Sealed With A Kiss: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 17
“I’ve already got the penguins worked in,” Ollie said. “That kid’s gonna take over our whole company someday.”
“Sounds like Stella. She’s the daughter of one of the guys you’re going to meet in New Orleans. She is determined to take over the whole Boys of the Bayou operation one of these days,” Zeke said.
“We should introduce them,” Ollie said. “Henry doesn’t have many kids who can keep up with him.”
“Oh, Miss Stella will be able to keep up with him. She might scare him off of Louisiana girls permanently, though,” Sawyer said.
“You hope so,” Paige told him. “You love being Stella’s big favorite, but one of these days some guy’s going to come along and steal her heart from you, Sawyer.”
Sawyer stretched his arms out across the backs of the chairs on either side of him. “They’ll have to get through me first.”
This Stella-Sawyer dynamic was hilarious and sweet. Stella had developed a crush on Sawyer as a little girl, but it had had a lot to do with his airboats and alligators. Now that she was older, she still had her sights set on those boats and gators but was determined to be Sawyer’s boss when she got older. Sawyer was more like an uncle to her and he felt protective.
“Okay, that’s about enough craziness for me,” Jill said, pushing her chair back and standing.
Zeke reached out for her, almost instinctively it seemed. He rested his hand on her hip. “Want me to take you home?”
She shook her head. “You and the boys go ahead and have a good time. I’m just going home to take a nap and then I need to head up to see the penguins. I’m fine. You go show these guys what a good time Louisiana can be.”
“Call me if you need anything,” Zeke told her.
“Of course.” She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.
Naomi grabbed the opportunity. She loved all of these people, and the addition of the group from Iowa was definitely fun and interesting, but she’d had a couple of big days in Alabama and now all of this was making her long for about an hour of peace and quiet on her back porch all alone.
She stood as well. “I’ll give you a ride. I’m ready to head out too.”
She couldn’t help but glance at Donovan. He gave her a look. And for some reason, she interpreted it as him asking if he could or should walk her out to her car.
He was so sweet. And yes, she wanted him to. But that was unnecessary and probably a bad idea. It was broad daylight and the place was packed with family, friends, and friends of friends. It wasn’t as if they could even sneak a quick kiss.
Nor should they. No more quick kisses. Or long kisses.
She shook her head and he just gave her a grin.
She was actually hoping that he would accompany the guys to play Warriors of Easton and then head to New Orleans. She would love for him to feel the same camaraderie and have him be included in this group of guy friends. She knew all of the Autre guys liked him a lot and all he had to do was ask to tag along.
“Donovan, you should head up to New Orleans with them. You’ve only been to Trahan’s a couple times, haven’t you?” she asked.
So much for letting it all run its natural course.
He lifted a brow as if he knew that she was trying to set him up on a play date. “I’ve been there couple of times. Great place. Awesome food, though nothing like Ellie’s.”
Zeke turned to look at him. “You want to come? I thought maybe you had a bunch to do with the animals, but if not you should absolutely come with us. This is gonna be great.”
“I’ve got a really good camera on my phone,” Donovan said.
Zeke nodded. “You’re totally coming. And I apologize in advance for the arrest record you may come home with.”
Donovan smirked at him. “It wouldn’t be the first.”
“I like you, Foster,” Zeke said. “I really like you.”
Naomi and Jill made it to the front of the restaurant before they heard Jordan and Charlie calling after them. Naomi turned back and waited for the other women to join them.
“Where are you guys headed?” Charlie asked.
“To take a nap,” Jill said.
Naomi nodded. “We both need a little alone time. This group is a lot on a normal day and then you add all of that fun noise from up north and we just need a break.”
Jordan laughed. “Dax is definitely a big personality. I can’t wait to go over the alpaca program with him tomorrow. But it looks like the guys are planning a whole thing today. I’ll walk out with you.”
“I’m coming too,” Charlie said. “I wanted to see how things went in Alabama.”
The four women walked out to the parking lot and stopped next to Naomi’s truck.
“Yes, tell us all about Alabama,” Jordan said.
“There’s not that much to tell that you haven’t already heard,” Naomi said. “You heard about all the rescues. All the guys were amazing. My rescuing the raccoons was kind of ridiculous, but also kind of cool. The seal and tiger and zebra rescue was, of course, amazing.”
Charlie flipped her hand, waving all of that away. “Yeah, yeah. All of that is great. But what about you and Donovan?”
“What about me and Donovan?” Naomi hedged.
Charlie propped a hand on her hip. “You’re crazy about him. You just spent time down in Alabama together. What did you talk about? What did you do?” She dropped her voice and gave Naomi a sly smile. “Where did you sleep last night?”
Naomi crossed her arms. “Well, I told him about Zoey.”
Charlie and Jordan both gasped.
“That’s huge!” Charlie said.
“It is. And he told me about his problems right after his mom and dad died.”
Charlie nodded. She, of course, knew that story.
“And we talked about how we couldn’t be a couple. And I slept at the firehouse where Michael slept.”
