Sealed With A Kiss: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 10
That point hit home. Hard. He wasn’t sticking around. There was no reason to get all of their friends and family involved in something that they already knew wasn’t going to last, right? “So when was the last time you introduced a guy to your parents? As a boyfriend?”
She gave him a look, and he glanced over and met her eyes.
“What?” he asked.
“The way you phrased that, makes me think you believe I’ve introduced guys to my family without telling them they’re boyfriends.”
He nodded. “Have you?”
She clearly was thinking about how to answer that. “Yes,” she finally admitted. “A couple of times. I had a couple of guys hang out at Ellie’s just to see how everyone reacted to them without knowing that I was dating them.”
Donovan felt a surge of satisfaction that he’d guessed that about her. Maybe he knew her better than she thought he did. “So you just pretended not to know the guy while he was there?”
She shrugged. “Yeah. I wanted to get everyone’s unbiased opinion and reaction.”
“And how’d it go?” She wasn’t with either of them now, so it must not have been great. Donovan liked that more than he should.
“My family and friends really liked one of them. One they didn’t.”
“And did you break up with the one they didn’t?”
She grinned. “I was going to, but he broke up with me first.”
Donovan laughed. “Dumbass. Why’d he break up with you?”
“Apparently, the Landrys and LeClaires together can be kind of overwhelming.”
Donovan nodded. “He’s not wrong.”
“No, he wasn’t. And it was good that he found that out. And it was great because then my family wasn’t hurt by thinking I was introducing them to someone important and then having him bail.”
Donovan nodded. “I get it. It makes sense. What happened with the guy that they liked?”
“We dated for a while. I introduced him to them. It was a very normal relationship.”
“But you’re not still together,” Donovan pointed out. “Something must’ve happened.”
That was definitely a stab of jealousy he was feeling. It was an unusual emotion for him and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It was ridiculous for one thing. He and Naomi had, clearly, not known one another when she’d been dating this guy. Donovan had no claim on her. He had no reason to be jealous. But the idea of Naomi LeClaire with any other man rubbed him the wrong way.
“He got a great job and wanted to move to South Carolina and I didn’t.”
Well, that made sense. There were lots of reasons that relationships ended. At least Donovan assumed so. His always ended because he was moving on. Or because they never really started in the first place.
“And he was the only one who you were ever that serious with?”
She nodded. “I date, but I’m picky. And not very many of them get to the point where I want to bring them to Autre.”
Donovan thought about that as he drove for a couple more minutes.
“Are you interested in traveling at all?” he finally asked. He was maybe not as surprised by the question as she was, but he was plenty surprised.
He not only never put down roots for long, he never traveled with anyone. On his shows he had, of course, had his crew. But it had been a job to them and when the show ended, or even when they were on hiatus, they all went home to spouses or significant others.
“I’ve done some traveling,” she said. “But I’m very happy here in Autre now. I’m a homebody.”
He nodded. They weren’t just talking about if they enjoyed travel or what other parts of the world they might want to see. He was asking her whether, if they dated, there was any chance she would come with him.
And she was saying no.
“Do you plan to do more traveling?” she asked. “After this next job?”
He nodded. “I think so. I don’t have any plans right now. But I want to do something… important. I feel like I’ve built enough of a platform that with this added exposure I can do something more. I just have to figure out what that is.”
She didn’t say anything to that. And he didn’t have anything more to add.
They really liked each other. They had amazing sex. But it seemed that was all this was destined to be.
Maybe dinner out wasn’t such a great idea after all.
Because even just sitting next to her in a pickup made him never want to leave her.
Taking her out on a date would be stupid.
In any other circumstance, he would be a guy that she’d never take home to meet her family.
He was lucky he already knew them.
Because all those other dumbasses were missing out.
Forty minutes later, they pulled into a mall parking lot to meet up with the rest of the volunteers heading into Mobile.
Sure, the Cajun Navy seemed like just a group of people with boats and some time on their hands, but it quickly became clear that they were so much more than that.
Already they were organizing into smaller groups and dividing up the city. There were people taking calls from inside the city with more specific details about where help was needed and what kind of numbers they were looking at.
“We are fortunate that the mayor and city council members are completely on board with having us here,” a man with a bullhorn standing on the back of the truck told the gathered group. “Sometimes we are told that we’re in the way and we’re not needed in these situations. FEMA is on the way and there are other government organizations here. The Red Cross is already on the ground. But we are definitely welcome. Don’t worry about that. We’ve got all of the communications set up. And if you will all just log into the apps and make sure our command centers have your phone numbers, we should be able to get everybody out quickly.”
Donovan and Naomi were standing with the Landrys and Michael.
“Damn, this is impressive,” Donovan commented.
Sawyer nodded and tucked his hands into his back pockets. “It hasn’t always been this organized. They definitely haven’t always had all of the communications and texts set up like this. When it first started out, it was just a bunch of guys with boats trying their best. But it’s definitely become a more organized group over the years. We’ve even been doing some training drills here and there. They really want to be effective, and they want to show the communities that they know what they’re doing.”
