Midnight Bayou

on the edge of the desk and shook his head. “I say I’ll marry you anywhere, anytime, all he does is give you a broken-down house and he’s the one gets kissed.”
    “I already got you.” But she turned, wrapped her arms around Remy and, with a sigh, rested her head on his shoulder. “I want it to be beautiful, Remy. I want it to be special. It means a lot to me.”
    “I know it does. So it means a lot to me, too. We’ll have us some party, won’t we?”
    “We will.” She gave him one last squeeze, then whirled away. The sad, sobbing woman was replaced by a dervish. “Can I go out now?” she asked Declan. “I need to get my mother and my sister, and we’ll go out right now and start figuring it all out.”
    “Go ahead.”
    “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you.” Then the other. “Thank you.” Then his mouth with a long, drawn-out smack. “Remy, you come on out soon as you can. Oh, Dec?” She was pulling out her cell phone as she headed for the door. “My bride colors are rose and blue. You don’t mind if we have the house painted those colors, do you?”
    His mouth dropped open as she shut the door behind her. “She was kidding, right?”
    “Probably.” Knowing his girl, and the pack she ran with, Remy blew out a breath. “ Cher , you don’t know what you just got yourself into. You made my girl happy, and I’m grateful, but I gotta tell you, you’re in for a couple weeks of pure insanity.”
    “I couldn’t stand seeing her crying like that. Besides, it makes sense.” Rose and blue, he thought. How much trouble could they get into with nice, harmless colors like rose and blue? “Anyway,” he added, rubbing a hand over his sinking heart, “I’ve been through wedding plans before.”
    “You haven’t met her mother before.”
    Declan shifted his feet. “Is she scary?”
    “Pretty scary.”
    “Hold me.”
    G ood deeds put him in a good mood. When he walked into Et Trois, he was ready for a cold one, a self-congratulatory pat on the back. And Lena.
    She was behind the bar, pulling a draft and chatting up one of her regulars. He watched her gaze wash over, then land on him. Stay on him as he walked up, flipped up the pass-through.
    She had time to slide the foaming mug across the bar to waiting hands, start to turn before he lifted her off her feet and planted his lips on hers.
    The scattering of applause and hoots had him grinning as he held her an inch off the floor. “Missed you.”
    She rubbed her tingling lips together. “Your aim seemed good to me.” She patted his cheek, gave him that quick, wicked gleam. “Now down, boy. I’m working here.”
    “You’re going to need someone to cover for you.”
    “I’m busy, cher. Go on and sit down, I’ll get you a beer.”
    He just hitched her up, giving her legs a little swing so he could get his arm under them. He elbowed the door to the bar kitchen. “Lena needs you to cover for her,” he called back, then nodded toward the pass-through. “Mind?” he asked the man sipping the draft.
    “Sure thing.”
    “Declan.” She didn’t struggle, bad for the image. “I’m running a business here.”
    “And you do a damn good job of it. Thanks,” he added when the man flipped up the pass-through. “It ought to run fine without you for a half hour.” He nodded as his new friend hustled over and opened the door for him.
    He carried her outside. They got a few glances as he walked down the sidewalk and turned into her courtyard.
    “I don’t like being pushed around, cher .”
    “I’m not pushing you, I’m carrying you. Where’s your spare key?” he asked as he climbed the stairs. When she said nothing, he shrugged. “Fine. We’re going to get arrested for doing what I plan on doing out here on your gallery, but I’m game.”
    “Under the pot, second from the left.”
    “Good.”
    To her shock, he shifted her, slinging her over his shoulder as he crouched down to retrieve the key. She continually underestimated his strength and, she admitted, her reaction to it.
    “You’ve dropped a couple of pounds,” he commented and unlocked her door. “Good.”
    “I beg your pardon?” she said in her best frigid, southern-belle tone.
    “I figure it’s because you’ve been pining for me.”
    “You’re going to want to get a grip, cher .”
    “Got one,” he said and reached up to squeeze her butt as he kicked the door closed.
    “I can’t tell you how flattered I am that you’d take time out of your