Charlie groaned. “Come on. You’ve wanted him since he first set foot in this town. You’re telling me you totally wasted that time alone together?”
Naomi stubbornly lifted her chin. “Being stuck together during the storm was a once-in-a-lifetime fantasy and we need to go back to being friends now. I had a great time in Alabama learning about the rescues and—”
“Wait, being stuck during the storm was a fantasy?” Jordan broke in. She peered closely at Naomi. “You have to go back to being just friends? What exactly happened between you two during the hurricane?”
Naomi wet her lips and then made a huge mistake—she dropped her gaze. With these women, she had to be confident and composed all the time so that they didn’t get a read on her emotions. These women had known her for a long time. It was hard to keep a secret from them.
Charlie gasped and pointed a finger at Naomi’s nose. “Something did happen! Tell us!”
“You know I don’t talk about this stuff. This is private. And it’s not going to happen again. It was just a spur of the moment, we’re-stuck-together-in-stormy-weather-without-pants-on thing.” But she immediately groaned as their eyes widened. Dammit, she had to be more careful.
Jordan and Charlie both took a step forward. Naomi straightened her spine, but she knew she wasn’t going to get out of this.
“I need to get Jill home. She is crazy pregnant and can’t be standing around on her feet this long.”
Jill shook her head. “Oh, I’m fine. You didn’t have pants on?”
Naomi groaned. If they were pulling Jill into their gossiping, all hope was lost.
“Okay, I kissed him. Are you happy?”
“Very,” Charlie said.
“And then…tell us about the no pants thing,” Jordan said.
Naomi blew out a breath. “We got all wet and muddy rescuing the bears. So we changed into some extra clothes he had and threw our stuff in the washing machine. The clothes were too big for me, so all I wore was a long t-shirt.”
Charlie gave her a little knowing grin. “Sure, that was why you were only wearing a long t-shirt and panties.”
Naomi ignored that. “So then I kissed him, because I was trying to convince him that I really care about him not accidentally or intentionally killing himself on one of these rescue missions. And then one thing led to another.”
“Oh no, you’re not getting away with just ‘one thing led to another’,” Charlie told her. “Details.”
For some reason, in that moment, looking at the three women who she counted as her closest friends, all of her bravado rushed from her body with her next breath and Naomi said, “What happened next was the best sex of my life.”
Jordan, Charlie, and Jill all gasped at the same time.
“You slept together!” Jordan said. “Oh my God, Naomi, that’s awesome.”
It really had been awesome. It had been so good. In fact, she was afraid she was never going to get over it.
“It was awesome,” she agreed. “But…”
The other women all fell silent. Naomi took a deep breath. “He’s not staying in Autre, you guys. Nothing is going to happen with us long-term.”
“He’s not?” Charlie asked, frowning. “How do you know?”
This wasn’t her news to tell, so she simply shrugged. “Donovan isn’t the type to put down roots. He’s always roamed and wandered. It’s what makes him happy. I think he’s getting restless to get going again.”
“But,” Jordan protested. “Then you really have to tell him how you feel. He has to know if he stays, he can have you.”
“I don’t want to be the reason that he stays here if that’s not what he wants,” Naomi said, meaning it with everything in her. “I want him to have everything he really needs to be happy.”
Charlie gave her a soft smile. “Well, I hope you realize you are officially in love with him.”
“It’s not love. I like him a lot. He’s a great guy. And he’s very hot. And the sex was really, really good.” But she knew she was in love as surely as she knew that if Donovan went to the Galapagos Islands, he’d do an incredible job and it would lead to even bigger things and he wouldn’t be coming back to Autre.
Charlie reached out and squeezed her arm. “Wanting the other person to be happy, even if that will take them away from you? Wanting them to be happy, even if that makes you a little miserable? Being willing to give them up so that they can have what they want? You’re in love.”
“Okay, I need to go,” Naomi told her friends abruptly, turning for her truck. “I really just need some time and space.”
Charlie Landry didn’t understand having time alone and space, but she leaned in and gave Naomi a quick hug as Jordan gave her a smile that was full of affection.
Naomi took Jill home and dropped her off, then headed home, poured a lemonade, and settled onto the big swing on her back porch.
She started the swing swaying, took a sip, and looked out over her backyard.
It was so quiet here. Peaceful.
It had been such an easy place to hide away for all these years.
She’d been safe here. Escaping the public eye had actually been easier than she’d expected.
Of course, her family and friends and community circling her and acting as a forcefield had been a part of that initially, but by refusing to do any public appearances or interviews, not even making any social media posts, interest in her life had died off quickly.
She’d been happy with her very quiet, predictable, safe, anonymous life. Well, anonymous to the outside world anyway.
Then Donovan Foster had barged in.
She was now doing crazy things. Her heart had beat harder because of him—physically and emotionally—than it ever had in her life. She was feeling breathless…also literally and figuratively. She was taking chances. She was feeling exhilarated.
And she was on camera again.
