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“Baton Rouge,” he replied.

“What brought you to the swamp?” Her brown eyes were filled with curiosity.

His old friend grief slammed into his chest, and for a moment he struggled to suppress it. He looked down at his plate, his appetite gone. When he looked up at her again, he was back in control.

“I needed a change in my life, and I wanted to go someplace where it would be peaceful. I saw an ad for a shanty for sale. I bought it, and here I am.”

“It’s quite a big change from Baton Rouge to the swamp,” she replied.

“Yeah, it took me a little while to adjust,” he admitted. By that time, they were finished eating. “Do you want dessert?” he asked.

“Oh no, I’m stuffed,” she replied.

“Then shall we go?”

“I’m ready if you are.”

He motioned to Sunny for the bill, and when it came, Monique argued with him about who should pay. He won the battle. Even as they walked out of the café, he was aware of the curious stares that followed after them.

It was a relief to step out into the evening air. “Are we on for tomorrow?” she asked once they were back in his car. “I have the same work schedule as today, so I could be ready to go around two thirty or so.”

“That works for me,” he said despite his reluctance to continue on this crazy quest. She was so certain she had cleared both the mayor and the judge. But either one of them could have her mother’s book locked away in a drawer at their office or in some other place.

The last thing he wanted to do was bring this up to her. He was afraid she would take even more chances with her life. He still believed that Mystique had been killed by somebody who was fairly prominent in the town. He was hoping that law enforcement would identify that person quickly, before Monique got herself into any real trouble.

They were quiet on the ride home. It wasn’t a strained silence but rather a comfortable one. The grief that had momentarily gripped him during dinner was gone, stuffed away deep inside him once again.

He reached the edge of the swamp and parked his car and together they walked in. He followed her up the short bridge to her front door. She unlocked it and then turned back to him.

Twilight colors painted her features in a soft, golden light. For just a minute, his fingers itched to run through the silky-looking strands of her hair. He wanted to stroke her cheek to feel the softness of her skin.

Damn, what the hell was wrong with him? He took a step back from her and frowned. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and then quickly turned on his heels and headed deeper into the swamp to his shanty.

He definitely needed to keep more distance between himself and Monique as they continued her hunt. There was something about her that reminded him of all he had lost.

There was definitely something about her that reminded him he was a healthy, virile man who had been without a woman for a very long time. Would he be this attracted to just any woman who came into his world?

He didn’t think so. It was specific to Monique with her big brown eyes and luxurious hair. It was specific to her because of her warm, beautiful smiles and her insistence that he smile.

Dammit, he should have never agreed to help her. His job was to keep her out of trouble, but he had a feeling, if he wasn’t careful, he was going to get himself in trouble with her.

Chapter Four

“Spill it, girl,” Angelique said to Monique, a week later.

“Yeah, we want to know everything that’s going on between you and the mysterious Jacque LeBlanc,” Dominique added.

The three sisters were having breakfast at the café, something they tried to do whenever possible considering their varied work schedules. They had already ordered and now were waiting for their meals to arrive.

For the last week, Monique and Jacque had continued their search for her mother’s book, working down the list of potential suspects they had made.

“There’s not a lot to tell,” she replied. “I’m sure by now you’ve heard about Jacque’s reading program in the swamp. When I bumped into him one day, he told me all about it, and I offered to help introduce him to people who could help.”

She hated to lie to her sisters, but if she told them the truth of what they were doing, then both of them would jump down her throat. Besides, it was important to keep what they were doing a secret.

“What’s he like?” Dominique asked.

Monique frowned thoughtfully. “He’s intense and at times a bit brooding and brusque. But it’s strange… I sense a real kindness in him. I’ve spent several hours a day for a little over a week with him, and I still feel like I don’t know him at all. Despite that, I like him.”