But damn.
He was even better looking now than he had been in August.
How was that possible? Maybe the lighting in here was better than at the bar. Maybe she knew he wasn’t a stalker this time.
Maybe she’d missed him.
That’s kind of how it felt, but how was that possible?
Could you miss someone you barely knew? That didn’t seem like a real thing. But she had no idea how else to describe what she was feeling.
Besides really happy to see him.
And horny.
Bailey sighed.
“I told you that I didn’t want your money,” Bailey said.
Chase nodded. “You did. But I’m not a very good listener.”
She snorted. His grin grew.
She was wearing a dress. Not her uniform. That meant she wasn’t here to check on the otters. Which not only meant that the Landrys were all running around for no reason—which was hilarious—but also meant she was here for something else.
He hoped like hell that something else was the same reason he was so damned happy to see her.
Stupidly happy.
This woman was nothing like the women he usually dated, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy to see a girl he wasn’t related to.
“Happy holidays,” he said.
She inclined her head. “Same to you.”
“How’s the swamp?” he asked.
She gave him a little smile that said his small talk was ridiculous. “Warm and wet.”
Nice. She was in a dress and flirting with him. This time he was sure of it. Yeah, she wasn’t here about any otters. “Just how I like things.”
She rolled her eyes.
It was so very unfortunate that he had yet to kiss this woman.
He was definitely going to fix that this time. If he couldn’t use mistletoe to his advantage, he didn’t deserve to kiss her.
“I was wondering if you could help me with something,” he said.
“Well, Maddie and I were just in the middle of a conversation here.”
Of course she wouldn’t just say, Sure, Chase, whatever you want.
“Oh, hey, it’s fine,” Maddie piped up. “It’s really cool. We can talk later. If Chase needs you, then you should go with him.”
Her attention flickered to something over Chase’s shoulder, then back to him and Bailey. He could only imagine the scene outside the window. Some crazy Cajun was probably running after some kind-of-but-not-really-wild critter.
Bailey started to look in that direction, but Chase moved in front of her, taking hold of her upper arms. Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him, clearly surprised—and now adequately distracted.
He knew she wasn’t here for the otters. But would he use the otters as an excuse to take up her time and attention? Absolutely. Without a single question.
“I like your dress,” he told her. It was white with purple and blue flowers and was a light, floaty material. She wore a white sweater over the top, but it was clearly a summery dress. Not Christmasy at all. In fact, it was nice and short, showing off the toned legs that she normally hid inside baggy khaki pants. But he didn’t mind that she was out of season. At all.
She blushed. Bright pink. “Oh…thanks.”
Yeah, she’d worn it for him. Somehow that reaction confirmed that to him.
“Very pretty,” he added.
“Thank you.”
“I’d assumed that you had great legs, but I like knowing for sure.”
She swallowed and her cheeks got even brighter. “Um…”
Maddie’s phone rang. Chase glanced over to find Maddie watching him and Bailey with an amused and slightly confused expression. She reached for her phone, her eyes still on them. “Yeah?” she answered it a moment later. “They are.” She paused. “Yes, both of them.” Another pause and a frown. “Is that real thing?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course. Silly me.” A pause and she looked out the window behind her. “That’s perfect.”
When she hung up, she gave Chase and Bailey a big grin. “Ellie and Leo need a favor. They’re out on dock two.”
Chase grinned back. Ellie and Leo were Owen and Josh’s grandparents. The matriarch and patriarch of the Landry family. The people who had adopted Chase this past summer and showed him that people could love you, be exasperated by you, have high expectations of you, and support you right where you were all at the same time. He hadn’t really had that before. Except from his sister, Juliet. But definitely never from strangers. Of course, people were only strangers to Leo and Ellie Landry for about ten minutes.
“We’re on it,” he told Maddie.
“We?” Bailey asked.
Chase looked at her, then on impulse grabbed her hand. “We.”
He started to lift her hand to his lips for a kiss, unable to not touch her any longer.
But they both stepped in at the same moment and he stepped on her foot. Again.
This was how it had all gone down last time.
That was the brief thought that flashed through his mind as she yelped, “Ow!” and he bit off a, “Dammit!”
He pulled his foot up as she stepped back, but he still had a hold of her hand. He let go quickly. Too quickly. She took another off-balance step backward into the table that held a small Christmas tree, decorated with alligator, turtle, and crawfish ornaments. The tree wobbled, the ornaments swung, and Chase grabbed for Bailey as she grabbed for the tree. He caught her arm—which prevented her from catching the tree, instead sending it to the floor.
As a clay crawfish skidded over the wood floor and came to rest against the front counter, Maddie lifted round eyes.
“And I was just going for her hand that time,” Chase quipped. “You should see what damage we cause when I go for her lips.”
Bailey blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. “Maybe we should just…not.”
That wasn’t okay. “Maybe we just need to be on a soft surface with nothing else around next time. A large, wide, soft surface. Already horizontal, so no one falls over. With pillows.” He grinned at her. “And maybe no clothes. Just to take away any risk of something getting caught or snagged.”
Bailey’s cheeks were pink again, but she asked, “So naked on a bed before we even manage to kiss?”
He shrugged, feeling stupidly good for a guy who couldn’t seem to pull off even a peck on the lips. “I’m willing to see you naked without knowing if you’re any good with your mouth ahead of time.”
That mouth gasped and formed a perfect little “o,” sending his thoughts in some very delicious directions. He lifted a finger and pushed up on her chin, closing her mouth. For now.
“Both of you. Out. Now.” Maddie finally said with a sigh. “Dock two.”
Chapter 5
She was no expert, but it seemed that kissing someone should be a lot easier than this, Bailey thought, as she followed Chase out of the Boys of the Bayou office and onto the wooden platform that would lead them to the docks where the airboats used for the swamp tours were tied.
The outside air swirled around her bare legs and she smiled at the fact that she was wearing a dress in December. Mostly the dress was because she’d wanted Chase to see her in something other than her khakis…which was really stupid. She hadn’t even been certain he’d be here. But being out of uniform should have been a sign to the other Landrys that she wasn’t here in a work capacity. Still, she did enjoy wearing capris and skirts and sandals this time of year. It wasn’t uncommon for December temps in Minnesota to be in the single digits, especially with wind chills. The fifty-something temperatures here felt almost balmy and today, in the bright sunshine, it was in the low sixties. She might be alone, her family all way up north, but at least she wasn’t scraping ice off her windshield or wearing four layers of clothes to keep from freezing to death while she did her Christmas shopping. She’d find as many silver linings as she could.