No one had “recognized” her yet. She was Naomi LeClaire when she was named at all. Most of her appearances were on the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild website and Facebook page. That was a relatively small audience of course—though it was growing—and she was simply Naomi there. No one cared about her past life. Donovan and the animals were front and center, as they should be.
Still, he’d pulled her back on camera. Something she’d sworn she’d never do again.
And now, she’d been on the news in Alabama and the local Louisiana station had picked the story up as well. She’d just been in the background during the seal rescue, really. He’d handed the animal over to her and the camera had followed as she’d carried it to the truck and held it as Donovan examined it, but Donovan and Fiona had done the talking. Naomi had been there, though. In front of a much bigger audience. Because of Donovan.
And she’d felt…proud. Proud and passionate about what they were doing. Proud of him.
With him in the Galapagos Islands, she wouldn’t be jumping off of airboats onto roofs, or handling black bears, or showing up on the news. But with him in the Galapagos Islands, she’d most definitely be a little heartbroken.
She really shouldn’t have fallen for a guy who was so damned amazing.
10
Naomi managed to relax and eat a nice quiet dinner with her family, and even go to sleep early and only dream of Donovan rather than lying awake thinking about him.
But she didn’t sleep very late the next morning.
Her phone was ringing by 7 AM.
She fumbled for the phone and lifted it to her ear, still lying in bed. “Michael?” she mumbled. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” her brother answered. “Exhausted. But doing well, mostly. I’ll probably be heading home in a couple of days.”
“Great. I hope you’re taking care of yourself, along with all the people.”
“Of course. But I’m calling to see how you are?”
Naomi pushed herself up in bed and forced her eyes open. “I’m fine. Slept well last night. Little sore but mostly feeling like I’m recovered.”
“I wasn’t talking physically,” Michael said. “I mean, how are you doing with the internet stuff?”
Naomi ran her hand over her face. “Internet stuff? What are you talking about?”
“The video on YouTube that’s getting so much attention?” Michael asked. “I can imagine that’s not exactly how you expected that to go.”
“The video,” Naomi repeated, her brain still waking up. “From the seal rescue?”
The news had only shown a short clip of video with their story during their primetime broadcast, but Rachel had said something about posting a longer segment online.
“Well, yes. There is definitely more about the seal rescue. And the tiger and zebra,” Michael said. “But there’s plenty of you on there too.”
“Me? When was I helping Donovan?”
Michael chuckled in her ear. “I can see why he might have considered that ‘helpful’.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about? It seems like you know something I don’t know.”
“Well, apparently you haven’t seen the video I have. I wouldn’t have found it on my own. My friends down here brought it to me. They were wondering how I felt about my friend kissing my sister like that for all the world to see.”
“All the world? It was a local news channel.”
“It’s on the internet, Naomi. That basically makes it worldwide.”
Then his words actually sank in. “Wait… the video is of us kissing?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know that you and Donovan were seeing each other.”
Of course he hadn’t known that. Because she’d kept that from him. On purpose. But there was video of her and Donovan kissing? On the internet? She was now wide awake. She swung her legs over the side of her bed. “Where were we? In the video?”
“You don’t remember where you were when you and Donovan were kissing?” Michael asked.
“There was maybe more than one kiss, Michael,” she snapped. “That’s not important.”
Naomi headed into her bathroom, shedding her clothes as she went, determined to jump in the shower and then go find…someone. She wasn’t even sure who to look for exactly. Probably Rachel. This had to be video from her following Donovan around.
“It’s by his truck. After the seal rescue.”
Oh. When she’d grabbed him. Huh. She hadn’t realized Rachel and Tom had been right there with the camera. Of course, they’d been everywhere Donovan had been. So that was probably on Naomi. “So…how is it?” she asked hesitantly.
“It’s a really passionate kiss between two people who obviously like each other a lot. Not that one of them told her brother that they liked each other a lot. But it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I’m not embarrassed. It’s just not something we were going to make public. He’s…not staying. It’s not going to turn into anything. And the news shouldn’t be able to just splash that all over the place without telling us.”
“Listen, everybody watching the video loved it,” Michael said. “It’s a kiss. No one’s naked or anything. You’re making people happy. They’re super complimentary of the work that you’re doing and they think it’s awesome that you’re together. Seems like just a bunch of good stuff, Nae.”
She took a deep breath.
Her older brother was protective of her to an extent, but he also knew that she was a strong, independent, intelligent woman and didn’t really need his protection in most cases. And this was, apparently, a case where he didn’t think she needed to be protected.
“Okay,” she finally said. “Thank you. I appreciate the warning. I’m going to… figure this out.”
“Look at the video. Talk to Donovan. It’s so much better than you’re imagining, I’m sure,” Michael said.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
They disconnected and Naomi stood, staring at her phone.
She didn’t want to watch the video.
But she kind of did.
Michael had said it was a passionate kiss between two people who obviously liked each other. And it had a lot of comments.
She wanted to see the comments.
Or did she?
