Sealed With A Kiss: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 25
Dammit. She was convincing him.
“Okay. What other rescue are you thinking about?”
She wrinkled her nose as she said, “The penguin rescue.”
His answer was swift. “No way.”
“Come on. Not only is it very unique and exciting, but we already have a lot of footage. We can use what we’ve already shot and just redo a few angles and repeat a few things to get some closer shots. It would be very safe. We could mostly shoot the penguin and the alligator separately.”
“But you would have to have the penguin in a net, hanging from a tree.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. But that could be okay, right?”
He shook his head. “You’re going to have to convince Jill of that. You really think that’s going to happen?”
“I’m just saying that it’s unique and exciting, which is what they’re looking for and it’s something that we could almost fully control.”
“Almost,” he said. “Key word. We’d be bringing alligators up close, if not to the penguin, to the humans.”
She nodded. “I know. It’s not perfect but we could manage it, couldn’t we?”
“I don’t like this.”
“Okay, just… think about it. And I’ll keep thinking too. I just really…want you to stay. I want this show to go so that you can have what you want, and I really feel like we need to give them something amazing.”
“I hear you. But there has to be something else.”
“Well, I was also thinking —”
He reached for her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her over his body so she lay on top of him. He cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth up to his. “Nope, no more talking. No more thinking. This is the first night I’ve had you all to myself, the first night in this bed, and I don’t want to spend it talking about your crazy plans for the TV show.”
She wiggled against him and he felt his cock already rising to the occasion.
“Well, you’re going to have to come up with a pretty great way to distract me. I’m very into this idea of making this TV show a huge hit.”
He settled both hands on her butt and slid her higher so he could fasten his mouth on a nipple, swirling his tongue around the tip as it stiffened. He plucked at the other and was rewarded by a delicious moan as she ground her hips against his.
“You really want to talk about the TV show?” he asked.
“What TV show?” she asked.
Grinning, he flipped her to her back. “Very good answer.”
14
Waking up in Donovan’s arms, in his bed the next morning, was heaven.
Naomi stretched with her eyes still shut and grinned as Donovan’s arm tightened around her waist. She arched her back, pressing her butt more firmly against his already hard cock.
He nuzzled her neck and said roughly in her ear, “Good morning, goddess.”
“Morning.”
“I get to go hang out with a tiger, a seal, and three black bears today and I’m not in any hurry to get out of bed.”
She laughed softly. “And yes, I happen to know that’s the highest compliment you could possibly pay me.”
He turned her to her back, leaning over to kiss her. “I’m glad.”
They made love slowly and leisurely. Then showered and got dressed—of course she’d brought extra clothes along in her backpack purse—before tiptoeing down the stairs and leaving the house together before Charlie and Griffin stirred.
They headed to Ellie’s for breakfast in separate cars, but Naomi didn’t think that anyone would’ve been particularly scandalized to find them pulling in together. It was very possible her grandparents had noticed something no one else had about her feelings for Donovan, but now she didn’t care who knew. Things with her and Donovan were going to work out and their friends and family were absolutely going to be a part of it.
It was incredibly liberating to think about being able to date him publicly.
So this time, when they met at the front bumper of Donovan’s truck, Naomi laced her fingers with his and they headed inside hand in hand.
Not that anyone noticed.
Things were already busy at Ellie’s and the usual group, plus or minus a few Landrys, was gathered at the back table already deep in debate over something. Of course.
“I think Navy is the best name,” Charlie said.
And it looked like Naomi and Donovan had snuck out of the house for no reason. Both Charlie and Griffin were already at breakfast.
Naomi and Donovan exchanged a grin as he held out a chair for her and then took the one next to hers.
“Navy?” Mitch asked. “Why?”
“For the seal?” Charlie said. “Navy Seal? Come on, that’s funny.”
Mitch rolled his eyes.
“It’s Selke,” Knox said, setting his coffee cup down.
“Why Silky?” Maddie asked.
“Not Silky. Selke. They’re mythological creatures that look like seals,” Knox said.
Everyone stared at him. Except Jordan. She laughed and took a drink of her coffee. “I keep telling you, he’s a nerd under that long hair and those muscles and tattoos.”
“Okay,” Kennedy said to her city manager. “Which bear names do you like best?”
“Pollux, Castor, and Ursula, of course,” Knox said.
He was sitting back in his chair, one arm hooked over the back, looking mildly bored.
He often acted completely exasperated by this group. Moreso as the animal park grew. But he continued to show up and hang out with them.
Naomi knew deep down he loved the Landrys as much as she did. And felt like he’d been adopted into the family the way everyone who spent even an hour with them did. Knox had been hanging out with the Landrys since high school. He was as much an honorary Landry as anyone.
“What are we talking about?” Donovan asked as Ellie set a plate of biscuits and gravy down in front of him. He gave her an adorable smile. “Thanks, Ellie.”
She patted his head. “Toast and eggs, darlin’?” she asked Naomi, setting a glass of orange juice near her elbow.
“Please. With bacon?”
Ellie lifted a brow. “Sure thing.”
