Page 50 of Beau

“Tell me about it. We still have to cook all this.”

“Then I better check you out so you can get going.” Chrissy quickly rang up their purchases.

Beau paid with his credit card, and the three of them fit all the groceries into plastic bags.

When they were done, Chrissy smiled. “I hope to see you again soon, Auri. You’ll like Bayou Mambaloa. We’re lucky that the Brotherhood Protectors chose our little town as their southern headquarters. They’re a great group of men. Remy saved my sister’s life. I can’t sing their praises loud enough.”

“Thank you for all your help and making me feel welcome,” Aurelie said.

They carried the bag of groceries out and stowed them in the back seat of the pickup.

Beau drove the short distance to the other side of town, turned off Main Street and onto the road leading to the secluded house on the bayou.

He found the location incredibly beautiful in its solitude. No houses were nearby, no noisy roads with trucks rumbling or motorcycles roaring past all day and night. If he liked it enough, he might consider purchasing the house and land. Yeah, it needed a lot of work to bring it up to date, but he was handy with tools, and there was always an online video with instructions on just about everything.

It would be everything he’d dreamed of owning, but it needed more than just handiwork to make it a home.

It needed a woman. Immediately, Aurelie came to mind. He could picture her sitting beside him in one of the rocking chairs on the porch with half a dozen children playing at their feet. Some of them would have her dark hair and brown eyes. The rest would be blond with his blue eyes.

What was he thinking? You didn’t start thinking of marriage and children with a woman you’d only met the night before. It took time to get to know each other and fall in love, didn’t it?

As he parked in front of the house, Beau’s breath lodged in his throat. He stared at the house, the images in his mind running rampant.

This was crazy. Hunger was making him hallucinate. There was no other reason for him to dream of being married to Aurelie and spawning so many children.

She was a senator’s daughter used to country clubs and formal events. She’d never go for a guy who would be happiest living in a backwater town on the bayou.

Focus.

Beau pulled his gun out of the console, shoved open his door and leaped out as if his seat were on fire. After shoving the pistol into his waistband, he slung her gym bag over his shoulder, grabbed most of the grocery bags and hurried up the steps of the porch.

“You must be starving.” Aurelie followed a few steps behind, carrying the rest of the bags.

“I am,” he said. “And we still have to cook the food.”

“I’m still mad at you,” she said, “but I’ll help.”

“So noted.” Beau inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. He stepped across the threshold and turned to her. “Stand just inside the door while I check for intruders.”

She entered, closed the door behind her and waited while he made a quick pass through the cottage.

Beau dropped his bags by the door, pulled the gun from his waistband and then checked all the rooms and closets before he returned to her. “All clear.”

Aurelie still held bags of groceries in her hands as she stared at him, her jaw tight, her chin raised. “I’m still not convinced this is a good idea.”

“What? The part about making dinner or the part about staying here?”

“The part about staying here with you,” she said.

He tucked the gun in his belt and gathered his bags. “I’m sorry. I can’t undo what’s been done, but I’ll do my best to make it up to you by cooking the best gumbo in the bayou.” He carried the bags into the kitchen and laid them on the counter.

“Gumbo doesn’t erase the lies,” she said as she followed him.

“I know.” Beau couldn’t win this argument and had no intention of trying. She’d been hurt by the lies of a married man. He stopped emptying the bags, crossed to where she stood and took her hands in his.

When she started to pull away, he held on a little tighter, but not so tight that she couldn’t free herself if she really wanted to.

“I know that trust is hard won and never given lightly,” he said. “I’ve violated your trust. You have every right to be angry with me. I wish you weren’t mad, but I take full responsibility for my actions.”