“They really got in trouble for coming in to help?” Naomi asked.
“They have. Lots of times it’s the local government people not wanting to get shown up,” Owen said with a frown. “And at times it’s been FEMA themselves or even National Guard. Everybody comes in and tries to help with good intentions, but there’s just something that sometimes rubs people the wrong way when it comes to civilians.”
“Which is bullshit, of course,” Mitch added. “Nobody takes care of each other as well as neighbors and people who have been through the same stuff themselves. Even if we haven’t been hit by a bad hurricane, we all know it could happen anytime.”
“And those other groups have a lot more going on,” Sawyer said, looking around. “The people who show up here with their boats are just normal people. We’re here for one reason—to help the victims. All we’re doing is getting them to safety. We’re not the ones trying to help them with financial situations, or worrying about staffing medical tents, or having to worry about reuniting family members who have gotten separated. Those are beyond us. There’re other groups who are way better at all of that. We just show up with boats and give people rides.”
Naomi shook her head. “What you guys are doing here is huge. Don’t underestimate it. If it wasn’t for you going in and pulling people out of their flooded homes, they wouldn’t need medical tents and organizations helping them reunite. The only people who need to be reunited with family are the ones who live through this.”
Sawyer met her gaze, gave her a grin, then a nod. “You’re right. What we’re doing here is important. And we believe in it. And you’re doin’ it too this time.”
She grinned back at him. Damn right she was.
“Yep, if those egotistical assholes like the paramedics try to turn us back—we’ll just tell them to go to hell,” Owen said.
They all looked at Michael and chuckled. Michael rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, y’all are huge heroes. And I mean that. But you do realize there’s time for everything. Sometimes civilians, even the ones with the best intentions, do get in the way of professionals trying to do their jobs.”
Zeke clapped his friend on the back. “We know. And we know that if we don’t watch ourselves and use our heads, we might be the ones needing your services and that doesn’t help anybody either.”
Michael narrowed his eyes and looked at Zeke. “Wow, are you being sarcastic or has your pending fatherhood made you mature a little?”
Zeke shook his head and shrugged. “Hell if I know. It’s not sarcastic, so maybe I’ve actually grown up.”
Owen put a hand over his chest and gasped. “Holy shit. The day Zeke Landry becomes responsible is the day the entire fabric of the universe shifts.”
“Shit, you’re right,” Zeke said looking mildly concerned. “Fuck it. Let’s go be big heroes and do something amazing to get our gorgeous mugs on the news.”
“That’s better,” Owen said. “Damn, for a second there, I was worried.”
Michael sighed heavily. “You don’t have to bleed to be on the news. Just remember that.”
“I don’t know…pretty boy Donovan sure bled a lot on his TV show,” Owen said.
Donovan just shrugged when they all looked over at him. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
“Still, bet it got you a lot of pussy,” Owen said.
Ellie smacked him on the back of his head. Owen rubbed the spot. But didn’t apologize.
Donovan cast a glance at Naomi. Then realized he shouldn’t look at Naomi since nothing was supposed to be going on there. Which meant she shouldn’t care about any past pussy in his life. Which meant he shouldn’t worry about her being upset about the past pussy in his life.
Because yeah, for some reason the bleeding had gotten him plenty of…that.
“It was because he always took his shirt off.”
Everyone looked at Naomi now.
“Oh yeah?” Owen asked.
She lifted a shoulder. “Every time he bled on his show, it was somewhere that required him to take his shirt off. Conveniently.” She shot him a look that said she knew that was no coincidence. “The women weren’t interested in the blood. Trust me.”
Was he the only one who noted the way she said that? That trust me sent a lick of fire through his gut. And she was definitely looking at him as if picturing him with his shirt off. And now he was absolutely imagining her with her shirt off.
“Well, that’s not gonna be any kind of problem,” Owen said, looking at Zeke. “I have to take my shirt off down on the docks all the time. I figure I’ll have a camera crew following me around pretty quick.”
And apparently no one was going to mention the fact that Naomi had commented on Donovan being shirtless being a big draw to his show. And to his off-camera fan club.
Because, in typical Landry fashion, Owen and Zeke were now one-upping each other.
Zeke scoffed. “You think you’re gonna get more attention than me? Is that what you’re sayin’? Please. You’re old and I do construction. You just drive boats and fish all day.”
“I’m old? I’m what, three years older than you? Fuck off. And I don’t fish all day.” Owen started to reach for the hem of his shirt.
“No fucking way,” Leo broke in before anyone stripped anything off in the middle of the mall parking lot. “Put your dicks and the tape measure away. You’re both super hot and I’m sure the news crews will be all over you.” He looked at both of his grandsons. “As long as I don’t take my shirt off.”
Three full beats passed before anyone responded, but everyone snorted at the same time.
“Jesus,” Owen said. “Speaking of old.”
“Fuck off,” Leo said with a grin. “Landrys just get better with age.”
