Bayou with Benefits
Badges of the Bayou series
by Erin Nicholas
Blurb:
They are friends. Without benefits. Unfortunately.
Michael LeClaire is small-town Louisiana. A firefighter. A single dad.
And Amelia Landry is New York City. A social media influencer. A model.
Sure, sheโs his sonโs favorite person on the planet.
And yeah, their families spend so much time together itโs hard to remember who shares DNA and who just shares secrets, inside jokes, and a sincere lack of boundaries.
And okay, heโs seen her nerdy side. Her sweet side. Her funny, self-deprecating side.
Fine, yes, resisting this woman has taken a saintโs share of willpower.
But he has to. He just cannot do long-distance. And he canโt have a casual fling with someone heโs knownโand will knowโforever.
Thankfully, he only has to hide his feelings a few times a year when she visits.
And then, he slips. One time. One spontaneous I-knew-it-would-be-everything kiss and heโs a goner.
Now every time they see each other itโs harder and harder to ignore the heat.
And when she shows up on his doorstep after a car accident changes her entire life, thereโs no way he can resist the chance to see if this can lastโฆor if theyโll finally flame out.
Fall in love today!
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*****
Excerpt:
โIf you donโt want our sisters to think theyโre right about everything, you have to quit looking at me like that.โ
Michael LeClaire had three choices here.
He could pretend he had no idea what Amelia Landry was talking about, turn, smile nonchalantly, and try to have a normal, casual conversation with her.
That was going to be nearly impossible, of course. This was Ami. There was no being casual around her. He hadnโt been able to pull nonchalant off since heโd first seen her walk down the dock in a lime green bikini the summer sheโd turned twenty. But then, eleven months ago, everything had changed and nowโฆyeah, casual was completely off the table.
Heโd known sheโd be here. Of course. It was her sisterโs wedding. She was a bridesmaid. Heโd been preparing to see her. Still, it had been three months and the last timeโฆleaving her at that airport had been so much harder than heโd expected. He didnโt think thereโd be anything casual about the things heโd end up saying to her tonight if they talked alone.
His second option was setting something on fire so that he would have to don his fire gear and do something with his evening other than watch Ami in her off-the-shoulder peach-colored bridesmaid dress, laughing and dancing and looking fucking stunning while he struggled to remember why they were only friends. As he did every single time she stood too close to him.
The reasons were good. He knew that. The primary one being that she lived in fucking New York City and he lived in Autre, Louisiana and that would just never work out. He had a kid. He was the fire chief here. His entire family was here. He couldnโt move to New Yorkโnor did he want toโand he couldnโt travel there on a regular basis.
Ami was a model. Sheโd just landed a huge contract. The contract sheโd been hoping and working for. Sheโd moved from Shreveport to New York only three months ago. She wasnโt coming back to Louisiana and also couldnโt be traveling back here on a regular basis.
Fuck New York City.
Yeah, setting something on fire kind of seemed like a great idea.
And then there was his third option: turning, throwing her over his shoulder, taking her straight back to his house, and not letting her out of his bed for a week, whether they could be together long-term or not.
Which would only make all of thisโthe wanting her, the thinking about her, the missing herโso much worse.
He wasnโt going to be able to do any of those three things.
He was screwed.
So, he sucked in a deep lungful of oxygen and turned, deciding to go with his fourth optionโjust praying to not fuck everything up. โAm I that obvious?โ
Ami smiled up at him. โI just really think itโs unfair that theyโre assuming things that I didnโt actually get to experience.โ
He shook his head. โDonโt.โ
โDonโt what? Talk about how Charlie and Naomi are assuming their matchmaking worked and we spent the entire weekend you were in New York in bed together?โ
โAmi,โ he said, his voice low with warning.
โHey, youโre the one looking at me like youโve seen me naked and want to again,โ she said. โDonโt blame me.โ
He tossed back the rest of his drink, wished it was alcohol and not just soda, reminded himself that staying completely sober while Ami was in town for the first time since New York was a really, really good idea, and said, โThatโs not how Iโm looking at you.โ
She put a hand on her hip. โThen how would you describe the way youโve been watching me from across the room but totally ignoring me whenever weโre close enough to talk?โ
โLike Iโve been jerking off practically every night for the past three months because I didnโt get you naked, and like since you got back to town Iโve been constantly about ten seconds away from picking you up, taking you home, and tying you to my bed for the next week or two.โ
Okay, so even without alcohol he was going to be dangerously inappropriate. And honest. Just as heโd feared.
Her eyes went wide.
Then she grinned. โYes. Youโre right. Thatโs a much better, more specific, description.โ
*****
Review:
This was such a quick read for me – I loved Michael & Ami together. While not as quirky and humorous as some of the previous stories, Nicholas does an excellent job, like always, of blending the lighthearted moments with those that have a more emotional impact, while not forgetting to give her readers some heat as well.
Ami only knows how to be pretty but it’s something she’s really good at. Good enough for it to pay well, allowing her to support herself while helping others. And good enough to take her the NYC, far away from Louisiana and far away from those she loves.
Michael is a fixer and needs to be as involved as possible in the lives of those he loves. He has to be there to help solve ALL the things so a long distance relationship will definitely not work for him. Unfortunately Ami’s life continues to take her to places far from Michael.
I appreciate how both Michael and Ami approach themselves and each other with understanding of their needs. They are as honest as they can be and lay it out there for the other to see. Sometimes it means that they don’t get exactly what they want but it does mean that they are true to what is best for them at any given moment. As Ami’s (and Michael’s) world is rocked by an accident, and she heads to Autre to figure out what is next, the two may finally be given an opportunity for a future … if they can find a path that works for them both.
With this new series, Nicholas delivers more serious, impactful stories with the same finesse that she’s given us their more unconventional predecessors and, as always, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what’s in store next.
(Part of a series but can be read as a stand alone.)
*****
Author Info:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as sheโs been reading them. To date, sheโs written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as โtoe-curling,โ โenchanting,โ โsteamy,โ and โfun.โ She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be โshockedโ by the sex scenes in her books).
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*****
Romantic Reads and Such 