here, right? Your father is calling 911.”
She rolled her eyes even as she opened the window. “It’s just Otis. He suns himself on the big rock. He fell asleep and forgot to go back out into the water. Please don’t call 911.”
She could hear the guys ribbing her over dealing with an Otis sighting. Or they would all be horrified at her family because the minute the police got involved, her father would criticize everything. Nothing would be up to his standards, and he would let them know.
“I’ve got to deal with this,” she said, straightening her shirt.
“It’s okay.” Zep opened the door. “I can handle this one.” He slid out and walked toward her mother. “Now, Mrs. King, don’t you worry about that old gator. That’s Otis and he’s a sweetheart, but I know he can be scary. I’ll go get my brother and we’ll move him so you can have a nice dinner.”
Her mother had visibly calmed the minute Zep stepped out of the truck.
Roxie climbed out, her only halfway feminine shoes hitting the gravel of the parking lot and reminding her why not a lot of people wore heels to go to Guidry’s. “You know I’ve dealt with Otis, too.”
He looked back and winked her way. “Baby, you direct traffic around Otis. I have to actually physically move that sucker. I should probably take off my shirt. Wouldn’t want to get sweaty.”
“You’re such a nice man,” her mother said as she followed Zep. “But aren’t you worried? That is a very large reptile.”
“It’s all part of the service, ma’am.” The charm oozed off him.
Roxie nearly turned an ankle in her heels.
“Call me Pamela,” her mother said, putting a hand on his arm. “I’m not so old, you know. Roxanne, come on. We need to go tell Shawna the men can handle this. I need a drink. Please tell me they have vodka here. It’s not one of those dry places, is it? I’ve heard they have those down here because they’re religious. I don’t understand that. If God didn’t want us to drink, why would Jesus make all that wine?”
Roxie watched as Zep escorted her mother in and she was left to make her way across the lot. This was what Zep did, and it was so good to get a reminder. That charm wasn’t simply for her. It was for every woman he met. He was a flirt, a player of the highest order, and just because he was willing to spend a week with her didn’t mean he would be hers.
Yes, one week. She could get him out of her system in a week.
She had to.
* * *
* * *
Zep glanced back at the patio of Guidry’s. The sun was starting to go down, the dimming light shimmering over the water. The restaurant overlooked the small bay where his great-grandfather had built a marina complete with a bait store and mechanic shop. The restaurant had come later. He’d spent a lot of time in those shops when he was a kid. Remy had always loved working the restaurant, but Zep had preferred the laid-back boat repair business. He could fix a lot of things as long as they had engines.
That was him. Jack-of-all-trades. Master of none.
“Okay, so I’m trying to wrap my brain around this,” his big brother said as he joined him. He’d been working in the back office when Zep had explained they needed to move Otis so the out-of-towners wouldn’t freak. No one from Papillon would pay the big gator any mind. If anything, they would be happy to see him because if he was hanging out at Guidry’s, he wasn’t blocking the damn highway. “Roxie King, who is one of the toughest, most no-nonsense women I’ve ever met in my life, convinced you to be her new fake boyfriend because her old fake boyfriend—who also happens to be her boss—got married in real life. Did Armie know he was her fake boyfriend?”
Remy approached the big gator, whose head came up.
“Well, he does now.” Zep got into position. It wasn’t the first time they’d had to convince Otis to sun himself somewhere else. The sun was going down and Otis would move on, but he couldn’t explain to Roxie’s parents that the reptile had a schedule and was polite enough to keep it.
He was expecting a pretty severe lecture from his brother. Remy viewed him the way everyone else did. He was a joke. Charming and attractive and fairly useless unless one