A Bad Boy is Good to Find - By Jennifer Lewis Page 0,98
gently. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
Lizzie tried to act like she didn’t care much either way. Which was hard when Con settled his lips on her cheek and squeezed her waist, sending a current of heat and relief charging up through her.
Maisie scanned the group. “Roger?”
“I think I’ve drunk a bit too much,” he slurred, swaying like a redwood in the wind.
“Dino? I’ll take over the camera.” Dino just looked over the camera, which was running, and raised an eyebrow.
“Raoul.” She sidled over and slapped him on the back. “Come on. Just think of the great stories you’ll have to tell. You’ll be dining out on this for years.”
Raoul lifted his chin in the air. “Sweetheart, I don’t do mud.” He straightened his shirt lapel.
“Ugh!” Maisie put her hands on her hips. Her eyes flashed in the harsh light above the door. “You’re all such wimps. I’ll do it!”
Even the tree frogs shut the hell up.
Danny looked down at her from his impressive height, and a slow smile spread across his tanned face. He strode up to her and gently lifted her hand, as if they were about to step out in a minuet. “I’d be delighted.” He kissed her knuckles gently.
Maisie shook her hair back and stuck her chest out. “Good. Let’s get started.”
Lizzie covered her eyes with her hand. “That poor alligator.”
Chapter 23
Lizzie was the only one sober enough to drive home. Except for Dwight who’d zoomed off in disgust after learning from an anxious Raoul that his fiancé was about to get down and dirty with an alligator. Raoul had gone with him to help navigate.
Con sat on the bench seat of the big van next to Lizzie while everyone else, including Danny, piled into the rear. They’d retrieve Danny’s truck in the morning.
The alligator was sleeping it off in a larger pen down near the bayou, the drinks—which had flowed for a couple more hours—were on the house, and Maisie and Danny—both covered in mud from head to toe—had been giving each other glances that could scorch the skin of a lesser mortal.
“Your cousin is something else.” Con had also managed to get very dirty, and he was nearly as drunk as the rest of them.
Lizzie put the car into gear and pulled out of the space without stalling even once. “Yup, that’s Maisie, loves to be the center of attention.” Typical. Everyone in the bar had been drooling and falling all over her. Apparently, a glaze of mud only enhanced her Amazon appeal. “I’ll never hear the end of her alligator-wrestling adventure. I can’t believe Dwight didn’t try to stop her.”
“Do you think anyone could stop Maisie doing what she wants?” Con stretched and cracked his knuckles.
“Buckle your seatbelt.”
He smiled, eyes soft with affection or liquor or both. “I love it when you worry about me.” He obeyed with fumbling hands.
”I bet Danny let the alligator get loose on purpose just so he could have the fun of catching it again.”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “He sure knows how to put on a good show. It’ll be a blast on TV.”
“That’s not what you were saying at the time. My arm still has white marks from you gripping it.”
“Hey, he’s my brother and I haven’t seen him for ten years. I didn’t want him to get eaten right after I found him again.”
“He’s quite a character. I guess it runs in the family.” She winked at Con, who winked back, causing a teeny sizzle in her belly.
“What is Maisie doing with that Dwight? He seems a real stick in the mud.”
“Dwight is from an old oil family. He’s well connected and very, very rich.”
“That may be, but he’s not man enough to handle Maisie.”
“And you’re suddenly an expert on the subject?” Driving strange unlit roads in the dark was rattling her nerves enough without Con having opinions about Maisie’s love life.
“I just know what I see. Maisie needs a real man.”
“You’re lucky she can’t hear you through that partition, she’d show you which one of you is the real man.”
Con laughed. “Too right.”
What a day! Con sprawled naked on the bed, too tipsy to try and keep his thoughts straight. Finding Danny again was the best thing to ever happen to him…right after meeting Lizzie, of course.
The lights were back on so he got to admire the vision of lovely Lizzie coming back in from the bathroom, her robe held closed with one hand.