“And maybe hashbrowns too,” Naomi added.
That caught more attention. Naomi definitely usually ate light, especially in the morning. But she was ravenous.
“You go for a run this morning or something?” Zeke asked with a grin that said he knew very well that wasn’t what was going on.
“Nope.” That was all Naomi was going to give him.
At least, that’s how she’d always been in the past about her relationships.
But as she reached for her orange juice, she was suddenly gripped by the desire to be as open and audacious as the rest of these people. At least about what was making her happier—and hungrier—than she’d ever been. Or rather who.
“I just didn’t realize how many calories all-night-long sex would burn. I would have put a granola bar in my purse or something.”
Zander froze with a forkful of eggs right at his mouth. Zeke started coughing as he swallowed his coffee wrong. Mitch dropped the biscuit he was holding. Owen spilled water down the front of his shirt.
Donovan, however, just took a huge bite of his food, chewed, swallowed, and then wiped his mouth, looking around the table at the men who were now staring at him.
“You don’t seem shocked,” Zander commented.
“Of course not,” Donovan said. “This girl earned those hashbrowns. I mean, also throwing in a short stack wouldn’t be inappropriate.”
All of the men hooted and Naomi had to admit she felt only happiness as she laughed and then chugged two thirds of her orange juice.
This felt good. Teasing like this. Sharing this happy, in-love stuff with these people. Maybe she’d overreacted by keeping her dating life separate from them all in the past too, but at the same time, she couldn’t imagine it being like this with anyone other than Donovan.
He reached under the table and squeezed her leg and she realized that he understood what it meant that she’d come out publicly about how they’d spent last night. She gave him a grin.
“Okay, before Zeke regains the ability to speak and says something inappropriate”—Jill interjected, patting her fiancé on the back—“why do you get to pick the bear names anyway?” she asked Knox.
“Charlie was dragging her feet about starting a contest to name the new animals on the Gone Wild website, so we started one on the city website instead,” Kennedy said.
“I wasn’t dragging my feet,” Charlie protested. “I didn’t know the animals were staying.” She looked at Donovan. “We still don’t know that the bears are staying for sure.” She blew out a breath. “Why did you think the city should have the contest?”
“Because I realized I could put Knox in charge of choosing the winners and personally delivering the stuffed animals to the winners and runners-up,” Kennedy said, shooting the city manager a grin.
“You did it just to annoy Knox?” Charlie asked.
“It’s revenge,” Knox said. “I told Fred Williams he could have an hour with her last week.”
They all grimaced. Fred Williams wanted an hour meeting with Kennedy every week. Because he had that many complaints. His main one being the aliens who lived in the woods behind his house having orgies. That they wouldn’t invite him to.
“You deserve having to deliver some teddy bears to people around town for that,” Mitch told him.
Knox just shrugged. “Some of the entries for the names were really good. And you all end up naming alpacas things like Alpacapella and pigs things like Dumbledore.”
“And goats after the Seven Dwarves,” Griffin added.
“Exactly,” Knox said. “I’m happy to add some decent and creative names to this craziness.”
“I personally like the ducks that are named after the Brady Bunch,” Charlie said.
“The penguins named after Mr. Popper’s Penguins are really the best,” Maddie said, looking at Jill.
“So the bears are staying?” Kennedy asked Donovan.
He shook his head. “Not all of them at least. I’m keeping my eye on the little girl. She’s not eating and gaining weight as quickly as the other two. But at least two of them are going to be released.”
“Well, at least the boys will be together. You can’t separate Pollux and Castor,” Zander said.
Knox nodded. “Right.”
Everyone else just stared at them.
“What are you talking about?” Kennedy asked.
“Pollux and Castor are the twins that Zeus agreed to never separate,” Zander said. “So it would be wrong for us to separate them.”
Kennedy frowned. “What?”
“Didn’t you pay any attention in school?” Zander asked. He looked at Bennett. “Bet your nerdy smart hubby knows who Pollux and Castor are.”
Kennedy turned to her husband. “Do you?”
“Well…” Bennett pushed his glasses up his nose. “You sure you want me to answer? You know what it does to you when I go all brainy.”
She leaned in. “Spill it, Baxter.”
“Pollux and Castor are two of the stars in the Gemini constellation. They are also characters from Greek mythology,” Fletcher answered before Bennett could.
“Hey,” Kennedy protested.
Fletcher smirked at her and looped an arm around Jordan. “You’re not the only one who loves a guy who got good grades.”
Jordan cuddled up to him. “Go on, Professor.”
“He teaches third grade,” Zander pointed out.
“Well, he’s Professor Landry to me,” Jordan told Zander. “At least sometimes.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “In fact, just the other night—”
Fletcher leaned in and kissed her to shut her up. Then whispered something in her ear that made her blush and laugh.
“Anyway,” Bennett said. “Pollux and Castor were twins but one was a demigod and one was human. When the human one, Castor, was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to give some of his immortality to his brother so he wouldn’t die. Zeus agreed and made them into the constellation where they could be together forever.”
There was a beat of silence. Then Kennedy said, “He just made them into stars? Instead of letting them live?”
