Read Online Bayou Heat by Georgia Tribell - Free Book Online Page A

born male.
    She blushed and turned away from him. “It’s nothing. Can we
go now? If I’m late, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
    Rob closed his cell phone after leaving Matt another voice
message to meet them at the FullMoon House of Voodoo. He gave in to her and
once again found himself walking through the streets of the Quarter.
Thankfully, the store was located close to the corner of Chartres and Dumaine,
a short walk from her apartment.
    Rob watched as a car slowed and two guys ogled Eris. Never
taking his gaze from the men, he moved up beside her and narrowed his eyes. The
men moved on more quickly and he dropped back again until he was walking
slightly behind her. He couldn’t help but notice all the people who called her
by name. It appeared every resident of the Quarter knew her.
    Eris stopped in front of a small store. “I need to run in
here real quick.”
    “Okay.” He moved around her and entered the building then
motioned for her to follow. He was surprised she’d waited and wondered if maybe
his talk with her had sunk in.
    He followed her to the back of the store, where he opened a
door leading to a small office. Asleep in a recliner was an old woman who
appeared to be about a hundred.
    Eris placed her hand against his chest, stopping him just
inside the door. He watched as she tiptoed across the room, placed the sack
next to the chair and then turned to leave. Rob softly closed the door before
following her back outside.
    “I’m so glad Mrs. G was asleep. If she’d been awake, we
would never make it to the store on time.” Eris was walking at a fast clip but
his long legs easily kept up with her.
    The way she said “we” made him feel as if he were part of
something, which was stupid of course. “What was in the sack?” He asked the
first question that came to mind. Anything to change the direction his thoughts
were going.
    “Some audio books. I ordered them off the internet for her.
She would always give me candy and ice cream when I was a kid. She can barely
walk and it just breaks my heart to see her that way. Her daughter and
granddaughter run the store now and they asked if I could find anything new for
her to listen to.”
    They rounded another corner and there was the door to
FullMoon House of Voodoo. He opened the door and let Eris enter ahead of him,
figuring there would be no danger to her in her family’s shop. He was thinking
about what a contradiction she was when he entered and stopped dead in his
tracks. Eris stood in the middle of the store bent over, petting a black and
white cat.
    His body responded to the visual image in front of him as a
picture of Eris, naked, formed in his mind.
    Focused on the female body in front of him, Rob never saw
the punch that hit him.
    The hit was hard enough to temporarily cross his eyes but
not forceful enough to send him to the ground. He swung around and drew his
gun, ready to blow the threat away.
    The man was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed like a pirate
and had a streetwise look about him that told Rob he knew what he was doing.
    “Get your hands where I can see them.” Rob leveled his gun
at the man’s chest.
    “No!” There was a note of panic in Eris’ voice as she tried
to get around him on the left, but he blocked her with his arm and pushed her
farther behind him. When she realized she wasn’t getting past him, she pressed
her body to his back and looked over his shoulder. “Don’t shoot my brother, Mom
and Dad will never forgive you.”
    The man’s frown grew even more pronounced as he placed his
hands on his hips. From appearance alone, he should have known the man was
related to Eris.
    “Why did you hit him, Zane?”
    Rob holstered his gun as he watched Eris round on Zane and
took pleasure in seeing the big pirate retreat a step.
    “He—”
    “There was no excuse for what you did.”
    “He—”
    “You read his mind.”
    “I did not.” Zane’s voice rang with indignation.
    “Right.” The one word dripped