“So what about the other three alpacas?” Paige asked.

“Well, I said…” Tori’s cheeks got pink and she looked at Josh.

Paige looked at Josh too. The guy who was holding her hand. He was looking at Tori like he thought she was fucking adorable and hot as hell all at once.

“One of them came up and kissed her on the cheek,” Josh said.

“Come on,” Paige said with a laugh.

“Well, pretty much,” Josh said. “Saw her across the pen and came straight over and put his mouth on her cheek. She, of course, was smitten. Then his girlfriend had to come. And their baby girl. Which, if things go well, will maybe be the other little llama’s girlfriend someday, right?” he asked Tori.

Tori smiled at him like she thought he was adorable and hot as well.

Paige rolled her eyes. She hoped no one in the bakery was really paying attention because no way would they not realize these two wanted to tear each other’s clothes off and sit on the porch in their rocking chairs at age ninety together.

Paige looked at Mitch. He was watching her. It made her feel warm and she smiled at him. Even though she knew that her smile didn’t look casual to anyone looking on either. It was mostly tear-his-clothes-off. But there might have been a touch of rocking chair in there.

Dammit.

“Tell her about the whole plan,” Mitch said to Tori. He picked up a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger.

Josh shifted to put his arm around Paige.

“Well,” Tori said, her eyes on Josh’s arm. “We’re starting a whole petting zoo and animal encounter as an offshoot of Boys of the Bayou.”

“We’re calling it Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild,” Josh said. He grinned. “Totally tongue-in-cheek since otters and alpacas aren’t very wild.”

Paige laughed. “I love it.” She looked at Tori. “That sounds like your kind of thing, for sure.”

“Yeah, otters and alpacas and goats and my pot-bellied pig and who knows what else.” Tori said with a smile. “But I’m not doing it. I mean, most of the petting zoo animals are mine and I’ll help out, but a friend of mine from vet school has joined me in my practice and Gone Wild will be his thing. And we still need someone to run that part of the business. Josh and Owen and Sawyer don’t have time. That’s where Mitch comes in.”

Paige looked at Mitch. He shook his head.

“I’m just building pens and things.”

“No you’re not. You’re going to be great managing it,” Tori said, pivoting on her chair to look at him more fully. “You’re going to do what Josh and Owen do on the boats.”

Mitch grinned and looked at his cousin. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh.” She looked at Paige. “The Boys of the Bayou is a fantastic tour of the bayou with a lot of information and great experiences built in. They talk about the plants and animals of the bayou as well as the history and legends of the area. They make sure the tourists see alligators and other animals in the wild, and they take them to see some of the old cabins and talk about the people who settled the area. It’s a great tour. But…” She cast another affectionate glance at her fiancé.

“But?” Paige asked, looking from Josh to Tori.

“But the boys of the bayou are a huge draw. Josh and Owen and even Sawyer are a part of the fabulous reviews. They flirt. They talk hunting and fishing. They turn on the Southern charm and those drawls.”

Paige nodded, but she was looking at Mitch now. “I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

Tori laughed. “Yep. The women think they’re hot and charming when they’re teasing and flirting, and it’s really weird how often the guys end up shirtless and wet.”

“Hmm, that is really weird,” Paige said sarcastically to Josh.

He just grinned.

“And the men think they’re cool. They drive airboats and hunt alligators and all kinds of manly man stuff.” Tori rolled her eyes again, but she was still smiling.

Paige shook her head, fighting her own smile. “That does sound pretty cool.”

Josh nodded. “And then there’s how great we are with kids.” He looked at his fiancé. “Admit it. That makes your panties melt, Iowa.”

Tori didn’t answer right away, but she didn’t deny it either.

Paige knew that guys interacting well with children were a lust button for a lot of women. A lot of her friends, for that matter.

“So you’re going to manage the petting zoo and otter encounter?” she asked Mitch. She wasn’t going to think about him with kids. That didn’t work with her. She had nieces and nephews. She liked kids fine, but she wasn’t ga-ga over babies or little kids, and her biological clock wasn’t even wound up not to mention ticking.

“No. I’m building the pens and enclosures,” he said again. He gave Tori a look.

She sighed. “You’d be so good.”

“You want me puttin’ up fences with my shirt off?” he asked, giving her a small smile. “I can do that.”

He should absolutely do that. And charge admission, for sure, Paige thought.

But she noted his smile seemed forced.

Interesting. He didn’t want to be more involved with the animal portion of the business? Why not?

“Well, at least that,” Tori teased. “You’d just be so good talking about the animals. You love them. And you’re as charming and sweet and funny as Josh and Owen.”

“Hey, now,” Josh said. But his tone was light.

Tori shot him a smile. “You know what I mean. All the charm you turn on for the tourists. Mitch can do that. I’m not talking about the you-and-me charm.”

The way she said charm made Paige’s eyes widen. It looked like the sweet, small-town farmgirl had been a little corrupted by the Louisiana boy who was now giving her hot looks over sweet, small-town muffins and coffee.

Paige glanced at Mitch. She understood that. She really did. She wanted to be a little corrupted herself.

“There’s no other charm like that, babe,” Josh said, his voice dropping low.

“Okay,” Paige said, squeezing Josh’s hand to remind him not to eye-fuck Tori across the table in the bakery.

Tori fanned her face and gave Josh a wink, but she said to Mitch, “And you love the otters. Admit it.”

“Otters are cute.” Mitch shrugged. “Everyone likes otters.”

Tori blew out a breath.

“I’ve got Fletcher and Zeke helping me,” Mitch said. “They can take care of the tourists.”

“His mom specifically told me we’re supposed to call him Ezekiel,” Tori said with a grin.

Mitch and Josh both laughed. Mitch looked at Paige. “Zeke’s one of my cousins. Fletcher too. But Zeke and Zander are twins. Their mom hates that we shorten Ezekiel and Alexander.”

“But the family’s been doing it all their lives and they’re twenty-six,” Josh said. “You’d think she’d be used to it by now.”

Tori shook her head. “I think she was hoping that since I’m kind of new, she could at least get me to do it right.” She looked at Paige. “In the Landry family, the more something bugs you, the more likely it’s going to continue. You have to learn to roll with things on the bayou.”