Bennett shrugged. “Yeah.”
“That’s dumb. Zeus is like the main god, right? Why didn’t he just bring the dead one back to life?”
“He…I don’t know,” Bennett said.
“And why was one part god but the other was all human if they were twins?” she asked.
“I think one of them was his son and one was another guy’s son,” Fletcher said helpfully.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“It’s Greek mythology,” Zander said. “A lot of it falls down if you really dig in.”
“Anyway,” Knox finally broke in. “The names are creative. I like them. I get to decide. So it’s Pollux and Castor and Ursula.”
“Is Ursula another star in the constellation?” Charlie asked.
“Ursa Major is another constellation all together,” Knox said. He paused and then actually smiled. “It’s also called the Great Bear.”
Charlie grinned. “Oh, I like that.”
“Creative as fuck, right?” Knox asked.
“Definitely.”
He tipped back the rest of his coffee and pushed back from the table. “Okay, then that’s settled. So glad we got the really big business of the day decided.” His tone was dry. But then, Knox’s tone was often dry.
“So, Fiona headed back to Alabama?” Griffin asked.
Knox froze for just a moment. Naomi wasn’t sure anyone would have noticed if they hadn’t been looking right at him but there was definitely a second where he seemed caught off guard.
“Yeah,” was all Knox said.
“Everything okay then?” Griffin asked. He was definitely watching Knox.
Naomi looked from one man to the other, suddenly sensing a tension between them. Griffin and Fiona had been friends long before either of them had set foot in Autre. Was Griffin feeling protective?
“Everything is fine,” Knox said. Firmly. Meeting Griffin’s gaze directly.
“Would Fiona say the same if I asked her?”
“Does anyone ever really know exactly what Fiona is going to say about anything until she says it?”
That was actually a very fair point.
Griffin blew out a breath. “Dammit. Is she all right?”
“I’d say she’s better than she’s been in a while, as a matter of fact,” Knox said. “But whether or not she’d admit that is another thing altogether.”
Then he pivoted on his heel and stalked out of the building.
No one said anything for a few beats. Then Zeke shook his head. “What the fuck is going on with them?”
Jill just patted his back. “It’s a good thing you’re pretty.”
Grinning and feeling lighter than she had in forever, Naomi got up and went to the bar for a refill on her orange juice. She was very parched this morning and she couldn’t help but grin to herself when she thought about the reason for her dehydration.
“Well, you seem downright delighted this morning,” Ellie said as she came over with the pitcher of juice.
Naomi smiled. “Delighted? I guess that’s not inaccurate.”
“Delighted is one of my favorite ways to be,” Ellie said. “It’s about time you had a little of that.”
“Delighted is one of your favorite ways to be?” Naomi repeated. “Really? Because you’re very practical. Delighted seems like a…flippant word for you.”
“Well, sure, I’m practical. That’s what makes being delighted so fun when it happens.” Ellie filled Naomi’s glass, then leaned her elbows on the bar, and studied Naomi. “That’s why it looks so good on you.”
“Because I’m practical?”
Ellie nodded. “Yes, that fits, but I guess I would use the words ‘content’ and ‘steady’.”
“Is content the opposite of delighted?” Naomi asked.
“Not exactly. But delighted is another word for excited. And you, my dear, avoid getting excited.”
Well, Ellie wasn’t wrong.
Still, Naomi frowned. “You make me sound like I’m no fun.”
“Do you know other synonyms for excited?” Ellie asked.
“Charmed. Enchanted.”
“Yes, and thrilled. Also annoyed, agitated, worked up, disturbed.”
Naomi held up her hand. “Okay. So in some ways you think I’ve avoided being delighted because I would also avoid being…agitated.”
Ellie nodded. “Let’s be honest...” She glanced over the large table full of her family, mostly her grandchildren, “…there’s a very fine line between being delighted and annoyed.”
Naomi laughed. “But even when you’re agitated, you love it.”
Ellie pointed a finger at her. “Bingo. When there’s love there, the line between delighted and agitated gets nice and blurry. Like how you feel about Donovan and the crazy shit he does for a living.”
Naomi shouldn’t have been surprised. “So I guess that means you’ve also realized that I’m in love?”
Ellie nodded. “I’m just glad you finally realized it.”
“And you’re right, that line really is blurry. The first few times I went out with him and recorded him doing an animal rescue, I was definitely agitated.”
“And when did it change to delight?”
“Probably when he saved a baby bunny from a drainage ditch and then kissed it on its head,” she said.
Ellie laughed. “You’re sure it wasn’t the first time he had to take his shirt off?”
Naomi gave her a sly grin. “Well, I definitely wasn’t annoyed when that happened.”
“I knew that rabbit got to you,” Donovan said from behind her.
She turned quickly. Then narrowed her eyes. “Did you kiss that bunny to win me over?”
“Of course not. Anyone who’s holding a baby bunny and doesn’t kiss it on the head is an evil, coldhearted, soul-less asshole,” he declared. But then he gave her a sexy little smirk. “But I definitely looked over to see your reaction when I did it.”
