She headed out the back door of the kitchen, looking around and stepping carefully. There was a back porch as well. It was probably considered a mud room. They had these in Kansas too. It was a smaller room off the kitchen where people could discard muddy shoes and boots and outerwear before coming into the house. She stopped at the swinging screen door that was, of course, hanging crookedly from its hinges, and sucked in a little breath. The view back here, though… “Wow.”
The back of the house looked out over the vast expanse of land that ran from this edge of town down to the bayou. It looked a little like the prairies in Kansas, but she knew from her research that as she went toward the bayou, the ground would get progressively more marshy and that the trees, vegetation, and a lot of the wildlife she would find between her back porch and the Gulf was vastly different than what she had grown up with in Kansas.
That made her heart flutter.
“This is fun. This is an adventure.” She reminded herself. She was excited to be working with the penguins of course, but being here in Louisiana also meant learning about other new animals and habitats. “I wonder if Zeke would take me out on the bayou. I bet he would.”
Now where had that idea come from? Why did her mind keep wandering to that guy?
Of course, it didn’t take a lot of wondering to figure that one out. Zeke was hot and charming and very good with his tongue.
That was it. Simple. Just the way she liked things. She’d had an amazing night with him and it had been very straightforward. They hadn’t shared back stories, they didn’t share anything professionally, they didn’t even know each other. Everything between them had been simple and obvious.
Except that little bit about how he didn’t have to worry about much around here…
“Nope.” Jill shook her head. “That was just one little thing. The rest was just sex. Really, really great sex. Simple. Easy.”
She could definitely use more of that in her life.
She stepped out the back door and down the three stone steps that were definitely crumbling but were at least present as opposed to the steps in the front. She hit the ground and turned to round the house to head back to her car when she noticed him.
She froze. And gasped.
“No.” But she whispered the word.
There was a fucking alligator in her backyard.
He was easily eight feet long and he was nestled in the tall grass. She wasn’t even sure how she’d seen him because he wasn’t moving a muscle.
“Maybe he’s dead,” she whispered. “And maybe you should stop even whispering.”
Her mind spun, trying to remember if alligators had good hearing. What was it about adrenaline pumping through a person’s veins that made them unable to remember basic facts that they should be able to come up with in a snap?
The word snap made her think about alligators’ jaws though. And she did know that they were immensely powerful and not something she wanted to get close to. At. All.
“It would be way too convenient if he was dead,” she whispered.
Fucking stop talking out loud to yourself!
There, that was in her mind only.
And then his eyes blinked.
She didn’t scream. She wasn’t a screamer. But she wasn’t breathing at the moment either.
She did, however, regret not reading up on what to do when you encountered an alligator in the wild.
She was a vet. She knew things about alligators, of course. But dammit, school had been a long time ago—she hadn’t touched, or even seen, an alligator in years—and that didn’t mean that any of that knowledge was currently retained in the brain that was chanting you’re going to be gator food on your first day? Really?
At least that was in her mind and not out loud.
Oh God.
She spun and bolted for her back door, lunging inside and slamming the lightweight slab of wood behind her.
But that was evidently too much for the elderly rusted hinges because as soon the door made contact with the frame, the whole thing gave a creak, then fell. And, of course, it fell outward, essentially creating a ramp that covered the back steps that would make it very easy for a reptile to climb up into the house. With her.
She still didn’t scream, but she shrieked a little now.
She ran down the hallway of the house toward the front door, ripped it open and sprang out onto the porch. She prayed the whole way across that she wouldn’t step on any rotten wood.
As soon as her shoes hit the front walk, she turned and ran to the gorgeous house with the I-could-sit-there-every-day porch next to hers.
Possibly a subconscious choice because she was also curious about getting a brief tour of the place.
But right now, what she needed was to get away from the alligator in her yard and get some help from someone who lived in a place where people regularly had alligators in their backyards.
She bounded up those front steps, all of which were completely sturdy and intact, and pounded on the front door.
She stood, breathing heavily, realizing it was during the workday and that it was possible her new neighbors wouldn’t be home. But then she had heard footsteps coming closer to the door and she worked to steady her breathing and pasted on a smile.
She saw a form on the other side of the beveled glass set into the front door just before the knob turned and the door swung in.
“Hi, I’m—”
Jill’s words died and her mouth dropped open as she stared at the person who had answered the door of her neighbor’s house.
“Well, hey, cher.”
“Zeke?”
6
Zeke was shocked by how glad he was to see the woman who was standing on the other side of his door.
She looked amazing.
Actually, she looked like a mess. Her hair was up in a high ponytail, but the tie had slipped and a large strand was now hanging against her right cheek and over her shoulder. She was dressed in a plain green v-neck t-shirt that was fitted to her toned body and a pair of denim shorts that hit her mid-thigh.
She was also…damp.
Her clothes weren’t soaking wet, but they weren’t dry. In fact, her shoes—basic white canvas sneakers—also looked wet.
She had streaks of dirt all over as well. The front of her shirt, her shorts, her arms, legs, and cheek.
Yeah, she was definitely a mess. And he felt his heart rate kick up anyway.
Still, he frowned as he pushed his screen door open. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Alligator.” She pointed in the direction of the house next door.
He glanced in that direction though didn’t expect to see anything. It was probably Chuck. He was harmless.
For an alligator.
“You ran into a gator?”
She nodded.
“That happens around here once in a while.” He reached out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her forward. “Come on in here.”
She stopped right inside the door, right in front of him, and he became aware that he had only a towel on.
He’d just gotten out of the shower when he’d heard the banging on his front door. Everyone in Autre knew this was his house and he could only assume that someone was in big trouble pounding like that. Since he knew everyone in town and ninety-eight percent of the people who would come to his house for help were relatives, he hadn’t thought much about answering the door half-naked.