“I can attest,” Ellie said.
“Tell you what, boys,” Leo said. “Twenty bucks says I’m the first one to get an oh-thank-you-you’re-my-hero kiss.”
Owen considered that. “On the cheek or on the mouth?”
Leo shook his head. “Either.”
“Male or female?” Zeke asked.
Leo lifted a brow. Then seemed to consider the question. “Either.”
Owen took that in. “Any particular age range?”
Leo laughed. “Nope.”
Owen stuck out his hand. “Deal.”
Zeke looked at everybody else. “We’re gonna be on separate boats. So we’ll need witnesses.”
Josh grinned and nodded. “Oh, trust me, I will definitely be telling the story of the open mouth kiss Owen gets from the seventy-five-year-old man he rescues from a rooftop.”
“Yeah, maybe we should make it forty bucks,” Owen said, thinking about Josh’s comment.
Zeke nodded. “Agreed.”
“Wow,” Naomi commented to Ellie. “I’ll never get over how competitive your grandsons are.”
“I’ll never get over how slow they are,” Ellie said nodding.
Naomi laughed. “Slow? What?”
“They have never, in their lives, out-witted Leo Landry at anything. He’s got something up his sleeve that will ensure he wins this even before he puts the bet out there.”
“You’re saying Leo cheats?” Donovan asked.
“For a chance to win money and knock two of his cocky grandsons down a peg or two? For sure,” Ellie said. “But Leo could charm the devil himself into letting Leo throw a crawfish boil in hell and the next thing you know, Lucifer is begging to be invited on the next fishing weekend. There’s no way Leo’s not getting that first kiss and the forty bucks.”
“They really don’t realize he always wins?” Naomi asked.
“Oh, sure they do.” Ellie gave Naomi and Donovan a grin. “But it gets them working harder and having fun and I suspect they realize that too and that’s why they keep falling for it.”
Donovan laughed, taking it all in. He loved this family. Fifty percent of anything any of them said was bullshit and you had to be around them for a day or two to figure out which half was which. But underneath all the joking, teasing, and inappropriate humor, were hearts of gold.
They had each other’s backs. No matter what. And, as was evidenced by them standing in a parking lot on their way to Mobile to help a bunch of strangers, they had the backs of people in need around them as well.
He felt a strange camaraderie with them in this moment. He’d felt flickerings of it with his crew when they’d been out on wildlife rescues. He’d always felt safe and knew the people around him would jump in to help with any especially precarious situations.
But there hadn’t been as much of a feeling of brotherhood. There hadn’t been the joking and teasing and the feeling that these people knew everything about you and loved you in spite of it all.
He thought about Griffin. He and Griffin had been far enough apart in age that they hadn’t spent a lot of time together after Griffin hit junior high. Then Griffin had headed off to Africa as soon as he’d graduated high school, while Donovan was still at home. They’d never fought or not gotten along, but they just hadn’t been especially close. Then when Griffin had come home, it had been in the midst of tragedy.
And then Donovan had made Griffin’s life especially hard.
He knew his hanging out in Autre for the past seven months had been in part because being with his brother again had been so great. Griffin had always been wound tightly. It had gotten him fired from two different jobs at zoos. But Donovan had been surprised by how happy his brother was when Donovan had stopped through Autre the first time. He didn’t know if Griffin would ever actually be what he would call laid back, but there was a contentment in Griffin now that he’d never seen before.
Donovan knew very well that that had to do with Charlie, the love of Griffin’s life. But he knew it was more than that too. It was all the Landrys, the animal park that Griffin hadn’t thought he wanted but was now his passion, and really, the entire town of Autre.
Griffin had found the place where he belonged.
Donovan’s chest was tight and it took him a minute to realize that Naomi was standing in front of him, saying his name.
He focused on her. “Sorry. What?”
“I was asking if you’re ready to go?” She narrowed her eyes, studying his face. “But now I’m asking if you’re okay?”
He suddenly wanted so badly to take her face in his hands and press a kiss to her lips.
When he was with Naomi he felt a contentment that he had to assume was a lot of what Griffin felt when he was with Charlie.
And that was weird.
Donovan had been looking for it and to find it in this tiny town in Louisiana that he hadn’t even intended to ever visit, not to mention stay in, was bizarre.
Plus, they just laid out all the reasons why things couldn’t work out between them.
Autre was a great place filled with great people. This woman was amazing. But to have her he’d have to give up his plans to do something bigger with his career.
Wouldn’t he?
He looked around the parking lot.
These people were doing important things. Just down the road from Autre as a matter of fact.
Fortunately, hurricanes didn’t blow through on a daily basis, so this kind of work wasn’t any kind of regular occurrence, but it was definitely important.
He looked at her again and managed a smile. “I’m okay. Just thinking about how huge this is. Kind of amazing.”
She nodded. “It really is. I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for asking me to come.”
“Really glad you said yes.”
They just looked at each other for a long moment. Finally, she swallowed, and said, “This might be better than dinner.”
