldn’t help it,” he admitted. “I practically tripped over it.”
That’s where she’d dropped it. On the floor.
“No boogeymen?” she asked.
“None,” he said.
“Goodnight.” Gisele pushed past him, her breast brushing against his arms, sending a spark of electricity throughout her system, coiling at her core.
“I’ll be right below you. Just yell if you want me to come up,” he said.
“Trust me,” she murmured. “I won’t yell.” She’d let an attacker strangle her to death before she called out for help.
Gisele entered her apartment and slammed the door in Rafael’s face.
Was that a chuckle she heard?
Whatever. She only had to put up with him for one night, and she’d be free of him. Gisele dropped her purse on the table by the door and tossed the sheer nightgown in the waste basket beside it. How could she look him in the eye, knowing he’d seen what she slept in? Not only had he seen the nightgown, but he’d touched it with his big, callused hands.
She stalked toward her bedroom, stopped and returned to the waste basket. Why toss her favorite nightgown just because a man had touched it? That would be ridiculous and wasteful.
After retrieving the skimpy garment from the otherwise empty basket, she raised it to her nose. Was the scent clinging to it that of Rafael’s aftershave?
Gisele drew in a deep breath through her nostrils.
Maybe. Or her over-active hormones were imagining the scent she’d detected as she’d passed so close to him that her breast had brushed his arm.
Yeah, sweet, gullible Bianca hadn’t stood a chance against the overpowering charisma of Rafael Romero. They didn’t call him Romeo for nothing. He was truly hard to resist .
But he needed to come down a peg or two. No man should be so confident. Even if he had every right to be.
She’d love to be the one to bring him down. Then who would have the last chuckle?