The Billionaire Matchmaker Test (Billionaire Online Dating Service #5) - Elle James Page 0,63
the hell do you mean by that?”
"Okay, so you're all set, then.” Ben ignored his question. “Lay low and go fishing enough to keep Marcus and our girl fed and happy."
"Gotcha." He looked around the tiny cottage, the walls closing in on him already. "One question."
"What's that?"
"What the hell am I supposed to do with my time for the next few days?"
"Keep an eye open for suspicious characters. Otherwise, make like a vacation, and relax."
"I don't think I've ever taken a vacation.” He scratched his head and thought back. No, he’d hung out at the office even on annual leave. All that use-or-lose vacation time got lost each year. “What do you do on a vacation?"
"Sleep until noon, girl-watch, you know, the usual thing."
"Maybe on Cocoa Beach, but in Bayou Miste? I’d go so far as to say the alligators outnumber the people. I don't think I've seen one live human besides your mother and the marina owner. Tell me, Ben, do they count the alligators in the census?"
Ben’s outright laughter blasted Ed’s ear. "Bayou Miste isn’t that bad. Think about it, you arrived in the middle of the day, right?"
"Yeah. So?"
"School and work should be getting out by now.” Ben chuckled again. “Just wait."
He didn’t like the sound of his partner’s laugh, it had a devilish quality. "Wait for what?"
"To meet the family. You're gonna love them."
“I thought it was just you and your mother."
Ben snorted. "Oh, no. I have eighteen brothers and sisters."
He fumbled the phone and almost dropped it. "Holy hell!"
"Yeah, that’s what it’s like around my house after school."
The introverted halls of Monti-Ed-zuma crashed around his ears.
Nineteen children in one family? What were his parents thinking? Obviously, they hadn’t been thinking, they’d been—
"What have you gotten me into, Boyette?"
"You're a tough guy, you can handle it."
As the tune to "When the Saints Go Marching In" played on Alexandra Belle Boyette's phone for the sixth time in thirty minutes, she lay down on the couch and crammed a pillow over her ears. "Please leave me alone."
"Why don't you answer it and get it over with?" Calliope sat across from her, scraping the silver coating from a scratch-off lottery ticket, her long, wild, light red hair fanning across her shoulders like a cape. She wore a halter top and an ankle-length, tie-died peasant skirt, her legs tucked under her. No matter the circumstances, she always looked relaxed and carefree.
"No way." Alex sat up and leaned her face in her hands. "She'll ask me again if I've been seeing anyone, or she'll invite me to dinner at the house and drag some poor slob to the table with the family."
"So? What's wrong with that?"
"Even if I liked the guy, one look at my family and he'll run screaming into the bayou."
“Damn.” Calliope frowned at the lottery ticket and tossed it onto the table. Then she looked across at Alex with a smile. "Your family's wonderful."
"Yeah, all nineteen of them." She rolled her eyes. "In this day and age, who in their right minds would have nineteen children?"
Calliope grinned "Your parents."
"Yeah, and what did it buy them?” She sat up. “An early grave for my father and insanity for my mother." Despite her flippant words, she still felt the pain of loss. Her father had been the rock in their lives and she missed him terribly, even two years after his passing.
"Alex, your mother loves every one of you and only wants to see you happy."
"I wish she could love me a little less."
"You don't mean that."
"Yes, I do. She won't leave me alone about love and relationships. I'm happy with the way things are. I have my own business, I'm in the best shape of my life. I have this great house. What more does she want?"
"Grandchildren?"
She snorted. "Big Brother Ben has that market nailed. She'll have her first grandbaby in three months. Lucie's getting as big as the bayou."
"Speaking of Lucie, I saw her yesterday when I was in Baton Rouge. And you’re right. She is getting big.” Calliope smiled. “She looks great. Pregnancy must agree with her.”
“Yeah, and Ben’s over the moon. His chest is swelling so much, I doubt they can find shirts to fit him.” Alex was happy for her brother. At the same time, a stab of intense longing hit her right in the gut. She had to suck in air to relieve the pressure.
“Oh, I almost forgot." Calliope jumped from her seat on the couch. "Lucie asked me to give you something."