Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour - Erin Nicholas Page 0,57
the end.
And hell, it was too late anyway. He didn’t know how to hide this.
“Really big,” he said, stepping onto the porch.
She licked her bottom lip. “And it was hot and dirty?”
“So dirty,” he agreed.
He felt safe crossing the porch to her now. He wasn’t going to scoop her up out of the hammock and fuck her right here on the porch.
And he wasn’t going to drop to one knee and ask her to stay in Autre with him forever.
At least, not at the moment.
He pulled a chair over next to the hammock and sat.
“You can get in here with me,” she said.
“I will. But I need a shower first.”
He noticed she had a notebook and pen in hand. She was in different clothes too. She was wearing a tank and shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun, and her feet were bare. She looked so relaxed and like she’d been lying in that hammock after work every day for years.
He wanted that. He laced his fingers together and squeezed.
Maybe he wasn’t completely safe from scooping her up and stripping her naked.
Or proposing.
“How was your day?” he asked, trying to get his mind on something else.
“Good, actually.” She even said it with a smile.
“Yeah?” He knew he shouldn’t sound skeptical, but his family was a lot. “I didn’t mean to throw you to the wolves. I mean…” He dipped his head and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I guess I knew that’s how it would turn out. As soon as I thought of you working in the office, it was inevitable that you’d meet them all. And probably all at once. And they’d give you the third degree. But I really did intend to get over there for lunch. I should’ve known not to make a plan like that though.”
“It turned out fine,” she assured him. “Great, actually. And I didn’t really get the third degree.”
He looked up. “No?”
“I mean, after Kennedy threatened me.”
“Kennedy threatened you?”
“You’re her favorite.” Paige gave him a grin. “Did you know that?”
He started to shake his head but thought about it. Then he shrugged. “Actually yeah, I guess I did. Not that she’s ever said that, but yeah, I’m sure I’m her favorite.”
“The guys in your family are a handful,” Paige said.
“Kennedy is even more so—don’t let her fool you.”
Paige laughed. “Definitely figured that out. But anyway, after that, I met Cora.”
Mitch couldn’t help the soft smile he felt stretch his lips. “Cora is the best.”
“She really is,” Paige said. She lifted her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Mitch noticed the bandage on her finger immediately. He felt his brows slam together. “What happened?”
She stopped and frowned at the sharpness in his tone, then followed his gaze to her hand. “Oh. Small cut. No big deal. Cora took care of it.”
Mitch took a breath. He had definitely over-reacted to that even if Cora hadn’t been involved. But knowing Cora had doctored the injury did make him feel better. “You let her put some strange cream on your finger?” he asked.
Paige nodded. “I’m into strange creams.”
“Yeah?” That should have sounded weird, but he found it endearing.
He loved Cora. He’d been almost eight before he’d understood that Cora wasn’t his grandma by blood. Not that something like blood and DNA had ever mattered to the Landrys when it came to considering someone family. Or not.
“Yeah. And it was a salve, actually. I make mine a little differently, but hers is great.”
He leaned in. “You make your own salves and creams?”
“And lotions and scrubs and antiseptics and cleaning solutions and teas,” she said with a nod.
Yep, definitely endearing. His yoga-doing-crazy-cat-lady-vegetarian also made home remedies. That tracked.
“She gave me a calendula.”
Paige pointed, and Mitch looked over to where a bright yellow pot full of orange flowers had joined the other plants along one of the porch windows.
“That was sweet.”
Paige nodded. She was now doodling on the notebook page on her lap. “She told me how to make the salve and said I could take the calendula home with me. I’m supposed to send her some of my salve then.”
Mitch felt his chest tighten, but he made himself nod. “You’ll be able to email back and forth. I can even show her how to Facetime. Again.”
Paige smiled slightly at that. But she didn’t say anything.
He focused on the notebook page. It was full of writing. But he noticed there were also sketches. One looked a lot like the Boys of the