Butterfly Bayou (Butterfly Bayou 1)

She’d held herself apart for so long. Her life had been safe. She’d closed herself off, sinking into intellectualism and professionalism, but it had left her behind walls. Those walls had crumbled and it was time to decide if she was going to rebuild them or find a new life.

She held on to Armie and cried out the stress of the day.

He shifted and drew her close, resting her head on his chest as he let her cry.

She fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating. Safe, this time, didn’t mean alone.chapter tenThe knock on the door damn near shook the house. It made him shoot out of bed, but Lila merely turned over and yawned before her breathing became easy again. The woman needed sleep and according to the clock on the nightstand, she should have at least another forty-five minutes before she had to get up.

The knocking began again and he hustled to drag on his slacks. The shirt would have to wait because he was about to have a conversation with whoever was knocking on the door at damn 7:14 in the morning.

He worked his way around the plastic containers and nearly tripped on a surprising amount of buttons, but he managed to get to the door before a third set of thunder shook the place. “What? Did you know it is illegal to knock on the door before eight a.m.?”

He asked the question as he flung the door open and then had to sigh because he couldn’t tell the two people standing there to go away. Remy and Lisa Guidry were on Lila’s doorstep. Her sister looked like she hadn’t slept and Remy had a fierce frown on his face.

“You started making up new laws now?” Remy asked.

It had been worth a try. Sometimes he could intimidate people into doing the right thing. Remy wasn’t one of those people. “It would have been a misdemeanor. I take it you heard about what happened yesterday? Come on in, but she’s asleep and she needs it. I’m not waking her up until I have to.”

Not even for her sister. Lisa could wait forty-five minutes more to assure herself that Lila was okay.

Lisa stepped inside, followed by her husband. “I was so worried when she didn’t answer her phone. She always has her phone on her. I didn’t hear about what happened until late last night. I tried to call but it went to voice mail.”

“We had a couple of business meetings and then we went out to dinner,” Remy explained. “When we got back to the hotel, I called Seraphina to see how things had gone at the marina. She told us what happened.”

“I wanted to come home, but Remy wouldn’t drive me until this morning.” Lisa entered the living room and turned to look at him, her arms folding over her chest. “Is there a reason you’re in my sister’s house? And do you own a shirt?”

She glanced down at the couch and he could see her make note of the fact that no one had slept on it.

“I’m in your sister’s house because I slept here last night. I don’t have a shirt on because I was trying to ensure that your sister got all the sleep she could after a very rough day. I ran to get the door before you woke her up.” He moved into the kitchen. Lila would need coffee and breakfast before she went to work. “I drove her home last night.”

“And decided to stay?” There was a well of judgement in Lisa’s tone.

“Chère, tread carefully,” Remy warned his wife. “You didn’t like your sister getting into your business.”

“And yet she did,” Lisa replied tartly. “So she shouldn’t be surprised that turnabout is fair play. She’s new in town and I don’t want some Romeo law enforcement officer coming in here and showing off his abs and taking advantage of her.”

He pulled out the coffee filters and found the can of coffee. He was going to have to suck it up and drink it. He preferred chicory because the normal stuff was bland comparatively. “I’m not the one taking advantage. I’ve made my intentions plain. Your sister is the one who wants to use me for sex. My abs were my only way in.”

Remy laughed and shook his head. “I told you Lila can handle herself.”

“Not with men she can’t. But first off, how is everyone? I heard Rene almost died,” Lisa said, moving into the kitchen beside him, pulling a can from the cabinet. “I cut those bland beans of hers with about a quarter of this. I bought it when I stocked up her kitchen. I planned to come over for coffee and start making the switch. Lila has to be eased into change. She struggles with it.”

“Yes, and she’s had a lot of change lately, so maybe she should have the coffee she likes.” He wasn’t going to force anything on her.